feistyStories
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Menopause for men: what it actually is and what to do
Menopause for men is the term most people reach for when they're trying to describe a real hormonal transition. The science is more specific than the label, but the symptoms are genuine and worth taking seriously.
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The new menopause: how the conversation finally changed
The new menopause isn't about new symptoms. It's about women demanding better answers, more research, and an end to the 20-year information blackout that followed the 2002 WHI study.
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Promensil menopause: what it contains and what the evidence says
Promensil is one of Australia's most recognisable menopause supplements, built around red clover isoflavones rather than soy. Here's what the formula actually contains and how the evidence stacks up.
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Is bleeding after menopause always cancer?
Bleeding after menopause is never normal, but it isn't always cancer. The causes range from benign to serious, and the only way to know is to see a doctor promptly.
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7 natural menopause treatments that really work
Natural menopause treatments vary wildly in quality of evidence. These 7 are the ones with the science to back them up, not just the marketing.
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Menopause the Musical: what it is and why it keeps selling out
Menopause the Musical has been making women laugh at hot flushes, brain fog, and sleepless nights since 2001. Here's what the show actually is, and why it keeps finding new audiences.
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Perimenopause symptoms: what's actually happening and why
Perimenopause symptoms often arrive years before most women expect them, and they're far more varied than hot flushes. Here's what's actually going on in your body and what you can do about it.
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Menopause diet: what to eat, what to cut, and why it matters
A menopause diet isn't a weight-loss plan in disguise. It's a way of eating that works with your shifting hormones rather than against them, and the evidence is more specific than most advice suggests.
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Frozen shoulder and menopause: the painful link most doctors miss
Frozen shoulder is dramatically more common in perimenopausal and menopausal women, yet the hormonal connection rarely comes up in the consulting room. Here's what's actually going on.
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Male menopause: what's real, what isn't, and what to do
Male menopause gets dismissed as a myth or overblown as a crisis. The truth sits somewhere more useful: testosterone does decline with age in men, and the symptoms are worth taking seriously.
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Early menopause: what it is, why it happens, and what to do
Early menopause can arrive years or even decades before most women expect it, and the signs are easy to miss. Here's what's actually happening and what to do about it.
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Natural menopause treatments that actually have evidence behind them
Natural menopause treatments range from well-studied to wildly oversold. Before reaching for a supplement or a detox, it helps to know which options have real research behind them.
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AMS: the quiet acronym reshaping ASX boardrooms
AMS, or Audit and Monitoring Systems, has moved from back-office compliance tool to a genuine lever of board power in Australian business. What's driving the shift is worth understanding.
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When the board cuts its own fees: what the pay signal means
An ASX board cutting its own director fees is one of the rarest self-imposed governance moves in Australian business. The timing and the depth of the cut tell you far more than the announcement does.
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When the board accepts a director's resignation but delays the departure
Accepting a director's resignation but keeping them in the seat for weeks or months is one of the most deliberate signals an ASX board can send. The gap between acceptance and departure almost always has a reason.
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When the board refuses to name a permanent CEO
An ASX board that refuses to name a permanent CEO is making a decision, not deferring one. The delay itself carries meaning, and reading it correctly matters for investors, executives, and the company's own people.
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When the board appoints a director from a rival company
Appointing a director who comes directly from a rival company is one of the most legally and commercially fraught moves an ASX board can make. When it happens, the reasons are rarely what the press release suggests.
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When the board freezes executive headcount: what it signals
An executive headcount freeze is one of the quietest interventions an ASX board can make. When it happens, the market almost never gets the real explanation.
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When the board splits the chair and committee roles after a crisis
Redistributing chair and committee roles after a governance crisis is one of the loudest structural signals an ASX board can send. The new configuration almost always tells a clearer story than the statement that accompanies it.
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When the board appoints a former regulator as director
Appointing a former regulator to an ASX board sends a message that the press release almost never states plainly. The timing and the committee seat tell you far more than the biography does.
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When the board quietly removes a director mid-term
Removing a sitting director before their term expires is one of the most exposed governance moves an ASX board can make. The method chosen tells you more than the announcement ever will.
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When the board quietly changes the CEO's performance metrics
Changing a CEO's performance metrics mid-tenure rarely makes the headlines. But on ASX-listed companies, it's one of the clearest signals that something real has shifted between the board and the corner office.
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When the board appoints a director who is also a customer
Appointing a director who is also a customer is one of the quietest conflicts an ASX board can create. The reasons it happens reveal a lot about where the company thinks its next chapter begins.
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When the board extends the CEO's contract early
An early CEO contract extension is one of the quietest signals an ASX board can send. The timing tells the market something the press release never quite says out loud.
