Some years ago, Marva Williams visited a doctor’s office and collapsed. She later learnt that it was because her body lacked magnesium, which it needed to function effectively, a result of her going into menopause. This, coupled with another episode where she became immobile, moved Williams to start developing products to help women to effectively treat the effects of menopause.
Under her Shhh…Menopause Wellness brand (the Shhh pointing to the fact that menopause is seldom discussed openly) she hopes to encourage and support women who are going through menopause and help to ease their physical and emotional symptoms. With the help of other women experts, she specialises in making natural products to assist in alleviating those symptoms.
Williams, who was born to Guyanese parents, has lived in the United Kingdom all her life. She has held several pop-up shops to sell her products, with the most recent being in the John Lewis store in Reading, England. She plans to bring the products to Guyana, a country she said is dear to her heart, but is still working on how this would be done.
Over the years, Williams has also developed and produced medical skin-care products, which are used for patients both pre and post-operation. She also specialises in products for people who have traumatised skin as a result of eczema or burns and those going through chemo and radiotherapy.
Williams told Stabroek Weekend during a recent virtual interview from her home in England that she had gone to a doctor’s surgery to pick up a repeat prescription when she collapsed. She shared that the doctor later informed her that they had to clear the surgery and resuscitate her and at the time they thought they were going to lose her as she was turning blue.
She was eventually taken to the hospital where it was found that she had no magnesium in her body, no iron and her hemoglobin level was “completely gone” and when it was tracked it was found out that it was as a result of perimenopause, the transitional period before menopause which can last for as long as 12 years. A woman goes into menopause after she has not had a period for 12 months. If she menstruates in the 11th month the countdown starts again.
A month later, Williams awoke to the frightening condition of being unable to walk and she thought at that time she was going to remain paralysed for the rest of her life. Her family assisted her out of bed and an ambulance took her to the hospital where she spent over a week and was placed on a cocktail of drugs.
According to Healthline Media Inc, magnesium is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in the body, including protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure. It was stated that during menopause, magnesium is important for keeping bones strong and preventing osteoporosis or weakening of bones. Magnesium may also reduce unwanted side effects of menopause, such as difficulty sleeping and depression, while supporting heart health.
With advice from a client, Williams said, she was propelled to start investigating what she could develop to deal with the symptoms from menopause as opposed to taking the cocktail of drugs all through the period of perimenopause, as the drugs mask the problems instead of treating them.
With the assistance of her grandmother’s first cousin ‘Aunty Vernie’, who hailed from Uitvlugt, West Bank Demerara, and was known as the family doctor, Williams said, she gained more knowledge about the natural ingredients that could be used to develop to various products. It was the day of Aunty Vernie’s funeral in Canada that Williams launched her products in the John Lewis Reading store, and she recalled that it was a difficult decision to make to remain for the scheduled launching date and not travel for her funeral.
“I travelled to Guyana with her, she lived across the river in Uitvlugt and there was always some story she was telling me about herbs and things like that. You know, if you got period pains, if you having a baby and it is not coming out what herbs to use, she actually spurred a lot of my interest in what I do today,” Williams said.
Formulate products
Today Williams formulates products such as sleep and anxiety sprays from using essential oils, particularly the therapeutic benefits from the oil that comes from the plant. She uses hemp oil and magnesium to relax and calm the body down and also to get magnesium into the body through the skin.
Apart from aiding in sleeping and dealing with anxiety, there are products to reduce hot flashes and also restless legs, which happens to some menopausal women at night when their estrogen levels drop. The lack of estrogen also sees women’s hormones being imbalanced and can lead to things like a craving for ice.
Some of the products can also be used in a diffuser.
Williams said she came up with ‘Shhh..’ as a way to break the taboo when it comes to menopause.
“It is a subject that people do not talk about and a part of what the shhh is all about is breaking that taboo and to get the conversation started…,” she said.
She shared that it was after she got sick and she was being questioned by the doctor that her mother shared that she experienced some of those same symptoms. She noted that to help understand menopause, women have to follow the maternal line as often their mothers have the answers.
“At that time, I was in my 40s and then I was finding out some things from my mother which is very odd because our families don’t talk about those things,” she said.
She has since become very open about the issue talking to her female relatives and friends in an effort to start the conversation.
Williams explained that over the years she did a lot of research with doctors as she made products for them and she did the same as she was developing the current products and tested them out with doctors in their private clinics before she officially placed them on the market last November.
The success of the products has been tremendous. Williams said even husbands have been thanking her as they have seen their wives’ health improved after using the products. Some women have been helped with hair loss through a multivitamin she produces.
“So basically, I tackle a lot of different issues that women have with menopause…,” Williams said.
While she does not have any products that deal with irregular bleeding, Williams said she has a magnesium spray which when sprayed on the tummy eases pain and helps those with joint and muscle pain.
The recent launch in Reading was the third pop-up shop with John Lewis and for her producing a new product and having the store’s support is a great booster. The launch in Reading was very important as she was born and bred in that community as it was where her parents settled when they left Guyana in 1968 and 1969.
Tracing her professional journey, Williams said when she left school becoming a lawyer was her plan, but this did not materalise and she ended up setting her own business in the form a telecoms company which she operated until she was in her late thirties. At that point she was at a crossroads as she was unsure what else she wanted to do but she was sure she wanted out of telecoms.
She worked a bit with a company that bought other companies before she started making skincare products.
“I don’t earn as much money as I did when as I was in the corporate world, but I am happier now. I literally love what I do,” Williams said.
The work is similar in that she did a lot of research when she worked in telecoms and the corporate world which she still does today. The only difference is that before she was paid to do it and now she does it for her own benefit and her products.
Recently, Williams developed an app which provides a safe environment for women to talk about the issues they face when it comes to menopause. People in the UK can sign on to the app and track their sleep and different symptoms. Every week they are given a new exercise and there is a nutritionist on board to help with recipes. Weekly Zoom sessions are also available all of which is at a cost of £10 a month. There will also be a £24 pounds a month programme, which will see a menopause product-of-the-month breakdown and a 20% discount on any product purchased.
Williams hopes to make the app available in America and Guyana, but this has not been worked out as yet especially when she considers the time difference.
Guyana
Williams first visited Guyana in 1978 as child and over the years she has made several trips to the home country of her parents. Were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic she would have visited during the last two years.
“I love Guyana,’ she said sharing that she has a sister by her father who is still here along with her nephew.
“I always tell people you have to know your history… and as my dad always tells me his navel string is buried in Guyana,” Williams shared, adding that they are still “invested” in the country and follow the news ardently.
While her products are not yet available in Guyana, Williams revealed that she is exploring manufacturing here.
“It is more for me about the education and job opportunities,” she said. She added that she believed the late president LFS Burnham had the right vision for the country but fell down in the implementation.
In growing her wellness business, Williams said, she wants to come to Guyana and look at some of the plants and work out the benefits of them to women. At present, she accesses the ingredients for her products worldwide. Williams’s Shhh…Menopause Wellness website can be found at https://shhhmenopausewellness.com/ and she can be contacted at email address: marva@beautystable.com.
