Cheryl Metivier
EVERYTHING Nicole Felix-Mc Leod does is deliberate and flows like second nature, including her desire to create a space where women over 40, dealing with issues which are peculiar to them, could come together and comfortably exchange concerns freely.
This desire has led to the creation of the online platform Intentional Living.
“The purpose of the platform would be to provide health, wellness and lifestyle information to women over 40.”
Felix-Mc Leod recounts how over time she observed that wherever she found herself, whether at meetings, social gatherings, casual encounters – wherever there were women present – they somehow coalesced into huddles. Women around her somehow drift together and effortlessly have these candid conversations about the various challenges they were facing.
"I witnessed a release at each of these encounters: the bonding of women, sometimes meeting each other for the first time. And their reluctance to separate after these chance encounters sparked something inside of me."
Each encounter reinforced in her mind that this was a vacuum she could potentially fill, and neither her empathetic nature nor her entrepreneurial spirit would allow her to leave this idea alone.
[caption id="attachment_1100331" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Intentional Living members meet up for a sip and paint.[/caption]
"It took a while to figure out what form this village would take, but eventually I got it and Intentional Living was born."
But why women over 40?
“I myself am 59 years old, and just from my friends, family and other women in my circle, I realised that there was a specific need as we experience what I like to describe as ‘midlifing.’”
Midlifing is one of the main areas of focus on the Intentional Living online platform. It refers to the myriad of issues which Felix-Mc Leod has discovered plague women over 40.
Of course, chief among them is menopause, once a taboo subject. Thankfully, conversations about this subject are becoming more and more normalised.
Felix-Mc Leod has found that in addition to menopause, there are a number of recurring topics that are of equal concern.
But there has been no dedicated space for women to come together and have meaningful conversations about them.
"Over 40 is a stage when many women are experiencing physiological, physical, psychological and emotional changes.
"Menopause is not the only change in life. There are divorces, loss of loved ones, women contemplating career changes, considering furthering their education, developing themselves in some way, starting a small business, the role reversals that come with caring for parents; and so much more.
"Having a space where these and other matters can be explored without judgment, where midlifing is normalised, has become treasured, needed and demanded."
Felix-Mc Leod said that beyond just supporting each other, many women don’t know where to turn to source the right guidance and information to address their concerns. She saw this void as an area that she could
