Tackling Period Poverty – with Ruth Marsden, The Better Company

Welcome to the bring your product idea to Life podcast.

This is the podcast for you if you're getting started selling products, or if you'd

like to create your own product to sell. I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product

creation coach and Amazon expert. Every week I share friendly,

practical advice as well as inspirational stories from small businesses.

Let's get started.

Today I'm talking to Ruth Marsden, founder of The BetterCompany,

a brand that sells reusable period products on a one for one

donation model. Was really great to speak to Ruth about her brand. I

actually didn't know much about reusable period products, so I definitely felt

educated following this conversation, as well as a lot

more about what's in the, let's say, traditional period

products that some of us may be using. I loved hearing about

what inspired Ruth to start her business, about her business model, and

actually the process of manufacturing her product as well. Because while it might sound

like something that's very simple, there's a lot of thought that

goes into everything that Ruth does, as you'll hear from this conversation.

As always, this is a really interesting and inspiring

interview and I cannot wait to now introduce you to Ruth.

So, hi, Ruth. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure. You're so welcome. Can we start with you? Please give an

introduction to yourself, your business and what you sell. Yes. So

I'm Ruth. I am mum to three little ones

and we live just outside Brighton. And my

business is The Bettercompany. So it started when

I, after my second baby, I found

tampons got significantly more uncomfortable.

Wasn't getting on with them at all, but it was a bit of a kind

of better, the devil you know type situation where because you're used to them, you

just crack on. And then a sister, one of my sisters,

swapped her menstrual cup, got on really well with it. I gave it a

try, having really judged them beforehand

and also loved it. And I'd always, in the back of my mind, had the

idea that I'd love to start a business but didn't have the business idea.

And once I tried them, I thought, this is. There's obviously a real

gap in the market because I think someone like, I'm your kind of typical

customer that you'd expect to be targeted with

marketing and ads for reusable period products. And I felt like they'd really

passed me by. So I, yeah, started The

Bettercompany. And we sell menstrual cups, called The Bettercup. And we

also more recently have branched out into reusable pads as well. So we sell

better pads. And all our products we sell on our one for one

donation model. So we donate one product for every

product we sell. Oh, that's amazing. Thank you so much for that

overview. I've got so many follow up questions. Let's start with. It's going

to sound like a really basic question, and I apologize, but I think we will

have so many listeners who are also in that market that should be getting targeted

of these ads and probably aren't. Can you start by just explaining

what, what a menstrual cup is? Because I think that's probably a really good place

to start. Yeah. So a better cup

is a silicone. I mean, I should have had one here, shouldn't I? But

it's a little silicone cup that is

foldable and bendy, so it's really easy and

comfortable to insert. And in a way, it's like

a tampon, but it's also the complete opposite of a tampon.

So they both sit inside the vagina and they both collect

your menstrual fluid. But actually, the similarities kind of end there

because a tampon absorbs the blood, and so it's

also absorbing other bodily fluids and it's other bodily

fluids that are actually really essential to your body. And you don't want to be

leaving your body because they can kind of affect your ph levels, can leave you

feeling really dry. Whereas a menstrual cup sits and it doesn't

interfere at all with your body. It just collects as the blood is ready to

leave. It collects that blood, so it's not absorbing anything else other

than what actually wants to leave the body. So people tend to find once

they make the switch, that menstrual cups really help with their period

pains, helps often with the length of their period.

They're not being left feeling all dry and uncomfortable. You know that feeling when you

take a tampon out after a really light period and it's kind of eye

watering? There's none of that. Menstrual cups are much

comfier, much fit more nicely inside your body as well

because they bend, they kind of move. So your vagina is like a

muscular tube, and the cup sits inside that tube and

moves around. As the vagina moves, the the cup moves as well. It forms a

seal, which is how it doesn't leak, but it moves

as well as you move. So you can run, swimming, horse

ride, whatever your activity of choice. And you

can also leave it in for up to 12 hours at a time because it

holds a similar, similar to about

three tampons, but really kind of a bit more. Really.

