Ep 34 // Pondering Beyond Periods with Danielle Keiser

NOTE: Please excuse any errors in this transcript; it was created using an AI tool. Akua Nyame-Mensah 0:07 Welcome to the open door podcast. My name is Akua Nyame-Mensah Chaos respond to Aqua. And yeah, I'm a certified executive and leadership coach recognised facilitator and former sort of leader that loves supporting reluctant buyer fighting and overwhelmed leaders. I've worked with them to help them clarify where they should focus their time and energy each and every day so that they can love themselves, love their work, and ultimately love their life. If you're looking to learn leadership information and hear different perspectives, you are in the right place. My aim in this podcast is to help you see that one of the most productive and profitable things you can do is deeply understand yourself. Understand how you show up, understand how you thrive and allow yourself to align everything in your work in your life, and in your business to support that, think of this podcast as your weekly opportunity to receive leadership support. And remember, there is no one right way to lead yourself or others. Thank you so much for taking the time to join me today. Let's get started. All right. Today I am joined by Danielle to talk about menstrual health. Danielle, welcome to the show. Speaker 1 1:31 Hi, I'm so happy to be here with you to talk about my most favourite subject. Akua Nyame-Mensah 1:36 Super excited about this. We've had so many conversations and hopefully we'll be able to get this within 30 minutes. But typically when I have conversations with there we go over by like an hour. But for folks who are meeting you for the first time, could you please share a little bit about who you are and what you do? Speaker 1 1:54 Absolutely. Hi, my name is Danielle Kaiser, and I am a California bred Berliner. I've been in Germany for 11 years, and I am dedicated to amplify menstrual health and professionalising this sector, so that it is taken more seriously as a core element of female health and kind of a Trojan horse for getting us closer to gender equality goals. Akua Nyame-Mensah 2:24 I absolutely love that. And I know one of the things that you've worked on recently is actually the definition of menstrual health. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? And why is it so important for us to actually be able to define it? Speaker 1 2:40 Sure. So this requires a little bit of a backstory. So back in 2013, I started working for an awesome organisation here in Berlin called wash united and Washington was dedicated to hygiene advocacy, around ending diarrheal disease and hand washing with soap. And one of the areas that people weren't really talking about so much in the wash sector, water sanitation and hygiene was menstrual hygiene. And so the idea was proposed to create menstrual hygiene day, let's create this day, there's a day for everything. Let's go ahead and do this. So I was part of the team that helped launch and grow menstrual hygiene day and in working there as the communications and partnerships manager for this global day. It really started to dawn on me that this is much more than hygiene like it's it's sure it's about making sure that there's water and soap and toilets and menstrual products there for women and girls to use in developing country context. But this is a global issue. And it's not just about your hygienic management of the period. It's about knowledge and education and D stigmatisation and getting people to actually confront and incorporate the fact that menstrual health, not just hygiene is a incredibly omnipresent part of our lives, whether we're men or women, women and people who menstruate yes because it's happening in our bodies, but because we're on this earth and we're 51% of the population. So one of my big campaigns has been in the last year is to really get people to start thinking about a broader view of this topic beyond the bleeding days to the whole menstrual cycle and across the life cycle. So from you know, menarche, which is the first period to menopause, we are in our reproductive years and this is all defined by a sense of menstrual health. So finally this year in April 2021, a team of experts and researchers coordinated under the global menstrual collective, put out a definition of menstrual health, which She is really closely aligned to the WHO definition of health. So menstrual health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being. And not merely the absence of disease or infirmity in relation to the menstrual cycle, achieving menstrual health implies that women girls and all other people who experience a menstrual cycle throughout their life course are able to or have access to, and then it kind of goes down into five different directions. So materials, facilities and services to care for the body, a positive and respectful environment, diagnosis, care and treatment for menstrual discomforts and disorders, which I think is one of the most pioneering parts of this definition, freedom to participate in all spheres of life free from civil, cultural, economic, or you know, political discrimination, and then information about the menstrual cycle. So all of this kind of these five areas are developed further in the definition. I'm really happy to share that with your audience of viewers. But this definition of menstrual health, which just emerged in 2021, serves as a groundbreaking path creating tool that enables us everyone working on the topic and beyond to actually take it seriously and professionalise the space, the sector, and bridge the gap between gynaecologist and doctors who are working directly on female health issues and those that are really working on it from all different areas, whether from business or education, or coming at it from a coaching perspective, like Akua Nyame-Mensah 6:42 you are amazing. Thank you so much for that, Danielle. And we'll make sure that we link this in the show notes. Can you talk a little bit about how you work within this, you know, this environment? What do you do day to day? What gets you excited about working in this space? Speaker 1 6:57 Oh, it's such a great question. I often have trouble describing what I do, because it's