Podcasts about Lunapads

If you've ever felt like you should be doing more to make the world a better place but didn't know where to start, this one's for you.In this episode, we sit down with Madeline Shaw, social entrepreneur, feminist leader, and author of The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World.From founding Lunapads (now Aisle) to building inclusive business ecosystems, Madeline shares the real talk on how to build a mission-driven business, even if you don't have funding, confidence, or a clue where to start.You'll learn:The mindset shifts every social entrepreneur needsHow to find “the others” who care as much as you doWhy your personal story is your business planThe power of asking for help (and how to do it well)Real talk on burnout, imposter syndrome & building sustainable venturesWhether you're launching an app, a nonprofit, a sustainable product, or simply exploring what's next, this episode will leave you saying: “Maybe I can.”

Madeleine Shaw (she/her) is a feminist entrepreneur and writer based on unceded Coast Salish territory (Vancouver, BC). She is best known as the co-founder of Aisle (formerly Lunapads), one of the first groundbreaking ventures in the world to commercialize reusable menstrual products. In her first book, The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World, she offers encouraging tips and reflections for aspiring impact-based entrepreneurs. She is passionate about creatively deploying the tools of business in service of social change, drawing inspiration from natural growth patterns as ways to build regenerative organizations, and neo-sobriety culture and discourse. Madeleine is incredibly creative, compassionate, and curious. She truly embodies what it means to be a lifelong learner. You will be inspired by Madeleine and her commitment to social entrepreneurship and her initiatives to support everyday people who want to change the world.    Listen in as we talk about: What is sustainable menstrual equity? Madeleine breaks down what this is exactly, and why it's so important when it comes to social change. Why does this conversation matter right now? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you need menstrual products and don't have access to them? Madeleine shares how triggering this can be and why we need to address it. Why Madeleine wrote her book. We get a behind-the-scenes look at why Madeleine wrote her book, and the impact it's making globally.    Connect with Madeleine: Websites:https://periodaisle.cahttps://madeleineshaw.ca/ LinkedIn: Madeleine Shaw  Instagram: @greatergoodbook  @periodaisle Medium: https://medium.com/@madeleineshawgreatergood   Shared by Madeleine: Satya Organic: https://satya.ca Book: Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown    Connect with Tiana: Website: https://tianafech.com LinkedIn: Tiana Fech Instagram: @tianafech  Facebook: @tianafech  Book: Online Course Creation 101: A step-by-step guide to creating your first online course    WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE MENSTRUAL EQUITY Menstrual equity is a concept coined by Jennifer Weiss-Wolf in 2015 that advocates for the fair and equitable distribution of menstrual products, education, and information to those who need them. As we know, the menstrual cycle is a fundamental part of human reproduction, yet it is often stigmatized and shamed within our society. As Madeleine explains, menstrual equity aims to provide support and dignity for those who experience periods and require products, privacy, medication, education, and information.  It encompasses both material and mindset changes. Materially, it looks like free provision of menstrual products in public bathrooms. Mentally, it involves de-stigmatization and education. Sustainable menstrual equity considers the environment and long-term viability, aiming for a permanent, universal solution that is not disposable and doesn't contribute to landfill waste. Madeleine also shares that disposables like pads and tampons take up to 500 years to biodegrade and are made of up to 90% plastic – an unbelievable statistic.  Menstrual equity is a crucial concept that values and supports a core feature of human biology. By providing fair and equitable access to menstrual products, education, and information to all parties involved, we can help to destigmatize periods, support those who need it, and contribute to a more sustainable future. WHY THIS CONVERSATION MATTERS RIGHT NOW To date, menstruation has yet to be normalized, despite efforts to improve the stigma. As Madeleine explains, legislation, such as that of the BC government, and countries like Scotland are beginning to declare menstrual products as necessary and should be made available for free to all citizens.  Also, universities in Canada have started providing reusable menstrual products for free to their students. As we discuss,

Madeleine Shaw is the Co-founder and Director of Partnerships and Impact at Aisle (formerly Lunapads), the #1 B Corporation in North America for sustainable period care products. Lunapads was one of the first ventures in the world to commercialize natural menstrual care, now a thriving industry. Madeleine has also championed initiatives for public institutions to include free access to safe and sustainable menstrual care products to address gender equity, poverty, and climate concerns. With 28 years of experience as a social entrepreneur, she is the author of The Greater Good, a guide to starting your own social impact initiative. Madeleine is also the Founder and Chief Community Officer of Nestworks, a family-friendly, co-working space and community.

In this conversation, Madeleine Shaw jolts our current reality and encourages us to question everything for the betterment of humanity. In this honest discussion, Madeleine awakens your feminine warrior and does so in the most welcoming, inclusive and generative way - from embracing your menstrual cycle, to thinking about the impact of the products you're using, to growing a business that aligns with the natural laws and makes a social difference.  What's in this episode for you: An example of a human who knows herself The most honest life journey I've ever heard The experience of menarche unpacked and repackaged in love Period poverty and menstrual equity and a call to action around period care  A candid look at the waste and cost associated with menstrual products and a new solution An inside look at Madeleine's book that defines entrepreneurship for our time Contribute to being the change by becoming a CoC Supporter - click here to sign up! Who's with us in circle: Meet Madeleine Shaw, a social entrepreneur and author based on unceded Coast Salish territory. She is the co-founder of Aisle (formerly Lunapads), one of the first groundbreaking ventures in the world to popularize reusable menstrual products. In her first book, The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World, she offers a candid, personal look at the realities of change-making. Find Madeleine Shaw and her amazing work at these links: https://madeleineshaw.ca https://periodaisle.com/ https://nestworks.space/ Her book - The Greater Good - Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World For all the resources Madeleine shares, head to the website for this episode. Pick up the talking piece: What came up for you as you listened to this episode? I'd love to hear your experiences with any of the reflections and exercises. Send me an email at podcast@humconsulting.ca. Gratitude:  Circle of Change is recorded on lək̓ʷəŋən territories. Be the change by becoming a Circle of Change Supporter. Learn more at www.humconsulting.ca/donate Our opening and closing music was created by the talented E-Rol Beats. You can find his creations at www.erolbeats.com My fabulous podcast coach, Mary Chan of Organized Sound Productions, brought this podcast to life www.organizedsound.ca

Social Entrepreneurship and the Everyday EntrepreneurMadeleine Shaw is a multiple award-winning social entrepreneur and author based on unceded Coast Salish territory (Vancouver BC). She is best known as the co-founder of Aisle (formerly Lunapads), one of the first groundbreaking ventures in the world to commercialize reusable menstrual products, today a thriving industry. In 2014, she founded G Day, a national event series for tween girls and their supporters, and in 2017 she founded Nestworks, a family-friendly coworking community. In her upcoming first book, The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World, she offers encouraging tips and reflections for aspiring impact-based entrepreneurs.CLICK HERE to learn more from the Create Velocity Podcast.Support the show (http://entrepreneursvelocity.com/join/)