You can leave it in for up to 12 hours safely, then you just take

it out, empty it and pop it back in and it's just so much

simpler and easier for your period experience. And then

the kind of clue in the name is the idea that it's better for you

was the idea behind naming it better cup. Thank you

so much for explaining all of that. And I assume as well that, you know,

it's something that you clean and then put away until you need it in a

few weeks or months or, you know, whenever it is that you have

another period. Yeah. So you sterilize it. At first you put

it in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then you

give it a quick rinse and insert. And then each time you take it out,

you just empty it, give it a rinse in cold water because cold water

stops, helps prevent staining, because if the silicone is

warm, then it kind of more naturally wants to absorb the blood.

So you give it a quick rinse in cold water, reinsert, and then

right at the end of your period, when you're completely finished with it, you sterilize

again and store till the next month. So sterilize,

rinse, sterilize, store.

So effectively, you're buying one product that you can use for,

I'm assuming years and years. Yeah,

yeah, years and years. So it's a better cub is 20 pounds.

And we say on average, without, you know, everyone's

period is different, but we say generally that's about six months worth

of you buying period products. So after six months,

your period is then free and you wouldn't need to buy another better cup for

years and years. Oh, wow. And as well as the financial

savings, I'm guessing that there's lots of environmental benefits to using a

reusable sanitary product as well. Yeah,

completely. Again, that was kind of the idea behind the name. So

the heart behind better cup is that it's better for you, better for

the planet, and because of the donation, it's better for others. So in

terms of being better for the planet, tampons contain

plastic, pesticides, all sorts

of harmful chemicals, and also the process of,

the process of making and manufacturing tampons is hugely

polluting. And then we use that tampon once, you know, an

hour or two, and then that tampon is finished being

used. But the lifespan is so much longer than that. And

tampons often end up in our oceans, washed up on beaches

or applicator sticks, which are just pure plastic, they end

up all around the world. And, you know, you see the awful

images of, you know, a turtle with an applicator

stick and it's just, it's horrendous. But

I am also passionate, just as a side note, I'm really passionate about the kind

of guilt and the onus, I don't think should be put on the consumer. I

think it should be put on the brands and the pressure should be on these

big brands. They need to be doing better and they need to be creating

better products. And I think as women, there's enough going on with our periods and

I would never want a woman to feel like she should change what she uses

out of guilt. But again, that's the kind of heart behind better cup is

actually, we're saying this is, this is better for you, it's brilliant that it's better

for the planet, but it is actually a better product for you and your

period. But yes, it is much better. So the manufacturing

of silicone isn't a polluting,

doesn't cause any pollution in the process. And then once you're

finished, you can either recycle at

silicone recycling

plants, but you can also, to be honest, you can actually just burn

it in the fire because it doesn't release any

harmful chemicals into the air. It's really

safe to dispose of in that way. So, yeah, the

lifespan of a menstrual cup is far less damaging

than disposable products. Thank you for

sharing all of that, Rafe. And I really like what you say about the owners

being on the companies that are manufacturing the products and on the consumers.

However, I also think it's great that you are educating consumers so people can start

thinking about it, because some of what you've shared with us there is pretty scary

when you stop and think about it. And

for anyone who's never considered this sort of issue

before, I think it's good. Just go, okay. And just, just have a little

bit of awareness. Well, like you say, with no guilt, but just have a little

bit of awareness. Because I feel like,

because, and I'm like you said, I'm in the

perfect market to be, you know, to have these kind of products

advertised to me. But then they hadn't been on my radar until really, really

recently. So I think there's a lot of people in the same situation

who is just passing them by that there is another option, perhaps.