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When the board grants the CEO an equity top-up mid-contract
Granting a CEO additional equity before their existing incentive plan vests is one of the quietest signals an ASX board can send. The reasons behind the move are rarely the ones stated in the ASX announcement.
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When the board changes its dividend policy mid-cycle
Changing dividend policy in the middle of a cycle is rarely a neutral accounting decision. At ASX-listed companies, it usually signals something deeper about power, capital, and where the board thinks the business is heading.
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When the board appoints a director with no industry experience
Appointing a director with no industry experience looks like a risk. At ASX-listed companies, it's usually a calculated move. The reasons behind it tell you more about the board's direction than the appointment itself.
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When the board removes a committee chair mid-term
Stripping a director of a committee chair position before their term ends is one of the least-discussed power moves on an ASX board. The reasons are rarely what the announcement says.
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When the board names an interim chair
An interim chair appointment is one of the most revealing governance signals on an ASX org chart. The person in the seat, and how long they stay there, tells you far more than the announcement ever will.
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When the board adds a skills matrix to its annual report
Publishing a board skills matrix in the annual report looks like a governance housekeeping move. At ASX-listed companies, it almost never is. The timing and what gets listed tell you more than the matrix itself.
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When the chief operating officer is hired before the CEO
Hiring a COO before filling the CEO seat is one of the least-discussed sequencing decisions on an ASX org chart. When boards do it, they're usually telling the market something they haven't said out loud.
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When the founding CEO returns: what it means for the board
A founding CEO returning to the top job is one of the most revealing decisions an ASX board can make. The dynamics it creates rarely match the press release.
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When the CFO title goes to someone with no finance background
ASX boards are quietly handing the CFO title to people who have never run a treasury function or closed a set of accounts. The reasons are more deliberate than they first appear.
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When the board creates a special committee
A special committee on an ASX board is one of the clearest signals that normal governance isn't working. The timing and composition tell you what the directors are actually afraid of.
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When the chief technology officer suddenly reports to the CFO
Shifting the CTO's reporting line to the CFO is one of the quietest structural signals on an ASX org chart. It tells the market something about what the board thinks technology is actually for.
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When the chief sustainability officer reports to the CFO
Shifting the chief sustainability officer's reporting line to the CFO is one of the most telling structural moves on an ASX org chart. It says more about what the board really thinks of ESG than any strategy document will.
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When the investor relations head gets a seat at the leadership table
Giving the investor relations head a formal seat at the leadership table is rarely a housekeeping decision. When it happens at an ASX company, the board is usually saying something specific about power, narrative, and who gets to shape them.
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When the board shrinks: what a reduced director count signals
Cutting the number of directors on an ASX board is one of the quietest structural signals a company can send. It rarely means what the press release says.
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When the chair and CEO are both new at the same time
A simultaneous chair and CEO transition is one of the rarest and most exposed moments in Australian corporate governance. When both seats turn over at once, the signals are almost never routine.
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When the chief legal officer title replaces general counsel
Renaming the general counsel role to chief legal officer is one of the quietest structural signals on an ASX org chart. The change almost always means more than a rebrand.
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When the CFO title splits: dual finance chiefs on ASX boards
Splitting the CFO role into two parallel finance leadership positions is one of the least-discussed structural signals on an ASX org chart. When it happens, the reasons are almost never what the press release says.
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When the board hires its own advisor: what it signals
An ASX board retaining its own independent advisor, separate from the advisors management already has, is one of the clearest signals that something structural has changed between the board and the executive team.
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When the CEO title splits: co-CEOs on ASX boards
Co-CEO arrangements are among the least understood structural decisions an ASX board can make. When two people share the top job, the board is usually solving a problem it won't name publicly.
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When the CEO appoints a second-in-command from outside
When an ASX-listed CEO brings in an external second-in-command, it rarely means what the press release says. The real message is usually about the board, not the business.
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When the board appoints a lead independent director
Creating a lead independent director role on an ASX board is rarely a housekeeping exercise. When it happens, the board is usually responding to something specific, and that something is worth understanding.
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When the COO title disappears without explanation
Removing the COO title from an ASX org chart is one of the quietest structural signals a company can send. What it usually means is not what the press release says.
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When the CEO hires a chief of staff: what it signals
Creating a chief of staff role for the CEO is one of the most underread signals in Australian boardrooms. When it appears, it usually means the top of the org chart is under more pressure than the press release admits.
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When the chief strategy officer title quietly disappears
The chief strategy officer title doesn't disappear by accident. When an ASX company quietly removes the role, it's usually telling the market something the board didn't put in a press release.
