August 28, 2024 • 45 mins
On this episode, I am joined by Samantha Thiessen. She is the owner of Bluebird Pads which is a Canadian small business who makes period and incontinence products as well as lounge wear. We talk about the myths around period products and why switching to a re-useable product might be a good fit for you. We talk about the benefits and challenges of being a business owner while trying to also balance being a mom and wife.
Contact Bluebird Pads by Email, Phone or Online Form
Bluebird Pads (@bluebirdpads) • Instagram photos and videos
Bluebird Pads (bluebirdpads) - Profile | Pinterest
We also give a shout out to Sierra at Birch Hill Studio for having an enjoyable Instagram game while also being a small Canadian business owner: Birch Hill Studio Inc (@birchhillstudio) • Instagram photos and videos
Filled Up Cup - Unconventional Self Care for Modern Women
Ashley ~ Filled Up Cup podcast (@filledupcup_) • Instagram photos and videos
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the filled up cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource.
One that has nothing to do withbubble baths and face masks and
everything to do withrediscovering yourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:29):
I am so excited.
Today I have Samantha Thiessenjoining me.
Samantha and I are going to talkabout her company, which is Blue
Bird Pads.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
Hi, Ashley.
Thanks for having me.
I know that you recently startedcarrying period underwear.
Is there going to be sort of arebrand to just calling it Blue
(00:50):
Bird?
Or are you going to stick withBlue Bird Pads?
Samantha (00:53):
I believe I will just stay with bluebird pads.
They're still padded underwear.
So I think it just keeps itsimple.
Originally when I bought thecompany, it was called Blushing
Bluebird.
Essentials, but I dropped theblushing and just went with the
bluebird.
(01:13):
I thought it was easier toremember
Ashley (01:17):
For sure I know what it was blushing bluebirds.
You were part of that company asa sewer How has the transition
been from kind of being a partof the company to running the
company?
Samantha (01:31):
Oh, that's hard.
I love sewing, so it's easy forme and it just comes naturally
to run a business.
It's a whole lot more work,right, behind it, especially
having kids.
I have three little girls of myown.
It's a lot of work on top ofrunning that.
Ashley (01:53):
Yeah, the idea that we can have it all and have it all
at the same time or like havingcomplete life balance, I feel
like as a mom is kind of a mythbecause there is only so many
hours in a day that it's like,it kind of does feel at times
where it's like you're pulledinto the work side of your brain
and then it's like the mom'sside of the brain and it can
kind of be a battle going backand forth.
Samantha (02:14):
Yes, I agree with you there.
You know, especially summertimecomes and your kids are all at
home and they're wanting to godo stuff and you're like, okay,
I gotta hunker down and get somework done.
So you have to designate time toget that done.
Ashley (02:31):
Absolutely.
And still make time foryourself.
Samantha (02:35):
Yes, yes, yeah, always.
Just going to the beach is nice.
I love going to the beach or tothe lake or we have a pool in
our backyard so we could just gooutside and just chill out for a
bit.
Which is nice.
Yeah, for sure.
Cause all this hot weatherthat's been coming.
Ashley (02:54):
I basically this is my first summer where it's like a
mix of perimenopause and theheat.
So it's the first summer whereI'm like, Oh, it's a little bit
much.
But yeah, I definitely love thisweather while we have it.
You're located in BC as well, isthat correct?
Yes, on Vancouver Island inCourtney.
Yeah, so it's like, I will justenjoy the sun while we have it
(03:15):
before the rainy season, sort ofsunset.
Yeah,
Samantha (03:17):
or the smoky season.
Ashley (03:20):
Although thankfully, so far, at least where I'm located,
it's been not bad this yearcompared to some other years.
Oh, good.
Now, for anybody who's notfamiliar with Bluebird pads, can
you explain what products youcarry?
Samantha (03:37):
So, we sell organic cotton reusable cloth pads for
periods, but they also work forincontinence as well.
I also sell three differenttypes of period underwear that I
make.
We have four different sizes ofwet bags.
I also sell a variety of otherthings like wipes, nature wipes,
(04:03):
nighties, regular underwear, andinterlabial pads.
Are the products made in BC?
Yes, they're all made here,actually, in Courtney, and
mostly by me.
I do have one other sewist rightnow that helps me sew just the
pads and the bags, but all theunderwear are cut, designed, and
(04:28):
sewed by me.
Ashley (04:29):
It's amazing knowing that not only are you supporting
a smaller company, but it reallyis that the money goes towards
the person that's putting somuch of their heart and passion
behind their products.
Samantha (04:41):
Yeah, I really enjoy sewing and I love doing this for
other people which is great itdoes take a lot of time, but I
will make special underwear evenfor people that request it a lot
of the times, more for likeheavy cases or a certain height.
(05:03):
I work with a lot of elderlypeople or people that have
issues, like epilepsy and stufftoo.
So I'm helping, so I love it.
Ashley (05:14):
Well, and it's nice to know that if somebody was
looking for something specifictoo, that you do custom orders.
Samantha (05:20):
I agree, yeah.
I try to work with it as much asI can.
I can only go so far, you know,without broadening.
Some people are like, why don'tyou do this?
Why don't you do that?
And I'm like, well, I got tojust limit it right now at this
time.
But I think about things thatmaybe later down if I could get
(05:43):
some more sewers to come andhelp me then I could broaden my
variety.
Ashley (05:48):
Do you think that there's a specific myth around,
reusable period pads or periodunderwear that people maybe have
when they think about thoseproducts?
Versus like a traditional periodproduct.
Samantha (06:01):
For sure.
A lot of people think there aretoo much work.
You know, it's messy.
Or they just don't want totouch, you know, blood or you
know, it could be anything.
They say they cost too much.
They aren't.
sanitary enough, like won'tclean well enough.
Or what's another good thing?
(06:23):
They won't absorb enough ifthey're heavy, heavy flows.
But these are all myths becausereally in the long run, I don't
find them as much work becauseyou have what you need.
You don't have to go out and getit.
It's easier.
So I just wash them and re wearthem.
Ashley (06:46):
You just wash them in your regular laundry with your
other clothes, or is there anyspecial, washing things that
people should be aware of?
Samantha (06:52):
What I do is I rinse after use and store in a wet
bag.
I use non floral, I actuallyhave a cleaning stick that I use
and I just rub them down.
Rinse them out quite well,squeeze them out, just store,
wet bag, and you know, it couldlast a couple days.
(07:13):
And you could just throw them inwith your regular wash.
I do like colors, right?
I'm not going to throw them inwith my white load.
It's just easy.
And then you just throw them inwith the dryer and then put them
back on your shelf till nextmonth.
Or if it's more forincontinence, you'll be using
them more often, right?
Ashley (07:31):
And I do think it, when you do get in the habit of, you
know, storing them in yourbathroom and it becomes like a
normal part of your laundry, itreally doesn't become that much
work.
Your products are actually thefirst, like, non traditional
period products that weintroduced into our house.
And it really, it isn't extrawork.
I also think when you break downhow much waste.
(07:56):
Traditional period product iscompared to a reusable product.
It is such a difference that, wecan look at the cost of each
product side by side, but thenwe can also look at the cost of
like, if you have to pay forgarbage, how much extra waste
are you throwing in there andsaving it in that like, there's
so many different costs.
And then even just the, like,per pad, per wear, I'm sure,
(08:20):
would end up in the long runbeing more cost effective than a
traditional product that youthrow out.
Samantha (08:26):
For sure.
Because they last.
Some have lasted up to tenyears.
Like, it just depends on howmany times you use them, how
many times you wash them.
I agree with you there.
It is more cost effective, forsure.
You might have to drop a lot atfirst, but then in the long run,
it's going to save you.
Ashley (08:47):
Can you give us an idea of like a traditional first time
purchase?
How many pads?
or if they come in like a kittogether, what is the cost
initially upfront?
Samantha (09:01):
I do a couple of starter kits on my website.
There's different sizes I have aregular starter kit, a super
starter kit, and a plus starterkit.
And each one, I do a 10 percentdiscount on the starter kits.
Average, it would be about 115for, let's say, the super kit.
(09:27):
that includes five pads.
and a wet bag.
And I do recommend the wet bag.
If you have wet bags at homethat you can use, then you don't
really need the wet bag.
But that's a good start for you.
And it could last you, like,your period if you started and
(09:49):
used it two days.