Aine 0:00 This podcast has been produced in partnership with Diva International (makers of the DivaCup) and Media One Creative. This is Pandora's Box: a podcast that is on a mission to uncover how periods affect the lives of those that experience them around the globe. Join us as we travel the world to find real stories by real women and people who menstruate, who are championing change and bringing light to the global impact of menstruation. I'm Aine,  Cait 0:27 and I'm Cait, your hosts.Cait 0:32 Today, we're talking about the future of menstrual products. From using nothing, to rags, pads, tampons, and menstrual cups, the innovation of period products has made it easier and more hygienic for people to be on their periods. I have used tampons, and panty liners, and I didn't really love them. And I was introduced to menstrual cups, but that was when my period started getting super light. So I really liked the menstrual cup, it was so easy, but it just didn't make sense for me at that point in time. So I've been using period panties, which I love because I don't really have to do much, just wash them like normal underwear. And they're great for a super light flow and I don't really have to think about them at all.Aine 1:17 I remember starting out when I was first got my period, like tampons were kind of like a risqué item that nobody really used, I guess. And I remembered there was all this talk at school and you remember learning about periods and everyone would say, "Oh, tampons give you toxic shock syndrome." But then out of necessity, I started using tampons at some point. But I discovered, through this journey actually, the menstrual cup. And it really is a life-changing product. You never really need to think about your period. Conversations around periods have always felt like a dirty little secret. Nobody talks about it. It's just something that happens every month.Cait 1:52 To understand further, we brought in Elissa Stein, who's a menstrual cultural historian, to talk about the struggles women have had with products in the past.Elissa Stein  2:01 I spoke to some people in the Midwest in their 80s. And they said they still remember boiling parties. Every Monday in their town, they have a big iron pot and they bring all their dirty rags and just wash them and the men would leave for the day. And that's how the women in their community took care of things. But it's hard to even find folklore about that because it really is so secretive. You know, the thing about menstruation is that it is always been a shameful, dirty secret. People didn't write about it; people didn't talk about it. And until products came onto the market in the early 1920s, late 1910s, there was nothing about it out there at all. Another thing to keep in mind is traditional underwear wasn't a thing until the 20th century. So there's no way you can even put a pad. And it was when that came into being that sort of changed options for women as well. But women just didn't wear underwear. So mostly the stuff sort of went on to the back of whatever layers you were wearing. And then women would wash things out in cold water in a tub.Aine 2:59 Although products have advanced since the 80s, in the modern day, we still struggle with our period products. There are chemicals and pads and tampons which can lead to toxic shock syndrome. Plus, the amount of waste that comes with having a period is simply unsustainable.Elissa Stein  3:16 I think that for a lot of women, as we are taking more ownership of the process and of our bodies and as the conversation is growing, are looking for alternatives from these heavily-packaged, expensive products that fill landfills, that are not biodegradable, that contain bleach, which isn't healthy for our bodies. So something like a menstrual cup is a really smart option for women who just want to take a different path.Cait 3:42 Carinne Chambers, the CEO and Founder of Diva International, is a champion for menstrual cups. But menstrual cups weren't invented recently. Carinne talks us through their winding history and why cups didn't catch on as soon as they were invented.Carinne Chambers-Saini  3:57 So the history of menstrual cups is really interesting. There have been versions of menstrual cups kind of noted in history, probably for 1000s of years. I mean, this is not a new problem or a new condition that we have to deal with. Women have used sponges and different kinds of collection-type devices for a long time. But the first cup that was commercialized was in the 1930s. And it was patented by a woman in the U.S. named Leona Chalmers and she patented the very first. And they were very industrial, definitely rubber, like a harder rubber type device. And there was probably a good five, six versions that were marketed from the 1930s to the 1970s. There was one in the 1950s called the 'Tassaway', there was the 'Tassette', but one of them was actually a cup, but you disposed of it. And that one actually had gained some popularity at the time and was actually commercialized. And I think what happened is just that whole age of the 50s, where everything had to be proper and clean. And that was like cleaning products, you had to bleach and destroy everything. And it was just women weren't really using as many internal products. Still, pads were the primary products. So I don't think they really ever took off. And it really wasn't until we started doing the DivaCup, and really hitting it hard and trying to create this education and bring it mainstream. And that's one of the things. I think being a pioneer in this category was so difficult and so challenging. There wasn't really anything on the market that had really made it into mainstream. And without being mainstream, without being on the shelf, it would not have been accepted if we could have sold it forever online as a kind of niche product. But the category would not be where it is, without the work that we did in building the distribution. That key point is really I think what snowballed and created this and disrupted this whole industry and created this category. It was there all along. It's just no one had really had any success in mainstreaming the concept.Aine 6:45 Hiding our periods feeds into the menstrual stigma that has existed for centuries, in combination with the vague language around menstrual cups. It created a confusing message for what people are putting into their bodies.Cait 6:57 Today, the menstrual cup has changed lives. People are seeing real benefits to alternatives in the market and realizing that some products aren't as healthy as they appear.Carinne Chambers-Saini  7:05 It was funny because I think when we first started working with one of our agencies, they sent us this document and it said, you know, "We're not claiming that the DivaCup changes lives." And I was like, "That is changing. We have to take that out." I was so upset because the DivaCup changes lives. It really does. And that's not marketing speak, or I'm trying to say that. That is from years and years of what our customers are saying, what they're telling. In my own experience, it changed my life. It really did. Carinne Chambers-Saini  7:39 When we found out about the original cups, and the materials, and they were actually made out of this natural gum rubber. Those products have nitrosamines, which is type of protein that creates allergic reactions, commonly known as latex. And you can develop an allergy with exposed and continued exposure to it. So it's not really ideal material used. So it took a lot of research. Like I honestly didn't know anything when we started. We just loved the concept. And we knew it needed to be modernized. But I had just graduated and I was like, "We need to make the best product that we can make." And through trial and error and doing our research, we figured out that silicone really is, it's the safest material. It's been used for over 50 years, and in lots of medical applications, especially when you use a high-grade medical silicone. We didn't want to put any coloring or pigments or dyes because those molecules are not always permanently bound to the silicone molecules and they can leak out of the material into the body. So our goal was really to create the safest, most natural product. Really, silicone comes from sand. It comes from the earth. And it's not a chemical, like it is a chemical, but it's not a man-made chemical. We felt that it was the best as far as compatibility to the body. Just talking about menstruation helps to normalize the subject and just making it part of our daily lives. We can't improve people's period experience if the topic is surrounded by so much embarrassment and silence and shame. It's just time. You know, it's we need to have these conversations.Aine 9:35 We're lucky that in the West we have access to healthier alternative products. But that's not the case in other parts of the world. In the global south, for example, many people don't have access to basic menstrual necessities and must resort to creating harmful makeshift products. These alternatives make them more susceptible to disease and infection.Cait 9:54 We chatted with Sarika Gupta, founder and facilitator of Safe N' Happy Periods to talk about how the lack of access to affordable menstrual products is impacting rural areas of India.Sarika Gupta  10:06 You will be really shocked in India, in rural areas, as you would have heard as well they're not really aware of what to use how to use and most of them don't have access to sanitary pads because they're not affordable to them. So they end up using 'rags', not in as in rags, but something like, they would take out cotton from their old pillow and use it for a while. So these kind of habits give rise to diseases like pelvic inflammatory disease, which is a very rampant disease in rural areas. And once you have diseases like these, it becomes very difficult to either conceive or to give birth to a child. So infertility is one very common issue arising out of not keeping menstrual hygiene or using the right product at the right time.Aine 10:57 We also spoke to Sabrina Rubli from Femme International about some of the alternatives people are using in East Africa. Sabrina Rubli  11:07 Some of the alternative methods that we've heard about from girls in both Kenya and in Tanzania are rags which, I mean, women have been doing that for centuries: taking rag, folding it in their underwear, toilet paper, cutting up old clothes, especially the woolen school sweaters that they all have, cutting out foam from their mattresses. But if you think about it, it's like a sponge, and so when you sit on it, the liquid comes out. So when girls actually use that, they say that the when they're in school, they don't sit down during the day. They just stay standing in the back of the classroom to avoid any sort of leaking or anything like that. Other methods that we've come across are trying to wash disposable pads that have already been used, cutting disposable pads in half and just using half at a time, and then more sort of severe methods such as newspaper. We've heard of grass leaves, mud, even. Leaves are not absorbent, mud, not super absorbent either. And if you're using the mattress stuffing, of course it's not going to work very well either. And so it doesn't help girls feel comfortable or confident during the week where they've already sort of been taught that they should feel embarrassed and then there's also the very real health concerns. Those methods are typically very unhygienic when they're using the rags, they're not drying them properly, often because they don't want to hang anything with blood outside. And so they'll put them under their mattresses and dry them and then use them again the next day, but they're still damp and with reusable menstrual products, it's really important that they dry in the sun to kill that bacteria. But that's not always happening because they are afraid to hang them outside, and so it leads to some really serious health concerns, infections, really high rates of UTI, yeast infections, rashes, and different symptoms that can be completely avoided if they have a safe tool to use during their period.Cait 13:06 The fact that people were using the stuffing in their mattress or old clothing even leaves and dirt is really shocking to learn because it's obvious that if you are using mattress stuffing or old clothing as a solution to your period, then