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When the chief marketing officer gets a seat at the table
Giving the chief marketing officer a formal seat in the C-suite is rarely just a title upgrade. At ASX-listed companies, it signals a specific shift in how the board thinks about growth, brand, and commercial power.
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When the chief data officer title lands on an ASX org chart
Creating a Chief Data Officer role at an ASX company is rarely a neutral HR move. The timing, the reporting line, and the person chosen all signal something specific about where power is actually shifting.
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When the CFO is promoted but the title doesn't change
Sometimes the most significant promotion on an ASX org chart produces no press release, no title change, and no market announcement. The CFO just starts doing more, and the board lets it happen.
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When the chief commercial officer title suddenly appears
Creating a Chief Commercial Officer role at an ASX company is rarely a routine HR decision. The timing, the person chosen, and the reporting line all say something the press release doesn't.
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When the chief investment officer appears on the org chart
Creating a Chief Investment Officer role signals something specific about where a company thinks its future growth will come from. It's a move worth reading carefully.
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When the chief risk officer steps into the spotlight
The chief risk officer has always held serious power in Australian business. When boards start putting that person front and centre, it's rarely by accident.
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When the non-executive director becomes executive chair
Turning a non-executive director into an executive chair is one of the most revealing moves an ASX board can make. It signals urgency, concentrated authority, and a problem the CEO couldn't solve.
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When the company secretary gets the call: the quiet power of the role
The company secretary sits at the intersection of board authority, regulatory compliance, and executive power. Most people outside the boardroom have no idea how much the role controls.
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When the CFO leaves without a successor named
An unplanned CFO departure tells the market something the board didn't mean to say. Understanding what happens next reveals a lot about how power actually moves inside an ASX company.
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When the CEO goes on extended leave: who really runs the company
Extended CEO leave is one of the least discussed power transitions in Australian business. When the corner office empties for weeks or months, the board's decisions in the first 48 hours reveal more than any succession plan.
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When the chief people officer joins the C-suite: what it signals
Elevating the Chief People Officer to the C-suite is one of the most telling signals a board can send about where power is shifting. It's not an HR story. It's a strategy story.
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When the CEO is hired from overseas: what ASX boards get wrong
Bringing in a CEO from outside Australia is a bet that local talent can't solve the problem. It's a high-stakes call, and ASX boards get it wrong more often than the announcements suggest.
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When the CFO is also the acting CEO: what really happens
Appointing the CFO as acting CEO is one of the most common emergency moves on an ASX org chart. It's also one of the most misread signals a board can send.
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When the deputy CEO title appears on an ASX org chart
The deputy CEO title almost never appears on an ASX org chart by accident. When a board creates the role, it's sending a message, and not always the one it intends.
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When the COO is passed over for CEO: what it means for the business
Passing over the COO for the CEO role is one of the most consequential decisions an ASX board can make. What happens next reveals a lot about how the company actually works.
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When the founder stays on after the IPO: what really changes
Taking a company public doesn't mean the founder leaves. But staying on after an ASX listing reshapes every power relationship in the business, from the board to the CFO to the new institutional shareholders watching every move.
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When the general counsel moves into the corner office
Promoting the general counsel to CEO is one of the least discussed power moves in Australian business. It's happening more often, and the reasons reveal a lot about how boards are reading risk right now.
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When the chair exits: how ASX boards manage orderly succession at the top
Chair succession is the quietest power transfer in Australian business. When the chair decides to step down, what happens next shapes the board's direction for years.
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When the board fires the CEO: what happens in the first 90 days
Firing a CEO is the board's most consequential decision, and the 90 days after it are the most exposed. What ASX boards do next reveals far more about governance than any annual report.
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When the CFO becomes CEO: what the jump actually takes
The CFO-to-CEO transition is one of the least understood moves in Australian boardrooms. It happens more than people expect, and it fails in predictable ways.
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When the succession plan fails: what ASX boards do next
Succession planning is the board's most cited priority and its most common failure point. When the plan falls apart, what ASX boards do next reveals far more about governance than any orderly handover ever could.
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When the CEO seat goes to an internal candidate: the rise of the insider promotion
Boards are increasingly choosing CEOs from within their own ranks rather than reaching outside. The reasons are practical, political, and often revealing about what a company actually values.
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When the chair is a woman: what ASX boards gain from female leadership
Women chairing ASX-listed boards are still the exception, not the rule. But the companies that have made the move are showing what different leadership at the top actually looks like.
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When the CFO seat finally goes to a woman: what changes
Female CFOs at major Australian companies remain a minority, but their appointments are reshaping how boards think about financial leadership. Here's what the evidence shows about what changes when a woman takes the chair.