Exclusive: Hilarie Burton Wants 'People to Understand That Aging Is a Gift': 'My Job Is to Set an Example'

Hilarie Burton has always marched to the beat of her own drum — from embracing her gray hair to talking about important issues — and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"I want people to understand that aging is a gift, and you can still look really hot and you can still be really powerful the older you get," the One Tree Hill star, 42, exclusively tells Morning Honey while talking about OLLY, which added a new product to its women’s wellness line — Mellow Menopause, a supplement designed to help women navigate the mental and physical challenges of menopause.

"In your 20s, you're experimenting. You're trying out new identities, you're searching for your place, and in your 30s, you might have found what you're working toward and you're ambitious and your drive is there. Your 40s, for me, are about ownership," she adds. "Now my job is to set an example. I want every women in her 40s to be proud of what she's accomplished for the first two decades of adulthood — but know you're not done."

Since the actress — who shares son Augustus “Gus” and daughter George with husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan — has been "pushing buttons for a long time," it was no surprise when she decided to stop coloring her hair.

"It was really good for my hairdresser since I started posting about it," she quips. "Now every woman in our community that wants to go gray comes to her to start to grow it out and lighten it up. She's become the gray specialist of our town, and I so appreciate that people feel bold enough to be themselves. I was with my husband during his gray transition, and nobody commented on it!"

"That was part of the reason I wanted to do it for women," she continues. "I got to see how much sexier he was and how much people applauded him for getting older. Instead of asking for that treatment, I demanded it."

The mom-of-two is all about embracing this time in her life, so she was surprised when she started to experience menopause in her 40s.

"I just felt so many women my age were being made to feel delusional," she says of the change. "Or that they were at fault for what was naturally happening to their body, and so I love that there are women in their 50s and 60s talking about it. I think it's just as important for women in their 40s to be like, 'Hey babes, we're part of that club, too.'"

"The more we talk about it, the more brands are going to respond," she says of speaking out. "The more our workplaces are going to take care of us — and our families will take care of us because we can't get help until we let people know that we need it."

Now, Burton wants to make everyone aware of OLLY's new product Mellow Menopause, which is formulated to support all stages of menopause, providing multi-symptom relief for hot flashes, night sweats, mood, fatigue and sleep with two essential ingredients.

"I started experiencing symptoms, and I would drop that information to see if anyone else was having that problem, too. I would say, 'I think I'm starting menopause,' and everybody would be like, 'You're too young.' What that does is it stigmatizes women. It makes you feel like a freak show, so then you keep it a secret," she says.

"Once I started staking my claim, I asserted that I was going through it, and these other women started speaking up. They're like, 'I'm 41, I'm 39, I'm 42.' Rather than keep quiet and wait until we are in full-blown menopause and its miserable, we can take steps now, resulting in us having a much better experience as we go through this inevitable situation," she notes.

Since Burton's best friend is a doctor, she helped her manage her symptoms, but when OLLY's Mellow Menopause came out, she was excited because it's "getting to the root of the symptoms, rather than treat the root of them," she explains. "Your hormone levels are always going to be in flux and so treating things like hot flashes and fatigue and these things that can tear us apart is so important. I started taking it, and it was a pretty immediate response to my body. My night sweats went away, I slept through the night."

"The first time I slept through the night I was baffled," she says. "Because my husband's been telling me stories for years about me waking up furious. He's like, 'You wake up mad!' I'm like, 'Because I'm sweating!' OLLY also treats the entire family. I already had a countertop full of things for my kids — you've got your immunity gummies, my kids have their multivitamin and the happiness gummies. When they launched the line, I knew it was a product I could trust. It felt natural. When it worked, I was like, 'I have to tell everyone.'"

Now that Burton is able to get a good night's sleep, she wakes up in a good mood and "is functional throughout the day."

"If you're getting enough rest, it means you're happy at work," she adds. "You're happy at home, and you're happy in your body. I want women to adopt that version of success. It's not about being the teenager that was on the teen drama forever [referring to One Tree Hill]. There's an exception to look like that forever. There's that misconception when you hit menopause, you might as well retire. You're done for, it's the beginning of the end. I joked with my girlfriend that once you're done with menopause, that's when you get to start living — and not have to worry about a period or getting pregnant. It's the beginning of that freedom."

Mellow Menopause joins OLLY’s women’s wellness line alongside Women’s Multi, Beat the Bloat, Happy Hoo-Ha, Lovin’ Libido, and more to support women in all aspects of life. Mellow Menopause can currently be found on OLLY.com and Amazon.