so all encompassing. But essentially, I am the Founder and Managing Partner of a social impact agency called Muda. Mean mattoni specialises in gender, female, and menstrual health. And we work with the public and the private sector to get menstrual health recognised and prioritised as this core element of female health and gender equality. And we really do this in three different ways. One is through consulting services and deliverable based projects that we do with our clients, which include big corporations who are working on innovations in the space for who have been market leaders in this space. So Johnson and Johnson, for example, which is a big producer of tampons and pads we've worked with in the past. And then also with like tangential women's health or cosmetic companies, we worked with the body shop in the past on a and period shame campaign. So we work to make sure that they're doing their menstrual health work in an informed way. Because a lot of the efforts whether you want to believe it or not, even though they're goodwill will, in many cases reinforce the shame that we have around menstruation and periods. To keep it kind of more under wraps are secretive. And we do it because we're so socially conditioned to believe this is a shameful and disgusting part of our lives. And our take is really that the menstrual cycle is a vital sign, just like breathing or our blood pressure and our pulse or our pooping and peeing like menstruation is actually a really great thing. And it can teach us a lot about our bodies and get us really excited about female health and, you know, help guide us to more optimal states if there's something that's wrong. So the second area that we work is around social projects. So we work with different partners on movement building and field shaping activities. We're developing a period glossary right now with period.org, which is helping kind of create the vocabulary for anyone working in the space to understand the difference between period poverty and menstrual equity, for example, and why they should use menstrual health instead of menstrual hygiene, and you know, various terms to kind of bring it all under one roof. And then the last thing, of course, is the menstrual health hub. So the menstrual health hub is our community platform that serves all people everywhere working on menstrual health to connect the ecosystem and furnish them with resources to do their work better. These resources include educational approaches, evidence based research that's been coming out in the last few years around the links between menstruation and school absenteeism or hormones and whatnot, policies all around the world that in some way, shape or form, address menstrual health or education around it. And then last but not least, we have a catalogue of different innovations that are related to menstrual health. So we aim to be the clearinghouse for menstrual health resources in the community. And it's in those three ways that we really work towards our big impact goal of having a society where women and girls and people who've been straight, are healthy and equal and treat. Akua Nyame-Mensah 10:27 Oh my gosh, I love that. And I, from my perspective, that sounds so succinct and straight to the point, I think I have a very clear idea of what you do, who you serve, and also what your impact is. So thank you so much for sharing all of that. And I will make sure that I get as many links from Danielle as possible to also put those in the show notes if you're interested in learning more. So I don't one of the reasons why I reached out and I've been so excited to be able to build a relationship with you is because I know I've gotten so much confidence, I think from learning more about the menstrual cycle, understanding how it impacts me, how I show up as an entrepreneur, how I show up as a leader, and even how I show up in my personal life? Can you tell us a little bit more about the four phases of the cycle? And why as leaders as human beings, whether we're female or male, or we identify as female or male? Why is it important for us to keep this in mind? Speaker 1 11:20 I'm so glad you asked this, because it's one of the burning questions that's on my mind all the time and what I fervently tried to solve and answer and integrate into every conversation that I have. So I think first and foremost, knowledge is power, right? The more you know, the more you're able to do magical, amazing things, stand up for yourself, say no to things. When you have knowledge, right, you can make more informed decisions that directly affect your own quality of life and your happiness and that of others that you're aiming to protect, etc. So when we know that our bodies are not disgusting, and we're not cursed, and that there's actually this beautiful process that's going on each and every month to keep us healthy, then it's it's quite cool. You know, if you like, throw a biological lens onto the menstrual cycle, you actually realise that it it makes a lot of sense, just like anything else in nature. It's a cycle like the seasons or like the fact that the sun comes up every day and goes down every day, no matter where we live. It kind of brings us back to being human beings, you know, natural beings and not these like some, you know, super things that are outside of nature or outside of what we consider to be the natural world. So the first phase of the menstrual cycle, so it starts with day one, that's the day that you get your period. And this can last anywhere from three to six days depending on the menstrual later. And during this time, all of the endometrial lining and blood has been kind of released through the vagina and clearing out the space for a new cycle. So after the period, the the cycle moves into what we call the follicular phase, and this is the second phase of the menstrual cycle. And this is really that pre ovulate Tory phase where a hormone called oestrogen is really starting to rise and build and start to build that endometrial lining that will be shed in the next menstruation. And this phase is really kind of characterised by a lot of energy and a lot of like, feeling like springtime like New Beginnings of discovery of fun. This is a lot of where women and people who