Or three days, and then you canwash them and then use them for
the last couple of days, andthen kind of introduce a couple
more pads here and there, justto lengthen the life of your
pads, because if you're washingthem every other day, it will
wear down them, not by much, butthey'll still last you at least
(10:12):
five years.
Ashley (10:14):
Yeah, I think we started with a starter kit.
I can't remember whether webought one or two initially, but
they do really last a long time.
I can't remember from my initialpurchase to my restock purchase,
how long it was, but it wasdefinitely years in between.
Yeah.
And the wet bag is also soconvenient.
So if you're, you know, inschool or at work, it's so handy
(10:36):
that you can take it with youwithout it having to be like,
what am I going to do?
Like, so it doesn't create thatextra step or additional work.
It's like, instead of throwingwhatever in the garbage, it's
like, you can just throw it,like you said, in the wet bag
and go back.
Do whatever you're going to do
Samantha (10:53):
for sure.
I agree with you.
They're just makes it soconvenient and easy to be on the
go and bring it with you.
I love zippers on them.
So you can just zip it up andkind of leave it if you have to
and come back to it and clean itup or it can be put on the shelf
in your bathroom.
(11:13):
And then when it's laundry day,then you clean it with the
regular clothes.
Ashley (11:18):
It's also like a very nondescript, bag, it almost
reminds me of they're like aminiature lunch container or
almost like a pencil case, likea fabric pencil case.
So even if you were like, Iwouldn't want anybody to see me
with it, or if you were very,self conscious, or if you were a
younger person in school, youwouldn't go, oh, that's a period
product, if you just happen tosee somebody having it in their
(11:40):
hand.
Samantha (11:41):
Exactly true.
And also, when you go to thebathroom, you don't have that
like, you know, the ripping upthe plastic.
It's just like a little zip thatput down, put the pad, change,
put the dirty one in there, andthen it's done.
It's easy.
I make these little small polypockets.
And that's just a day that youcan take one pad and put it into
(12:04):
the wet bag.
It's just a teeny wet bag.
Ashley (12:07):
Which is nice to have different options, too.
I was unaware.
I thought it only came in thebigger style.
Samantha (12:13):
We actually have four different sizes of bags.
We have the teeny poly size,then a medium size I came out
with a couple years ago.
That one's nice to keep a coupleof pads in your purse, or if you
just have liners, which is niceto keep in there.
And then I have the largerLuella bag, which that's a great
(12:34):
bag.
It's just easy and it's the mostcommon.
To keep quite a few pads inthere.
Then I come out with an extralarge size.
Her name's called Verna.
And it can hook actually on tohooks like it has snaps and so
you can hook it up and it's moreof a full size for people with
(12:55):
more night sized pads or heavypads.
Ashley (12:59):
Compared to a traditional pad, how long or how
much blood on average, likecomparable for them?
Like how long do you think onepad you could wear throughout
the day time wise?
Samantha (13:15):
If you were using disposable pads, you would
generally have one in themorning, one in the afternoon,
and then one more at night.
And it's the same with my pads.
Depending on how heavy your flowis I would, recommend a super
size for the, Morning, asupersize for the afternoon, and
(13:38):
maybe a night size for thenight.
And that's kind of the first dayof the period, whereas when you
get to the second day dependingon how heavy you are, you could
do the same, or you could evendo one supersize all day, and
then a different one at night,but because they don't have the
(14:00):
chemicals that disposables haveon them, you can wear them up to
12 hours and it's fine.
Ashley (14:08):
Yeah, which is really, it's huge to think about.
Periods can be such a pain,especially it's like if you're
not expecting it and then you'reout and about and then you have
it.
We don't really want to think,oh my gosh, I have to, you know,
change my tampon in three hoursor I have to worry about this.
You really can kind of throw iton and not really worry about it
and go about your day.
Okay.
Samantha (14:26):
Yes, they've saved me a couple times where I was like,
Whoa, I don't know if I'm gonnamake it.
And then I go to the bathroom.
I'm like, I'm fine.
They saved me.
But it is a mind over matterthough, when you first use a
reusable over disposable becausethe feeling feels like you're
wearing like clothes.
(14:47):
So, you have to be like, trustthe pad, you have to think about
it because or else then you'relike, well, I'm not wearing
anything kind of.
idea.
Ashley (14:58):
Does that make sense?
Yeah, because the disposableones definitely have a different
texture, a different feel tothem.
Yeah.
That it's like, it is, it'salmost like you're free bleeding
when you're not.
Samantha (15:09):
Yeah.
And you have to just be like,whoa, okay, I can do this.
And then it becomes so regularthat I don't think I could ever
go back ever to using adisposable pad.
Ashley (15:25):
No, I don't think so either.
I just felt like the plastic ytexture after a while, like
something that wasuncomfortable.
And it just didn't feel good, ifthat makes sort of sense.
Samantha (15:37):
I agree.
And the rashes, the irritations,the yeah, it didn't feel good.
And it's funny, but when we wereyounger, that was kind of what
was expected of us, is we weresupposed to use these
disposable, that's all we weretaught, to use disposable pads.
Ashley (15:57):
Yeah, there wasn't.
Conversations around periods orperiod products or period
options.
So I really do appreciate thatthese conversations are
happening more now.
I was even mind blown when I hadheard that traditional period
products were I don't think itwas like until this year or
until last year, and I could bequoting this wrong, but they had
(16:19):
never actually tested it withblood that they had tested it
with other liquids.
So it's like this product thatwas sold to us for decades as
being this one product.
it wasn't even tested forwomen's bodies or our blood or
whatever that It is just kind ofinsane that Those were the only
options we had, and that therewas very little testing on them.
(16:43):
And then even the studies comingout about the chemicals that are
really in our body and reallythinking about the long term
effects that those cause, it isalways nice to have an
alternative option if that'ssomething that you want.
Samantha (16:58):
For sure.
I feel, myself, is that, It'sjust natural to more be using
cloth than it would be to usingplastic against me or even just
papery, cotton paper, right, assome of them have, but cloth,
you know, forever and always,they've always used cloth pads.
(17:23):
Back in the old days, they usedthe rag, right?
They used, for generations andgenerations and generations,
they would just use wads ofmaterial.
And then all of a sudden theydecided, nope, it's not sanitary
and brought in these disposablepads and that's what was
expected of everyone.
Ashley (17:44):
For sure, the capitalism at its finest.
When they realized that women,you know, had money to burn or
that there was products thatcould be sold to us, it was like
we did start moving away fromtraditional products.
Same with even, like body hair.
Although I am a fan of bodyhair.
of shaving still, but it is sortof that, that they convinced us
that we needed pretty pinkrazors to be able to change
(18:06):
things.
So it is really going down tothe root of, do we think that
it's unclean or unsanitary?
Or that we have these beliefsystems and where those actually
come from versus what's actuallytrue.
It must be nice for yourchildren to be able to have
normalized conversations aboutperiod and period care.
(18:27):
Did you find when you weregrowing up that there was a lot
of conversations like thishappening in your household or
that you felt comfortablehaving?
Samantha (18:34):
We didn't really talk about it when we were younger.
It wasn't frowned upon, but itwasn't really discussed either.
Not like today, where I feelmore people want to talk about
it.
Ashley (18:48):
Yeah, my daughter is 17 now when she was back in like
sixth grade, seventh grade,there wasn't like, I don't know
if they went and grabbed like aproduct out of their bag to go
to the bathroom.
It wasn't like, Oh my gosh, Ihave to hide this.
It was like, they just grabbedit and went, but I like the fact
that, you know, people dounderstand that people bleed.
(19:09):
It's a normal thing that happensevery month and that it isn't
like this.
Ew, gross.
Thing that people have to hidein the same way.
I don't necessarily think thatwe have to announce it to the
room like, hey guys, I'mbleeding this month.
I'll be right back.
But I, I feel like there needsto be like a normalcy around it.
Samantha (19:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just it's there.
That's what happened.
I agree.
And I have three girls, like Isaid, it's pretty natural in
this house.
My husband is okay talking aboutit.
He's, like, game, you know?
He talks about it all the time.
So he's a very open guy andunderstanding.
Ashley (19:46):
Which I think makes a huge difference, having it
normalized, because I think,unfortunately, The people that
maybe haven't had thoseconversations, it can be a
really scary or shameful thingunnecessarily.
