Hot Flashes, Brain Fog: Executives Break Menopause Taboo at Work

Natalia Maureira-Rey was in a meeting with five fellow lawyers in Spain this May when she suddenly started to sweat.

“These hot flashes with menopause, it’s unbelievable,” Maureira-Rey, head of North America corporate legal affairs for Spanish retail group Inditex SA, said to the colleague sitting closest to her. The woman just stood up and walked away. After a few minutes, she returned and handed Maureira-Rey a beautiful Spanish fan. “It really helps,” the colleague told her.

As more senior women start to speak up about what can be a taboo experience of going through menopause, it’s heralding a ...