Feminist Founder: Nadya OKAMOTO
IN CONVERSATION WITH NADYA Okamoto
We caught up with Nadya Okamoto the feminist founder behind August, a new period product made for anyone who menstruates. She is dedicated to re-imagining and redefining the period experience to be powerful and dignified. Meet the author, organizer, and founder!
Q: What sparked your interest to start August?
NADYA : I decided to start August with my co-founder in January 2020. I had been working in the period space on the nonprofit side for six years, and through my work in the advocacy space and in writing my book Period Power, I felt like the period industry had the responsibility and potential to catalyze a radical shift to destigmatize periods and improve the period experience. We started connecting on video calls with young people from around the country and building a community to collectively reimagine periods -- and that’s how August was born.
Q: What do you love about what you do?
NADYA : Every day I wake up feeling energized to continue this work to reimagine and redefine the period experience to be powerful. The period product industry sold us one narrative that has kept us silent and ashamed of our bodies; August is here to put an end to that. We are reimagining and redefining the period experience to be powerful!
I believe in what I do -- and I am inspired and humbled by the opportunities to work with such incredible people who push me to think bolder, work smarter, and be accountable to the intentions of what we are building.
“Every day I wake up feeling energized to continue this work to reimagine and redefine the period experience to be powerful.”
Q: How do you continue to get inspired or come up with new ideas?
NADYA : I am surrounded with a brilliant team and community -- and in chatting with our @itsaugust inner cycle, there is no shortage of inspiration. So much of what August has become is not what we were expecting. Originally we thought we would create this community to specifically talk about period care -- but what we underestimated is how when you talk about periods + hormonal changes + being human, it is natural to have that conversation morphe into one about overall identity and mental health. Our community inspires us, and it’s so much fun to build together.
Q: Tell us about your new product launch: how did it come to be? Where did you get inspired to create it?
NADYA : Again, broken record here -- but everything has been inspired by our community! I definitely had the inclination that there existed more environmentally conscious and ethically sourced period care a couple years ago, but it wasn’t until Nick and I started talking to our budding community that we knew there was something really special here. For the first several months, we were just interviewing, researching, and building our team to see how we could make slight adjustments to our products to make them more comfortable, absorbent, and better for you and the environment. And before we made any final decisions, our community members were the ones to try the product and review it.
Shop now: www.itsaugust.co
Q: Since you first launched, how has identity, language, and politics shaped the direction of August?
NADYA : Everything about August was really shaped by our community -- and our community is a group of passionate young people who believe in the values that we stand by. Thus, their identity of being bold and curious and enthusiastic, is also reflected in August. Gender inclusivity is a huge component of our community, and why we recently co-built our gender inclusive period talk guide with our advisor, Schuyler Bailar. As I mentioned, our community has really become a space where we can talk about anything, and so politics and how we can reimagine how we talk about periods are very common topics you see our members discussing. You can go to our website itsaugust.co to check out and join our inner cycle community home on the Geneva app.
Q: What advice would you give to someone trying to educate their community on normalizing periods?
NADYA : Start with simple conversations with your friends, families, and normalize talking about periods as something that is natural and powerful! Then you can advance into hosting period product drivers, changing local/state policy, and grassroots organizing!
Q: Describe what it’s like to be a female founder in 3 words.
NADYA : Exciting. Terrifying. Necessary.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
NADYA : To me, feminism is a synonym for gender equality — equal opportunity and equitable support to take advantage of those opportunities.
Follow @itsaugust and view more at www.itsaugust.co
