Lunapads

Here’s the third winning entry we received as part of our Boss of You book giveaway. If you’re in the Phoenix Metro area of Arizona, please note that Stephanie Byng holds “Natural ” Menstruation workshops - check out her website here. Thanks Stephanie! We wish you all the best, and hope this book helps you accomplish your goals!

I recently talked to you about doing presentations on natural menstruation at Northern Arizona University. I want to thank you for the promotional material you sent me. In total, I did 9 presentations between February and June. They all went wonderfully!

Because of the success of my presentations, I’ve wanted to get more involved in spreading the word about natural products for women. I really want to start my own business where I can sell natural products (for mothers, babies, and menstruating women) as well as books, gifts, and women-friendly sex toys.

I have the theme for the store already decided and much of the business plan done. The problem is, I am absolutely poor. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how to start a business. I’d like to be a physical store, rather than an online store. I live in Arizona and there are no stores like this in the entire state! I’m at a loss as to what to do, so I’d appreciate any advice or help you can give.

 

Thank You,

Stephanie Byng

Here’s another winning entry we received as part of our Boss of You book giveaway. Thanks, Marie!

Dear Lunagals,

I am currently starting my own business (as you know since I want to sell your products!)

It all started when I found out, at 21, that I had Asperger Syndrome (a distant relative of autism). I was studying international development and wanted to carry on to do my masters in gender or women’s studies, but from the moment I started being “looked after” by a psychiatrist, I had to change my plans.

I tried a few things but came to the conclusion that, although I got along well with customers, I just couldn’t deal with colleagues, bosses, and social interactions, and I really couldn’t cope with the stress. This meant that I had to find a job where I could work alone.

I came to the Lunapads website through my sensitivity to issues facing women and the earth. I fell in love with the products and decided I wanted other women to know about them too.

At the time, my mum, step dad and I were trying to figure out a way to help me work in the fields that are most important to me - environmental protection and the respect of people.

One day, it suddenly came to me. Why not do an online website selling products that are good for both women and the environment? I am quite competent with computers, and thought this arrangement would allow me to work in a way that would best suit my needs and desires.

Here’s what I’m planning to do: I will sell products from Canada (Lunapads), Britain and France. I can use my knowledge of English (I studied 5 years in Britain), my sensitivity (to look for environmentally friendly products) and, because my mum will be working alongside me, this will help me cope with any stress that should arise.

Success, for me, will be when I am able to live off of this business, which I am confident will eventually be the case. But success will also be when women will use environmentally friendly products daily, not just as a “one-off to try”. I am going to have a blog as well, where I will do my best to educate women about this because, in my opinion, respecting the earth also means respecting yourself.

I hope to open in June.

Blessings,
Marie

Here’s the first winning entry in our Boss of You book giveaway. Thanks, Julia!

Hi Madeleine and everyone at Lunapads!

I am a 25 year old dancer who is finally tired of working day jobs to make ends meet. My priorities became very clear when I became pregnant last October. I am expecting our bundle of joy on August 4, 2008. As a young woman training in dance 6 days a week in addition to working full time at a ballet academy, this pregnancy was a huge surprise and an emotional rollercoaster. With time, as I started to feel the baby, my maternal instincts kicked in and my whole perspective in life changed.

Before I became pregnant I didn’t want to teach dance. I just wanted to train and perform. But now with a baby coming, teaching in the evening while my partner takes care of the baby, became a very attractive option. With this in mind, at 6.5 months, I organized and taught a small workshop, and I absolutely LOVED teaching dance!

Teaching freelance is a small business, which I was always afraid of jumping into. Now I am ready to take all the skills that I learned working at the dance studio and give myself a career that allows me to spend time with my baby, and slowly build up towards having my own dance studio. Success encompasses a huge spectrum of areas. Most people would define success in regards of fame and fortune, but for me is having a career that I really love, being able to balance this career with my family, and very importantly, giving back to the community. I would like to make enough to be able to pay myself what I deserve, and be able to fund various not-for-profit programs. I dream about offering free after school dance and theatre classes for underprivileged youth, and a special free class for women who have suffered violence. In my personal experience, dance really helped me heal many wounds, and I feel responsible to gift this opportunity to those around me.

I can’t wait to read a copy of this book. Thanks for this great contest idea, and to everyone at Lunapads, for keeping women and the environment healthy!

Julia

I love my DivaCup!

I’ve known this for a long time, but never more than now. I had a bad fall last year and broke my kneecap. I was in a cast from my ankle to ying yang for a couple of months, and then a full leg brace for a couple more months. Being in a wheelchair and unable to walk, I used disposable menstrual products for about 5 months. Needless to say, my periods were so uncomfortable.. cramps, skin irritation and endless.. yuck!

I was never really sure if my Diva Cup and Lunapads were responsible for my periods becoming more comfortable, or if it was just coincidence. Now there is no doubt in my mind.

I was so happy once I could get around again and take care of myself. No more cramps, no more skin irritation, a four to five day period and done! The difference is so noticeable. I usually wear my Lunapads all month anyway, just because they are so comfy. Even though I’m 43, I always have fun picking out which pattern I want to wear. Pink poodles when I want attitude, dots when I’m a ‘power woman’, floral if I’m feeling so-so..

