February 18, 2020 • 31 mins
Period.org founder and activist Nadya Okamoto joins Sammy Jaye in the studio, and they talk about what life looks like as the head of a successful NGO & a marketing company, while still maintaining a full class-load at Harvard University. Nadya and Sammy uncover the issues surrounding period poverty, homelessness, incarcerated women, and the long-neglected discrepancies surrounding the monthly needs of half the population. They unpack the benefits of a long-distance relationships, how Nadya made her panic attacks disappear, and how she flows from one activity to another without getting overwhelmed.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, guys, it's Amy j. This week's guest is a
friend of mine who is truly amazing. Nadia Okamoto is
an entrepreneur, an activist, published author, and a student at Harvard.
She's also been named to Forbes thirty and her thirty Lists.
Oh and did I mention she's only twenty two years old.
(00:24):
At sixteen, she founded period dot org, which is now
the largest youth run women's health and g O. Activism
is in her soul, and that's where we began our conversation.
So I want to start with activism because that's where
this all started. How did you create and what was
the inspiration behind period dot org? Yeah, so I'm Nadia.
(00:44):
I am currently a junior at Harvard and the founder
of an organization called Period of the Menstrum Movement. And
you know, I never grew up dreaming about being a
period warrior, right, it was not even something that even
crossed my mind. Um, But I stumbled upon it accident
when I was sixteen years old. So, in the spring
of my freshman year of high school, my mom ended
(01:05):
up losing her job and we entered what I call
our time of transition, which was essentially several months of
living without a home of our own, and during that time,
I commute to school turned from about twelve minutes to
over two hours long on public transportation, and where I
would change buses was in an area of Portland, Oregon
called Old Town where they were like ten homeless shelters
(01:25):
in a two block radius. So I mean long story short,
I essentially was running into the same homeless woman over
and over again and getting into conversations with them about
their living situation, asking them questions about what they found challenging,
and it honestly just came up in conversation like these
stories of using literal trash to take care of their periods, right,
(01:45):
and slowly just started hearing more stories of they're using
toilet paper and socks and brown paper, grocery bags and
cardboard to take care of their periods. And it was
like a privileged check for me. Right, So I'm sixteen,
I am confused about my family's living situation. Like it
was a time when like I had to mark no
permanent address on school forms. But I was also the
scholarship kid at a really expensive private school where like
(02:07):
my face was like low key on the front of
the financial aid packet like that kind of vibe. So
it's like really confusing. And so I was became obsessed
with this idea of period poverty because it was something
I had never thought about before, right, So it was
this privileged check of Oh, even in this time when
my family is going through this hard thing, I've never
had to worry about where I get my period products
and put things in perspective, I'm yes, absolutely, And so
(02:29):
after I just got obsessed with it, googled things about
period poverty, learned about you know, what it meant on
a global scale, about being like one of the leading
causes of absentees and for girls in school, and then
learned that forty states in the U s had a
sales tax on period products, considering them luxury items. Okay,
so for those who don't know, because we have guys
(02:52):
and girls listening, what is period poverty? So period poverty
is not being able to afford access to menstrual hygiene
products so like tampons, adds menstrual cups, due to a
lack of income. So why do you think there's such
a stigma around all of this? I mean, I think
that throughout history, periods have been thought of as something
that is shameful that should be hidden, right. I think.
I think there's like the obvious theories behind how periods
(03:15):
are inherently tied to sex, because it's like when your
body can become pregnant, right, um. But also I think
like you can trace it back all the way I
mean one to the Bible, right, Like in the Bible,
periods are are framed in Genesis as when um as
a punishment for the ultimate stind of like Eve eating
the apple, right um. At the same time, yeah, at
(03:36):
the same time, the word taboo, which means like untouched,
like you do not touch the subject, comes from the
root word Polynesian root tapua, which literally means menstruation stop. So, like,
throughout history and through the etymology of the language that
we use, this is thought of as something that is stigmatized,
connected to stigmatized topics like sex and pregnancy and all
(03:58):
of that and pure it so I thought of as
something that like makes that less attractive. Right And at
the same time, um, I mean throughout history it's been
sort of as seen as the thing that puts women
in their place, and so we don't talk about it today,
like so much of our work is simply trying to
get people comfortable saying the word period, right. And I
noticed that when I started talking to these homeless women,
is we would start talking about periods and they would
(04:19):
whisper it like it's a bad word, like oh, I'm
on my period, right, or you think about asking your
friend for tampa and going to school. It's a very
secretive thing, exactly, And I think it's even it's rarely
talked about in school today, but when it is, it's
in like boys in one classroom and girls in the other.
So the boys never learned about it, and the girls
learned that. It's like only talked about behind closed doors,
and you it's never taught in a space where you
(04:40):
can ask questions, right. So I mean the example I
like to use of realizing the stigma around you is
like when I give speeches, I ask people to raise
their hand if you've ever stuck a tampa of your sleeve, right,
And most of the time the majority of the hands
go up. And it's crazy to think, like, you go
to the bathroom and we're conditioned to know that you
hide your period product, but no one tells you that
(05:01):
when you need to change your period product. At all
costs height it. Yeah, you're like conditioned by society that
this literal like piece of cotton is a shame an
object of shame, right, and that you will be laughed
at and giggled at. And so society conditions us to
understand that there's this shame around periods. And I think
that's what we're trying to change. I mean, just talking
(05:23):
about it, it's like it automatically makes my my heart
be like, oh my god, like what are people? Can
I think about it? Which it shouldn't be because it
literally happens to have the population exactly. And I think
I think even further, it's understanding that like this, these
small elements of stigma have real systemic effects. Right, So
(05:43):
we think of it as, oh, it's just like it's
just our own nervousness, right, But because of that stigma,
we have the majority of US states that consider these
periodpodics luxury items, not essential goods. But rogaine, viagra, penal pumps,
chopstick is considered essential goods. Really, So it's like all
of these things where it's like the stigmas pervasive and
has real effects all the way to we're still fighting
(06:06):
for period products to be freely accessible in school shelters,
in prisons, and like last year, legislation was turned down
in Maine and a GOP representative stood up and said
period products should not be free in prisons because they're
not meant to be country clubs. Right, So there's this
to so this is like in a state house in
Maine state House, right, And so it's we there are
real effects of you know, we joke around about periods
(06:28):
and we joke about, you know, what the effects of
this are, but like, yeah, there's laws and that exists
around this that are really angering and we you know,
my organization did a national study last year. We found
that of teens in America have either misclass or know
someone who has misclass due to lack of access to
period products. So you started this nonprofit when you were sixteen,
But when did you think this could grow and become
(06:50):
such a huge movement. I don't think I ever really
realized it was a movement. Even like today, I still
wake up and I'm like shocked by how many people
are interested and they call it to move and now
they had a carried movement that you started. Yes, yes,
and it's it's super exciting to me. But I mean,
when I started this organization, I did not think it
was going to be national. I did not think it
was going to go beyond Portland. I was truly doing
(07:12):
it because I was like, I know these homeless women,
and I genuinely care about them, and and I wanted
to reconcile this privilege that I was realizing I had
right and and I had no idea what I was doing.
I was googling what is a nonprofit? And what is
the I R S? And what is a form nine nine?