you're not given the choices that you deserve for menstrual products. Because it's really harmful to your health to use these alternatives, but it's really the only option in these cases.Aine 13:35 You do what you've got to do because otherwise, you're just going to have to bleed through your clothes and nobody wants to do that. I've been in a situation where I've been caught without product and not even in any way comparing my situation to the situation of some of the people that we met throughout this process. But I did what I had to do in those situations. And that is exactly what the people that we met are doing. They're just doing what they can to get by and some of those alternatives are really unhealthy and some of them are really unhygenic and it's sad that they have to go to that measure in order to just feel like they can be in society and that they can go about their day and do what they need to do. Cait 14:08 In episode two, we talked about government's influence in period poverty. But what are they doing about health issues? Can you promise to provide all school girls with access to menstrual products? But Esther, the women's representative in Kenya, points out that corruption creates several barriers to doing so.Esther Passaris  14:28 Well the thing is, I think it's the way government procures. And corruption really is a major problem in our country. So when we have a big major contract, like sanitary towels: 500 million, and then a billion in a year in the next financial year, you want this to go to a specific person. It's not open tender. You know, for me, if you really wanted to deal with poverty all around, the women groups in India, you've got women groups that are given cottage industries that produce sanitaryware, okay, and we should learn from them. So you create these women groups that are producing sanitaryware, and you get them to supply them to the various schools. And you have an inspector going around to make sure that this group of women, producing this many sanitaries are supplying this many schools. So what happens is that 500 million comes back and goes and takes care of the entire community. So mothers are involved in purchasing sanitary towels for their children and getting educated on it, in distributing it. So for me, the idea that one person probably related to somebody very senior in government, is the one to get this contract. He has no capacity, and he's probably importing it. So you've got massive amounts of money going to one family or two families, instead of going to the community. And when you take it to the community, it's the impact. It's not just empowerment in terms of economics. It's also knowledge for these mothers who now get involved.Aine 15:56 In East Africa, people that menstruate are often coming up with their own solutions, sometimes taking matters into their own hands.Cait 16:03 In 2010, Sophia Grinvalds and her husband started AFRIPads in a rural town in Uganda. AFRIPads is a company that specializes in local manufacturing and global supply of reusable sanitary pads.Sophia Grinvalds  16:15 My husband and I were volunteering in this rural village, and the village had no electricity, no running water. And it was pretty remote for us to even get out there, we would take a taxi from the capital down to the town, then from the town, we'd get on a motorbike taxi, and that motorbike taxi would take us, you know, the 20 kilometers or so out to the village. And so it was pretty remote, there was nowhere to really buy things except from a really small trading center.Sophia Grinvalds  16:22 And so when we came to realize that girls were skipping school, and we, you know, realize that cloth pads could actually be a solution, we started that very day. So the first pad we created was made from the blanket that was on our bed. I will never forget it. It was a black fleece blanket. And we basically just cut a strip off the bottom, traced the shape of a pad inspired by Lunapads, and stitched it up right then and there. There were some women working in the community development project. And they were making uniforms for the school students. And so we brought them the cut pieces of the pad. And we just asked them, you know, "Would you mind stitching this together?" Sophia Grinvalds  17:18 And so we asked a woman who was actually menstruating to take that product home and to try it. And the following Thursday, we sat back down with the woman and that woman shared her experience. And for us, that was the moment we realized that we had made something from local materials. We had produced it on the spot in a village in the middle of nowhere without electricity. And we had instant interest from a group of women and an affirmation when that woman came back that the product had helped her manage her period much more comfortably. Sophia Grinvalds  17:51 One morning, I wasn't there. But it was very early in the morning. And the young Ugandan girl who was working with us was sweeping the front step and a schoolgirl came up in uniform and asked if we had any pads for sale. And Hamidah called us and said, "You know, this girl wants to buy some of our pads. How much, and how many should I give her?" And so we gave her a set of three and sent her off to school. And she came back about a week later with a bunch of friends. And they appeared on the doorstep the same thing: in the morning on the way to school. And they were in the middle of their primary learning exams, which is the end of their primary school. And you have to pass these exams in order to proceed to secondary school. And these girls had come because they realized from the first girls' experience that this might be a way to help them stay in school during that week for those few weeks of exams. Sophia Grinvalds  18:36 And that moment for us was a really affirming one, because it made us realize that we could make something in the village that could provide a really practical solution for these girls. So when we started, we started AFRIPads in this village outside of a town in southwestern Uganda, pretty close to the border of Tanzania. And we started there out of out of chance because it's where we were volunteering. But slowly, as we started to grow, we were committed to creating jobs for local women. And so we felt that that was a way of empowering the community where we were working. And so, as we started and our team started to grow, we realized that it was going to be core to our mission. We wanted to prove that you could create meaningful employment for women, that you could pull them into the formal sector and that you can make a world-class product. Even in a village with no electricity.Aine 19:27 Hundreds of women are employed by AFRIPads, giving them the opportunity to earn an income where they otherwise wouldn't be able to. We interviewed Irene, an inspiring lady who also happens to be one of AFRIPads' very first employees.Irene Nakayima  19:42 I've worked with AFRIPads since 2010. My role has changed over the past two years from being a quality checker of five employees, to a supervisor of around 50 temporaries, and now to general production manager of 105 employees. I'm so proud about the impacts AFRIPads has made to my life as a person, because at the time I joined AFRIPads, I was not working. I'm so proud about the empowerment it gives to me and the employees because most of the staff they employ did not go to school. I contribute taxes to the government, which is pay-as-you-earn, I'm saving for myself, I and my husband, our life, I've saved so much, plus the life of our children, because they are in good schools, we can afford paying their school fees, we have electricity now our home, we are able to build the house. And all of that happened, because after working with AFRIPads, before we were renting, so now we have a house with electricity with running water, we're able to save and buy a car, my children are going to very good schools. So it's AFRIPads that is helping me save and be able to help my family. So I'm so happy. And every time I wake up to come to work, I feel so proud about the impact AFRIPads is making on me, and other people in the community, and employees in general. So AFRIPads has changed the lives of people, as a community, not only employees. Before we did not have electricity. And we got electricity in 2016, that was AFRIPads struggling and fighting and doing all their best to make sure we get electricity. Yeah, women working contributes to the development of the economy of any area. Because I said all our benefits we get from here, we pay taxes. If we're not working with the government, we even have had a chance of us paying taxes. That is already a good one to the economy of the country, because we have portions that we are paying as employees, as women working, we are helping the economy reduce poverty, because we are working and we are earning a living.Cait 22:09 As AFRIPads began to grow, Sophia needed electricity to power their electric sewing machines. Although it seems like a simple task bringing electricity to her company, there wasn't any electricity in the town at all. Sophia petitioned the government to bring electricity to the town and therefore company, and they got it.Sophia Grinvalds  22:30 The girls who work with us earn an income and that income then goes home and empowers them, which is their families. They spend their money locally, they send their kids to the local schools, they buy their produce in the local village trading centers, they commission a local carpenter to make them a bed. So what you start to see is this trickle-down of you know, economic development that starts happening. And that all starts with just each incremental employee that joins the company adds to that trickle-down effect and electricity has come to the village and that's something that has been transformative. Development can only go so far when you don't have basic things like electricity. And so you start to see a rise in the number of shops, diversification of industry that's happening. And so the village is really transforming. So for us deciding to put our factory in this village, it's truly a mission-driven choice.Cait 23:21 AFRIPads is an incredible company that's run by very strong women. They are making a huge change not only in the lives of their employees, but in their community as well. I think it's absolutely incredible that they brought electricity to their town, it was part of solving their own problem of not having electric sewing machines. But it solved a ton of problems in their town as well. People didn't have cold water until they got electricity because they didn't have refrigeration systems. So it was really cool because it could, it created an opportunity for women to sell cold water. They were growing their economy by doing something as simple but also as difficult as bringing electricity to the town.Aine 24:10 I think the future of menstrual products is completely reusable. When I first heard about the DivaCup a few years back, people were very skeptical about it. It was new and people didn't know what to think. But now I see the younger generation: everybody's using reusables. People are a lot more aware of the environment and what they can do to impact climate change. So the future is reusables. I think the attitudes towards it are changing. People are not just going to just accept what has gone before. People are really going to push for change. And I think five years down the line, we will look back and think, "I can't believe we use tampons and pads, and I can't believe we put that much waste in the landfills." I honestly think it's going to be something we look back and say, "I can't believe we did that." In this episode, we've talked about the importance of menstrual products and our health and why it's vital for people to have access to clean and safe menstrual products. We also learned that giving people access to products can increase their wellbeing both physically and mentally.Cait 25:08 In our next episode, we're discussing the lingering stigma around periods. Why is it still a taboo? And where did it all begin? Also, a big thanks to our podcasting team for producing this. This episode was edited by Brittany Nguyen, Alison Osborne and Stephanie Andrews.Aine 25:33 Pandora's Box is also an award-winning feature-length documentary. To find out where to watch the film, you can visit pandorasboxthefilm.com 

