EP 104: Breaking the Silence: Dr. Manna Semby on Career Transitions, Perimenopause, and Thriving in Midlife

🎧 From Boardrooms to Brain Health 

She climbed the ranks on Wall Street. Then she left it all behind to become a doctor. Dr. Manna Semby has a lot to say about reinvention, resilience, and thriving in midlife.

In this episode of Thriving in Intersectionality, Dr. Lola Adeyemo speaks with Dr. Manna Semby, founder of Aruna Personalized Medicine, functional medicine doctor, and former Vice President at Goldman Sachs. Drawing on her own journey from finance to healthcare, Dr. Manna shares how career pivots, layered identities, and health all intersect to shape how we lead and thrive.

We explore how leaders can protect their cognitive edge through transitions, why decision-making style is a hidden superpower, and how organizations can reframe midlife health as a performance and equity strategy—not a taboo.

This conversation is about more than perimenopause or career change—it’s about the courage to design work and life that honor all of who you are.

What You’ll Learn

🧠 Protecting Cognitive Edge
How the brain–hormone–metabolism axis shapes leadership energy, focus, and resilience.

🔄 Career Reinvention
Why Dr. Manna left a VP role at Goldman Sachs to pursue medicine—and what it takes to pivot with purpose.

💡 Decision-Making as a Superpower
How knowing your decision-making style can transform both career moves and life satisfaction.

🌍 Intersectionality in Action
How immigrant identity, motherhood, caregiving, and corporate experience inform her practice and advocacy.

🏢 Workplace Change
Why ERGs and HR leaders must create brain- and menopause-ready cultures to retain talent and sustain performance.

About Our Guest

Dr. Manna Semby, ND, MSCP, IFMCP is a functional medicine doctor and founder of Aruna Personalized Medicine. Formerly a Vice President at Goldman Sachs, she brings an insider’s perspective to the health needs of career women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. Her Aruna Method targets the brain–hormone–metabolism axis to protect cognitive edge, metabolic resilience, and long-term vitality.

Today she partners with corporations to deliver executive education and implement menopause-supportive policies that strengthen retention, performance, and culture.

🔗 Connect with Dr. Manna:

• Website: arunamed.com 

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/manna-semby 

• Instagram: @drmannasemby 

• Brain Health Quiz: arunamed.com/brainquiz 

• Video: Brain Clarity & Renewal Program 

About the Host

Dr. Lola Adeyemo is the CEO of EQImindset and founder of the nonprofit Immigrants in Corporate Inc. She helps organizations move inclusion from intention to impact through strategy, storytelling, and workplace communities. A scientist-turned-ERG strategist, speaker, and author, Lola is passionate about amplifying voices at the intersections of identity and work.

Join the Conversation

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Keep thriving in your intersections—your story matters.