Like I know I had a friendgrowing up and her parents never
talked to her about it, but sheliterally had thought she was
dying when she first got herperiod.
(20:07):
She was so scared.
Or I knew other people thattheir parents didn't supply
period products at all.
And they essentially had to likeborrow from their friends that
it should be normalized.
It shouldn't be all of theseother internalized, shameful
things.
Samantha (20:24):
Yes, for sure.
It's a hard time.
There is a lot of period povertyas people call it, especially
around the world and even inNorth America
Ashley (20:34):
yeah, I definitely agree with you and especially in this
economy, where the grocerystores like to add extra on top
of everything that for somebodywas able to budget.
I don't know.
I'm trying to think of what.
A traditional like say, maybelike a 10 box maybe could now go
up to 13 or 14 and when familiesare really struggling to be able
(20:56):
to afford the bills, it can be ahard decision to choose between
a period product or, you know,groceries or same with the
unhoused people when it's likenot having the option
necessarily to wash pads or washcups or things like that of
having access.
Samantha (21:17):
Yes, I agree for sure.
It's hard.
I would love to donate.
I do do usually a donation ayear, but it would be nice to be
able to donate more.
It's hard because I'm such asmall business to be able to do
huge donations, but I do getasked quite often.
Once a year, I'd like to do abig donation.
(21:38):
And partner with those people tohelp people that can't afford
products.
It's so nice, and to have thembe able to use something that
they don't have to go and getevery single Month.
Ashley (21:51):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I do appreciate the factthat you can do it while you
can, because I think theownership really should be on
bigger corporations orgovernment versus smaller
businesses that don'tnecessarily have the budget to
be able to donate things all thetime.
I know in B.
C.
That they passed a regulationthat schools and bigger
(22:14):
businesses do have to providetheir workers and their
students.
Period products.
So we definitely are moving inthe right direction
Samantha (22:22):
Even knowing prices are going up of fabrics and
everything, I have kind of tookit upon myself to not raise my
prices because I want to providefor the people.
I want to be able to be notsuper expensive, right?
And go up to that next bracket.
(22:43):
So, I like to keep my prices.
The way they are, you know, andeven do specials and for other
people that can't always getthem, like can't afford them at
that moment.
But I definitely will keep ontrying to be the same price as
long as I can.
Ashley (23:02):
Which I'm sure everybody appreciates to at least know
that there's consistency andpractice.
Even if you had to raise yourprices, it's because it's like
legitimate because of othercosts.
Not like, Hey, everybody willpay 7 more, so I'm just going to
charge this different rate forpeople purchasing your products.
Can they just purchase online orare you available in like brick
(23:25):
and mortar stores as well?
Samantha (23:27):
I do have the website.
And I do do a special where I dolike a 5 shipping charge that we
could do it letter maildepending up to a certain amount
of size, which is great.
I think it's a great optionbecause you know, shipping has
gone up huge amounts for peoplethat are, way across the
(23:50):
country, or even just to, like,Nanaimo from here, it can get up
to about 16 to 17 for shipping.
But I do have other retailersthat sell my product.
I have about a dozen retailers.
All up and down VancouverIsland.
We have here in Courtney, I havethe local refillery and all the
(24:15):
way down to Victoria and otherzero waste shops.
I actually have a place on SaltSpring that I have the country
grocer over on Salt Spring, butthen I have some over on the
mainland too, and all the way toAlberta.
(24:35):
I have one in Calgary and evenup in the Yukon.
Oh, nice.
Yeah, so I try to get out more.
I would like to go more acrossthe country.
Country to Ontario or, you know,Quebec or even the maritimes,
but it's hard.
I know that there are padproducers over there.
(24:59):
And so often they like to usemore locally made pads.
Ashley (25:04):
But I guess it's also one of those things like you
were talking about having sortof a future list of things that
you want to add or change aboutyour company, that it's nice to
have the option to have, and Iwould like this province or this
State even, to be able to haveit and be able to kind of have
that thing to aspire to.
Samantha (25:25):
Yes, and I would like to get across Canada.
That's a big goal for me.
Because most of my online salesare for Ontario, right?
Ashley (25:35):
That's kind of interesting.
Samantha (25:38):
Mm hmm.
And vancouver's a big one, too.
I did have one in Vancouver, butI don't believe they're going to
be selling anymore.
It just wasn't busy enough atthe shop, and it wasn't a zero
waste shop.
It was more of a general store.
So we'll see.
I might be able to get into anew one in Vancouver.
Do you just ship via Canadaright now, or do you ship
(26:02):
internationally as well?
I was shipping a little bit tothe U.
S., but I don't know if I willbe doing much for shipping.
If we expand a little bit more,I might be doing more
international, but there's a lotof different guidelines in each
country that you have to pass.
Ashley (26:21):
I wasn't even thinking about that with the different
regulations for And thenthinking about shipping, I feel
like Amazon has ruins.
a lot of people's perspective ofhow fast things can get to one
place and not even factoring inthe different costs of whether
you're using like FedEx orwhether you're using traditional
(26:43):
Canada post and things likethat.
But I think people don't reallyrealize that the costs are
astronomical right now and thatit's normal for something to
take seven to 10 business daysto get to you, not necessarily
like one to two.
Samantha (26:57):
I agree but I do think regular Canada post just like
letter mail is a great option ifyou have the right amount of
postage on it is quiteaffordable, whereas a lot of
people go with all these othercompanies.
And if you didn't know, shippingto the US.
(27:19):
If it's not stuff like liquidsand.
Other wider stuff, but if it canbe flattened, that it would cost
us just as much to post toCanada as it would be to post to
the U.
S.
in letter mail.
Oh.
Yeah, it can weigh up to 200grams.
(27:40):
It's interesting, but a lot ofpeople don't know this, and
everyone goes through like USPSis their affiliate to our Canada
Post.
And so if you put it in ourregular mail.
To post to Canada, with the sameamount of postage, it will
(28:01):
arrive in the U.
S.
within a week.
Oh, that's not bad at all.
I know, and not many people doit.
But it has to be a certain widthand a certain weight as well.
Yeah.
Ashley (28:15):
And maybe people just assume that they need a bigger
size or that they need somethingalternative.
And then overpurchase because Ifeel like unless you're in
person when you're trying to doit online bots are horrible for
trying to explain like what youwant or I personally hate them
when they pop up at the bottomand are like, let me help you.
That if you are trying to bookyour shipping label online, you
(28:37):
could essentially just assumethat you need something bigger
or that the more expensiveoption is the better
Samantha (28:42):
option.
Exactly.
And I also find with the USPSthat it doesn't go through
customs like the UPS and othercompanies like the FedEx and
stuff, and sometimes then itwill hit the customs and then
you'll get an additional chargeand it may wait there a week,
right?
It doesn't come right away.
(29:03):
That's what slows it down.
Ashley (29:06):
Well, people would get frustrated too and assume that
the extra charge is almost likehidden charges from you.
I've had that before where youdon't really know that you're
going to get that, like, dang itcustoms.
And then all of a sudden yourthing is an extra 25 plus
dollars where it can kind of bevery frustrating, even though
that's completely out of yourcontrol.
Samantha (29:27):
Exactly.
Yeah.
Ashley (29:29):
Going back at your products a little bit.
I know that your periodunderwear doesn't have elastic
waistbands.
What made you decide to goelastic free?
Samantha (29:41):
Well I actually have three different types of
underwear.
When I decided to make theunderwear in the first place,
like my whole vision, was that Ididn't want to do elastic on
them.
Because I don't like elastic.
I find it's restricting andunfortunately, A lot of people
(30:03):
do like elastic.
I started with the bikini styleand I started to make them and
they just weren't working whereI couldn't make them without the
elastic.
So I ended up putting elasticson the bikini styles.
It's like a fold over elastic.
It was what kind of worked.
(30:23):
Then I started exploringdifferent ways of making it.
So I don't have to use theelastic, right?
So somebody really wanted highrise and I'm like, wow, that
sounds phenomenal.
I like high rise.
So then I came out with a rawedge period underwear where it's
just, you know, really raw.
(30:44):
There was no elastic.
We'll use the material as thestretchable and it's really free
with your body and flexes withyour body.
Some people didn't really likethat too much because of the
rolling.
There was a little bit of a rollon the top I found, but it
didn't bother me.