Yeah, definitely, definitely. And I think it's hard. As a small brand, I

definitely feel that it's really hard sometimes to compete with these big brands

that have these endless marketing budgets and advertising budgets

and they can really choose their narrative. I even was just talking on

Instagram the other day about the fact that because tampons are considered

a medical device, so brands don't actually have to list the

ingredients in the product. And so brands will

really push that their tampons contain cotton and they'll push the

narrative they want to, but the reality is the

farming of cotton is really damaging. The farming of cotton

involves pesticides, insecticides, and those

are all then in the cotton that is then going inside our

body. But they can push the positive

spin and spend all the money making us think, oh, that's

great, these tampons are cotton now, they're not

plastic, but actually in reality that's not

really any better. So I definitely feel passionate, yeah,

about educating and because I feel that's the journey I've been

on. I've still got a long way to go with trying to make my home

more sustainable, but the more I learn, I just feel really empowered that

even if you were then to still make the same decision, at least

you're coming at it from a place where you feel educated and you actually know

why you're making that decision. Rather than just kind of blindly going

through and each month going and buying your tampons, you kind of know, what am

I actually buying? And I'm making that choice to buy those.

That's a really good point. And it's also really interesting about tampons being

considered a medical device as well and does the same work for a better cup.

Is that also considered a medical device? Yeah, yeah. So a menstrual cup is

a medical device. So again, you don't have to list the ingredients,

but the beauty of a better cup is there is just one ingredient,

which is silicone. And obviously you can look into silicone if you

wanted to, but you would see that that is all that is

involved. You know, there's no farming involved and there's no other kind of

hidden, hidden elements. I would say though,

menstrual cups in general, I wouldn't.

It is a slightly worrying market, again, because people

don't have to list ingredients and it's not fully, fully regulated.

If you went on Amazon, for example, you will find hundreds of

menstrual cup brands, some selling as cheap as a couple of pounds.

I wouldnt trust those, and you dont necessarily know whats in those.

So its easy to say a menstrual cup is better than a tampon.

But really its about the brand and knowing the brand and

asking questions, checking on the website and not just thinking, oh,

ill go for the sustainable option, when actually its probably

a company that has jumped on the sustainability bandwagon

and has made a really quick and cheap product. So it's not as simple

as kind of menstrual cup is better than tampon, if that makes sense. Yeah,

that does make sense and I thank you for explaining that as well because I'm

assuming that all of them are made of silicone. They are,

but I don't. You don't necessarily know where or how

or obviously, you know, we care about people, not just planets.

And so when I was researching where we were going to make

ours, there's factories that maybe don't want to let you

know who works at the factory or what they're paid and

the working environment of that factory, and that's just as important. So it

was really important to me. So we work with this lovely family run

factory in Germany. Full transparency.

I talked to who's making it, I talked to everyone on the team.

I know that we get our silicone from

the top silicone supplier in the world. There's

no, I haven't taken any shortcuts when it comes to

cost and quality, but you kind of have to

trust that brands are doing that and

some answer. It's asking those tricky questions. And I know what's nice for

me as a business owner. I know that any question that a customer comes to

me with, I can answer it because there's nothing to hide.

And I know that at every point I've made the best decision. I can

forget the customer and the,

therefore the product quality. But

that's not necessarily the case across the board, even if it is silicone they're

using. That's really interesting. Yeah. I can't speak on behalf of

others. Yeah, of course. But I think what's really great is not only can you

answer any question, but also part of the reason you can answer any question

is because you're really close to it all. It sounds like,

you know the ins and outs of every

part of the process. So, as you say, from sourcing the material

through to the manufacturing, you know, you've got a really good sort of in

depth knowledge of it as well, which I think is also really important.

And I would love now to pivot a little bit and talk about so how

you got from, you know, deciding that you wanted to launch a business and

coming up with the Better cup. And so what was involved in

going from that to actually having a product, because I think that will cover some

of those elements about knowing so much about the, the materials.

