Who says a big necklace can't be a top?
Halle Berry just proved that looking professional doesn’t mean getting completely buttoned up. Yesterday, during an appearance at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit: A New Era of Leadership in Laguna Niguel, California, the Oscar-winning actress discussed how a misdiagnosis led to her newest venture, Respin, an online platform for women to learn more about perimenopause and menopausal health. Berry spoke during a fireside chat titled Real Talk About Women’s Health—and for her time on stage, she wore a pinstriped power suit with a tie detail to cinch her waist. She forewent a shirt underneath, opting instead for a statement necklace with a chunky gold chain and a big dangling pendant.
During the chat, Berry explained how her menopause symptoms were misdiagnosed as herpes (something that she noted was very common). Since she established Respin, it has gained more than 125,000 members and provided a place for them to discuss intimacy, fitness, and metabolic health.
“I realized that my own doctor didn’t really understand what was happening with my menopausal body,” Berry told Michal Lev-Ram, editorial director of Fortune.
She went on to say that she faced even more challenges when she was raising money for Respin, because like the medical field, the world of venture capital is "largely men" and many didn't think that menopause was a "real thing." Respin hopes to counter that by creating a close-knit community, which Berry insists is crucial to women's health.
"It was really hard to get people, largely men, at some of these venture capital companies to believe that menopause was a real thing," Berry added.
In addition to looking to Silicon Valley for cash, Berry recently urged Congress to "support a bill aimed at directing $275 million for research on effective therapies and medicines," according to a press release.
She finished the talk by sharing her new outlook on aging and menopause, saying that she feels "liberated" at the thought of being able to tell the world that she's menopausal—and that she hopes other women feel the same way.
"I'm in menopause," Berry finished. "How liberating is that?"