But maybe more heavier womenthat have a little bit of a
(31:05):
tummy, it would roll down overthe tummy.
So then I came up with the Thirdwave, which is the high rise 2.
0 and I changed it So it's alittle higher a little lower
more bum cupping and I?
Was exploring?
Wooly nylon thread so this is astretchable thread it makes it
(31:29):
so when you use sergers or coverstitch machines that you can
make it so that the materialstretches just as much as it
did, but you could fold over anduse the cover stitch to top and
bottom.
So this is the HiRise 2.
0 that I was like, okay, I'mgoing to do this.
(31:51):
I'm going to use the wooly nylonand I love it.
And I love the design of it.
I still do occasionally the rawedge if people request because
there were the lovers like me.
I love the raw edge.
That liked it, and so I willmake it specially for them, but
the High Rise 2.
(32:12):
0, I really enjoy thoseunderwear, and I wear them all
the time, whether it's periodtime or not, and so I ended up
actually making regularunderwear out of that style, but
we'll get into that in a minute,because what happened in the
video.
I ended up going with the thongwas the original idea when I
(32:38):
came out with this whole plan ofdoing this period panty, I
wanted to make these thong styleand I was going to do it where
no elastic, but it's actuallydouble material and so you make
it inside out and you pull itout and It's hard to describe,
(32:58):
but it does not have elastic init either.
I use the woolly nylon thread,which is nice and stretchable.
And it's a high rise, bikinistyle padded underwear.
It's actually quite popular.
I sell out of it all the time.
Ashley (33:13):
It's awesome that you have so many options, but it's
also when you realize, okay,Hey, this isn't working.
This is feedback that I'm givingthat you were able to pivot and
say, Oh, I'm going to do thisand, Oh, I'm still willing to do
custom for this and really keepyourself flexible and not, I
guess, hold on to one design andlike double down.
Samantha (33:35):
So I still do the bikini because the bikini is
quite popular, a lot of peoplebuy it, it has the elastic still
on it, I'm on the edge, should Ijust get rid of the elastic
altogether, but when do you makethat when it's already selling?
At what point should I pivotthat to being no elastic too?
(33:56):
Because finally this non elasticidea is working for me and I
like it, but I don't know.
I'm on the fence of that one.
Ashley (34:05):
I think if it's not hurting your business wise or
like your bottom dollar end ofthings, I think if you keep the
different options, it doesn'thurt, especially if both styles
are selling, but if you arefinding that one is more of your
passion project, then it's likeone of those things where we
can't be everything toeverybody, that it's like, even
(34:26):
if you were to niche down, thenwhen people are looking for
that, they know to come to you.
Samantha (34:30):
Yeah, for sure.
Ashley (34:32):
You had talked about having things that you would
love to do one day or differentproducts to carry.
Yeah.
Do you want to give us a spoilerof what some of those might be,
potentially?
Samantha (34:44):
So, I have kind of hunkered it down a little bit
because I was kind of startingto make more and more stuff
because, you know, you get boredof making the same thing all the
time, right?
So, I did start making nightiesor I call them my lounge wear,
so it's more like kind of askiff idea, but it's just a
(35:08):
little nightdress, you couldwear it as a bathing suit cover,
or you can make it wear as adress, just put a little sweater
or a belt on it it's supercomfy, but I make that with the
Tinsel Organic Cotton Blend,which is just so nice on your
body, so the moment I touchedthis material, I was like, I
want to rub this all over mybody, and I'm going to make a
(35:30):
nightie out of it, so I did.
I also started to make theunderwear, just the regular
underwear out of it as well.
And I love them too.
I wear them all the time.
I wait to laundry day just so Ican wear those pair of
underwear.
Ashley (35:46):
But I We always have our favourites, hey?
Yeah.
It's like the top of the week orthe ones that we go through
first.
Samantha (35:54):
Yeah, yeah.
That's your like, go to, right?
And I wanted to put them alltogether.
All like but eventually I'llcome up with new colors right so
I'm like well I don't want allthe same color so might as well
just wait and when I get thenext load of colors I'll get
different colors and that's thatpattern as well so.
I've even talked about moregoing to more in the lounge wear
(36:18):
of doing more of a shorts or alittle tank top.
These are future things I'vetalked about.
I get asked quite oftenly formale underwear.
So it's.
an idea I've thought about.
Also with the female doing morethe short idea.
(36:41):
And they might come into portionif I could get some more sewers
to help me with the stuff I'malready doing because I can't
spread myself too thin with allthe different stuff I make
because really just keeping upwith the underwear is a lot of
work.
Ashley (36:57):
Do you find that sewing has sort of become a lost art
and it's harder to find peoplethat still have that skill?
Samantha (37:04):
There are a couple people that are out there and
it's not a matter that they haveto know how to sew, especially
with making things like thepads.
It's more, I describe the paddesign of sewing more like
quilting.
Does that make sense?
Yeah.
The way you sew it is almostlike quilting.
(37:25):
I don't think it would be reallyhard to find too many more
sewers to do the pads.
I have one and she's great lady.
I call her a sewist, right?
Yeah.
She's phenomenal.
You know, she barely did muchsewing when I got her on.
I'm pretty good at training, soI can teach anyone how to do it.
(37:49):
But it's a matter of seeing thedetails, right?
Having that detailed mind thatyou kind of know what you're
doing in that way.
And don't always let stress getin your way.
Like, oh, it's not going fastenough.
A lot of people get stressed outby stuff like that.
I love to be able to help outmoms, right?
(38:11):
That have to stay at home andcan't get out to work.
So it's something you can do athome.
I make little containers forthem and they bring them home,
and sew them there, then bringthem back once they're done.
Ashley (38:28):
It's nice that you're able to provide that
flexibility, because it is hardwhen it's like, again, trying to
divide your time between Havingthe ability to work while also,
you know, not paying necessarilyfor child mining or wanting to
be there, pick up and drop offfor your kid.
That sometimes it can be hard tofind something from like nine to
two or nine to one during thosedaytime hours.
Samantha (38:49):
Yeah.
They definitely make thoseschool times quite odd, but I'd
like to make it so that womencan do stuff at home.
And that was great for me when Iwas sewing, right?
For the company before.
I took over ownership.
I worked for three years sewingfor them.
So it was great for me.
(39:10):
It would gave me something to dowhen the kids were napping
during the day or in theevenings.
I'm always feeling like I haveto be doing something.
So when I'm sitting there, maybewatching a show, I'm cutting and
turning.
I'm a multitasker like mostmoms, so it's nice to have that
little extra thing that you cando on the side.
Ashley (39:32):
Well, I definitely appreciate that it does give you
sort of that extra activity, butit also gives you something like
your own sense of accomplishmentor your own Thing outside of it.
I want like a hobby even whenyou're getting paid for it.
Samantha (39:43):
When you start owning a business, it's a lot harder a
lot more to deal with I love thesewing side of it.
I love the creating side.
I Feel like my biggest hurdleowning the company Would have to
be the social media, themarketing, it's a wave that I
(40:03):
can't, you know, hard to getinto and to understand and to
make it work.
Ashley (40:11):
I completely agree.
And then once you do learn it, Iswear that the algorithm changes
and then you have to do it thisway.
It is really hard to balance itall.
And it is kind of hard because Ifeel like it can be a make or
break for a business on themarketing side of things and the
social media.
(40:32):
But it is really hard to havethe time to not only, you know,
do all the things that you needto do in a day, but then also
essentially create this likefull time social media channel
to make sure that you're doingenough stories and you're doing
enough posts and that you have aTikTok and a Pinterest and all
of the things that I candefinitely appreciate.
(40:53):
the struggle with that.
Samantha (40:54):
So like days where you're like, I'm so busy, but I
have to put a post out and youspend an hour putting together a
post and you're like, this isgreat.
And then you post it and you getlike, Maybe 10 likes or
something, and you're like,what?
Or yes for feedback, no onefeeds back.
It feels like you're not gettingin in this algorithm.
(41:15):
And it's really kind of more orless infuriating for those
people trying so hard, right?
Ashley (41:23):
And I feel like the algorithm definitely has made it
so much harder in some wayscompared to 10 years ago, where
you just put hashtags and all ofa sudden you would find like a
thousand people.
I do think, and I'm still badmyself for posting on it, I do
think growth is a little biteasier on TikTok than Instagram
and Facebook.
