Episode

"It's Too Late For You": the Menopause Dismissal That Sent Her to Nursing School in Her 50's | Cindy Ravn, RN, PHN, APE, Ep. 19

Podcast
Her Intentional Reset: Career changes and second acts for women in midlife
Published
Jul 21, 2026
Duration seconds
3832
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https://herintentionalreset.com/all-podcasts/its-too-late-for-you-the-menopause-dismissal-that-sent-her-to-nursing-school-in-her-50s-cindy-ravn-rn-phn-ape-ep-19
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https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/bc82fff7-8203-49a0-99af-f4f2c728a919.mp3
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Summary

Cindy spent 35 years in skincare and loved every bit of it — the thriving practice, the clients who felt like family. Then perimenopause hit, every test came back normal, and a doctor told her "it's too late for you" and wrote a prescription for antidepressants. What happened next wasn't a breakdown. It was an Indeed search, a midlife career change into an accelerated nursing degree in her 50s, and a new mission: making sure no woman gets dismissed the way she was. ABOUT THE GUEST: Cindy Ravn is a registered nurse and public health nurse providing reproductive and sexual health care at Planned Parenthood, while still running the nurse-led medical aesthetics practice she built over a decade in the Twin Cities. After her own perimenopause symptoms were dismissed, she trained as a menopause doula, then made a career pivot in her 50s, going back to school to become an RN — funding nursing school with her skincare practice and graduating cum laude. She starts nurse practitioner school this fall, with her sights set on women's health, and is building The Pause Project, a series of educational talks on menopause, sexual health, skin, and osteoporosis prevention. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: [08:16] The post-COVID symptoms no test could explain — and why she knew it wasn't "just her" [09:57] The five words from her doctor that still sting — and how that dismissal became the catalyst for everything [13:32] The Indeed search that turned a menopause doula certificate into a nursing career [15:17] How her skincare practice paid for nursing school — no debt, and a built-in social life during the hardest years [25:31] The honest reality of an accelerated nursing program in your 50s: the confidence she "probably shouldn't have had," the tears, and the professor who wouldn't let her quit [30:…