men straight are getting shit done. Like energy is really on the rise or you're you're taking those meetings, you're networking, you're actually biologically a face getting like slimmer and your voice is getting higher too because you're all we're all preparing for potential meeting or potential implantation or pregnant, being pregnant. And so when ovulation hits this becomes in and around this period is ovulate story time right and ovulation in and of itself is not a phase of the menstrual cycle but it's one moment where the egg drops but we call the Abila Tori time three to six days because there's a time range when it can happen and this is actually what is known as the inner summer and this is where you are feeling like your moment to shine being your own cheerleader and really kind of like summertime everything is bright and wonderful during this ovulation Victoria time when you're possibly attracting those those potential mates. And right after the ovulation happens Astrid and severely goes down. And what starts to rise is progesterone. Progesterone is the opposite hormone to oestrogen. This is a hormone that is actually telling us to do the opposite. Instead of like, Go Go, go get all those things do all these things. It's actually saying, Whoa, whoa, it's time to calm down, come back in, recalibrate, get ready, rest and prepare for potential carrying of a baby because progesterone is the pregnancy hormone. And so during this time, it's really important for women to remember that they can not be the way that they are during the follicular phase. During the luteal phase, your body's physical chemistry and hormones are telling you to say no to those drinks with friends, or you really don't want to do that job interview during those times, like it's just not the ideal time for you to be working with your cycle. And instead, spending that time really reflecting working on projects. You know, like having laser eye vision around. You know, noticing when there's like mistakes, you're a lot more focused on when things are imperfect. And this is how we can kind of utilise what is popularly known as PMS or being pitched during these phases to actually repurpose the given that this phase is giving us in and channel it into the right parts of our lives. So during the luteal phase, we're being called to rest we're being called to be cosy say no, getting more sleep, like up to nine hours per night is really important. Progesterone is literally calling on you to rest. And then again, we meet that first phase of menstruation, which sometimes can be welcomed with pain or discomfort. But too much pain and too much discomfort to the point of like meaning to rely on painkillers or doubling over in pain is not normal. And we've been told that this is normal for a really long time. That's a whole nother conversation we can have. But this is a time to come in to oneself and be makes more time for maybe meditation or relaxation, and then start the whole cycle all over again. Because just like there's night, there's day, just like there is spring, there's summer. And we always know that we can depend on those things to always come back to but we need to know that we cannot have summer and spring all the time. So that's why it's really important to track one cycle and understand where they are, and work with it rather than against it. Akua Nyame-Mensah 17:47 Oh my gosh, that was absolutely amazing. And thank you so much for even sharing some specific things, and tasks and responsibilities they might have and how they will show up differently. Yeah. Okay, so let's get super practical. Can you tell us some practical tips people can keep in mind to really take control of their menstrual health? Speaker 1 18:07 Yeah, absolutely. So first and foremost, tracking the menstrual cycle is it the number one tip and because this is modern life, it's easy to do so because there's so many apps out there that are made for period infertility tracking, I use clue which is a Berlin based FinTech company. But there's flow and there's glow, and there's just so many. So you find the one that works best for you. You can also if you don't want to do the app thing, you can also chart on the paper, the important thing is marking the days of when your period starts, and really getting an overview and noticing patterns over time. And even tracking things like your moods when you're feeling a little bit lower energy, when you're feeling particularly excitable. And when you are just being honest with yourself, you know, like the app makes it easy for you to look at that data over time. But you know, these emotional changes, I think are really helpful because then they help you start to understand how to work with the menstrual cycle rather than against it. There's a really amazing new app called the agenda. And the agenda is designed to be like a menstrual cycle tracker, but then that connects to your professional life. So it connects to your Google calendar so that you can understand when you're in your follicular phase and when you're in your luteal phase, for example, so that you might be able to schedule certain types of work in either one of those phases versus the other. So maybe more deep work and writing a research report and blocking out like two or three hours of time during that luteal phase when it's better to do He focused in the loan. And then the interviews and the meetings and the you know, business deals more when you're on fire during those during that follicular and Ovid on dilatory phase. So that would be a personal way that one could come into a little bit closer with relationship with their own cycle, not saying technology is the answer. Paper also works well. Just makes it a little easier. Akua Nyame-Mensah 20:26 Yeah, I love that. And I also use clue. And as I mentioned before, like it gives me a lot of confidence, kind of having a better understanding of how I might show up over time, and just using that as as data and information to really be able to move forward. Right? Because I think for some people, they feel like they're using it as an excuse. And from my, you know, experience and like no, I think it's incredibly empowering to have this data. No, and I don't use it as an excuse, right? Because