I was googling everything, yes, and on my I started
with a goal of getting period products to twenty homeless
(07:33):
wman a week because I personally knew twenty homeless woman.
And it was simply through organizing and posting on social media.
And then, I mean I was a true workaholic at
the age of like sixteen. I was like staying up
late finishing my homework, doing sixteen clubs, and then using
all the time I could to work on this. And
so within a few months we were starting to register
chapters around the country. And fast forward to now, um,
(07:55):
we're now the largest youth and engine Woman's Health in
the world. We've addressed about almost a million period. It's
for product distributions, million units of product, and we've registered
about six hundred campus chapters in all fifty states. WHOA, Okay,
so how crazy is not just to say that in
a sentence that you've accomplished all that munch in you. Yes,
(08:16):
it's interesting because I'm not very good at like celebrating
how much we've done because I think that as an
activist at heart, like, yes, it's important to take moments
to celebrate those moments, but I think I'm so always
focused on, like how much more we have to do?
Right um, And I'm really proud of our team, like
we in the last few months, we've taken down the
Tampa tax in Ohio, Utah, and Virginia and just the
(08:39):
Senate just passed the bill two days ago in Virginia. Congratulation.
But I think, like in my mind, I'm like, Okay,
there's still thirty states and we're coming upon which is
like one of the most pivotal years in terms of
reproductive rights right now, and we're still fighting to protect
the same legislation we've been fighting for for the last
like six decades. And like I'm with a few presidential
(09:01):
campaigns today, and like I was talking to them and
they had no idea that the Tampa tax existed. I
met with Bluebrigs team today, but like it's I didn't see.
That's what's crazy to me that they don't understand how
relevant this is. Well, even more so, it's like I
regularly meet with governors or legislators who don't even know
that their own tax state has this tax right because
(09:21):
it's an archaic law that has never been questioned. So
you're the one that started questioning this. We're trying to
us that all of our chapters. Yeah, so how many
states have you made it? So there's no tampata. So
it's not just it's so many different activists. It truly
is this movement of so many different organizations now. But
I mean when I started in when I was sixteen,
(09:42):
it was forty states, and now we're a thirty man. Okay,
So once you get down to thirty and there's none,
how are you going to celebrate? Yeah? I guess I should. Sorry, Yeah,
I mean I think that Okay. Honestly, Like the first
thing that came to mind was like, oh, once we
get it all past, that's when we can really get
period products all the schools, right, So it's always I know,
(10:03):
and I really this is my goal for twenties. I
need to learn how to like take a step back
and like but like I mean, I sort of see
the Tampa tax and fighting it as a trojan horse
to fighting for the other things, right, because the Tampa
tax is not affecting homeless and low income women, because
it's affecting people who are already buying the product. But yes,
(10:23):
but it's exactly, it's a catalyst because we have to
fight this stigma that menstrual hygiene is a luxury, so
that we can fight for period products to be free
in school shelters, in prisons. Like I actively think that
period products should be freely accessible in every restroom because
if you walked into a bathroom there was no toilet paper,
you'd be kind of mad, right, or you'd be really
mad and frustrated. It's this, It's just as natural, it
(10:44):
can come just as unexpectedly. And actually our chapters have
been amazing. We've passed UM or introduced about twelve pieces
of legislation in the last few months. UM Missouri yesterday,
California last last week. UM around period products to be
free in schools, right, um, because like we it's crazy
even thinking about not just the statistics of missing class
and missing school, but like if you have to go
(11:05):
get a period product in the middle of a class
and you have to go find it, and oftentimes it's like,
first of all, sometimes it's in the bathroom and you
need a quarter who carries a quarter anymore? And at
the same time, or it's in the principal's office and
you have to like go to your principal, who's honestly
most likely a man, and you have to say, Hi,
I'm menstruating. I'm thirteen, and I'm going to tell my
(11:27):
principle I'm menstruating and I need a period product. Yeah, okay,
So when you created period dot org, I just find
it so fascinating. How did you collect product in the
first place? So I really mean it when I say
we started and had no strategy, Like it was truly
passion and like not going to stop working. So it
(11:49):
was like, Okay, this is my thought process. We need
a period product, so I need to go buy the
period products. I didn't even know the concept of like
corporate social giving could give us products like we're going
to go raise money to buy this product. I did
not come from money, So I tried singing on my
guitar on the side of the street corner for five hours,
raised twenty dollars. Realized that was not a good use
of my time. I started trying to pitch to anyone
(12:11):
who would listen on the street. Realized I was just
a creepy young person like training some people. So my
natural thought was, Okay, I'm just gonna go pitch to
people who were They're forced to be there. So it's
like staff meetings. So I would go to like Fidelity Insurance,
Chase Bank, Jiffy Loup auto mechanic store, and be like,
can I pitch at your staff meetings? And I would
get up in front of the audience and or not
(12:33):
audience is a strong word, the staff, which was sometimes
like a few men, and I would just pitch them.
And I would just try to pitch in different ways.
And I remember like when someone would give me literally
two dollars or five dollars and it was like the
most incredible as a sixth year old who like was
(12:54):
not us some money and being like, oh my gosh,
they believe in what I'm doing. Right. That's why it's
crazy to me to realize how much we've grown when
we when I looked back at our first year where
we raised a million, I was like, like a million dollars.
It was a crazy realization of how far we'd come
because when I started, I was truly just like searching
for anyone to listen to me in the first place,
(13:15):
and to to you know, to to give any amount, right,
and I would just practice my pitch in that sense.
Then I got frustrated, so I went online found every
pitch competition in the area. When all of them started
with a few yeah, I mean I was just googling,
like I just how I can raise money as a
young you start up our entrepreneur. There's so many funding opportunities,
(13:35):
like so many funding opportunities, like adults really want to
give to young activists right now. That's why I always
told young people like now is the best time to start,
because everyone is calling for this next generation to take action,
and they have money and they have resources, and they
just need to find people to invest in. But so
I yeah, I mean, we started with a few thousand
dollars and I got a group of like guy friends
(13:55):
together and we would go buy out the grocery stores,
get friends together, put them into little packages, and then
distribute them to people directly on the street. And then
realized that was not maximizing our impact, so we went
and distributed directly to shelters, and we just started doing
that until we had a few hundred shelters. Then we
realized we could raise money online. It was like there
was no there was no business plant Like now, of
(14:17):
course we have a strategic plan, but I didn't even
know what that was when we started. When I started,
it was like, I have no idea what a nonprofit is.
I just know that I'm really passionate about this and
I don't know what I'm doing, but we're going to
do it anyways, and so it's I mean, that's honestly
the mentality I've had in everything I've done. From that too.
I ran for office when I was nineteen, had no
idea what that meant, but googled everything and just kept
(14:38):
knocking on doors. When I wanted to write a book,
I googled how to write a book and cold emailed
literary agents and then signed with my dream publisher and
wrote it in Google Docs because I didn't know, it
was just like the simple. It was the easy thing
to do. And I think that's the thing that holds
young people back is like, what is my first step
in starting? And it's like there's no right first step,
you just have to do it. So how long did
it take you to write your book? Um? They gave
(15:00):
me two months? And how many pages? Has it? Like?