Samantha (41:45):
I don't know, because I put stuff on TikTok and
sometimes I get no feedback atall.
No one even sees it,
Ashley (41:52):
In some ways I feel like Instagram and Facebook are
easier for finding local peopleand then the numbers will be
there on TikTok, but yeah, it'ssort of a never ending cycle of
being able to have it reallyperform the way that we want it
to.
Samantha (42:06):
Yeah, I mean, like hashtags.
Oh, you put them on there, butthen you go look in the hashtag
and how many times were yourthings ever actually show up on
the hashtag?
Never, because unless you getover a certain amount of likes,
like over a hundred andsomething likes, your stuff
won't even show up on thehashtag.
Ashley (42:26):
And the problem also with it now hashtag and
everything Is seo and you haveto put keywords into it and it's
I feel like it's a never endingcycle once we master the like
not using hashtags and doing theseo Then it'll be some other
different
Samantha (42:45):
Yeah
Ashley (42:46):
thing on it so yeah, I can definitely appreciate the
challenge of it that way becauseyou're essentially having to
create Like a mini reality showof your business while you're in
your business.
Samantha (42:57):
I know, but you also see like other companies that
are doing kind of the same thingas you and you literally post
something about it like a coupledays before and you know, they
have over a hundred andsomething likes and you've got
like no, like there are one.
10 likes and you're like, well,that makes no sense.
Why are people seeing them andnot you?
(43:19):
Right?
It's
Ashley (43:21):
Some of the ones that I follow that have done really
well as far as businesses Wouldbe Birchhill Studio Now, Sierra
is one of those people where youeither love her or you hate her.
I think with how, like, just herpersonality is very, matter of
fact.
But she's another one thatshe'll take it and on her
business page, it's like she'llbe watching TV and making fun of
(43:42):
whatever she's watching or justtell you about what she's
watching.
But I think it's the fact thatshe's posting very frequently
all the time and essentiallytalking to her followers as if
she was talking on the phone tosomebody and kind of creating
this false sense of like knowingher being friends with her.
I think that's what people arelooking for.
And I know I'm in the same boatas you but I just struggle with
(44:04):
it and I used to be a lot betterand it is hard to stay motivated
when you feel like nobody'snecessarily paying attention.
Samantha (44:11):
Yeah, you're like going against a brick wall.
It's like, I don't know, but Ilove that.
I love the people that do likemy posts and stuff.
I have my regulars, right, I'mso appreciative for them.
Ashley (44:28):
But I do understand what you mean.
It is one of those things thateven if we have those hundred
people that comment all thetime, we really need those
hundred people to eithergenerate sales or for them to
tell a hundred other people sothat there's that growth behind
it too.
Samantha (44:43):
Yeah.
Ashley (44:44):
If people are looking for your products online or
they're looking for your socialmedia, where can they find you?
Samantha (44:51):
Our website is www.bluebirdpads.com or through
Facebook?
It's bluebird pads.
Ashley (45:04):
Thank you so much for having this conversation with me
today.
Samantha (45:07):
Well, thanks for having me.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
FilledUpCup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(45:28):
episode.
Welcome to the filled up cuppodcast.
We are a different kind of selfcare resource.
One that has nothing to do withbubble baths and face masks and
everything to do withrediscovering yourself.
We bring you real reviews,honest experiences, and
unfiltered opinions that willmake you laugh, cry, and most
(00:21):
importantly, leave you with afilled up cup.
Ashley (00:29):
I am so excited.
Today I have Samantha Thiessenjoining me.
Samantha and I are going to talkabout her company, which is Blue
Bird Pads.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
Hi, Ashley.
Thanks for having me.
I know that you recently startedcarrying period underwear.
Is there going to be sort of arebrand to just calling it Blue
(00:50):
Bird?
Or are you going to stick withBlue Bird Pads?
Samantha (00:53):
I believe I will just stay with bluebird pads.
They're still padded underwear.
So I think it just keeps itsimple.
Originally when I bought thecompany, it was called Blushing
Bluebird.
Essentials, but I dropped theblushing and just went with the
bluebird.
(01:13):
I thought it was easier toremember
Ashley (01:17):
For sure I know what it was blushing bluebirds.
You were part of that company asa sewer How has the transition
been from kind of being a partof the company to running the
company?
Samantha (01:31):
Oh, that's hard.
I love sewing, so it's easy forme and it just comes naturally
to run a business.
It's a whole lot more work,right, behind it, especially
having kids.
I have three little girls of myown.
It's a lot of work on top ofrunning that.
Ashley (01:53):
Yeah, the idea that we can have it all and have it all
at the same time or like havingcomplete life balance, I feel
like as a mom is kind of a mythbecause there is only so many
hours in a day that it's like,it kind of does feel at times
where it's like you're pulledinto the work side of your brain
and then it's like the mom'sside of the brain and it can
kind of be a battle going backand forth.
Samantha (02:14):
Yes, I agree with you there.
You know, especially summertimecomes and your kids are all at
home and they're wanting to godo stuff and you're like, okay,
I gotta hunker down and get somework done.
So you have to designate time toget that done.
Ashley (02:31):
Absolutely.
And still make time foryourself.
Samantha (02:35):
Yes, yes, yeah, always.
Just going to the beach is nice.
I love going to the beach or tothe lake or we have a pool in
our backyard so we could just gooutside and just chill out for a
bit.
Which is nice.
Yeah, for sure.
Cause all this hot weatherthat's been coming.
Ashley (02:54):
I basically this is my first summer where it's like a
mix of perimenopause and theheat.
So it's the first summer whereI'm like, Oh, it's a little bit
much.
But yeah, I definitely love thisweather while we have it.
You're located in BC as well, isthat correct?
Yes, on Vancouver Island inCourtney.
Yeah, so it's like, I will justenjoy the sun while we have it
(03:15):
before the rainy season, sort ofsunset.
Yeah,
Samantha (03:17):
or the smoky season.
Ashley (03:20):
Although thankfully, so far, at least where I'm located,
it's been not bad this yearcompared to some other years.
Oh, good.
Now, for anybody who's notfamiliar with Bluebird pads, can
you explain what products youcarry?
Samantha (03:37):
So, we sell organic cotton reusable cloth pads for
periods, but they also work forincontinence as well.
I also sell three differenttypes of period underwear that I
make.
We have four different sizes ofwet bags.
I also sell a variety of otherthings like wipes, nature wipes,
(04:03):
nighties, regular underwear, andinterlabial pads.
Are the products made in BC?
Yes, they're all made here,actually, in Courtney, and
mostly by me.
I do have one other sewist rightnow that helps me sew just the
pads and the bags, but all theunderwear are cut, designed, and
(04:28):
sewed by me.
Ashley (04:29):
It's amazing knowing that not only are you supporting
a smaller company, but it reallyis that the money goes towards
the person that's putting somuch of their heart and passion
behind their products.
Samantha (04:41):
Yeah, I really enjoy sewing and I love doing this for
other people which is great itdoes take a lot of time, but I
will make special underwear evenfor people that request it a lot
of the times, more for likeheavy cases or a certain height.
(05:03):
I work with a lot of elderlypeople or people that have
issues, like epilepsy and stufftoo.
So I'm helping, so I love it.
Ashley (05:14):
Well, and it's nice to know that if somebody was
looking for something specifictoo, that you do custom orders.
Samantha (05:20):
I agree, yeah.
I try to work with it as much asI can.
I can only go so far, you know,without broadening.
Some people are like, why don'tyou do this?
Why don't you do that?
And I'm like, well, I got tojust limit it right now at this
time.
But I think about things thatmaybe later down if I could get
(05:43):
some more sewers to come andhelp me then I could broaden my
variety.
Ashley (05:48):
Do you think that there's a specific myth around,
reusable period pads or periodunderwear that people maybe have
when they think about thoseproducts?
Versus like a traditional periodproduct.
Samantha (06:01):
For sure.
A lot of people think there aretoo much work.
You know, it's messy.
Or they just don't want totouch, you know, blood or you
know, it could be anything.
They say they cost too much.
They aren't.
sanitary enough, like won'tclean well enough.
Or what's another good thing?
(06:23):
They won't absorb enough ifthey're heavy, heavy flows.
But these are all myths becausereally in the long run, I don't
find them as much work becauseyou have what you need.
You don't have to go out and getit.
It's easier.
So I just wash them and re wearthem.