And I'd love to talk about how, you know, how you found acidicone

supplier and a manufacturer as well. Yeah, I

always say if I can start a business, anyone can start a business,

because I had no, no previous experience. I went to

drama school. I worked as an actress for a couple of years and then had

a baby and kind of fell out of work and really, really

struggled to find the balance between motherhood

and work. And like I mentioned earlier, I'd always loved the idea of

starting my own business, but didn't have that business idea,

which is integral to starting a business. So, yes, when

I swapped to the menstrual cup, obviously, again, as I

said earlier, thought that would be an interesting business opportunity and also actually, at that

same time, a different sister. I've got. I'm one of four girls. Another sister

was visiting the UK. She lives in Zimbabwe, works at a school

in Zimbabwe, and we talked about how the girls there tend to miss a week

of school each month when they're on their period because they don't have adequate period

products to be using. So we were chatting about what we could do, and I

was explaining menstrual cups, and we were thinking, this could be a really

great solution because you're not relying on

donations each month. Give them one, and they're kind of sorted for the rest of

their schooling. So that was when I made the decision to start the business. The

one for one was kind of the real instigator to start,

and I felt really overwhelmed. I have no business experience, and

so I just booked a day when I knew I had

childcare, I went to my local coffee shop with my laptop and I just

took off. Any, any pressures, and I

just said to myself, I'm just going to get flat white and I'm

just going to research silicone. Oh, no. In fact, it wasn't even silicone at that

point because I didn't even know what menstrual cups are made of. I was like,

I'm just going to research. What are menstrual cups made of? Who

makes them? Where do they make them? Would I be able to make them in

the UK? That's kind of going into it what I'd hoped to be able to

do and long term would still like to do. How close to home

can I make these? How do you make them? And, yeah, I just

spent that whole first day just researching. So quickly discovered what they're made of, then

started researching what factories make,

use that, use those materials, started

researching other leading brands, where did they make or if. And that

was another, that kind of took me down the route of how transparent a brand,

because I found that really interesting that day, specifically going on all these different

menstrual cup websites sites and seeing how much do they actually tell you and what

can you actually find out about their products. And then I

put together a list of all the brilliant women that I could think of in

my life that have different skills, so friends that are in

branding, friends that are also sell and

so would know about supply chain or manufacturing. And

I just kind of pulled all resources I could

possibly find and just feel very lucky. And I'm sure, as we

all are, when you, when you give it a quick think, we're all surrounded

by so much knowledge. So I, yeah, I just

pulled in every favor, every clever friend that I could and asked them so many

questions. And I think one thing I found really important was

not being afraid of looking silly or asking silly questions. So I was

asking very basic questions with nothing, no

need to prove anything, no need to prove that I was a good business owner,

because at that point I wasn't and, and still ask very

silly questions. But that helped me really fast track my learning.

Yeah. And then it just kind of slowly went from there. So the more I

discovered, the more I was able to pursue and,

yeah, came across this factory in quite a funny. We kind of

fell upon each other weirdly. It ended up feeling quite serendipitous

because someone was suggesting to me

the machinery used to make silicone and they

actually sent me the wrong email address. And it was the email

address of the factory that had bought that machine rather than the machine

manufacturer. There's a funny mix. And so then got in

touch with this factory. Yeah. And it's all just kind of gone from there. I've

always just taken it one day at a time, one email

or phone call at a time, and I've never kind of over thought it. I

think we can. If there's anyone out there listening that has

a business idea, but thinks, oh, not me,

if it's not you, it'd be someone else. And so I would always say,

just go for it. Just start. Start with one small half an

hour of researching one topic of that business that you're

interested in, and then you've started. It's like writing that first sentence of an essay.

Don't think about the whole essay, just write that first sentence. And I would

so encourage anyone that's listening just to take that one

small step towards it. And then you've begun. And

that's exactly what I did. Thank you. Thank you so much for

sharing all of that. And I think you're totally right, because there is no

pressure to launch a business in 90 days or six

months or whatever. I think the time scales usually are pretty arbitrary.

It's just the pressure we put on ourselves. And I think it's really good advice

to just start and it takes as long as it takes. And

I'd say that I really like your approach because it seems like it was more

about getting it right than doing it fast. Yeah.

