Three Ships #HerHustle Interview with Easy Period Founder, Alyssa Bertram
By Connie Lo
This week's #HerHustle interview is with Alyssa, founder of easy. We first met her through the Make Lemonade Build Your Dreams accelerator, and knew we had to have her on the series! Read on for her inspiring story.
What inspired you to start easy.? The idea for easy. came from my own complaining. I'm someone who suffers with really painful cramps (working with my naturopath to balance my hormones) and I just wished that someone would deliver my tampons to my door. In the summer of 2015 after watching my mom survive a really precarious situation with her health I realized that the time was now to take action on this vision that I had in my head.
It's amazing that 5% of profits are donated to the Zana Africa Foundation! Can you tell us why supporting girls' education is so dear to your heart? When I was doing the research to start the business I learned for the first time that many girls and women don't have access to menstrual hygiene products. This reality was startling to me and immediately it just made sense to add a give back component to our service. Everyone deserves to deal with their period with dignity and have access to safe products and the health education necessary to understand your cycle. Through our partnership with Zana Africa we are able to contribute in our own small way to ensuring this is a reality for the girls and women in Kenya that they serve.
What does your typical day look like? My days vary a lot! Lately it's felt like a lot of meetings with strategic advisers and partners to push the business goals forward. Often in a given week I'll be doing a talk or hosting a workshop in the evening and finding time somewhere in there for some meditation and some Netflix.
What's the worst piece of advice you've ever received? I think the worst piece of advise I've ever received has usually been fearful reactions to things I wanted to do. I'm really drawn to those individuals who see solutions rather than problems and who really support and shed light on emerging ideas. Those are my people!!
"I feel best on those mornings when I meditate and start my day with gratitude.
What morning routines or evening rituals do you have to keep you balanced This is something that is a work in progress for me. I really like sleep and I'm not a morning person. BUT I feel best on those mornings when I meditate and start my day with gratitude. A vanilla matcha latte and a really hot shower. In the evening again I like to end my day with gratitude, my Saje diffuser with lavender oil in it, some light reading, journal-ling and a meditation. I also love a good bath and admittedly some days I don't get to any of those things, I just try again the next day.
What’s one skin care product you can’t live without? Just one!? That's so difficult to say. But something I've become really attached to is witch hazel. I've been spritzing that on after cleansing for years and I love what it does for my skin.