During the research for a podcast to promote Thinx Period Panties, Amberadical came across two seperate Thinx scandals that led her down the rabbit holes of period PANTY politics, and where to go from here!Call outs:  NPR (politics of periods), Chapo Traphouse guest Catherine Liu, Former Thinx CEO Miki Agrawal, Current Thinx CEO Maria MollandBrands: Thinx, Sustain, LunaPads, RubyLoveSupport Amberadical and all her projects at www.amberadical.comFind specific info for Sex Without Fear at www.amberadical.com/sexSex Without Fear is on Facebook, Buzzsprout, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and soon Apple Podcasts & Castbox! #feminism #rapeculture #metoo #patriarchy #women #empowerment #activism #sexpositivity #education #rapesurvivor #rapevictim #author #blogger #doula #trigger  #trauma #PTSD #domesticviolence #socialjustice #periodunderwear #transgender #periodinequity #periodpolitics #menstration #reproductiverights #thinx #ChapoTraphouseEnter Sex Without Fear's Giveaway on Instagram @sexwithoutfearSupport the show

This week, our Expert Collective guest is Madeleine Shaw, Co-founder and retired Creative Director of Aisle (formerly Lunapads), a Vancouver-based B Corp dedicated to being the Best Place on Earth to Have Your Period. She started making cloth pads and period underwear in the early 90s and has since enjoyed over 300 disposable-free periods. ⁠ She is also the Founder of G Day, a rite of passage event series for tween girls, and Nestworks, a non-profit startup that integrates coworking and kids. She is currently working on her first book, The Greater Good: Social Entrepreneurship for Everyday People Who Want to Change the World, and enjoys yoga, gardening, and freestyle knitting in her spare time.⁠ In this interview, Madeleine shares her wisdom on identity, creating space for the 'nudges', and how having a strong vision will help you navigate discomfort. ⁠ You're not going to want to miss this conversation, Madeleine is full of wisdom to help you navigate these times of change with grace.⁠ This recording is from one of our weekly ACE Expert Collective Lunch sessions where our community attends live. If you’d like to watch the replay of the presentation and join our member community you can visit www.theacecollective.com/ace-community-membership to join.