Thank you ladies for providing these products.
You’ve made my life that much better.

-Heidi

Hi LunaLadies,

I just received my very first ever order of Lunapads today, and was excited beyond repair to actually open the package and feel them. They are rather elegant in their black and pansy colour combo, and I am wondering if they will double as serviettes at my next dinner party.

Pretty much ever since I started menstruating, I felt gross and inconvenienced by my period. Not being introduced to any part of it directly by my mother probably had something to do with that! I was never a ‘regular’ person and began to dread my period. At some point, it decided to only come three times a year, and I was fine with that. Especially, since it saved on tampons and pads, and that feeling of feeling gross.

After my second child, I got my first period 18 months after she was born. I had bought a Diva Cup from a health food store in town, and had quite the time adjusting to my first period post-partum and the Cup. But, despite the slight awkwardness, I realized that my period wasn’t actually as gross as I had thought!!

Upon first inspection of the marvelous, rich fluid beheld in the Cup, I realized, all along, it was the dreadful ‘feminine hygiene products’ that made me and my period smell nasty!! What a revelation!! I berated myself for not changing over sooner, as for years, I knew of the badness of pads and tampons.

Soon, the Cup and I became One. I would usually forget it was there, unless I felt that little ‘pop’ that goes with the suction breaking due to too much fluid. Even with the unpredictability of some periods, I became more in tune with when I needed to change it. Never mind the few times when I’d drop it and could make Jackson Pollock green with envy.

I’ve been Diva-ing for nearly 4 years now. The Diva Cup has made me love my period! I respect it, awe at it, marvel at it, and think it’s really gosh-darn special. Thanks for making that happen!!

I look forward to taking it to the next level with the Lunapads (For no good reason, I just couldn’t quite get around to not using the natural-organic pads for back-up, or when things were starting or tapering off). I am sorry to the environment for all the years of trashing it with my menstrual murder.

Thanks for all your hard work, and for offering an alternative. I will be excited and glad when my daughters come into their menstrual years, and I can share with them the best way to appreciate their periods, and hopefully maintain and nurture respect for their bodies, as well.

Viva la Luna!

Christine

I’ve been using Lunapads and the Diva Cup for just under three years now. They’ve become an integral part of my life and while I appreciate their convenience, their comfort and their healthiness (for me and the planet) each month, I didn’t really think I had a story to tell; until today that is.

A little background about me: I live with my boyfriend of just over three years in a little apartment near West Virginia University (we’re both graduate students in physics). Between the grueling and hectic schedule of being a graduate student, as well as the long duration of many lecture classes (and lab sessions), I would be in for some real embarrassment about once every month on the first day of my cycle if I were still using disposable products. I remember some very unhappy moments (before I’d discovered Lunapads and the Diva Cup) as an undergrad where I had to choose between walking out of a lecture because I was leaking around my tampon and ill-situated (and very crinkly) pad, or waiting until class was over and then rushing to the restroom hoping that the bloodstains hadn’t gotten too far out of control. Thanks especially to my DivaCup, I have never had to worry about being “well prepared enough” to get through the first day of my cycle and keep up with my graduate requirements. And this is where my story really starts. I was fortunate enough to secure a summer research internship with a company in San Diego (a city which is, by the way, much more spread-out than I was aware of). I arrived Monday evening, moved into my sublet (with two generally quite, nearly-never-home male UCSD students), and started working Tuesday morning. Since I don’t have a car here, my supervisor arranged for me to borrow a bicycle, which I took possession of on Friday. I decided it would be an excellent idea for me to bike my chosen route to work to make sure I knew the way and that I could survive it (four miles by bicycle in San Diego is quite an undertaking for me, since I’m a little out of shape and haven’t been on a bicycle at all in over a year). Saturday was taken up with grocery shopping, laundry, and the like; which left Sunday (today) for my first long bike ride.Thanks to the Cycle Chart I have been keeping the past few months, I knew I would be starting last night or this morning and so I put in my DivaCup before going to bed to ensure there would be no rushing to the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning, trying to avoid stains on the carpet. Sure enough, my cycle started right on time and, between my DivaCup and Lunapanties, I had no qualms about spending the morning biking around and through the UCSD campus.

I set out around 9:30 (breakfast and double-checking the route took a bit longer than I’d planned) and was on my way. I’m happy to say that I did survive the whole trek, going a bit farther than my minimum goal of four miles total (to make sure I’d be able to make it all the way to work tomorrow morning; I wasn’t quite ready for an eight-mile round-trip today) and arrived home in good spirits. To my extreme delight, there was not a hint of spotting in my Lunapanties and, since Lunapanties are all soft and fleecey, there was no insanely uncomfortable sweaty wetness like I remember from when I used disposable pads. I can’t even imagine how miserable I would have been had I attempted a 4+ mile, hot, sun-drenched bike ride with a disposable pad heavy enough to handle my first day. In fact, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been riding a bike at all if I weren’t using my DivaCup, due to the very real possibility of bleeding through and the intense discomfort of trying to manage such an adventure with a wet, sweaty pad refusing to stay where I wanted it.