it allows me to say yes to some things and no to others. So very empowering, from my perspective. Speaker 1 20:58 And that's what we need, you know, like, our menstrual cycle is a compass, and a compass, pay dues, who the places that you need to go and tells you no, no, no, we're not going in this direction. We're gonna go in this direction today. And that's how we should kind of look at it, you know, even has a north south and east, the West, you really look at these four phases. And this is what's so beautiful about cyclical wisdom is once you understand it, internalise it, you realise, oh, my God, this is a blueprint for life. This is in everything, and it actually relates to everything that I do. So that as you said, I can show up, and I can rest because you can never pour from an empty cup. You know, you have to recharge our batteries. patriarchal capitalism, and this like, crazy concept that we've been living in the last hundreds of years, has told us that we just need to be productive all the time. And that's not the case. And the menstrual cycle awareness tracking really gives us tools to be able to balance and optimise our productivity and also prioritise rest. Akua Nyame-Mensah 22:05 I love that. And maybe before I get to my last question, can we just touch a bit on the difference maybe between like masculine and feminine hormones? Why is it important for us to recognise that there is a bit of a difference there versus, you know, when we're talking about sort of subclinical wisdom, versus maybe the 24 hour schedule that we tend to live? Speaker 1 22:26 Yeah, absolutely. So the 24 hour schedule and the 40 Hour Workweek, this is all based off of male energy and the way that the circadian rhythm actually functions at its best. And all women have been subjected to living their lives according to what works best for men. That shouldn't come as a surprise to many people. But it is actually the case because there's more and more research that's going into how we optimally perform. And it's not at all in the same way. Men have a 24 hour energy cycle or a seasonal energy cycle will they'll where they will notice like the higher highs, maybe every 80 to 90 days, whereas in lower lows also 80 to 90 days, and women's bodies really work on this 28 to 35 day rhythm. So our realities need to adjust because we live in this world too. And the wonderful thing about the world that we live in now is that we are able to do that with working from home and you know, educating and empowering more women to take control of their what works best for them. I'm seeing a lot of positive changes. And the good thing is that men are listening, you know, it's not like men are to blame. Because of this, it's like small adjustments can make a huge difference if we actually understand that humans have been based on male men as the placeholder for human for so long. And the more we know we the more we just need to adapt so that we can all live our best lives in the different ways that we can and know how to Akua Nyame-Mensah 24:09 Oh, thank you so much for sharing that. And I think that's a really great way a really great segue to this last question, when we're thinking about it more from this environmental perspective, what can leaders do to create workplaces that really do incorporate this this mental health? This wisdom? Speaker 1 24:28 Hmm, okay, so this is really great. There's a, there's a few practical things. And then there's a few like paradigm shift kind of ways, and the paradigm shift has to come first, because you first have to understand that this is important, and that this is relevant, and this is significant. And then everything else can kind of be integrated after that's been established that this is a this is a priority of ours that the health and wellness of our female employees is important. So first and foremost, taking that stance, but then And there can be things like introducing menstrual or menopause policies within the company that allow for more flexible working, or enable women to be working from home during those times if they choose to. Also acknowledging that these, you know, changes in the menstrual cycle or changes across the lifetime, actually do have debilitating effects on women's ability to focus and just being really sensitive to those realities and not saying, Oh, it's all in your head, like we've been told for many, many years. I think that practically, there's like working with the Occupational Health Department to actually support employees and making bathrooms more menstrual friendly. And what I mean by that is, a lot of the times we think of bathrooms, there's like stalls, and then a few sinks. What we have learned over the last few years, especially with the increase in reusable period products, like cups and panties and reusable pads is that it's really nice to have that sink in the bathroom stall with you. This not only helps for like practicality purposes, but it also ensures the dignity of administrators because they don't have to literally air their dirty laundry in front of co workers if they need to rinse out their cup or, you know, wring out the blood from their period panties and change and put on another pair. So that's a real step into acknowledging the physical differences between men and women in bathrooms and how they use bathrooms. And then also, of course, including a disposal bin in the bathroom. You'd be surprised how many male companies don't have bins in their bathrooms. And then their toilets get clogged up with something. And they wonder why did this happen? If you don't have a bin for people to throw at their use menstrual waste? What else are they going to do? And then a last thing is providing, you know, free period products within the bathrooms themselves, and being able to kind of like, have a conversation with your employees that this is important. What is your preferences, you know, investing in their menstrual health means investing in their well being. And when they know that their well being is invested in, they're gonna shine like they're going to do so much better and give that to their work. They're going to give that to their kids, they're going to give that to everyone around them, because that's what women usually do when they're