Madeleine Shaw is a serial social entrepreneur best known as the Co-Founder of Aisle (previously Lunapads), the best place in the world for sustainable, inclusive periods. Providing safe, effective & sustainable menstrual options designed for comfort.

Today we interview Suzanne Siemens, the co-founder of Lunapads. Suzanne a trained CPA and graduate from the Sauder School of Business. In 2000, she left her corporate career to join forces with Madeleine Shaw to co-found Lunapads, a socially innovative company that specializes in manufacturing healthy and sustainable alternatives to disposable feminine hygiene products and selling them online at lunapasds.com since 1998! In 2017, Suzanne and Madeleine received Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Social Entrepreneurship for their business success and leadership in providing menstrual products to girls and women globally and locally.She has a very unique story in that Lunapads was founded at the same time the Internet began to take off. She was not able to simply "Google it" when she came across questions about her business like all of us can do today. As the Internet grew in popularity, it saved her company. Selling B2C on the Internet became much more profitable than selling B2B to retailers.Today Lunapads is a global ecommerce company, supporting people across the world that has a wealth of knowledge from their 20-year business history. In this episode you will hear the following: How small companies sold products before the InternetHow one company pivoted TO the InternetWhy having extra capital is crucial to running a companyThe importance of knowing your specific target customerWhy you should always listen to your outliersWhat advertising platforms work best for LunapadsWhy you should claim (or reclaim) your brand on AmazonSuzanne gives us so much knowledge, it's hard to pick it all up at one time. You will for sure leave with a better understanding of business and how to sustain & adapt to an ever-changing world. Visit Lunapads on their website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, PinterestContact Brice & Mike here:Major Impact Media (Brice) - Facebook, WebsiteOutside ROI (Mike) - Facebook, Website

Today I'm talking Suzanne Siemens, co-founder of Lunapads, about building a feminist business, busting menstrual stigma and how consumers can activate our buying power to support feminist businesses.  This episode of Heavy Flow is supported by Kelly Diels, feminist marketing consultant and founder of We Are The Culture Makers.  Full Shownotes  Heavy Flow: Breaking the Curse of Menstruation Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list  Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird  

Today on the show I'm talking to Barbara Loomis, a practitioner and educator of abdominal therapies and creator of Nurturance. We discuss the importance of body alignment, how we hold emotion in the body and the benefits of abdominal massage techniques.  This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes  Heavy Flow: Breaking the Curse of Menstruation Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list  Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

Today's conversation is with Suzanne Siemens, co-founder of Lunapads. Suzanne left a stable corporate accounting career after an encounter with her now business partner Madeline, majorly changed her life. Shortly after the meet cute, Suzanne and Madeline launched Lunapads, a menstrual hygiene powerhouse and one of the first on the scene to disrupt a five-billion-dollar industry. Lunapads set out to be the aspiring Patagonia of period products. The brand is thoughtful and inclusive, defining their target market as menstruators to better represent those who are gender non-conforming. Suzanne addresses the ick factor of a business built on bleeding. Learning more about Suzanne’s story and knowing that Lunapads is out there fighting towards menstrual equity on a global-scale is reassuring, inspiring and empowering.

On this episode of en(gender)ed, our guest is CV Harquail, a change agent, author, consultant and retired management professor who works at the intersection of organizational change, feminist praxis, leadership, and digital technology.  We will be talking about her recent book, Feminism: A Key Idea for Business and Society--the first to combine feminism and business. We explore how the ideas in the book craft a vision of work where businesses are profitable, products and work are meaningful, financial returns are consistent and fair, and individuals, communities, and the planet all flourish. CV offers practical tools, useful frameworks, and novel resources for initiating and sustaining real change. For part 2 of our conversation, CV and I referenced the following resources: Bengt Holmstrom and Jean Tirole's paper, "The Theory of the Firm" What is a land acknowledgement? The concept of "oblivious discovery" in which feminist ideas or concepts have been appropriated and reformulated as "new" How Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms' book, "New Power" bro-propriates the concept from Mary Parker Follett, an organizational theory and behavior philosopher and often called the "Mother of Modern Management" and coined the term "power with" rather than "power over" as a way to share power Examples of organizations applying feminist business practices or values to growth including Lunapads, Bumble, Percolab, Basecamp, and Loomio Samantha Slade's book "Going Horizontal: Creating A Non-Hierarchical Organization, One Practice At a Time" The role of the ERA or Equal Rights Amendment in incentivizing businesses to prioritize gender equality and equity in the workplace Andrea Dworkin's ideas about sex and violence The expansion of material and resources to teach and learn about oppression and be anti-racist, beyond the book, "Understanding Everyday Racism:  An Interdisciplinary Theory" by Philomena Essed Be sure to check out Part 1 of our conversation with CV if you haven't heard it already.  We chat about what feminism is and how she expands the definition for business, how businesses can benefit, and current approaches to gender equality in the workplace. --- Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast! Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium. Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable. Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

In this episode of Uncomfortable, we chat with Madeleine Shaw, co-founder of Lunapads. Lunapads is a Vancouver based business that manufactures reusable menstrual products. We discuss period products, myths, shame, period poverty and, so much more! About Our Guest: Madeleine Shaw, the co-founder of Lunapads. Lunapads create reusable alternatives to disposable pads & tampons featuring modern washable cloth pads, magical leak-free period undies, and menstrual cups. Madeleine is not only one part of the driving force behind this powerful ethical brand, she is also the Founder and Creative Director of G Day for Girls, a global social movement where Girls and their Champions can come together to welcome, witness and receive Girls as they enter the next phase of their life journey. I hope that you enjoy our conversation but as always, do note that there is some adult content so when listening, it’s best to pop on those headphones! If you enjoyed our intimate conversation then feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page or rate us highly over on iTunes!   Resources: Find out more about Lunapads by visiting www.lunapads.ca You can follow Lunapads on social media: Instagram @lunapads Twitter @lunapadsFacebook @LunapadsPinterest @lunapads To find out more about GDay visit www.gday.world   Other cool links and articles we touched on in the podcast: Seeking Ceremony – creating ceremony around special events and life milestones. Afripads – leading manufacture and largest commercial supplier across Africa of reusable pads. The Period Promise Campaign – Period Promise campaign by United Way to reduce the isolation created by period poverty, in our own neighbourhoods. The Period Purse – The Period Purse strives to achieve menstrual equity by providing marginalized menstruators with access to free menstrual products, and to reduce the stigma surrounding periods through public education and advocacy. Article: If Men Could Menstruate by Gloria Steinem Free Bleeding Post from Lunapad’s social media.

