Episode
Michelle de Swarte: Career Pivots, Perimenopause & Daring to Try
- Podcast
- Hormones & Heroines
- Published
- Apr 27, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2799
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://hormones-heroines.captivate.fm
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Summary
This week’s heroine is the brilliant Michelle de Swarte, a model turned writer, actor and stand-up comedian whose sold-out comedy tour has been spotlighting perimenopause in the most unexpected and powerful way. We talk about Michelle’s journey back to her natural hair after relaxing it to survive an industry that wasn’t ready for her, and why protecting her hair from inexperienced hands became an act of self-preservation. We get into what it really takes to pivot careers, how she went from the catwalk to the comedy stage, and why trying and failing live, unedited and unfiltered, is something social media has almost robbed us of entirely. We also celebrate being 80s babies and the gift of a childhood before social media. We then we get into perimenopause, the subtle and insidious way its symptoms creep in and how easy it is to resist acknowledging what your body is telling you. Michelle opens up about her own journey from resistance to acceptance, and how embracing HRT became part of embracing a new chapter of her life. What started as a part of life she wanted to avoid, ended up becoming the centrepiece of her tour, and the rapturous response from audiences proved exactly why these conversations need to be had loudly, honestly and without apology. This one is funny, honest, and genuinely moving. Because sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is simply dare to try. In this episode we cover: • From relaxed hair back to natural • Her very first stand-up gig • How perimenopause crept up on her and the symptoms she experienced • Her journey to embracing HRT • How perimenopause went from a subject she avoided to the centrepiece of her sold-out tour • The small film she almost never released and how it quietly launched her acting career