thriving. Akua Nyame-Mensah 27:35 Oh, thank you so much for that. And I really appreciate how actionable and practical those tips are. Because I think for so many leaders, so many workplaces. You know, I've had this conversation also with some HR leaders, it seems like it's such a taboo topic, but I think you've provided us with some really tangible things that they can do, you know, sooner rather than later, right? It doesn't need to take so much time and energy. There are very small steps that people can take now, to really create more inclusive workplaces where people don't feel. And I've definitely felt this I mean that that point about not having someplace to dispose of it. Not having even a sink big enough to really use a lot of these things I find are like I don't know, decorators sinks like they're not meant really to be used, you can hardly put your hands in it. What else could you do with it? Yeah. So thank you so much for sharing all those things. I have decided I actually have one last question for you. What are you excited about? What are you looking forward to? Either in your personal life or within the work that you do? Speaker 1 28:37 Hmm, that's a really great question. So I would say there's three things that I'm really excited about. One is I'm going to be changing my location, I'm going to be moving from Berlin to somewhere else. And I don't know exactly where else yet. But the energy is calling me to lift up and move and plant somewhere else. So figuring out that new step in my personal life and changing my surroundings. Second is, as we're building Miami and the menstrual health hub, we're really looking to continue doing this market shaping and field building work. And we really want to be moving more money into menstrual health, because that's really where it starts. If there's a budget line, if there's actual, like, capital that's flowing in this direction, people take it seriously. This is how market economics works. So continuing to influence donors, investors, impact investors, business leaders, and just continuing to see that femtech industry really get alive and full and filled with amazing people and a lot more money. This is a course that I'm looking forward to. And then third is continuing this kind of mentorship work that I do i i get so much pleasure out of connecting with People who are new in the space or really want to become the menstrual leaders of tomorrow or the day leaders of gender equality for tomorrow and yeah, learning from them. Like it's, it's not a hierarchical relationship, I find that most of the people who come to me that are searching for my mentorship, I'm actually learning more from them than they think. So continuing to learn and grow from people across the globe. Because yeah, like, there's so many amazing people working on this topic. You know, from from Nairobi to New York. They're just like, full of energy, super smart, super switched on, and are really looking at things with like this holistic lens and not just trying to, you know, address the period, they really see that menstrual health is all enveloping, and all encompassing and that it holds the key to unlock, I think a lot of like, society's ills. So Akua Nyame-Mensah 31:00 amazing. Absolutely amazing. This has been great. Every time we have a conversation, I learned so very much. And so I'm so excited to give all of you listening to this and opportunity. Yeah, to learn from Danielle. And if people want to learn more, where should they head to. Speaker 1 31:16 So the easiest thing to do would be to check out mme mi.co. That is our social impact and Innovation Agency. And this really kind of lays out what we do and how we help others. If you're working in the menstrual health arena, or you're just an enthusiast of menstrual health, then you can go to mh hub.org. And create a user profile and check out the 885 different organisations that are in some way, shape or form working on periods worldwide. You can also check out the 1600 different resources that are that have been curated and collected over the last few years that are all around menstrual health. From so many different angles, we're really excited about the new resources we put in there recently around menstrual discomforts and disorders so that there can be more patient advocacy, peed themselves to go to their doctors, and they I might endometriosis or uterine fibroids, and kind of level up on their doctors because we need to be closing that gender health gap. And then I can also advise if people want to get in touch with me to find me on LinkedIn. That's how we found each other actually. Yeah. And I think that's one of the most beautiful things about this world is that you and I live and work on different continents in you know, different spaces, but we're both so dedicated to helping people become like better versions of themselves and living authentically and you know, like working from that power. And yeah, I look forward to the many new connections that I can be making through that platform, which is proven to be a blessing. Yes. Akua Nyame-Mensah 32:59 And I will make sure I connect all of that below in the show notes. Thank you so much for joining me today Danielle. This has been an always an absolute Speaker 1 33:07 pleasure on my side as well. You are doing such great work and I'm really excited for you to be incorporating this insight into your existing leadership coaching and training I think you're really offering something really monumental and and shifting the whole conversation so that we can really have better leaders that are more empathetic and really working from their their best places at the best times. Akua Nyame-Mensah 33:35 Yes, I love it. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to today's episode. If you enjoyed what you heard today, please share it with your friends. We can continue this conversation on social media the links to my socials so that is LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. You can find them in the show notes. If you tagged me in a story and include the hashtag hashtag ask Akua I will share a special little gift with you. Thank you so much once again for your time and I cannot wait to share my next episode with you stay safe and sane.