Ashley (06:46):
You just wash them in your regular laundry with your
other clothes, or is there anyspecial, washing things that
people should be aware of?
Samantha (06:52):
What I do is I rinse after use and store in a wet
bag.
I use non floral, I actuallyhave a cleaning stick that I use
and I just rub them down.
Rinse them out quite well,squeeze them out, just store,
wet bag, and you know, it couldlast a couple days.
(07:13):
And you could just throw them inwith your regular wash.
I do like colors, right?
I'm not going to throw them inwith my white load.
It's just easy.
And then you just throw them inwith the dryer and then put them
back on your shelf till nextmonth.
Or if it's more forincontinence, you'll be using
them more often, right?
Ashley (07:31):
And I do think it, when you do get in the habit of, you
know, storing them in yourbathroom and it becomes like a
normal part of your laundry, itreally doesn't become that much
work.
Your products are actually thefirst, like, non traditional
period products that weintroduced into our house.
And it really, it isn't extrawork.
I also think when you break downhow much waste.
(07:56):
Traditional period product iscompared to a reusable product.
It is such a difference that, wecan look at the cost of each
product side by side, but thenwe can also look at the cost of
like, if you have to pay forgarbage, how much extra waste
are you throwing in there andsaving it in that like, there's
so many different costs.
And then even just the, like,per pad, per wear, I'm sure,
(08:20):
would end up in the long runbeing more cost effective than a
traditional product that youthrow out.
Samantha (08:26):
For sure.
Because they last.
Some have lasted up to tenyears.
Like, it just depends on howmany times you use them, how
many times you wash them.
I agree with you there.
It is more cost effective, forsure.
You might have to drop a lot atfirst, but then in the long run,
it's going to save you.
Ashley (08:47):
Can you give us an idea of like a traditional first time
purchase?
How many pads?
or if they come in like a kittogether, what is the cost
initially upfront?
Samantha (09:01):
I do a couple of starter kits on my website.
There's different sizes I have aregular starter kit, a super
starter kit, and a plus starterkit.
And each one, I do a 10 percentdiscount on the starter kits.
Average, it would be about 115for, let's say, the super kit.
(09:27):
that includes five pads.
and a wet bag.
And I do recommend the wet bag.
If you have wet bags at homethat you can use, then you don't
really need the wet bag.
But that's a good start for you.
And it could last you, like,your period if you started and
(09:49):
used it two days.
Or three days, and then you canwash them and then use them for
the last couple of days, andthen kind of introduce a couple
more pads here and there, justto lengthen the life of your
pads, because if you're washingthem every other day, it will
wear down them, not by much, butthey'll still last you at least
(10:12):
five years.
Ashley (10:14):
Yeah, I think we started with a starter kit.
I can't remember whether webought one or two initially, but
they do really last a long time.
I can't remember from my initialpurchase to my restock purchase,
how long it was, but it wasdefinitely years in between.
Yeah.
And the wet bag is also soconvenient.
So if you're, you know, inschool or at work, it's so handy
(10:36):
that you can take it with youwithout it having to be like,
what am I going to do?
Like, so it doesn't create thatextra step or additional work.
It's like, instead of throwingwhatever in the garbage, it's
like, you can just throw it,like you said, in the wet bag
and go back.
Do whatever you're going to do
Samantha (10:53):
for sure.
I agree with you.
They're just makes it soconvenient and easy to be on the
go and bring it with you.
I love zippers on them.
So you can just zip it up andkind of leave it if you have to
and come back to it and clean itup or it can be put on the shelf
in your bathroom.
(11:13):
And then when it's laundry day,then you clean it with the
regular clothes.
Ashley (11:18):
It's also like a very nondescript, bag, it almost
reminds me of they're like aminiature lunch container or
almost like a pencil case, likea fabric pencil case.
So even if you were like, Iwouldn't want anybody to see me
with it, or if you were very,self conscious, or if you were a
younger person in school, youwouldn't go, oh, that's a period
product, if you just happen tosee somebody having it in their
(11:40):
hand.
Samantha (11:41):
Exactly true.
And also, when you go to thebathroom, you don't have that
like, you know, the ripping upthe plastic.
It's just like a little zip thatput down, put the pad, change,
put the dirty one in there, andthen it's done.
It's easy.
I make these little small polypockets.
And that's just a day that youcan take one pad and put it into
(12:04):
the wet bag.
It's just a teeny wet bag.
Ashley (12:07):
Which is nice to have different options, too.
I was unaware.
I thought it only came in thebigger style.
Samantha (12:13):
We actually have four different sizes of bags.
We have the teeny poly size,then a medium size I came out
with a couple years ago.
That one's nice to keep a coupleof pads in your purse, or if you
just have liners, which is niceto keep in there.
And then I have the largerLuella bag, which that's a great
(12:34):
bag.
It's just easy and it's the mostcommon.
To keep quite a few pads inthere.
Then I come out with an extralarge size.
Her name's called Verna.
And it can hook actually on tohooks like it has snaps and so
you can hook it up and it's moreof a full size for people with
(12:55):
more night sized pads or heavypads.
Ashley (12:59):
Compared to a traditional pad, how long or how
much blood on average, likecomparable for them?
Like how long do you think onepad you could wear throughout
the day time wise?
Samantha (13:15):
If you were using disposable pads, you would
generally have one in themorning, one in the afternoon,
and then one more at night.
And it's the same with my pads.
Depending on how heavy your flowis I would, recommend a super
size for the, Morning, asupersize for the afternoon, and
(13:38):
maybe a night size for thenight.
And that's kind of the first dayof the period, whereas when you
get to the second day dependingon how heavy you are, you could
do the same, or you could evendo one supersize all day, and
then a different one at night,but because they don't have the
(14:00):
chemicals that disposables haveon them, you can wear them up to
12 hours and it's fine.
Ashley (14:08):
Yeah, which is really, it's huge to think about.
Periods can be such a pain,especially it's like if you're
not expecting it and then you'reout and about and then you have
it.
We don't really want to think,oh my gosh, I have to, you know,
change my tampon in three hoursor I have to worry about this.
You really can kind of throw iton and not really worry about it
and go about your day.
Okay.
Samantha (14:26):
Yes, they've saved me a couple times where I was like,
Whoa, I don't know if I'm gonnamake it.
And then I go to the bathroom.
I'm like, I'm fine.
They saved me.
But it is a mind over matterthough, when you first use a
reusable over disposable becausethe feeling feels like you're
wearing like clothes.
(14:47):
So, you have to be like, trustthe pad, you have to think about
it because or else then you'relike, well, I'm not wearing
anything kind of.
idea.
Ashley (14:58):
Does that make sense?
Yeah, because the disposableones definitely have a different
texture, a different feel tothem.
Yeah.
That it's like, it is, it'salmost like you're free bleeding
when you're not.
Samantha (15:09):
Yeah.
And you have to just be like,whoa, okay, I can do this.
And then it becomes so regularthat I don't think I could ever
go back ever to using adisposable pad.
Ashley (15:25):
No, I don't think so either.
I just felt like the plastic ytexture after a while, like
something that wasuncomfortable.
And it just didn't feel good, ifthat makes sort of sense.
Samantha (15:37):
I agree.
And the rashes, the irritations,the yeah, it didn't feel good.
And it's funny, but when we wereyounger, that was kind of what
was expected of us, is we weresupposed to use these
disposable, that's all we weretaught, to use disposable pads.
Ashley (15:57):
Yeah, there wasn't.
Conversations around periods orperiod products or period
options.
So I really do appreciate thatthese conversations are
happening more now.
I was even mind blown when I hadheard that traditional period
products were I don't think itwas like until this year or
until last year, and I could bequoting this wrong, but they had
(16:19):
never actually tested it withblood that they had tested it
with other liquids.
So it's like this product thatwas sold to us for decades as
being this one product.
it wasn't even tested forwomen's bodies or our blood or
whatever that It is just kind ofinsane that Those were the only
options we had, and that therewas very little testing on them.
(16:43):
And then even the studies comingout about the chemicals that are
really in our body and reallythinking about the long term
effects that those cause, it isalways nice to have an
alternative option if that'ssomething that you want.
Samantha (16:58):
For sure.
I feel, myself, is that, It'sjust natural to more be using
cloth than it would be to usingplastic against me or even just
papery, cotton paper, right, assome of them have, but cloth,
you know, forever and always,they've always used cloth pads.