See Full Show Notes here: https://growensemble.com/madeleine-shaw-nestworks/ Madeleine Shaw is the co-founder of Lunapads, a multiple-award-winning East Vancouver-based social enterprise that is dedicated to creating sustainable solutions for positive periods. With the help of their customers, Lunapads is responsible for diverting over 20 million disposable pads and tampons from North American landfills every year. But Madeleine is not involved in the day-to-day of Lunapads at this point.  We dive deeper into Madeleine’s newest venture instead, NestWorks, a co-working space that lends itself to integrating a work/life balance between families. As this idea has been on her mind for a long time, she goes in-depth about her own experience with kids in the workplace, how work and life can be integrated, and advice she would have had for her younger self. She is also working on a book that she considers a “manifesto of encouragement,” targeting potential social entrepreneurs who have either a small or big idea for how to impact the world through business but aren’t sure how to move forward. Through her own experience, she tells stories that she hopes will inspire more people to pursue entrepreneurialism and make their individual impacts to help make the world a better place. In this episode, Madeleine shares many valuable insights from her journey in the purpose-driven space. We learn more about the motivation behind NestWorks and her own experiences as an entrepreneur trying to find balance between work and family, as well as tips for aspiring entrepreneurs and what she's doing to help inspire those seeking to make a difference. 

Éste episodio está dedicado a nuestro regalo mensual y como podemos atenderlo de una manera mas sustentable, no solo para nuestro cuerpo, sino para el planeta. Empiezo de lo menos sustentable hablando de las opciones desechables que existen, pero que son una mejor opción, y luego hablo de los productos que existen en el mercado hoy por hoy y que son reusables. Aclaro que lo importante es saber que tenemos opciones y que no necesitamos usar una sola, podemos usar una combinación de lo que mas nos guste y lo que se ajuste mejor a nuestro estilo de vida y nuestro presupuesto. En cuento a los productos desechables están las toallas sanitarias y los tampones sin aplicadores orgánicos. Hablo un poco de mi experiencia con Natracare y de porque es importante utilizar productos con algodón y que no contengan plásticos, sobre todo si eres de las que usa toallas sanitarias y vives en lugares calurosos, además hago énfasis en utilizar algodón orgánico para evitar químicos tóxicos y pesticidas en contacto con la piel y tu vagina.  Luego hablo de las toallas de tela reusables, de mi experiencia y de porque pienso que son una excelente opción si se busca ahorrar dinero y una alternativa mas sustentable. También cubro el tema de la ropa interior absorbente que se ha vuelto mucho mas popular, pero aclaro que aun no la he usado ya que es un poco mas costosa. Las dos marcas que mas he escuchado han sido las THINX y las Lunapads. Por último, está la copa menstrual, la cual ha ganado posicionarse como la favorita de muchas, aunque quizás sea la que este cargada de tabú por la religión y la misma sociedad, ya que se necesitas conocer tu cuerpo y manipular la copa para insertarla cómodamente. De todas las opciones es la que puede llegar a necesitar un periodo de ensayo y error, ya que tiene que ver con la forma de tu cuerpo y lo que te sienta mejor en cuanto a firmeza y material. Si no has encontrado la copa adecuada o si estas pensando en cambiarte, te aconsejo tomes el test en español que está en la página de putacupinit.com para que tengas una mejor idea de cual producto comprar. Aprovecho y te advierto de comprar copas hechas en china porque son imitaciones que se venden por menos dinero y que pueden causar alergias, ya que puede que no estén hechas con silicona de grado quirúrgico. En el Blog puedes encontrar otros artículos dedicados a opciones sustentables para el periodo: Cómo tener periodos mas ecológicos 10 Razones para usar toallas sanitarias de tela Materiales de las Toallas Femeninas de Tela Todo sobre la Copa Menstrual 7 Razones para Usar la Copa Menstrual Encuentra las notas del episodio en http://naturalmentemama.com/036

In this episode, Kelsey and Becca talk all about why you should work towards a zero-waste and toxin-free menstrual cycle. They also share their favorite zero-waste options for feminine items, like absorbable undies and the menstrual cup, and how to use them. Show Notes: Positive News: Green Waste Recycling is turning green waste into greener fields Study on how synthetic fibers mess with our bacterial environment Study on how those undisclosed chemicals are absorbed from tampons and pads Study on how pesticide residue from cotton tampons is present A great video of Andrea Donsky burning a conventional pad next to an organic one Detox The Box Representative Grace Meng (D-NY), the Menstrual Products Right to Know Act of 2017 (H.R. 2416) Products Mentioned: Natracare Lena's Small & Large Menstrual Cup Combo Bloody Buddy Diva Cup Compostable baby wipes THINX cotton line Luna Undies of Lunapads (a B Corp) Hesta Organic Cotton reusable pantiliners Reusable zippered wet/dry bags  

Today on the show I'm talking to Sher Castellano, plant-based chef and former health coach behind the award-winning blog With Food + Love, about her journey to an endometriosis diagnosis and living with endo. Use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any Lunapads.com order.  Full Shownotes Heavy Flow: Breaking the Curse of Menstruation Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

Lunapads International is a women-owned social mission-driven business based in Vancouver, Canada. Our goal is to help people have more positive and informed experiences of their period, and by extension, their bodies overall.