And that really comes. That really comes across

that, you know, you. There's a lot of care and attention and, you

know, attention to detail. And rather than rushing through and

going with the first factory you found, for example, it sounds like you're

really deliberate in, you know, finding the best

solution. And I think, yeah, there's a lot to be said for that. And I

also think that something, as I reflected when you were talking, is that it sounds

like you've found a great manufacturer. And I was thinking about how important that

is as well, because I think once that piece falls into place, did you find

that that made things a bit easier once you had someone you could

speak with? Yeah, definitely understood the product.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Someone that I could trust and we work

together and, yeah, it was. I feel very lucky that I found them

because they. They're actually, they. Excuse

me. They were very experienced in

plastic manufacturing and wanted to move into silicone. They were actually

quite new in that field. And I think for that

reason, most manufacturers didn't really give me the time of day because my

minimum order quantity was too small for some. You know, there was

one factory I was talking to, and the minimum order was a million.

It's just like that, I think, as well, because it's.

Silicone is often used in medical equipment. You

know, they're making, like, little kind of silicone bottle tops for hospitals,

and so they're going to be making just such vast quantities of

units. And so when someone like me comes along, they're just not interested. So it

was just. Yeah, it was. It was just a happy kind of

pairing that they were moving into silicone, and so were happy to start a bit

smaller, but with the real experience from their previous

manufacturing. And then I was coming in. Yeah. Willing

to kind of take a risk on them, but they also weren't really a risk.

So it was a really good, really good pairing.

Yeah. And I'm thinking that. I'm also thinking that, I guess.

I think it's probably a simp, straightforward ish product to

manufacture because it's presumably one piece

of silicone. How is that in reality?

Like, how do you know how to. How to make

a menstrual cup? Yeah, I found it

extremely complex. Maybe it's not. Maybe in a few

years I'll look back and realize it wasn't. But for me it was very

complex. So, I mean, it's started very basic of just

buying every brand under the sun. And my

poor vagina tried every menstrual cup,

so I tried everyone. I kept notes, I compared, and

I started putting together my own design based

on what I had found worked and didn't

work, didn't work about all different brands. Then I started

using sisters, close friends to try as

well, because I obviously, as well, that's just my one experience. I wanted to get

other people's experience as well, just to make sure I was onto the right thing.

Yeah. And then you basically put together a CAD, which is a kind of

3d drawing when you're making a 3d product and was working with the

factory, and again, they were so patient and great with me, so we

had a lot of Zoom meetings working this CAD down. And then you

do prototypes, which then you can't test on yourself,

but it just in terms of look, feel, flexibility,

that kind of thing. I was able to test prototypes, kind of went back and

forth a few times, and then the actual

a mold is made, which is what the main part of the

machinery. And then, yeah, the silicone is put into the mold. The tricky bit

then is that you don't want any seam on your menstrual cup

because obviously it needs to form a seal, it needs to be completely smooth.

So that's quite a tricky process of how to make a mold and

fill. You'd normally make, like, if you're making a cup, you'd see

there'll be like a seam on the cup because you'd make two sides and put

them together, but you can't do that with a menstrual cup. So it was working

out how to make one full cup. Anyway, this is a lot of detail.

It's really interesting. I find it fascinating, but. Well, I did, that's

why I asked the question. I was thinking, how on earth do you do that?

And I hadn't even considered, actually, until you explaining the process

that different cups would of course be different.

And I know that's such a daft thing to say, but there we

go. I didn't actually think about the fact there would be variation. Yeah,

no, I wouldn't have thought that until I was really purposefully looking into it. But,

yeah, the. The top of a cup always has a rim. Some brands, the rim

is really thick, which then I find it doesn't fold down as small for

inserting some brands, the stem at the bottom, which is the bit that

helps you reach the cup. Those can be much fatter or with

ridges, which can be a bit uncomfortable. Different lengths of cut

width. So, yeah, there is, there is. They're really varied.