(17:23):
Back in the old days, they usedthe rag, right?
They used, for generations andgenerations and generations,
they would just use wads ofmaterial.
And then all of a sudden theydecided, nope, it's not sanitary
and brought in these disposablepads and that's what was
expected of everyone.
Ashley (17:44):
For sure, the capitalism at its finest.
When they realized that women,you know, had money to burn or
that there was products thatcould be sold to us, it was like
we did start moving away fromtraditional products.
Same with even, like body hair.
Although I am a fan of bodyhair.
of shaving still, but it is sortof that, that they convinced us
that we needed pretty pinkrazors to be able to change
(18:06):
things.
So it is really going down tothe root of, do we think that
it's unclean or unsanitary?
Or that we have these beliefsystems and where those actually
come from versus what's actuallytrue.
It must be nice for yourchildren to be able to have
normalized conversations aboutperiod and period care.
(18:27):
Did you find when you weregrowing up that there was a lot
of conversations like thishappening in your household or
that you felt comfortablehaving?
Samantha (18:34):
We didn't really talk about it when we were younger.
It wasn't frowned upon, but itwasn't really discussed either.
Not like today, where I feelmore people want to talk about
it.
Ashley (18:48):
Yeah, my daughter is 17 now when she was back in like
sixth grade, seventh grade,there wasn't like, I don't know
if they went and grabbed like aproduct out of their bag to go
to the bathroom.
It wasn't like, Oh my gosh, Ihave to hide this.
It was like, they just grabbedit and went, but I like the fact
that, you know, people dounderstand that people bleed.
(19:09):
It's a normal thing that happensevery month and that it isn't
like this.
Ew, gross.
Thing that people have to hidein the same way.
I don't necessarily think thatwe have to announce it to the
room like, hey guys, I'mbleeding this month.
I'll be right back.
But I, I feel like there needsto be like a normalcy around it.
Samantha (19:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Just it's there.
That's what happened.
I agree.
And I have three girls, like Isaid, it's pretty natural in
this house.
My husband is okay talking aboutit.
He's, like, game, you know?
He talks about it all the time.
So he's a very open guy andunderstanding.
Ashley (19:46):
Which I think makes a huge difference, having it
normalized, because I think,unfortunately, The people that
maybe haven't had thoseconversations, it can be a
really scary or shameful thingunnecessarily.
Like I know I had a friendgrowing up and her parents never
talked to her about it, but sheliterally had thought she was
dying when she first got herperiod.
(20:07):
She was so scared.
Or I knew other people thattheir parents didn't supply
period products at all.
And they essentially had to likeborrow from their friends that
it should be normalized.
It shouldn't be all of theseother internalized, shameful
things.
Samantha (20:24):
Yes, for sure.
It's a hard time.
There is a lot of period povertyas people call it, especially
around the world and even inNorth America
Ashley (20:34):
yeah, I definitely agree with you and especially in this
economy, where the grocerystores like to add extra on top
of everything that for somebodywas able to budget.
I don't know.
I'm trying to think of what.
A traditional like say, maybelike a 10 box maybe could now go
up to 13 or 14 and when familiesare really struggling to be able
(20:56):
to afford the bills, it can be ahard decision to choose between
a period product or, you know,groceries or same with the
unhoused people when it's likenot having the option
necessarily to wash pads or washcups or things like that of
having access.
Samantha (21:17):
Yes, I agree for sure.
It's hard.
I would love to donate.
I do do usually a donation ayear, but it would be nice to be
able to donate more.
It's hard because I'm such asmall business to be able to do
huge donations, but I do getasked quite often.
Once a year, I'd like to do abig donation.
(21:38):
And partner with those people tohelp people that can't afford
products.
It's so nice, and to have thembe able to use something that
they don't have to go and getevery single Month.
Ashley (21:51):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I do appreciate the factthat you can do it while you
can, because I think theownership really should be on
bigger corporations orgovernment versus smaller
businesses that don'tnecessarily have the budget to
be able to donate things all thetime.
I know in B.
C.
That they passed a regulationthat schools and bigger
(22:14):
businesses do have to providetheir workers and their
students.
Period products.
So we definitely are moving inthe right direction
Samantha (22:22):
Even knowing prices are going up of fabrics and
everything, I have kind of tookit upon myself to not raise my
prices because I want to providefor the people.
I want to be able to be notsuper expensive, right?
And go up to that next bracket.
(22:43):
So, I like to keep my prices.
The way they are, you know, andeven do specials and for other
people that can't always getthem, like can't afford them at
that moment.
But I definitely will keep ontrying to be the same price as
long as I can.
Ashley (23:02):
Which I'm sure everybody appreciates to at least know
that there's consistency andpractice.
Even if you had to raise yourprices, it's because it's like
legitimate because of othercosts.
Not like, Hey, everybody willpay 7 more, so I'm just going to
charge this different rate forpeople purchasing your products.
Can they just purchase online orare you available in like brick
(23:25):
and mortar stores as well?
Samantha (23:27):
I do have the website.
And I do do a special where I dolike a 5 shipping charge that we
could do it letter maildepending up to a certain amount
of size, which is great.
I think it's a great optionbecause you know, shipping has
gone up huge amounts for peoplethat are, way across the
(23:50):
country, or even just to, like,Nanaimo from here, it can get up
to about 16 to 17 for shipping.
But I do have other retailersthat sell my product.
I have about a dozen retailers.
All up and down VancouverIsland.
We have here in Courtney, I havethe local refillery and all the
(24:15):
way down to Victoria and otherzero waste shops.
I actually have a place on SaltSpring that I have the country
grocer over on Salt Spring, butthen I have some over on the
mainland too, and all the way toAlberta.
(24:35):
I have one in Calgary and evenup in the Yukon.
Oh, nice.
Yeah, so I try to get out more.
I would like to go more acrossthe country.
Country to Ontario or, you know,Quebec or even the maritimes,
but it's hard.
I know that there are padproducers over there.
(24:59):
And so often they like to usemore locally made pads.
Ashley (25:04):
But I guess it's also one of those things like you
were talking about having sortof a future list of things that
you want to add or change aboutyour company, that it's nice to
have the option to have, and Iwould like this province or this
State even, to be able to haveit and be able to kind of have
that thing to aspire to.
Samantha (25:25):
Yes, and I would like to get across Canada.
That's a big goal for me.
Because most of my online salesare for Ontario, right?
Ashley (25:35):
That's kind of interesting.
Samantha (25:38):
Mm hmm.
And vancouver's a big one, too.
I did have one in Vancouver, butI don't believe they're going to
be selling anymore.
It just wasn't busy enough atthe shop, and it wasn't a zero
waste shop.
It was more of a general store.
So we'll see.
I might be able to get into anew one in Vancouver.
Do you just ship via Canadaright now, or do you ship
(26:02):
internationally as well?
I was shipping a little bit tothe U.
S., but I don't know if I willbe doing much for shipping.
If we expand a little bit more,I might be doing more
international, but there's a lotof different guidelines in each
country that you have to pass.
Ashley (26:21):
I wasn't even thinking about that with the different
regulations for And thenthinking about shipping, I feel
like Amazon has ruins.
a lot of people's perspective ofhow fast things can get to one
place and not even factoring inthe different costs of whether
you're using like FedEx orwhether you're using traditional
(26:43):
Canada post and things likethat.
But I think people don't reallyrealize that the costs are
astronomical right now and thatit's normal for something to
take seven to 10 business daysto get to you, not necessarily
like one to two.
Samantha (26:57):
I agree but I do think regular Canada post just like
letter mail is a great option ifyou have the right amount of
postage on it is quiteaffordable, whereas a lot of
people go with all these othercompanies.
And if you didn't know, shippingto the US.
(27:19):
If it's not stuff like liquidsand.
Other wider stuff, but if it canbe flattened, that it would cost
us just as much to post toCanada as it would be to post to
the U.
S.
in letter mail.
Oh.
Yeah, it can weigh up to 200grams.
(27:40):
It's interesting, but a lot ofpeople don't know this, and
everyone goes through like USPSis their affiliate to our Canada
Post.
And so if you put it in ourregular mail.
To post to Canada, with the sameamount of postage, it will
(28:01):
arrive in the U.
S.
within a week.
Oh, that's not bad at all.
I know, and not many people doit.