This episode of Below the Radar features mother, entrepreneur, creative, feminist Madeleine Shaw. Many of us now find the topic of menstruation significantly less taboo thanks to the work of folks like Madeleine. As one of the cofounders of Lunapads, Madeleine has been normalizing menstruation for nearly three decades. Led by her creativity, she has more recently embarked on new projects including G Day, a national event series that celebrates the transition between childhood and adolescence in female-identified tween youth, and Nestworks, a work friendly family space that will shape a better understanding of a healthy work-life balance. To find out more check out these links: https://gday.world/ - don't miss the next event April 29th in Vancouver https://gday.world/simplysmashing2019/ http://nestworks.space/ https://lunapads.ca/ http://lunagals.com/

Madeleine Shaw is a Vancouver-based social entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Lunapads, a multiple award-winning green ecommerce venture. She is the founder and Board Chair of United Girls of the World Society, the registered charity that produces G Day. Her latest project is Nestworks, a family-friendly shared workplace. She has received numerous distinctions for her work, including the 2017 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Special Citation for Social Entrepreneurship, the 2016 BMO Celebrating Women Innovation & Global Growth Award and the 2015 Vancouver Board of Trade Wendy MacDonald Award for Entrepreneurial Innovation. She is a graduate of Queen’s University, BCIT and the THNK School of Creative Leadership and blogs about her experiences and insights at www.lunagals.com. This is Madeleine's second time joining Lucca and Rebecca on the show, and her work and life has evolved considerably since her first visit! Join in to learn about her latest projects!

Today on the show I'm talking to Laura Wershler, sexual and reproductive health advocate, about body literacy: what is it, why is it important and how can we teach it ourselves and our kids of all genders. This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Pre-order Heavy Flow: Breaking the Curse of Menstruation Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

This week I'm talking to Anna Dahlqvist, journalist and author of It's Only Blood. We discuss the history of menstrual shame, the similarities between modern menstrual taboos at home and abroad, menstrual equity as a human right and the need for more reproductive health education from puberty to menopause.  This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

  [1:38] Greg and Suzanne explain B Corps and how Suzanne's company, Lunapads, makes a positive social impact. [4:00] We talk about the de-feminization of period care that Suzanne has been evolving with her company. [8:10] Suzanne explains the importance of being true to your companies values and the importance of checking one's privilege. [17:00] Suzanne explains keeping her personal social and environmental values in owning a business, and rejecting traditional capitalist business practices in being a social entrepreneur. [22:43] Greg explains how he discovered and fell in love with B-Corp by watching a documentary that Suzanne was in.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I'm talking to Clare Knox, founder of See Her Thrive. Clare and I discuss her experience with PMDD and how it affected her work, how reproductive health is a barrier in the workplace, menstrual leave and how getting to know our cycles and honouring our hormones can actually help to optimize our productivity. CW: Suicide  This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Get access to the Breaking the Curse of Menstruation Workshop Replay Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

This week on Question Period I'm talking about why I added "feminist" to my job title and what it means to be a feminist nutritionist. This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Period nutrition coaching Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram   Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

This week I'm talking to Tanya Smith, Acupuncturist and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practioner. We discuss how menstruation has been used as a vital sign in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for centuries, how TCM can support reproductive wellness and why you don't have to live a perfect lifestyle to have good health. CW: Miscarriage This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

This week on Question Period I'm sharing my favourite books about menstruation from the practical to the poetic to the political. This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

This week I'm talking to Amy Medling, aka PCOS Diva, the best-selling author of Healing PCOS and a certified health coach.  What we discussed:  How Amy became the PCOS Diva What is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome? Is PCOS overdiagnosed? Underdiagnosed? Why polycystic ovaries alone can't diagnose PCOS The root causes of PCOS: insulin resistance, hormonal imbalance and inflammation  Hormonal birth control and how it affects PCOS Post-Pill PCOS How food and lifestyle can help manage PCOS symptoms PCOS after menopause Reframing the “battle” with PCOS This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

This week on Question Period a listener asks what are fibroids? What we discussed:  What are uterine fibroids? How are they diagnosed? Symptoms of fibroids Treatment options, including diet and lifestyle changes This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

Today I'm talking to Meghan Cleary. Meghan is a writer, speaker, advocate and founder of Bad Periods. We discuss Meghan's three-decade journey to a diagnosis, endometriosis variations and treatments and how clinical gender-bias affects the treatment of female bodies. What we discussed:  Meghan's story, beginning with her mother's use of DES during pregnancy The different types of endometriosis Fulguration and excision for endometriosis treatment The importance of finding a surgical specialist The Gyno Ghetto How clinical gender bias affects the treatment of female bodies The psychological impacts of being told there's nothing wrong with you Endometriosis as a chronic illness This episode is supported by LunaPads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. Full Shownotes  Subscribe to the Heavy Flow email list  Follow @amandalaird on Instagram Heavy Flow is produced by: TK Matunda Music credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic design: Rachel Laird

Suzanne is the CEO of Lunapads, a Vancouver-based company that produces reusable menstrual products and supported many young entrepreneurs. She is using business as a force for good.

Janie talks to LunaPads Co-Founder and feminist icon SUZANNE SIEMENS about popular opinions/misconceptions about menstruation and menstrual products, LunaPads innovative marketing strategies, feminist business practices, the Pads4Girls program, lack of access to menstrual products throughout the developing world, menstrual education, and more!PLUS WE HAVE A VERY EXCITING GIVEAWAY FOR A $100 LUNAPADS GIFT CARD! Listen to the end of the episode to find out how to enter and win!!!FOLLOW RELATIVELY HEALTHY ON TWITTER: twitter.com/844stolarxSUBSCRIBE/RATE on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.RELATIVELY HEALTHY IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST.http://foreverdogproductions.com/fdpn/podcasts/relatively-healthy

Today I'm talking to Sabrina Rubli, founder and executive director of Femme International, about menstrual health management in East Africa, and smashing stigma at home and abroad.  This episode of Heavy Flow is supported by Lunapads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. What we discussed:  How Femme International started as a pilot-project in college Why Femme takes an education-based approach instead of just handing out menstrual products The benefits of reusable menstrual products in East Africa How missing school because of menstruation affects girls The importance of educating boys and the community at large plays in Femme International's work How menstruation unites women and talking about it opens up a safe space for girls to ask other questions about sex, reproductive health, assault and other important topics The menstrual myths we tell ourselves in North America Connect with Sabrina + Femme International: Website  Instagram Facebook Twitter Resources mentioned in this episode:   AFRIpads Heavy Flow Episode 14 - Breaking down India's period taboos with Aditi Gupta  Padman Samantha Zipporah The Period Purse Subscribe & leave a review:  If you're into Heavy Flow, please subscribe in iTunes and write a review - that's the best way to support the show and help others find this podcast! Music Credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic Design: Rachel Laird

