Period Story

On today's episode of Period Story podcast, I’m so pleased to share my conversation with Amy Peake, the founder of the charity Loving Humanity, which she founded in 2014 with the aim of helping women in war zones by alleviating the health problems associated with a lack of good quality and affordable menstrual pads. Since then, her work has helped to restore dignity and create social uplift for thousands of women in some of the most war-ravaged parts of the world. And crucially, allowed thousands of menstruating girls who would not normally have access to school to receive an education.

Amy and I had a wonderful conversation about the cultural impact of menstruation, disposable vs reusable menstrual pads, how Amy has been educating herself about her menstrual cycle and hormones and of course, Amy also shared the story of her first period.

Amy shares what made her decide to come off the pill and the changes she’s seen in her body. She says having a period without any pain was a revelation!

Amy talks about the importance of menstrual health education and awareness and the impact this is having on her 3 daughters and also how this extends to Loving Humanity.

We talked about Amy’s charity Loving Humanity and the powerful work it is doing in Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe to make and distribute menstrual pads and nappies to women and girls. Amy shares the story of what inspired her to start this charity and shares some of ways the charity has been able to empower women through employment, menstrual health education and support.

We had a very candid discussion about the impact access to menstrual pads can have on girls and their ability to stay in education. Amy also talked about disposable vs reusable menstrual pads and how access to water and lack of privacy makes reusables mostly a non-starter.

Amy says that she feels passionate about what she does because she wants women and girls to rise up and realise their power 💪🏽

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Amy:

Website:

http://lovinghumanity.org.uk/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/loving_humanity

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Loving_Humanity

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/LovingHumanityUK

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's episode of Period Story podcast, I was so pleased to speak with Mandy Manners. Mandy is a mindset and recovery coach who coaches women to harness their decision to go sober, to pivot from surviving to thriving in all areas of their lives. She's also a co-founder of Love Sober, a hub for one to one coaching, workshops and community, and hosts The Love Sober podcast with Kate Baily.

Mandy and I had a wonderful conversation about the impact of alcohol on women, the role the menstrual cycle plays in alcohol addiction, and of course, Mandy also shared the story of her first period.

Mandy shared the moment in her thirties when she felt she really learned about her period and the effect this change had on her.

Mandy talked candidly about the impact going sober had on her period and menstrual cycle. She also shared fascinating research around the points in our menstrual cycle where we will potentially be more triggered to drink alcohol. Have a listen to hear Mandy talk through an insightful example of a woman who planned her alcohol recovery treatment around her menstrual cycle.

Mandy talks about the steps women who are struggling with their alcohol consumption can take to get a better sense of control. She says that support and community is so important, as well as having an open mind about changing their habits and I completely agree!

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Mandy:

Website:

https://www.lovesober.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mandy.lovesober.coach/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/lovesoberpodcast

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/lovesoberpod

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of Period Story Podcast, I was so pleased to speak with Zachi Brewster. Zachi is a sex & pleasure educator, abortion & miscarriage doula and a freelance community manager for reproductive wellbeing organisations.

We had a wonderful conversation about Zachi’s work, her first period story and how she learned about what is normal for her when it comes to her period.

She says that tracking and sharing about her period and menstrual cycle on Instagram has opened up her understanding. She says that IG’s the first app she’s used to diligently track her period, which she found very surprising.

Zachi says that she’s reduced her resistance to herself and the friction she felt towards her period. She says her doula training helped her drop this resistance and change her mindset around her period.

Zachi talks about her work as an abortion and miscarriage doula, which is so fascinating. She says these experiences can impact us years down the line and it’s so important to talk and get support so you can move forwards.

Finally, Zachi talks about her work as a sex and pleasure educator. She says that pleasure is a huge part of sex and that we need to talk about this more. She believes we’re doing young people a disservice by not talking about pleasure during sex education lessons.

Zachi says that it’s so important to take the time to understand yourself and how you can apply this understanding into different areas of your life: your menstrual cycle, your diet, your mood, your energy and I completely agree!

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Zachi:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/zaz.brw

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's episode of Period Story podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Lina Chan, the founder and CEO of Adia, a digital health platform empowering women through their fertility journey.

Lina shared her fertility journey which led to three children and two angel babies and said this is what inspired her to start her company.

We discussed the story of Lina’s first period, with Lina explaining that because she comes from a conservative Asian family, nobody had talked to her about what to expect. She said found her period embarrassing and shocking, especially growing up in Brazil, where swim classes were held year round in school.

Lina describes the life changing moment when she discovered how she could hide her period. She says now this is one of the taboos she aims to break down with her company, Adia.

We had a very honest discussion about breaking down the taboo of discussing miscarriage. Lina says that women shouldn’t underestimate the impact that miscarriage can have emotionally and that it’s very important to talk about it and seek the support you think you need.

