How I Got Here: Dr Kelly Teagle
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Admit it, we’ve all been there – stalking social media and LinkedIn profiles, trying desperately to figure out how the hell someone got their dream job.
It seems impossible and yet there they are, living out your career fantasy (minus the itchy business suit). It might seem hard to believe, but once upon a time, they were also fantasising about their future career, and with some hard work, they made it.
Welcome to How I Got Here, HerCanberra’s series that reveals everything you want to know about the secrets of career success. This week, Dr Kelly Teagle talks about her journey from the military to founding WellFemme Telehealth menopause clinic, which has just won the Telstra Best of Business award for ACT in the Championing Health category and is in the running for a national award on 20 November.
Existential crisis time: Who are you and what do you do?
I’ve spent a lot of therapy hours and dollars on part one of that question!
Simple answer: I’m Kelly Teagle- a midlife woman, mother, partner, world traveller, loyal friend, lifelong learner, GP, women’s health advocate, and menopause expert.
In my professional life, I created the WellFemme Telehealth menopause clinic back in 2018 and am now the CEO and Clinical Director (as well as seeing my menopausal patients). I’m proud to say that WellFemme now has 20 clinicians and has helped thousands of women around Australia.
Let’s go back to when you were a kid, have you always dreamed of working in this industry?
OMG, no… I NEVER knew what I wanted to do when I grew up! I was quite academic as a kid but then dithered around in senior high school dating boys and rebelliously underperforming, so I didn’t get great marks in the HSC.
I ended up at the Australian Defence Force Academy straight out of school… big mistake. It was not a nice place in 1986: lots of sexism, bullying and harassment. I left after six months to live with my boyfriend in a Deakin bedsitter and work in a bank.
Years later I did a science degree, rejoined Defence and worked as a fighter jet controller (as you do!) before eventually applying for medical school. Medicine wasn’t even my first choice, but I couldn’t get into the courses for occupational therapy or physio at the time. I started medical school when I was 29 years old.
Tell us about when you were first starting out, what set a fire in your belly to get here and how did you do it?
After leaving Defence I worked in general practice here in Canberra. I became very interested in women’s health and started seeing more and more menopausal patients. At the same time I was fighting my own personal health battles: infertility, pregnancy loss, IVF and finally “elderly” motherhood.
Then my marriage broke down, and there I was: a single mother with two kids under four at the age of 41. I was stressed out, unsupported, and still working as a GP.
There were lots of reasons to feel irritable and emotional in that situation, but perimenopause never crossed my mind… In fact, I don’t think that term had even been invented back in 2010. I had a Mirena IUD so I didn’t have any periods to provide visual cues about my cycle, but when I finally started having hot flushes at 42, I finally put it together; this was an unexpectedly early menopause!
As a women’s health doctor, I was shocked that I hadn’t recognised what was happening to me; I also realised how difficult it would be for the average non-medical woman to recognise. This was where my passion for helping women understand the menopausal transition really began.
Helping menopausal women in my practice was really rewarding, because it was so easy to really make their lives and health better with simple treatment. The idea for a Telehealth menopause clinic was born from the realisation that I barely ever needed to physically examine my menopausal patients, so I could provide a very thorough service just by video or phone. So why wasn’t anyone doing that?
The idea nagged at me until finally in 2018, after a traumatic breakup, I threw myself into the blissful distraction of setting up my side-hustle online clinic.
Recall a time when you wanted to chuck it all in; what did you tell yourself when it got too hard?
In the first couple of years it was really tough going. After all the effort of setting up the online systems to see patients by Telehealth, and then trying to get the word out about the service, it was still viewed with great suspicion. This was pre-COVID remember… Real doctors didn’t do medicine online! The kids and I literally did a little happy-dance celebration every time I got a patient, which was fairly rare.
When I got discouraged, I made a pact with myself: I’ll give it five years. If it’s not going anywhere by then, I’ll walk away, but at least I will have helped some people along the way.
What was your biggest break?
COVID! Government did years’ worth of work in just a few weeks to support Telehealth, and all of a sudden everyone was forced to accept it as a normal (and valuable) way of accessing medical care. Medicare rebates soon followed, making it more affordable for patients too.
I also had some lucky breaks with media attention that helped to stimulate bookings, like an appearance on 60 Minutes in 2021.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“Back Yourself”. There were times when my internal alert was going off, warning me that a particular person, situation or deal wasn’t quite right, and it’s always dead on. Trust those instincts… stay the course.
What is it about your industry that you love, and what makes you want to pull your hair out?
I LOVE the beautiful patients who trust me to guide them through this important life stage, and I love that it creates opportunities for educating them about how their body and mind are changing. There is so much potential to help women achieve years more healthful, joyful living with the right interventions at midlife.
I really pull my hair out about the unnecessary spats that play out between various menopause “authorities” online. FFS, we all want the same thing – better healthcare for women – so let’s support each other in our mission to support women.
Tell us how you ‘stay in the know.’ What media do you consume?
I follow all the popular menopause and aging experts on social media, like Marie Claire Haver, Louise Newson, Kelly Casperson and Vonda Wright. I also follow lesser-known but equally knowledgeable Australian colleagues like Dr Ceri Cashell, Prof Sue Davis and the Jean Hailes organisation, and podcasts like Sonya Lovell’s Dear Menopause.
I read nearly every menopause book that comes out. Dr Ginni Mansberg’s The M Word and Dr Kelly Casperson’s The Menopause Moment are personal faves.
I also attend menopause conferences and educational events, of course, as well as presenting some.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Semi-retired with any luck, living at the coast and overseas with my partner in exotic locations. We hope to continue WellFemme’s growth trajectory so that we can employ others to run the business, which would leave me free to travel more and (finally) pursue some hobbies but still see my patients for as long as I’d like.
Why should people follow in your footsteps?
If you follow your passions with persistent determination, then you can’t fail; every day you get to spend doing what you love is a win.
What advice would you give your past self?
Invest in gold, aim for strong over skinny, stand up for yourself more, trust your instincts… and tell mum to go back on HRT!