Toft words? And I was so I had so much
imposter syndrome about my book and I still do, Like
it was this whole like why do I deserve to
write a book? Who's going to read the book? So
I procrastinated and wrote it in like the last three weeks. Yeah,
oh my goodness. And keep in mind everyone that she's
(15:24):
at Harvard. Yes, you took a gap here. Yes when
my book came out. Wow, you are the busiest person
like you No, well, like you're so inspiring, just like, so,
(15:44):
what's your goal for a period? Data org? In general?
I mean, I think the goal of every nonprofit is
to put yourself out of business, like our goal like that,
it's truly what we're trying to do. We wake up
every day saying I wish we didn't have to exist,
Right if we achieve what we do in terms of
fighting period poverty. We can close our doors and say
we did our job right. I don't know if that's
ever going to be achieved in our lifetime, because periods
(16:06):
are still like the number one reason why girls my
school and developing countries. It's the single vent that leads
to girls dropping at a school, getting married early, undergoing
female gender mutilation, or social isolation. Like this issue is
so big, But I think that what I love about
this movement is that we have tangible ways of making
a difference. Like I can tell you exactly how many
states still have the tampon tacks, which states still don't
(16:26):
provide period products? Um, how many more? Like I can
find out, like how much more, how many more prisons
need to like freely freely provide these products. Like there's
tangible ways to make a difference. And I think that's
why I wanted to write my book too, was to say, like,
this is one of the few poverty related issues that
is solvable. You are a very clearly passionate person. Do
(16:47):
you ever get tired and want to give up? Because
you seem so motivated, Like just like a week in
your life when I see your Instagram stories. It gives
me anxiety, just like the amount that you do, the
amount of flights. How many flights would you say you
go on a week? I think it totally depends on
a week. Busy week, it's like a flight or two
a day. Yeah, chill week, it's like a couple of
(17:09):
trains a week. But it's part of my restlessness, right, Like,
that's that's the thing I always tell people. It's not
that I'm super busy. It's that I grew up in
very tumultuous like like my childhood was not peaceful, right.
I grew up downtown New York City posts on eleven
and then with a lot of domestic violence and abuse
(17:30):
in my own household. So I and then I grew
up moving around all the time. I think by the
time I sixteen, we'd moved like sixteen times or more.
We were bouncing around all the time. So my when
like what I am used to is is like instability. Honestly,
Like I think when I'm in one place for five days,
I get restless. So it's not that like I'm I
(17:51):
look super busy, but like I don't feel busy because
I think my life has always had a little bit
of that chaos. So like when I go to Portland.
If I'm Portland, Oregon, which is very chill compared to
New York, if I'm there for like four days, I
will actively get anxiety because I'm like everything is moving
in slow motion. So you thrive off of the go
go go totally. Yeah. And I like New York. Yes,
(18:14):
And I can sleep better on planes, like when I
feel like it's so odd, that's so interesting, But it's
because I grew up around like a lack of so
like when and I know that eventually in my life
I'm going to have to learn stability. But right now,
and it's the same thing. I've never focused on just
one thing right And it's been frustrating for some of
my team members who are like, why don't you just
focus on period, And I'm like, yes, but sort of
(18:37):
like I'm so nerdy to use this comparison. But you know,
when you're like practicing for standardized testing, and the first
tip is if you get stuck on a problem, don't
spend time on it. Just move on right and you'll
start You'll think about it in the back of your
mind and you come back. That's how I think of
everything I do right to maximize efficiency and make sure
I'm getting like perhaps like the quote unquote right answers,
I focus on period and when I get to a
(18:58):
stopping point or like frustrated with that, I move on
to my company or I move on to running profice
and I know I will eventually come back and I'll
complete it all. And I used to have really struggles
with anxiety, and then one of my friends told me
stress is just a waste of time, and time is
going to keep going. And it's so true, right, like
if you panic and you just I used to panic
attacks every day and from like PTSD and stuff, and
(19:19):
I would sit there and panic and realize six hours
went by and I did nothing right. And I think
I just had to internalize like time will keep going
whether you're with it or not. And I think time
is our most one of our most time and our
energies like our most precious resource, and we just have
to accept that and stay focused and breathe so you
can be more effective. You are so insightful. Oh my goodness,
(19:44):
it's one or the other. But like you could just
write a book on motivation, like in itself. Okay, I
want to talk about jew for how would you describe
you as a pitch jube to the people listening? How
would you describe it? I think it makes sense when
I talk about the story behind it. Right, So I
grow period, we start mobilizing young people in like historic
(20:06):
waves ever seen before in the period space, and I
run for office. We didn't win, but we made history
of student turn out and I accidentally became the youngest
Asian American to run ever and accidentally so I did
not even know. But at a certain point I started
finding myselves, like honestly, not even thinking about it, but
finding myself is called into rooms of high up people
(20:28):
and companies or hi up people in campaigns who are saying,
who are using these a case study? Saying how have
you grown this? Now? Teach us how how do we
reach young people? What we forget as young people is
that we are really powerful together. We are the largest
segment of a population in the history of the world.
Were of the global population. Wait, yes, that is a
crazy statistic, but we're of the total media audience and
(20:50):
even more on social right, So when you think about
where these companies are investing in their marketing dollars or
who they need, who campaigns need to reach to vote
UM And even in the month we spend, we control
a hundred and forty three billion dollars of spending power,
but we influenced six hundred billion dollars where parents money right,
So there's so we have so much influence in this space.
(21:12):
So I I it was truly an accident. Like I
started getting call into taking these meetings and realizing I
could like charge money for people who wanted to understand
young people. And what I realized as I would walk
into these rooms and it was often like people who
are decades older than me, and then there was like
someone in the corner who was like the youth expert,
like the youth expert, and I knew I was like
the first young person they've talked to in years, and
(21:34):
I would realize, like I'm not. I would sit there
being they would be like, oh my god, you're so amazing.
We've never heard any young person speak like that. And
I'm like confused because I am, like, I don't feel
unique in this sense, like so many amazing there's so
many amazing young people. If you think I am like
a diamond in the rough and you're just not talking
to enough young people, right. So I started doing this
(21:54):
just as like on the side, as a side hustle
um to like support my fan, like support myself from
through school. And then I started meeting other young people
with like my co founders Yad Ahmed, who was like
another actors in the space who sort of started building
a business in that own since we joined together created
this company. So now we work with small companies all
the way up to about thirty fort companies working on
(22:14):
marketing strategies, digital activations, experiential marketing. We basically go into
companies and we say, you're already trying to reach young people,
You're spending a lot of money on it. You're trying
to research us, but all of the research you're doing
is not in the best way, right. It's either do
done through research that takes six months to come out.
By the time it comes out, the trends are outdated, right.
Or you do focus groups, but you're they're just telling
you about the problem, not the solution, and you're not
(22:36):
getting at the heart of the problem right. For example,
I hear a lot from clients who do these focus
groups about social media and have never heard of a finsta, right,
because they've never asked about it. They don't know what
questions to ask, right, And so we just come in
and we're like, if you want to reach young people,
you should talk to us. And I sort of think
about our vision or our ethos not as just about
like young people, but it's the idea that if you're
(22:57):
trying to affect any group of people, that group of
people needs to be represented at the table, right, otherwise
you're not doing it equitably. I completely agree, and I
think it's really smart that you did that, because is
there anything like that? No, I mean that was that's
why we've grown so fast, because we started this and
it's a huge need and there's no competition in this space, right,
Like we are like the only made and there are
(23:19):
other gen Z marketing places, but like, but it's the
run but you're one and run by people your age
and yeah, and there's some that are popping up like it,
but we are the only one that have like infrastructure
and and and scalability. Right. So we I was the
oldest person at the company until we recently hired a
twenty three year old CFO last year. That's twenty four
year old chief of staff, and we have a hundred
(23:42):
consultants between the ages of fourteen and twenty two, and
then we deploy them out to work with high level executives.