This week on Question Period, how to tell when you're in your fertile phase and ovulating. This episode of Heavy Flow is supported by Lunapads, makers of smart, sustainable alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Visit Lunapads.com to find out why we love them and use code HEAVYFLOW for 15% off any order. What we discussed:  When ovulation is likely to occur in your cycle How to look for signs of ovulation even if you have an irregular cycle The three main signs of fertility: cervical fluid, cervical positioning and temperature Pain during ovulation, known as mittlesmerchz Other symptoms that may signal a hormonal shift Resources mentioned in this episode: Taking Charge of Your Fertility, Toni Weschler Fertility Awareness Method Workbook, Ashley Hartman Annis (she'll teach you charting too!) Vienna Farlow, the Cuntsultant Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, Fertility Friday Learn to chart using the Justisse Method I receive an affiliate commission from some of the links above. This helps to support Heavy Flow at no extra cost to you! Subscribe & leave a review:  If you're into Heavy Flow, please subscribe in iTunes and write a review - that's the best way to support the show and help others find this podcast! Music Credit: Julia and Bradley of Home Studios Graphic Design: Rachel Laird

Hi everybody,  Today I am super excited to introduce you to Madeleine Shaw, co-founder of lunapads.com, a company specializing in manufacturing reusable menstrual products.  In my coaching calls with women, who are moms and have been through pregnancy, birth & labor the issue of recurrent bladder infections has been coming up a lot! There are so many reasons why bladder infections might be happening, and today on the show I have someone who has personally struggled with infections and as a result, created this wonderful company.  Here's a bit of info about Madeleine's company, lunapads.com Since 1993, Lunapads has been making their signature collection of menstrual products, Lunapads and LunaUndies. Lunapads were created by Madeleine Shaw, a fashion designer who realized she needed something to solve her own health concerns about using disposable pads and tampons. Switching from tampons to cloth pads brought her the unexpected benefit of discovering a deeper connection with her body, and she set out to bring this gift to others in the form of starting a business. She wrote the first business plan for Lunapads in 1994, and in 1995 opened a store and small production facility. By 1998, Lunapads were available in health food stores across Canada. In 1999, Madeleine met Suzanne Siemens, a Chartered Accountant, at a Community Leadership course they were both participating in. Realizing that they shared a vision for better health for people and the planet, they combined their skills to fully develop Lunapads' potential. Lunapads are now used by thousands of customers worldwide: as a result, 2 million disposable pads and tampons are now being diverted from landfills every month. Show Notes Register for my healthy school lunches webinar Join our Private FB group Here  Lunapads.com - use coupon code MAKETHESWITCH to get 20% off your purchase 

On this episode of The Period Party, Nat & Nicole talk with Madeleine Shaw, co-founder of Lunapads, a vertical e-commerce retailer and multiple award-winning pioneer in the taboo-breaking field of natural menstrual health.  Here are some highlights from the show:  For people who are new to Lunapads: what got you interested in natural menstrual health in the first place? And what are Lunapads?What are the main benefits of switching to reusable menstrual products from disposables?Period underwear have definitely become a thing in the past couple of years. You have been making them for decades: what’s new with Luna Undies?As pioneers who have been working on busting the period taboo for decades, how do you feel about the fact that the conversation has finally caught up with you?Social partnerships aimed at menstrual health and education: the evolution of Pads4Girls, One4Her and AFRIpads. Madeleine Shaw and Suzanne Siemens are Vancouver-based social entrepreneurs known for their commitment to progressive business practices and gender equality. They're curious, passionate innovators who love to explore the intersection between business and social change. Heralding from diverse backgrounds, they joined forces in 2000 to found a 7-figure manufacturing & web retail business, numerous initiatives dedicated to promoting Menstrual Health and education in the Global South, and most recently, a non-profit society  responsible for a national event series for tween girls.  

Madeleine is a social entrepreneur known for her longstanding commitment to green products, progressive business practices, and women's entrepreneurship. Madeleine co-founded Lunapads International Products Ltd. with her longtime business partner Suzanne Siemens in 2000. Lunapads is a reusable cloth menstrual pad that keeps disposable products out of landfills. Madeleine and Suzanne are also the co-founders of Pads4Girls and One4Her, projects that provide sustainable hygiene supplies to girls in developing nations to support their school attendance. Since 2000, these initiatives have touched the lives of over 300,000 girls in 18 countries. Pads4Girls now forms part of United Girls of the World, a registered non-profit society that the pair also lead. In today’s show, we talk about Lunapads, natural menstrual products,  why we should be intentional about the menstrual products that we are using, and much more! Topics discussed in today's episode Why should we even be concerned about the use of regular pads and tampons? What are conventional disposable pads and tampons made of? What types of tech are used to make disposable pads & tampons? How many tampons & pads end up in landfills each year? Why are so many women uncomfortable touching their own bodies? Why would a woman actually want to use reusable pads or the diva cup? How can switching to Lunapads or the Diva Cup change a woman's consciousness around their periods? What is the financial impact of switching to reusable menstrual products? How does the Diva Cup work? How does the Diva Cup encourage a woman to explore her body? The Pads 4 Girls program & how it helps women around the world not only manage their menstruation but attend school and work where they were not previously able to do so Connect with Madeleine & Suzanne You can connect with Madeleine & Suzanne on the Lunapads website and on Facebook & Twitter Resources mentioned Lunapads | Madeleine Shaw & Suzanne Siemens One4Her | Lunapads Pads4Girls | Lunapads Taking Charge of Your Fertility (book) | Toni Weschler Join the community! Find us on the Fertility Friday Facebook Fan Page Subscribe to the Fertility Friday Podcast on iTunes! Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by Sirc of (The Nock)

Loving our cycles, loving ourselves: how connecting with our fertility cycles supports body positivity, empowerment and pleasureDevi speaks with Madeleine Shaw, Creator of Lunapads on how women can heal their relationship with their menstrual cycle and create an empowered body positive image.Tune in to Devi and Madeleine while they talk about:What it was like to say "bye-bye" to tampons and embrace cloth pads and cupsSex and your period What becoming more connected to your cycle helps you learn about your bodyWhat it really means to use re-useable menstrual products...and more!Madeleine Shaw is a social entrepreneur known for her longstanding commitment to progressive business practices and gender equality. She is the co-founder of Lunapads.com, an ecommerce retailer of natural feminine hygiene products, and Pads4Girls, a social profit society that supports girls' education in the developing world. Her new project, G Day, is a new global social movement anchored by day-long events that celebrate and empower girls ages 10-12 as they enter adolescence.

Madeleine Shaw of Lunapads takes us through the world of green products for a woman's period. A topic that we don't speak about often but is a part of every woman's life. www.lunapads.com www.afripads.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lm-ZaKIf8M&feature=youtu.be The post A Conscious Life – Greening Your Period with Madeleine Shaw appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.