The differences are small because it's a small product, but there

is still quite a big variation. That's really

interesting. Thank you for explaining all of that, reef. No, not at

all. So I'd love to talk a little bit now about launching the

product, because obviously you've got to the point in your journey where you

created something and you're having it manufactured. How do you go

about thinking about how to, I guess, brand it as well? So the

branding and the overall marketing, I guess because

it's a product that's, as we were

saying, we don't see a lot of ads for menstrual cups.

So I guess I'm asking quite a lot of questions here. Let's talk a little

bit about how you decided to brand and position it, and then we can talk

a little bit about actually marketing it. Yeah. Yeah.

I always knew it was really important to me that we made it really

aesthetically pleasing, really beautiful. I didn't. I

wanted the kind of product that wouldn't sit in the toiletries aisle. It would sit

with the beauty products and the fragrances or

even, you know, on your shelf, it would sit alongside a candle and someone wouldn't

necessarily know what the product is. That was really important to me, I think, because

there's so many hurdles to people wanting to buy. I thought, well, let's make

it beautiful that, you know, the tube packaging is really

pretty and you would want it on your shelf. And my brilliant

friend Sarah, she has a branding business called Fday Studio,

and she is amazing. And she, all credit to

her, all the branding is her

genius. And I think she just did the most amazing job.

So I was so thrilled with the branding and I

didn't want it to be, like, pink and girly. But then

we did love the idea of the kind of blush that

the bit more of, like, a nice, sophisticated blush

color, because the idea as well, that was then further down the line, we'd make

a blush colored cup. But yeah, so she absolutely

nailed the branding and then. Oh, yeah,

I've forgotten what your question was. Sorry. No, that's fine, because I think I asked

a lot all at once. So I'd be interested to talk about how you sort

of launched and positioned it because I'm curious to know,

was there an element of having to do some education as well as,

you know, because for lots of products, you can just say, this is our product.

Is this a product you found that you had to do a bit of educating

people about at the same time as marketing it? Yeah, yeah, definitely

a lot of. I initially launched it

on my own personal Instagram page and that,

that worked really well because I had built up a very small

but a little following, which then was a really helpful kind

of springboard initially with the brand. And so I just did a

lot of videos on Instagram with, with a better cup

in hand, kind of just showing how to use it, just kind of

demystifying the product, just, I think seeing it in someone's hand and seeing

them just move and use it and just. Yeah, just kind of getting rid of

a lot of those pre misconceptions that people have

and then. Yeah, just sent out hundreds and

hundreds of pictures press with

a kind of brief overview of what the product is, how it compares

to tampons, why it's better for you with an image of the brand,

image of the product, and just hope for the best. And was very,

very lucky that quite a few different magazines picked up on

it and featured it in different lineups of

sustainable period products, reusable period products. And that really,

really helped. And I still actually, on the back end of the website, you can

still see sales come through from some of those, you know, this is like four

or five years later, you still see sales, I think. I guess

magazine websites, their SEO is much

stronger than mine, so when someone's typing in better cup, they might actually end up

going via glamour and then back to me. But

that was amazing. That really helped. Yeah. And then just a lot of

explaining. I also, quite early on, made a few YouTube

videos of insert, how to,

insert, remove clean and how to. If you

kind of, I think, frequently asked questions or something.