And then we have a vine network of over three
thousand young people that we regularly fill out to surveys. Right, So,
like some of our favorite clients like this Go, we'll
do these surveys with um on like how gen Z
thinks about creates itty or social media, and we're just
able to get like, you know, much deeper insights. And
(24:04):
it's been it's been incredible to watch because I think
I took everything I learned from period of like the
power of working with brands who have resources and platform
and network, and we take that into this space and
we consider ourselves like a company that's truly about empowering
young people and trying to honestly get these companies to
take a stand on something like climate change or the
digital divide. My work teaches me to have little privilege checks,
(24:28):
every little every day, right, because it put things into
perspective or like I mean, even coming over here realizing
like I don't even think twice about subway fair anymore. Right,
but five years ago the Subway fair was really stressful
for me, right, or like I know, it's stressful for
a lot of people, and today I never think about it, right,
And I think it's you remember, as you you know,
(24:48):
I'm not used to making money like that was not
something I really grew up with. And I think I
pushed myself to be so thankful for those little things
every day and to recognize how far we've come to
It's it's taken a lot of heal ing, and I
think it's part of being a sexual thought survivor you
like have like I have really struggled with like treating
myself or being like I deserve a home, or like
I deserve to be taken care of, or like I
(25:10):
deserve my own space, and so like I finally got
my own place, And how have you learned to actually
splurge for yourself and treat yourself? I mean, yeah, I'm
still learning, but I think I mean, I think honestly
it was it took a lot of pushing from my
family and the people close to me who knew about
all of this. But also I think what put it
into perspective is, like I care so deeply about all
(25:31):
the young activists that I work with, right, Like I think,
like I spent hours a day texting back and forth
with chapter members or young activists I've never met, but
like genuinely love, like would dive because I like support
them so much. Oh my god. So how do you
balance college and all of this? And Harvard is not
an easy school? Yeah, I mean it's really hard. It's um,
(25:53):
where do you majoring in sociology? Now? Yeah that's interesting. Yeah,
it's really fun. But I mean the thing is is,
like it's not like the comes with no sacrifices, right,
Like when you live this life, I don't go to
parties every weekend. You know, I was supposed to go
to all these New York Fashion Week shows. I've ditched
all of them to work by myself in my pajamas, right,
And I'm actually really happy doing that. I'm so not
(26:14):
extroverted as people think I am. But like there's sacrifices
that come with it. And so I mean when I'm
at school, I'm there for class, like, I'm there, I
see my friends, we work together, but like I'm there
Monday to like Monday night, and then like Wednesday to
Wednesday night. Like that's often how it is, and so
I like go to class and I live by to
do list to do list, and whenever I have time,
I block out, like six hours on Saturday, I just
(26:35):
get all my homework done. Smart When you have a
deadline or you're working for your nonprofit, are your professors accommodating? No,
usually not not at all, because Harvard is the school
of a lot of ego. Right For the most part,
it's the students who were the best in their class
and then they get to Harvard and they expect this
(26:57):
special treatment because I mean, for the most of us,
we were like our teachers, like we were the ones
who got away. But no, that's not the case at all.
Like everyone is doing their own thing. So of course
you find some professors, like there are some professors I've
worked with who like, so support what I'm doing. Others
are like, yes, we support what you're doing. But like,
you are a student, just like anyone else. Would you
ever just take forty eight hours and just like go
to a spot or something and not be on your
(27:18):
phone and not work or do you think your mind
just can't do that? No? I actually I've been able
to do that, and I think it's been even So
the thing that I do no matter what is I
work out every day, right, Like, no matter what where
I am anything, if I'm at a hotel or whatever,
I will always go to the gym. And like my
sipulation with my team is like whatever hotel, I say,
and there needs to be a gym at twenty four
our gym, like and I need to work out every day.
(27:39):
And it's like the time when I put my work
away and I just listen to music or NPR and
like I just like clear my head. I mean yes,
my therapists argues that that's no longer just self care
because I started modeling, so it's like part of my
job now. It's like I signed with Adidas and so
like I have to be. But it's also at the
same time, I think like working out is like very
(28:00):
portant for me. I also started dating someone, and so
for me, like our sipulation is when it's long distance,
but like when we are together, like I put everything
away and I'm like there and present have long distance.
I think it's like perfect for me because when I
wasn't long distance before, I was like, so like please
go away, like go okay, I need my time to
(28:21):
do my best to both worlds. All of my romantic
relationships before this one have ended because they've asked me
to choose between period and them, like actively choose between
this and them. And I'm like, I'm always like sad
at first, and I'm like, okay, bye, Like like so
long distance I love actually because I'm like I get
(28:41):
my own time to like focus on my stuff and
to work, and I I'm obsessed with what he's doing.
He's like doing um, sustainable infrastructure like solar panel stuff, yes,
in his own way. And then I'm like, you know,
he get me focus. And then when we're together, which
is like I don't know, like once a month or
something like, I'll be fully present. Yeah that's yeah, I
(29:03):
see what you're saying. Yeah. Actually, Also, I recently found
out that long distance is more common with Gen Z
than any other generation. It doesn't surprise me, yeah, because
we have the tools so like you can face time
and it doesn't think like can you imagine if you
were in a long dis persuation and all you have
to do could to write letters? Oh my god, It
is crazy to me, Like it would never work in
that sense. But yeah, as an activist in general, what
(29:27):
is your goal. I know it's you're doing period, you're
doing that, you have another business idea, What is your
generalized goal in this entire field? So I mean I
have overall goals of what we I think we should
do right, like and the Tampa tax, really accessible period
products and schools. At the same time, I actually don't
have goals for like what I want to like I'm
going to do everything to get there. But I sort
(29:49):
of think is my goal is just to like maximize
my impact, like maximize my being, like bringing I don't know,
like inspiration to like the people around me, or like
love to my family, or like impa to my team.
Because I used to hold myself to standards of like
my organization needs to make this impact. Otherwise I did
not accomplish the goal. But I realized that when you
(30:10):
work in policy and you work in social change, first
of all, it's really hard to measure but who you
are depending on like a slow, often broken system, Right,
So I realized, like I just try to push myself
to like maximize what I can do, And I think
that's my goal is just to like at any stage
of what I'm doing, maximize what I'm doing. You are
very busy. Thank you for taking the time. I mean,
(30:30):
I'm inspired by what you're doing. You're making history with podcasts,
and you're much younger than me, and you're killing it,
and we're all inspired by you. Do You've actively talks
about how inspired we are by you. Stop it seriously.
Oh my god, Oh my god. I will you too.
You need to take a break from that. But I'm
telling you I'm taking breaks. It's just like I'm just
I like being busy. I can tell you thrive off it, Yes, exactly.