Lina says that we should celebrate our bodies and I completely agree!

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Lina:

Website:

https://adiahealth.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/adia_health/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/adiahealth/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/adia_health

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's episode of Period Story podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Shiona Redmond, the founder and CEO of Graces London, a CBD cannabinoid skin care and wellness brand. April is Adenomyosis awareness month, and I'm so happy that Shiona was able to share her journey to getting diagnosed and what she does to manage this condition, alongside running a business and raising two daughters.

Shiona shares the story of her first period at 12 years old. She talks about how disappointing it was and how it didn’t compare to what her friends were experiencing. She says that she was really lucky that her mum and school were really good about talking to her about the changes that were happening to her body.

Shiona talks about her journey to getting diagnosed with adenomyosis, after years of heavy, painful periods and digestive issues. She said that she spent years thinking that her period was supposed to be like that and she just needed to cope.

It was only after a trip to A&E with breakthrough pain that Shiona realised that her periods weren’t supposed to be so painful. Listen to hear the moment where she decided she wasn’t going to be fobbed off by doctors any longer and how she advocated for herself to get a proper diagnosis.

Shiona talks about her passion for CBD and the power of the endocannabinoid system in promoting internal balance and how she’s used this as a tool, alongside healthy eating and lifestyle to manage adenomyosis.

Shiona is very kindly offering listeners a free sample of the CBD oil to try for yourselves. Go to

http://www.graceslondon.com to get your sample.

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Shiona:

Website:

http://www.graceslondon.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/graceslondon

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the latest episode of Period Story podcast, I was so pleased to speak to Molly Fenton, the 17 year old Welsh campaigner who started a movement to help people love periods, called aptly, the Love Your Period campaign.

Molly shares the story of her first period at just 8 years old in year 4. She said because she was so young, she didn’t really understand what was happening and wasn’t prepared.

Molly says that starting the Love Your Period campaign motivated her to better educate herself about periods and menstrual health. Listen to hear what Molly was surprised to learn is and isn’t normal.

Molly talks about the work she’s been in doing in schools in Cardiff to educate different year groups on menstrual health. Molly also shares how she been campaigning the Welsh government to improve menstrual health education in schools across Wales.

Inspired by the work of Amika George campaigning for free periods in England, we talked about how Molly started a campaign asking menstrual product companies to remove the plastic in their products.

Molly talks about the change in her periods after she switched to plastic free products from brands like Time of The Month and Hey Girls. She says that her allergic reactions stopped and her period pain drastically reduced.

Molly says everyone should know that periods are normal and that no matter how much we try to ignore them, they are always going to be there, so the best thing that we can do is accept them and learn to love them. I completely agree!

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Molly:

Petition:

https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-make-period-product-manufacturers-put-ingredients-on-product-packaging-when-being-sold-in-the-uk

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/loveyourperiod/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/loveyourperiod/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/loveyourperiod1

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Endometriosis Awareness Month and for the 13th episode of Period Story, I was so pleased to speak to Jasmin Harsono, a reiki master and teacher, sonic artist, intuitive wellbeing guide and founder of Emerald and Tiger. Jasmin shares her 20 year journey to getting an endometriosis diagnosis.

Jasmin talked about feeling like her first period was very strange and unnatural. She said that she was able to piece together what was happening to her from conversations with friends and then just got on with it.

Jasmin shares the journey she’s been on with her period, menstrual health and wellbeing. She says that she now feels very empowered by her period and feels the wisdom and power in it.

Jasmin says that it took her over 20 years of tests, back and forth with her doctors and a trip to A&E to get a formal endometriosis diagnosis. She says this has empowered her to share her period story so that others don’t have to go through what she did.

She says that sharing her story has helped others, when they’ve discovered their symptoms are similar to hers, to reach out to their GP and get help. Jasmin says that anyone with period problems needs to keep going back to their GPs until they get referred or the support they deserve.

Finally, Jasmin talks about her work as a reiki master and how this has affected her relationship with her period. She says that having awareness of universal energy within has helped her get unstuck emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally. Listen to hear the beautiful reiki treatments Jasmin gives herself everyday.

Jasmin says that we should share our period stories to help empower others and help break taboos around menstrual health and I completely agree!

#periodstory #periodstorypodcast

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Jasmin:

Website:

https://www.emeraldandtiger.com

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/emeraldandtiger

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/emeraldandtiger

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the 12th episode of Period Story Podcast, I was honoured to speak with Toral Shah. Toral is a nutritional scientist, functional medicine practitioner, food & health writer & consultant and the founder of The Urban Kitchen.