Again, yeah. I just wanted people to feel like I could be in your

bathroom with you, kind of chatting you through how to use it, getting rid of

any of those initial fears. You feel like you're not alone. And

it's been amazing. So I think the most common feedback by far over the years

from customers has been how almost

anticlimactic it actually is using the products. I think people build it up so

much in their mind and they're so nervous. What if this happens? What if that

happens? And most often the feedback is, oh, yeah,

it's great and it's kind of old news and that's your

period sorted, but that you build it up so much. So, yeah, that was a

big thing, was make it look pretty. So people want to pick it up off

the shelf, they want to buy it, and then also really pushing

the donation side. So it is 20 pounds, and

20 pounds is a lot of money to anyone. And the idea is that

hopefully you feel like even if for some reason it didn't work for you, you

know, that your purchase has enabled someone else to have a better period as

well. So that's kind of another. Another kind of hook that

hopefully helps people feel like they could take that risk on

better cup. Yeah. And I think that's really lovely. So am

I right in thinking that for everyone someone buys, you donate one to the school

in Zimbabwe? So, yes,

initially that was another real short sight of

mine. So hope school

in Hamara, that's where my sister worked, and that was the

initial inspiration. But when we

launched the product, I think in the first

hour, we had sold enough to donate to every girl at

the school, every teacher and every mother.

Amazing. Which was amazing and so exciting. And that morning,

I launched the. The brand will forever be one of the best mornings of my

life. Like, it was such a highlight and so much fun seeing the orders come

through of this, you know, the blood, sweat and tears that went in for the

kind of just over a year leading up to it.

Yes. And then I quickly realized that morning that we were going to need to

find more partners than just hope school. So, yeah, now we work

with all sorts of refugee day centers,

women's shelters in the UK, homeless shelters,

women's kind of safe houses and,

yeah, all sorts of charities all around the world. Really?

Yeah. That's amazing you're able to have that much impact.

Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, it's a

really important part of the business for me. When there's really hard days

and, you know, when sales are slower or when there's

something is. Something tricky is going on, it's amazing to be able to

remember why I'm doing it

and the difference that it makes and knowing that that's the real. That's the

real heart of the business. Yeah. And

what I think is really nice for consumers as well is the fact that,

you know that, as you say, of course, it is a lot of money

and, you know, especially if it's something you're not really sure about and it's

something new, but knowing that actually I'm buying this and even if it doesn't

work for me, somebody else is going to get one. I think that's a really.

That's really nice. I really like that. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Without you needing to do anything, you are helping another,

a real woman out there. You have genuinely made a real tangible difference

to her. I think, especially because it lasts so long.

There is a real woman out there that because of your purchase, she now

doesn't have to worry about her period for years and years to come, which

is. Yes. Really powerful. Yeah, I think so. Because obviously, period

poverty is a real thing and we hear about it a lot and this is

a really. Yeah, and I think this does. We all have so much

impact. Yeah, that's the hope.

The hope is that I put myself out of business because period poverty

ends well. Wouldn't that be amazing? Wouldn't that be amazing if

it was? Everyone has. Yeah, I

think sadly, possibly we're some. Sadly, I'm not sure which way around

it is, but we are probably some way off that. But that's really nice.

Yeah. I do hope that they do become

more. I don't. Mainstream is the right word,

but I still think there's. I would love

them to be the people's first port of call. And

I think that's also I'm very passionate about over the next few years, trying to

really work on education in school, because I think

within our period education, you're just kind of bundled

over some tampons in a disposable pad and kind of tent

on your merry way. And I'm really passionate about education and changing

that. So young girls are understanding what are my options and

these products I'm being offered, what actually are the effects they're having on my

body and the planet. So same with the reusable

pads. We make the Betta pads totally understand that not everyone

wants to use an internal product and that is totally fine. And that was

a big passion within the beta company, was to make products to suit

everyone and not, not force an agenda on people.

So with the Betta pads, they are 100% cotton,

100% organic cotton reusable pads. So you use them like you

would normal disposable, but they kind of pop around the gutted of your

underwear and then when you finished, you wash them and reuse

them. So again, with our donations, we're able to give those. So, for

example, at my sister's school, with girls that are starting their period at, you know,

1011 years old and completely understandably not

wanting to use a better cup, we can now offer them better pads.

And rather than the disposable and needing donations each month,

we can give them a big bundle of pads and then they're kind of sorted.