(30:56):
Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you
guys enjoyed this episod open Naudia, make sure you follow
her on all of her socials It's Nadia Okamoto, and
follow me on my Instagram. It's at It's A M
E J. That's I T S S A M M
y J A y E. I also recommend you follow
our podcast account because we have some fun giveaways coming.
(31:17):
Thank you guys so much for listening, and I'll see
you guys. Say bye.
Hi, guys, it's Amy j. This week's guest is a
friend of mine who is truly amazing. Nadia Okamoto is
an entrepreneur, an activist, published author, and a student at Harvard.
She's also been named to Forbes thirty and her thirty Lists.
Oh and did I mention she's only twenty two years old.
(00:24):
At sixteen, she founded period dot org, which is now
the largest youth run women's health and g O. Activism
is in her soul, and that's where we began our conversation.
So I want to start with activism because that's where
this all started. How did you create and what was
the inspiration behind period dot org? Yeah, so I'm Nadia.
(00:44):
I am currently a junior at Harvard and the founder
of an organization called Period of the Menstrum Movement. And
you know, I never grew up dreaming about being a
period warrior, right, it was not even something that even
crossed my mind. Um, But I stumbled upon it accident
when I was sixteen years old. So, in the spring
of my freshman year of high school, my mom ended
(01:05):
up losing her job and we entered what I call
our time of transition, which was essentially several months of
living without a home of our own, and during that time,
I commute to school turned from about twelve minutes to
over two hours long on public transportation, and where I
would change buses was in an area of Portland, Oregon
called Old Town where they were like ten homeless shelters
(01:25):
in a two block radius. So I mean long story short,
I essentially was running into the same homeless woman over
and over again and getting into conversations with them about
their living situation, asking them questions about what they found challenging,
and it honestly just came up in conversation like these
stories of using literal trash to take care of their periods, right,
(01:45):
and slowly just started hearing more stories of they're using
toilet paper and socks and brown paper, grocery bags and
cardboard to take care of their periods. And it was
like a privileged check for me. Right, So I'm sixteen,
I am confused about my family's living situation. Like it
was a time when like I had to mark no
permanent address on school forms. But I was also the
scholarship kid at a really expensive private school where like
(02:07):
my face was like low key on the front of
the financial aid packet like that kind of vibe. So
it's like really confusing. And so I was became obsessed
with this idea of period poverty because it was something
I had never thought about before, right, So it was
this privileged check of Oh, even in this time when
my family is going through this hard thing, I've never
had to worry about where I get my period products
and put things in perspective, I'm yes, absolutely, And so
(02:29):
after I just got obsessed with it, googled things about
period poverty, learned about you know, what it meant on
a global scale, about being like one of the leading
causes of absentees and for girls in school, and then
learned that forty states in the U s had a
sales tax on period products, considering them luxury items. Okay,
so for those who don't know, because we have guys
(02:52):
and girls listening, what is period poverty? So period poverty
is not being able to afford access to menstrual hygiene
products so like tampons, adds menstrual cups, due to a
lack of income. So why do you think there's such
a stigma around all of this? I mean, I think
that throughout history, periods have been thought of as something
that is shameful that should be hidden, right. I think.
I think there's like the obvious theories behind how periods
(03:15):
are inherently tied to sex, because it's like when your
body can become pregnant, right, um. But also I think
like you can trace it back all the way I
mean one to the Bible, right, Like in the Bible,
periods are are framed in Genesis as when um as
a punishment for the ultimate stind of like Eve eating
the apple, right um. At the same time, yeah, at
(03:36):
the same time, the word taboo, which means like untouched,
like you do not touch the subject, comes from the
root word Polynesian root tapua, which literally means menstruation stop. So, like,
throughout history and through the etymology of the language that
we use, this is thought of as something that is stigmatized,
connected to stigmatized topics like sex and pregnancy and all
(03:58):
of that and pure it so I thought of as
something that like makes that less attractive. Right And at
the same time, um, I mean throughout history it's been
sort of as seen as the thing that puts women
in their place, and so we don't talk about it today,
like so much of our work is simply trying to
get people comfortable saying the word period, right. And I
noticed that when I started talking to these homeless women,
is we would start talking about periods and they would
(04:19):
whisper it like it's a bad word, like oh, I'm
on my period, right, or you think about asking your
friend for tampa and going to school. It's a very
secretive thing, exactly, And I think it's even it's rarely
talked about in school today, but when it is, it's
in like boys in one classroom and girls in the other.
So the boys never learned about it, and the girls
learned that. It's like only talked about behind closed doors,
and you it's never taught in a space where you
(04:40):
can ask questions, right. So I mean the example I
like to use of realizing the stigma around you is
like when I give speeches, I ask people to raise
their hand if you've ever stuck a tampa of your sleeve, right,
And most of the time the majority of the hands
go up. And it's crazy to think, like, you go
to the bathroom and we're conditioned to know that you
hide your period product, but no one tells you that
(05:01):
when you need to change your period product. At all
costs height it. Yeah, you're like conditioned by society that
this literal like piece of cotton is a shame an
object of shame, right, and that you will be laughed
at and giggled at. And so society conditions us to
understand that there's this shame around periods. And I think
that's what we're trying to change. I mean, just talking
(05:23):
about it, it's like it automatically makes my my heart
be like, oh my god, like what are people? Can
I think about it? Which it shouldn't be because it
literally happens to have the population exactly. And I think
I think even further, it's understanding that like this, these
small elements of stigma have real systemic effects. Right, So
(05:43):
we think of it as, oh, it's just like it's
just our own nervousness, right, But because of that stigma,
we have the majority of US states that consider these
periodpodics luxury items, not essential goods. But rogaine, viagra, penal pumps,
chopstick is considered essential goods. Really, So it's like all
of these things where it's like the stigmas pervasive and
has real effects all the way to we're still fighting
(06:06):
for period products to be freely accessible in school shelters,
in prisons, and like last year, legislation was turned down
in Maine and a GOP representative stood up and said
period products should not be free in prisons because they're
not meant to be country clubs. Right, So there's this
to so this is like in a state house in
Maine state House, right, And so it's we there are
real effects of you know, we joke around about periods
(06:28):
and we joke about, you know, what the effects of
this are, but like, yeah, there's laws and that exists
around this that are really angering and we you know,
my organization did a national study last year. We found
that of teens in America have either misclass or know
someone who has misclass due to lack of access to
period products. So you started this nonprofit when you were sixteen,
But when did you think this could grow and become
(06:50):
such a huge movement. I don't think I ever really
realized it was a movement. Even like today, I still
wake up and I'm like shocked by how many people
are interested and they call it to move and now
they had a carried movement that you started. Yes, yes,
and it's it's super exciting to me. But I mean,
when I started this organization, I did not think it
was going to be national. I did not think it
was going to go beyond Portland. I was truly doing
(07:12):
it because I was like, I know these homeless women,
and I genuinely care about them, and and I wanted
to reconcile this privilege that I was realizing I had
right and and I had no idea what I was doing.
I was googling what is a nonprofit? And what is
the I R S? And what is a form nine nine?
I was googling everything, yes, and on my I started
with a goal of getting period products to twenty homeless
(07:33):
wman a week because I personally knew twenty homeless woman.
And it was simply through organizing and posting on social media.