Toral shared how a family holiday to Egypt ended in a surprise from her first period and how supportive her mum was. She says her mum had made sure to educate her about menstruation beforehand, so when it arrived, it wasn’t a complete shock.

She said her mum’s openness helped her see her period and menstrual health in a matter of fact way, which was quite different to her friends.

Toral shared her experience of medical menopause after her breast cancer treatment. She shared the side effects she experienced and how she believes more needs to be done to help women with the side effects of breast cancer drugs.

Toral says that more women need proper education on what menopause and perimenopause actually is and how it can affect them. She says that many doctors aren’t educated in menopause, unless they have specialist menopause certification and believes this needs to change.

We also had a great discussion about the lack of diversity in healthcare, health and wellbeing. Toral talked through research by Dr. Adrienne Milner that shows that BAME community isn’t being represented effectively at consultant levels, which means that they aren’t necessarily being reflected in policies and structures.

Toral says that we need to listen to ourselves, our bodies and give ourselves what we need and I completely agree!

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Toral:

Website:

https://www.theurbankitchen.co.uk

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/theurbankitchen

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/urbankitchenlondon

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/urbankitchen

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to season 2 of Period Story podcast!

For the 11th episode of Period Story Podcast, I had a wonderful conversation with Angelica Malin, the editor in chief of About Time magazine and the founder of About Time Academy.

Angelica talks about why she was so shocked and appalled by her first period and how poorly prepared she felt for it. She says for her, getting her period signalled the start of a horrible time of discomfort.

We discussed the shame Angelica attached to her period and how talking about periods at school almost felt like a curse word. She says that in her mixed sixth-form college, women’s hormones were used against them as a way to call them out as crazy and this created a lot of stigma and shame around periods. Angelica says that the real turning point in her being comfortable talking about her period and menstrual cycle was in her last long term relationship. Have a listen to hear the very funny term her ex gave her period and how having a laugh about it made her feel much more at ease.

We also talked about creating safe spaces in the workplace and the need to have more senior women to help make decisions that are made with women in mind. Angelica says that she’s created a culture in her business and team where they can talk openly about periods and how they’re feeling. Angelica says that big companies could do a lot more to make women feel comfortable at work and to encourage a happier workplace culture, like providing free tampons and pads at work and menstrual leave.

We chatted about all the innovation in femtech, including brands like Moody, Ohne, Daye, Freda and Elvie that are creating high quality female focused products. Angelica talked about her experience speaking to female founders who are trying to raise investment and the trouble they have when speaking to male VCs. She says we need more women to be starting businesses and more female VC. Angelica says that it’s so important for us to define our own version of what success looks like.

Angelica says that it’s important for us to be a friend to ourselves and speak to yourself as you would a friend and I completely agree!

If you want to hear more from Angelica, check out her event, She Started It Live, the 13th and 14th March in London.

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcripts can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Angelica:

Website:

https://www.abouttimemagazine.co.uk

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/abouttimemag/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/abouttimemag

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/abouttimemag

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the tenth episode of Period Story Podcast, I had a wonderful conversation with Lauren Derrett, the founder of Wear ‘Em Out reusable period pads.

Lauren shared the shame she felt about her first period and why she kept it a secret. She shares a funny song her friends used to sing and says that her friends used to joke about periods, but that she couldn’t remember any proper menstrual health education.

Lauren credits her 15 year old daughter for giving her the impetus to learn more about menstrual health. She says that she knew that her daughter needed to be better educated than her in this area and more equipped to deal with her period when it arrived.

We talked about periods as a feminist issue and Lauren says that we are duty bound to educate and support each other in order to make this a normal conversation and share our knowledge.

Lauren talks about how she tracks her menstrual cycle, notices the shifts in her energy and how she’s got her husband to pay attention to where she is in her cycle. Wonderful!

Lauren uses a powerful mantra, that she’s passed on to her daughter, that helps her reconnect with her body and feel more grounded. She says that she maximises her self-care right before her period and allows herself a timeout.

We discuss Lauren’s new reusable menstrual pad company, @wearemout and she shares some powerful statistics about disposable menstrual waste and the chemicals in them.

She says that each year, over 200,000 tonnes of menstrual waste is sitting in landfills, each disposable pad has the equivalent plastic of 4 carrier bags and 4.8 pieces of menstrual waste is being found in every 100 metres of beaches. Don’t flush your pads and tampons!

Lauren says it’s so important for us to educate ourselves on the menstrual health products we’re using and I completely agree!

Get in touch

Tweet and IG: @periodstorypod

Email

[email protected]

Show notes and transcript can be found at

http://www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch with Lauren:

Website:

https://www.wearemout.co.uk/

Instagram:

http://www.instagram.com/wearemout

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/wearemoutpads

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Wearemoutpads

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

Email 

[email protected]

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.