And so that's the same in schools as well, I think, with, with girls starting

their period, just to know, even if they don't want to be using tampons or

cups, that, that they don't need to be using disposable pads, which can

be sweaty and smelly and uncomfortable, and you'll keep.

You keep needing to buy them. So the idea that better pads are so much

comfier and a much nicer experience for them really would love those to

be more mainstream. And I think the misconception is people think

that they're really unhygienic and actually they're far more hygienic

than the disposables. But we just need to make that message

louder than the current message.

Yeah. Thank you. And while we're on the subject of misconceptions, Ruth, are there

any other things that you hear? So any other sort of concerns

or misconceptions that you want to address?

Yeah, yeah. I think a big misconception with the

menstrual cup is that it will get lost and you'll never

find it again. And actually,

so the, like I was saying before, the vagina is like a muscular

tube and then the cervix at the top is like a roof, so nothing can

get past the cervix. And the average vagina varies from

about 6 deep. So

even 10 cm, like that is not far.

And so, yeah, so your better cup can never get lost inside you. It's not

going to be kind of up floating around your body. Your cervix will very much

stop it. It will sit very happily inside your vagina.

I think also, people really worry about the leaking. I think people picture a

cup and then they picture that cup just kind of pouring out.

But again, because it sits and forms a seal, it

completely holds all the blood until. So you pinch the base to remove, so you

don't pull the stem because it's formed a seal. So you pinch, you pinch the

base, which breaks the seal, and then you remove and empty it.

And if you were to leak a little bit, it would just be,

you know, the first starts of like tiny little

drops of blood. It wouldn't be this kind of sudden leaking. You know, the whole

cup's not going to turn and turn and pour out of you. But I think

people do understandably really worry about that. Yeah. And

then the other one is hygiene. I think people think it sounds

really unhygienic to reuse the same product. And the

irony is that tampons are so much more unhygienic with

all the different ingredients. They leave residues of those

ingredients in your body. So residues of plastic and pesticides are

being left behind in your body, whereas a menstrual cup isn't leaving anything behind.

And it's medical grade silicone, which means it's been treated to

withstand bacteria, which again, is why when you take out and empty it,

you just need to rinse it. That's why you're not needing to resterilize because it

will withstand any bacteria. So it's actually far more hygienic. But,

yeah, that's definitely a big misconception. Well, thank

you. Thank you so much for educating us on that as well, because I think

it's really, is really interesting to hear, and as I said throughout this

conversation, you don't actually see that much

about the topics. I think it's really useful for us all to hear it.

Good. And my final question, Ruth, which is one I

ask to every guest, is what would your number one piece of advice be for

other product creators?

Well, without repeating myself from earlier, I would definitely

say just to start, I think it can

feel really overwhelming. You kind of keep putting off and

think, when this happens or when this happens or

when I'm here in my life, I'll be ready. And I think you never quite

feel ready to start a business. So just starting.

And then I think most importantly, you just

need to fully, 100% believe in your

product. You need to be your product biggest

cheerleader. I think that so many days are

challenging and you face so many hurdles and I think if you're not

fully behind that product, fully believing that it can make a difference

and that it is the best that's out there,

those hurdles will knock you back and the challenges will,

will just put you off, I think, continuing. So,

yeah, I'd say fully, fully believe in your product. And if

you don't fully, fully believe in your product, brainstorm

why and brainstorm what you need to change so that, you know, hand on heart

that you are making the best product that you possibly can and that

everyone needs to hear about your product.

Thank you so much. That's brilliant advice, Rafe, and I can definitely see that you

are that big cheerleader for your products as well.

Thank you so much for everything you've shared. We're going to link to everywhere people

can find you in the show notes for the episode. And yeah, thank you again.

Thank you for having me. Lovely to chat. You're welcome.

Thank you so much for listening. Right to the end of this episode, do remember

that you can get the full back catalogue and lots of free resources on my

website, vickywineberg.com. please do remember to rate and review

this episode if you've enjoyed it, and also share it with a friend who you

think might find it useful. Thank you again and see you next week.