And then, I mean I was a true workaholic at
the age of like sixteen. I was like staying up
late finishing my homework, doing sixteen clubs, and then using
all the time I could to work on this. And
so within a few months we were starting to register
chapters around the country. And fast forward to now, um,
(07:55):
we're now the largest youth and engine Woman's Health in
the world. We've addressed about almost a million period. It's
for product distributions, million units of product, and we've registered
about six hundred campus chapters in all fifty states. WHOA, Okay,
so how crazy is not just to say that in
a sentence that you've accomplished all that munch in you. Yes,
(08:16):
it's interesting because I'm not very good at like celebrating
how much we've done because I think that as an
activist at heart, like, yes, it's important to take moments
to celebrate those moments, but I think I'm so always
focused on, like how much more we have to do?
Right um, And I'm really proud of our team, like
we in the last few months, we've taken down the
Tampa tax in Ohio, Utah, and Virginia and just the
(08:39):
Senate just passed the bill two days ago in Virginia. Congratulation.
But I think, like in my mind, I'm like, Okay,
there's still thirty states and we're coming upon which is
like one of the most pivotal years in terms of
reproductive rights right now, and we're still fighting to protect
the same legislation we've been fighting for for the last
like six decades. And like I'm with a few presidential
(09:01):
campaigns today, and like I was talking to them and
they had no idea that the Tampa tax existed. I
met with Bluebrigs team today, but like it's I didn't see.
That's what's crazy to me that they don't understand how
relevant this is. Well, even more so, it's like I
regularly meet with governors or legislators who don't even know
that their own tax state has this tax right because
(09:21):
it's an archaic law that has never been questioned. So
you're the one that started questioning this. We're trying to
us that all of our chapters. Yeah, so how many
states have you made it? So there's no tampata. So
it's not just it's so many different activists. It truly
is this movement of so many different organizations now. But
I mean when I started in when I was sixteen,
(09:42):
it was forty states, and now we're a thirty man. Okay,
So once you get down to thirty and there's none,
how are you going to celebrate? Yeah? I guess I should. Sorry, Yeah,
I mean I think that Okay. Honestly, Like the first
thing that came to mind was like, oh, once we
get it all past, that's when we can really get
period products all the schools, right, So it's always I know,
(10:03):
and I really this is my goal for twenties. I
need to learn how to like take a step back
and like but like I mean, I sort of see
the Tampa tax and fighting it as a trojan horse
to fighting for the other things, right, because the Tampa
tax is not affecting homeless and low income women, because
it's affecting people who are already buying the product. But yes,
(10:23):
but it's exactly, it's a catalyst because we have to
fight this stigma that menstrual hygiene is a luxury, so
that we can fight for period products to be free
in school shelters, in prisons. Like I actively think that
period products should be freely accessible in every restroom because
if you walked into a bathroom there was no toilet paper,
you'd be kind of mad, right, or you'd be really
mad and frustrated. It's this, It's just as natural, it
(10:44):
can come just as unexpectedly. And actually our chapters have
been amazing. We've passed UM or introduced about twelve pieces
of legislation in the last few months. UM Missouri yesterday,
California last last week. UM around period products to be
free in schools, right, um, because like we it's crazy
even thinking about not just the statistics of missing class
and missing school, but like if you have to go
(11:05):
get a period product in the middle of a class
and you have to go find it, and oftentimes it's like,
first of all, sometimes it's in the bathroom and you
need a quarter who carries a quarter anymore? And at
the same time, or it's in the principal's office and
you have to like go to your principal, who's honestly
most likely a man, and you have to say, Hi,
I'm menstruating. I'm thirteen, and I'm going to tell my
(11:27):
principle I'm menstruating and I need a period product. Yeah, okay,
So when you created period dot org, I just find
it so fascinating. How did you collect product in the
first place? So I really mean it when I say
we started and had no strategy, Like it was truly
passion and like not going to stop working. So it
(11:49):
was like, Okay, this is my thought process. We need
a period product, so I need to go buy the
period products. I didn't even know the concept of like
corporate social giving could give us products like we're going
to go raise money to buy this product. I did
not come from money, So I tried singing on my
guitar on the side of the street corner for five hours,
raised twenty dollars. Realized that was not a good use
of my time. I started trying to pitch to anyone
(12:11):
who would listen on the street. Realized I was just
a creepy young person like training some people. So my
natural thought was, Okay, I'm just gonna go pitch to
people who were They're forced to be there. So it's
like staff meetings. So I would go to like Fidelity Insurance,
Chase Bank, Jiffy Loup auto mechanic store, and be like,
can I pitch at your staff meetings? And I would
get up in front of the audience and or not
(12:33):
audience is a strong word, the staff, which was sometimes
like a few men, and I would just pitch them.
And I would just try to pitch in different ways.
And I remember like when someone would give me literally
two dollars or five dollars and it was like the
most incredible as a sixth year old who like was
(12:54):
not us some money and being like, oh my gosh,
they believe in what I'm doing. Right. That's why it's
crazy to me to realize how much we've grown when
we when I looked back at our first year where
we raised a million, I was like, like a million dollars.
It was a crazy realization of how far we'd come
because when I started, I was truly just like searching
for anyone to listen to me in the first place,
(13:15):
and to to you know, to to give any amount, right,
and I would just practice my pitch in that sense.
Then I got frustrated, so I went online found every
pitch competition in the area. When all of them started
with a few yeah, I mean I was just googling,
like I just how I can raise money as a
young you start up our entrepreneur. There's so many funding opportunities,
(13:35):
like so many funding opportunities, like adults really want to
give to young activists right now. That's why I always
told young people like now is the best time to start,
because everyone is calling for this next generation to take action,
and they have money and they have resources, and they
just need to find people to invest in. But so
I yeah, I mean, we started with a few thousand
dollars and I got a group of like guy friends
(13:55):
together and we would go buy out the grocery stores,
get friends together, put them into little packages, and then
distribute them to people directly on the street. And then
realized that was not maximizing our impact, so we went
and distributed directly to shelters, and we just started doing
that until we had a few hundred shelters. Then we
realized we could raise money online. It was like there
was no there was no business plant Like now, of
(14:17):
course we have a strategic plan, but I didn't even
know what that was when we started. When I started,
it was like, I have no idea what a nonprofit is.
I just know that I'm really passionate about this and
I don't know what I'm doing, but we're going to
do it anyways, and so it's I mean, that's honestly
the mentality I've had in everything I've done. From that too.
I ran for office when I was nineteen, had no
idea what that meant, but googled everything and just kept
(14:38):
knocking on doors. When I wanted to write a book,
I googled how to write a book and cold emailed
literary agents and then signed with my dream publisher and
wrote it in Google Docs because I didn't know, it
was just like the simple. It was the easy thing
to do. And I think that's the thing that holds
young people back is like, what is my first step
in starting? And it's like there's no right first step,
you just have to do it. So how long did
it take you to write your book? Um? They gave
(15:00):
me two months? And how many pages? Has it? Like?
Toft words? And I was so I had so much
imposter syndrome about my book and I still do, Like
it was this whole like why do I deserve to
write a book? Who's going to read the book? So
I procrastinated and wrote it in like the last three weeks. Yeah,
oh my goodness. And keep in mind everyone that she's
(15:24):
at Harvard. Yes, you took a gap here. Yes when
my book came out. Wow, you are the busiest person
like you No, well, like you're so inspiring, just like, so,
(15:44):
what's your goal for a period? Data org? In general?