So, in the end, what I actually realized today was that my DivaCup (and Lunapads) literally makes it possible for me to live my life and do my job; my DivaCup makes science possible and I absolutely love it!

—Stephanie of Morgantown, WV
(currently in San Diego, CA)

“I got my Diva Cup a few months ago through the reference of a friend. I absolutely LOVE it!! So I recommended it to my mom and she just bought it a couple days ago.

On the drive to the airport with my mom she was asking questions because she was worried it wasn’t in right or the blood might “slosh around” while we were running. After I had reassured her that it was fine, we were listening to music while waiting in traffic and she turned the radio down, turned to me and said “It’s bubbling inside of me and it feels really weird!” and we both broke into a fit of laughter. We stopped at a gas station and after fixing it we continued to laugh and drive.

It made for some great memories of us together, especially as I was going away for 4 months!”

-Alysha

Hi Folks,

Just wanted to let you know that my life was made measurably nicer when I used Lunapads as extra padding when bicycling in Acadia National Park in Maine. Usually, I’m very saddle sore after spending the day pedaling away with my husband. But, after a day on the bike, huffing and puffing up and down the hills on the park’s famed carriage roads, only my knees ached, not my seat region.

For each of the rides, I wore an organic cotton maxi with the liners in addition to a pair of lightly padded bike shorts and nylon zip-off pants or shorts. Sincerely, they were the most comfortable bike rides I’ve ever had. I’m never going Luna-less again.

So, even if you aren’t in the red part of your cycle, try Lunapads when you cycle!

Your Pal,
Deb

A happy little post for a Friday afternoon…

Our first song has just been sent to us, courtesy of Filmmaker and Mom extraordinaire, Camille Brown. You can see a trailer for her teen period movie, “A Period Piece” by visiting her site. She’s pictured here with her daughter - what a beautiful photo.

When she sent me this song this afternoon, I just had to post it - enjoy!

“La La Lunapads”

My Lunapads are coming from outer space

they’re going to replace

my disposable ones

my disposable ones.

No more waste

No more waste

And so I sing, la la luna

la la luna

la la Luna

la la la lunapads

 

I celebrate my red with green

I celebrate my red with GREEN

my flow is like a teen-ager

my body is not in danger

anymore

I don’t buy pads from a store…

Reusable

Bubble Mosaic

Purple Stardust

Hearts

keep me feeling creative

It’s delightful to be recyclable

every month

every month

so I celebrate the Earth

I shed red tears of joy

Oh, la la luna

la la luna

la la Lunapads

I celebrate my moon cycle

while riding my bicycle

with two toddlers in tow,

Oh, la la luna

la la luna

la la Lunapads

A recent customer email caught my attention. Not that I ever tire of the “usual” (“How do I use this?”, “Thank you!!!” etc), but this one struck a personal chord and I’d like to share it with you. In 1992 the first inkling of what was to become Lunapads (product and company) was stirring in me: the “the glimmer in my eye”, you might say. One day I sat down and wrote a letter that was basically a brief outline of a dream: to bring a group women together to make and sell environmentally responsible products. I sent it to about a dozen or so people that I respected for their feedback. Much to my surprise and disappointment, I didn’t get any replies - good thing it didn’t stop me

Andrea Bloomquist has honored us by bringing us her desire and ideas in hopes that we might be able to help her create her dream. To me, there are few things more powerful and inspiring than a young woman wanting to make a difference in the world, so let’s help find a way to put her to work!

“My name is Andrea. I am a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle, studying educational leadership & policy with an emphasis on higher ed. I am set to graduate in August (yay!) and am doing some serious soul-searching to figure out where to let my branches sway next.

I have been reading all about Luna Pads and Diva Cups and am a recent convert (no more waste!). I also have been spending much of my time over the years, especially recently, thinking about how I can put my interests (women’s reproductive/sexual health, education, the environment, and international issues) together and pursue a career.

I am writing to you in this very early stage of my brainstorming in the hopes that you may be able to point me in an interesting direction. Through your customers, clients, friends, colleagues, etc., do you have any knowledge about an organization (large or small) that could use the help of a passionate, bi-lingual (Spanish), woman to educate women about the Diva Cup or Luna Pads so that they can be free to pursue their education, secure stable employment, support their families, etc.? I believe I have a lot to offer, so I am looking for that person/organization that is saying to themselves “if only we had someone who could help us spread the word…”.

It is looking very likely that I will travel to Australia for 3-6 months beginning in January, 2009. After that I may be relocating to Colorado to be close to my mom. So, these are two potential location where I could help spread the word. I am open to others…

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I absolutely admire the work that your team has done. It is so inspiring to see the birth and growth of your company. I hope that someday I will make such an impact as well.

Thanks very much in advance for your help.”

Go Andrea! Thanks for having the courage to share your dream with us. If any of you want to contact her directly, send your thoughts to blog@lunapads.com and we’ll make sure she gets them.