I mean, I think the goal of every nonprofit is
to put yourself out of business, like our goal like that,
it's truly what we're trying to do. We wake up
every day saying I wish we didn't have to exist,
Right if we achieve what we do in terms of
fighting period poverty. We can close our doors and say
we did our job right. I don't know if that's
ever going to be achieved in our lifetime, because periods
(16:06):
are still like the number one reason why girls my
school and developing countries. It's the single vent that leads
to girls dropping at a school, getting married early, undergoing
female gender mutilation, or social isolation. Like this issue is
so big, But I think that what I love about
this movement is that we have tangible ways of making
a difference. Like I can tell you exactly how many
states still have the tampon tacks, which states still don't
(16:26):
provide period products? Um, how many more? Like I can
find out, like how much more, how many more prisons
need to like freely freely provide these products. Like there's
tangible ways to make a difference. And I think that's
why I wanted to write my book too, was to say, like,
this is one of the few poverty related issues that
is solvable. You are a very clearly passionate person. Do
(16:47):
you ever get tired and want to give up? Because
you seem so motivated, Like just like a week in
your life when I see your Instagram stories. It gives
me anxiety, just like the amount that you do, the
amount of flights. How many flights would you say you
go on a week? I think it totally depends on
a week. Busy week, it's like a flight or two
a day. Yeah, chill week, it's like a couple of
(17:09):
trains a week. But it's part of my restlessness, right, Like,
that's that's the thing I always tell people. It's not
that I'm super busy. It's that I grew up in
very tumultuous like like my childhood was not peaceful, right.
I grew up downtown New York City posts on eleven
and then with a lot of domestic violence and abuse
(17:30):
in my own household. So I and then I grew
up moving around all the time. I think by the
time I sixteen, we'd moved like sixteen times or more.
We were bouncing around all the time. So my when
like what I am used to is is like instability. Honestly,
Like I think when I'm in one place for five days,
I get restless. So it's not that like I'm I
(17:51):
look super busy, but like I don't feel busy because
I think my life has always had a little bit
of that chaos. So like when I go to Portland.
If I'm Portland, Oregon, which is very chill compared to
New York, if I'm there for like four days, I
will actively get anxiety because I'm like everything is moving
in slow motion. So you thrive off of the go
go go totally. Yeah. And I like New York. Yes,
(18:14):
And I can sleep better on planes, like when I
feel like it's so odd, that's so interesting, But it's
because I grew up around like a lack of so
like when and I know that eventually in my life
I'm going to have to learn stability. But right now,
and it's the same thing. I've never focused on just
one thing right And it's been frustrating for some of
my team members who are like, why don't you just
focus on period, And I'm like, yes, but sort of
(18:37):
like I'm so nerdy to use this comparison. But you know,
when you're like practicing for standardized testing, and the first
tip is if you get stuck on a problem, don't
spend time on it. Just move on right and you'll
start You'll think about it in the back of your
mind and you come back. That's how I think of
everything I do right to maximize efficiency and make sure
I'm getting like perhaps like the quote unquote right answers,
I focus on period and when I get to a
(18:58):
stopping point or like frustrated with that, I move on
to my company or I move on to running profice
and I know I will eventually come back and I'll
complete it all. And I used to have really struggles
with anxiety, and then one of my friends told me
stress is just a waste of time, and time is
going to keep going. And it's so true, right, like
if you panic and you just I used to panic
attacks every day and from like PTSD and stuff, and
(19:19):
I would sit there and panic and realize six hours
went by and I did nothing right. And I think
I just had to internalize like time will keep going
whether you're with it or not. And I think time
is our most one of our most time and our
energies like our most precious resource, and we just have
to accept that and stay focused and breathe so you
can be more effective. You are so insightful. Oh my goodness,
(19:44):
it's one or the other. But like you could just
write a book on motivation, like in itself. Okay, I
want to talk about jew for how would you describe
you as a pitch jube to the people listening? How
would you describe it? I think it makes sense when
I talk about the story behind it. Right, So I
grow period, we start mobilizing young people in like historic
(20:06):
waves ever seen before in the period space, and I
run for office. We didn't win, but we made history
of student turn out and I accidentally became the youngest
Asian American to run ever and accidentally so I did
not even know. But at a certain point I started
finding myselves, like honestly, not even thinking about it, but
finding myself is called into rooms of high up people
(20:28):
and companies or hi up people in campaigns who are saying,
who are using these a case study? Saying how have
you grown this? Now? Teach us how how do we
reach young people? What we forget as young people is
that we are really powerful together. We are the largest
segment of a population in the history of the world.
Were of the global population. Wait, yes, that is a
crazy statistic, but we're of the total media audience and
(20:50):
even more on social right, So when you think about
where these companies are investing in their marketing dollars or
who they need, who campaigns need to reach to vote
UM And even in the month we spend, we control
a hundred and forty three billion dollars of spending power,
but we influenced six hundred billion dollars where parents money right,
So there's so we have so much influence in this space.
(21:12):
So I I it was truly an accident. Like I
started getting call into taking these meetings and realizing I
could like charge money for people who wanted to understand
young people. And what I realized as I would walk
into these rooms and it was often like people who
are decades older than me, and then there was like
someone in the corner who was like the youth expert,
like the youth expert, and I knew I was like
the first young person they've talked to in years, and
(21:34):
I would realize, like I'm not. I would sit there
being they would be like, oh my god, you're so amazing.
We've never heard any young person speak like that. And
I'm like confused because I am, like, I don't feel
unique in this sense, like so many amazing there's so
many amazing young people. If you think I am like
a diamond in the rough and you're just not talking
to enough young people, right. So I started doing this
(21:54):
just as like on the side, as a side hustle
um to like support my fan, like support myself from
through school. And then I started meeting other young people
with like my co founders Yad Ahmed, who was like
another actors in the space who sort of started building
a business in that own since we joined together created
this company. So now we work with small companies all
the way up to about thirty fort companies working on
(22:14):
marketing strategies, digital activations, experiential marketing. We basically go into
companies and we say, you're already trying to reach young people,
You're spending a lot of money on it. You're trying
to research us, but all of the research you're doing
is not in the best way, right. It's either do
done through research that takes six months to come out.
By the time it comes out, the trends are outdated, right.
Or you do focus groups, but you're they're just telling
you about the problem, not the solution, and you're not
(22:36):
getting at the heart of the problem right. For example,
I hear a lot from clients who do these focus
groups about social media and have never heard of a finsta, right,
because they've never asked about it. They don't know what
questions to ask, right, And so we just come in
and we're like, if you want to reach young people,
you should talk to us. And I sort of think
about our vision or our ethos not as just about
like young people, but it's the idea that if you're
(22:57):
trying to affect any group of people, that group of
people needs to be represented at the table, right, otherwise
you're not doing it equitably. I completely agree, and I
think it's really smart that you did that, because is
there anything like that? No, I mean that was that's
why we've grown so fast, because we started this and
it's a huge need and there's no competition in this space, right,
Like we are like the only made and there are
(23:19):
other gen Z marketing places, but like, but it's the
run but you're one and run by people your age
and yeah, and there's some that are popping up like it,
but we are the only one that have like infrastructure
and and and scalability. Right. So we I was the
oldest person at the company until we recently hired a
twenty three year old CFO last year. That's twenty four
year old chief of staff, and we have a hundred
(23:42):
consultants between the ages of fourteen and twenty two, and
then we deploy them out to work with high level executives.
And then we have a vine network of over three
thousand young people that we regularly fill out to surveys. Right, So,
like some of our favorite clients like this Go, we'll
do these surveys with um on like how gen Z
thinks about creates itty or social media, and we're just
able to get like, you know, much deeper insights. And
(24:04):
it's been it's been incredible to watch because I think
I took everything I learned from period of like the
power of working with brands who have resources and platform
and network, and we take that into this space and
we consider ourselves like a company that's truly about empowering
young people and trying to honestly get these companies to
take a stand on something like climate change or the
digital divide. My work teaches me to have little privilege checks,
(24:28):
every little every day, right, because it put things into
perspective or like I mean, even coming over here realizing
like I don't even think twice about subway fair anymore. Right,
but five years ago the Subway fair was really stressful
for me, right, or like I know, it's stressful for
a lot of people, and today I never think about it, right,
And I think it's you remember, as you you know,
(24:48):
I'm not used to making money like that was not
something I really grew up with. And I think I
pushed myself to be so thankful for those little things
every day and to recognize how far we've come to
It's it's taken a lot of heal ing, and I
think it's part of being a sexual thought survivor you
like have like I have really struggled with like treating
myself or being like I deserve a home, or like
I deserve to be taken care of, or like I
(25:10):
deserve my own space, and so like I finally got
my own place, And how have you learned to actually
splurge for yourself and treat yourself? I mean, yeah, I'm
still learning, but I think I mean, I think honestly
it was it took a lot of pushing from my
family and the people close to me who knew about
all of this. But also I think what put it
into perspective is, like I care so deeply about all
(25:31):
the young activists that I work with, right, Like I think,
like I spent hours a day texting back and forth
with chapter members or young activists I've never met, but
like genuinely love, like would dive because I like support
them so much. Oh my god. So how do you
balance college and all of this? And Harvard is not
an easy school? Yeah, I mean it's really hard. It's um,
(25:53):
where do you majoring in sociology? Now? Yeah that's interesting. Yeah,
it's really fun. But I mean the thing is is,
like it's not like the comes with no sacrifices, right,
Like when you live this life, I don't go to
parties every weekend. You know, I was supposed to go
to all these New York Fashion Week shows. I've ditched
all of them to work by myself in my pajamas, right,
And I'm actually really happy doing that. I'm so not
(26:14):
extroverted as people think I am. But like there's sacrifices
that come with it. And so I mean when I'm
at school, I'm there for class, like, I'm there, I
see my friends, we work together, but like I'm there
Monday to like Monday night, and then like Wednesday to
Wednesday night. Like that's often how it is, and so
I like go to class and I live by to
do list to do list, and whenever I have time,
I block out, like six hours on Saturday, I just
(26:35):
get all my homework done. Smart When you have a
deadline or you're working for your nonprofit, are your professors accommodating? No,
usually not not at all, because Harvard is the school
of a lot of ego. Right For the most part,
it's the students who were the best in their class
and then they get to Harvard and they expect this
(26:57):
special treatment because I mean, for the most of us,
we were like our teachers, like we were the ones
who got away. But no, that's not the case at all.
Like everyone is doing their own thing. So of course
you find some professors, like there are some professors I've
worked with who like, so support what I'm doing. Others
are like, yes, we support what you're doing. But like,
you are a student, just like anyone else. Would you
ever just take forty eight hours and just like go
to a spot or something and not be on your
(27:18):
phone and not work or do you think your mind
just can't do that? No? I actually I've been able
to do that, and I think it's been even So
the thing that I do no matter what is I
work out every day, right, Like, no matter what where
I am anything, if I'm at a hotel or whatever,
I will always go to the gym. And like my
sipulation with my team is like whatever hotel, I say,
and there needs to be a gym at twenty four
our gym, like and I need to work out every day.
(27:39):
And it's like the time when I put my work
away and I just listen to music or NPR and
like I just like clear my head. I mean yes,
my therapists argues that that's no longer just self care
because I started modeling, so it's like part of my
job now. It's like I signed with Adidas and so
like I have to be. But it's also at the
same time, I think like working out is like very
(28:00):
portant for me. I also started dating someone, and so
for me, like our sipulation is when it's long distance,
but like when we are together, like I put everything
away and I'm like there and present have long distance.
I think it's like perfect for me because when I
wasn't long distance before, I was like, so like please
go away, like go okay, I need my time to
(28:21):
do my best to both worlds. All of my romantic
relationships before this one have ended because they've asked me
to choose between period and them, like actively choose between
this and them. And I'm like, I'm always like sad
at first, and I'm like, okay, bye, Like like so
long distance I love actually because I'm like I get
(28:41):
my own time to like focus on my stuff and
to work, and I I'm obsessed with what he's doing.
He's like doing um, sustainable infrastructure like solar panel stuff, yes,
in his own way. And then I'm like, you know,
he get me focus. And then when we're together, which
is like I don't know, like once a month or
something like, I'll be fully present. Yeah that's yeah, I
(29:03):
see what you're saying. Yeah. Actually, Also, I recently found
out that long distance is more common with Gen Z
than any other generation. It doesn't surprise me, yeah, because
we have the tools so like you can face time
and it doesn't think like can you imagine if you
were in a long dis persuation and all you have
to do could to write letters? Oh my god, It
is crazy to me, Like it would never work in
that sense. But yeah, as an activist in general, what
(29:27):
is your goal. I know it's you're doing period, you're
doing that, you have another business idea, What is your
generalized goal in this entire field? So I mean I
have overall goals of what we I think we should
do right, like and the Tampa tax, really accessible period
products and schools. At the same time, I actually don't
have goals for like what I want to like I'm
going to do everything to get there. But I sort
(29:49):
of think is my goal is just to like maximize
my impact, like maximize my being, like bringing I don't know,
like inspiration to like the people around me, or like
love to my family, or like impa to my team.
Because I used to hold myself to standards of like
my organization needs to make this impact. Otherwise I did
not accomplish the goal. But I realized that when you
(30:10):
work in policy and you work in social change, first
of all, it's really hard to measure but who you
are depending on like a slow, often broken system, Right,
So I realized, like I just try to push myself
to like maximize what I can do, And I think
that's my goal is just to like at any stage
of what I'm doing, maximize what I'm doing. You are
very busy. Thank you for taking the time. I mean,
(30:30):
I'm inspired by what you're doing. You're making history with podcasts,
and you're much younger than me, and you're killing it,
and we're all inspired by you. Do You've actively talks
about how inspired we are by you. Stop it seriously.
Oh my god, Oh my god. I will you too.
You need to take a break from that. But I'm
telling you I'm taking breaks. It's just like I'm just
I like being busy. I can tell you thrive off it, Yes, exactly.
(30:56):
Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you
guys enjoyed this episod open Naudia, make sure you follow
her on all of her socials It's Nadia Okamoto, and
follow me on my Instagram. It's at It's A M
E J. That's I T S S A M M
y J A y E. I also recommend you follow
our podcast account because we have some fun giveaways coming.
(31:17):
Thank you guys so much for listening, and I'll see
you guys. Say bye.
Host
Sammy Jaye
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