But it has to be a certain widthand a certain weight as well.
Yeah.
Ashley (28:15):
And maybe people just assume that they need a bigger
size or that they need somethingalternative.
And then overpurchase because Ifeel like unless you're in
person when you're trying to doit online bots are horrible for
trying to explain like what youwant or I personally hate them
when they pop up at the bottomand are like, let me help you.
That if you are trying to bookyour shipping label online, you
(28:37):
could essentially just assumethat you need something bigger
or that the more expensiveoption is the better
Samantha (28:42):
option.
Exactly.
And I also find with the USPSthat it doesn't go through
customs like the UPS and othercompanies like the FedEx and
stuff, and sometimes then itwill hit the customs and then
you'll get an additional chargeand it may wait there a week,
right?
It doesn't come right away.
(29:03):
That's what slows it down.
Ashley (29:06):
Well, people would get frustrated too and assume that
the extra charge is almost likehidden charges from you.
I've had that before where youdon't really know that you're
going to get that, like, dang itcustoms.
And then all of a sudden yourthing is an extra 25 plus
dollars where it can kind of bevery frustrating, even though
that's completely out of yourcontrol.
Samantha (29:27):
Exactly.
Yeah.
Ashley (29:29):
Going back at your products a little bit.
I know that your periodunderwear doesn't have elastic
waistbands.
What made you decide to goelastic free?
Samantha (29:41):
Well I actually have three different types of
underwear.
When I decided to make theunderwear in the first place,
like my whole vision, was that Ididn't want to do elastic on
them.
Because I don't like elastic.
I find it's restricting andunfortunately, A lot of people
(30:03):
do like elastic.
I started with the bikini styleand I started to make them and
they just weren't working whereI couldn't make them without the
elastic.
So I ended up putting elasticson the bikini styles.
It's like a fold over elastic.
It was what kind of worked.
(30:23):
Then I started exploringdifferent ways of making it.
So I don't have to use theelastic, right?
So somebody really wanted highrise and I'm like, wow, that
sounds phenomenal.
I like high rise.
So then I came out with a rawedge period underwear where it's
just, you know, really raw.
(30:44):
There was no elastic.
We'll use the material as thestretchable and it's really free
with your body and flexes withyour body.
Some people didn't really likethat too much because of the
rolling.
There was a little bit of a rollon the top I found, but it
didn't bother me.
But maybe more heavier womenthat have a little bit of a
(31:05):
tummy, it would roll down overthe tummy.
So then I came up with the Thirdwave, which is the high rise 2.
0 and I changed it So it's alittle higher a little lower
more bum cupping and I?
Was exploring?
Wooly nylon thread so this is astretchable thread it makes it
(31:29):
so when you use sergers or coverstitch machines that you can
make it so that the materialstretches just as much as it
did, but you could fold over anduse the cover stitch to top and
bottom.
So this is the HiRise 2.
0 that I was like, okay, I'mgoing to do this.
(31:51):
I'm going to use the wooly nylonand I love it.
And I love the design of it.
I still do occasionally the rawedge if people request because
there were the lovers like me.
I love the raw edge.
That liked it, and so I willmake it specially for them, but
the High Rise 2.
(32:12):
0, I really enjoy thoseunderwear, and I wear them all
the time, whether it's periodtime or not, and so I ended up
actually making regularunderwear out of that style, but
we'll get into that in a minute,because what happened in the
video.
I ended up going with the thongwas the original idea when I
(32:38):
came out with this whole plan ofdoing this period panty, I
wanted to make these thong styleand I was going to do it where
no elastic, but it's actuallydouble material and so you make
it inside out and you pull itout and It's hard to describe,
(32:58):
but it does not have elastic init either.
I use the woolly nylon thread,which is nice and stretchable.
And it's a high rise, bikinistyle padded underwear.
It's actually quite popular.
I sell out of it all the time.
Ashley (33:13):
It's awesome that you have so many options, but it's
also when you realize, okay,Hey, this isn't working.
This is feedback that I'm givingthat you were able to pivot and
say, Oh, I'm going to do thisand, Oh, I'm still willing to do
custom for this and really keepyourself flexible and not, I
guess, hold on to one design andlike double down.
Samantha (33:35):
So I still do the bikini because the bikini is
quite popular, a lot of peoplebuy it, it has the elastic still
on it, I'm on the edge, should Ijust get rid of the elastic
altogether, but when do you makethat when it's already selling?
At what point should I pivotthat to being no elastic too?
(33:56):
Because finally this non elasticidea is working for me and I
like it, but I don't know.
I'm on the fence of that one.
Ashley (34:05):
I think if it's not hurting your business wise or
like your bottom dollar end ofthings, I think if you keep the
different options, it doesn'thurt, especially if both styles
are selling, but if you arefinding that one is more of your
passion project, then it's likeone of those things where we
can't be everything toeverybody, that it's like, even
(34:26):
if you were to niche down, thenwhen people are looking for
that, they know to come to you.
Samantha (34:30):
Yeah, for sure.
Ashley (34:32):
You had talked about having things that you would
love to do one day or differentproducts to carry.
Yeah.
Do you want to give us a spoilerof what some of those might be,
potentially?
Samantha (34:44):
So, I have kind of hunkered it down a little bit
because I was kind of startingto make more and more stuff
because, you know, you get boredof making the same thing all the
time, right?
So, I did start making nightiesor I call them my lounge wear,
so it's more like kind of askiff idea, but it's just a
(35:08):
little nightdress, you couldwear it as a bathing suit cover,
or you can make it wear as adress, just put a little sweater
or a belt on it it's supercomfy, but I make that with the
Tinsel Organic Cotton Blend,which is just so nice on your
body, so the moment I touchedthis material, I was like, I
want to rub this all over mybody, and I'm going to make a
(35:30):
nightie out of it, so I did.
I also started to make theunderwear, just the regular
underwear out of it as well.
And I love them too.
I wear them all the time.
I wait to laundry day just so Ican wear those pair of
underwear.
Ashley (35:46):
But I We always have our favourites, hey?
Yeah.
It's like the top of the week orthe ones that we go through
first.
Samantha (35:54):
Yeah, yeah.
That's your like, go to, right?
And I wanted to put them alltogether.
All like but eventually I'llcome up with new colors right so
I'm like well I don't want allthe same color so might as well
just wait and when I get thenext load of colors I'll get
different colors and that's thatpattern as well so.
I've even talked about moregoing to more in the lounge wear
(36:18):
of doing more of a shorts or alittle tank top.
These are future things I'vetalked about.
I get asked quite oftenly formale underwear.
So it's.
an idea I've thought about.
Also with the female doing morethe short idea.
(36:41):
And they might come into portionif I could get some more sewers
to help me with the stuff I'malready doing because I can't
spread myself too thin with allthe different stuff I make
because really just keeping upwith the underwear is a lot of
work.
Ashley (36:57):
Do you find that sewing has sort of become a lost art
and it's harder to find peoplethat still have that skill?
Samantha (37:04):
There are a couple people that are out there and
it's not a matter that they haveto know how to sew, especially
with making things like thepads.
It's more, I describe the paddesign of sewing more like
quilting.
Does that make sense?
Yeah.
The way you sew it is almostlike quilting.
(37:25):
I don't think it would be reallyhard to find too many more
sewers to do the pads.
I have one and she's great lady.
I call her a sewist, right?
Yeah.
She's phenomenal.
You know, she barely did muchsewing when I got her on.
I'm pretty good at training, soI can teach anyone how to do it.
(37:49):
But it's a matter of seeing thedetails, right?
Having that detailed mind thatyou kind of know what you're
doing in that way.
And don't always let stress getin your way.
Like, oh, it's not going fastenough.
A lot of people get stressed outby stuff like that.
I love to be able to help outmoms, right?
(38:11):
That have to stay at home andcan't get out to work.
So it's something you can do athome.
I make little containers forthem and they bring them home,
and sew them there, then bringthem back once they're done.
Ashley (38:28):
It's nice that you're able to provide that
flexibility, because it is hardwhen it's like, again, trying to
divide your time between Havingthe ability to work while also,
you know, not paying necessarilyfor child mining or wanting to
be there, pick up and drop offfor your kid.
That sometimes it can be hard tofind something from like nine to
two or nine to one during thosedaytime hours.
Samantha (38:49):
Yeah.
They definitely make thoseschool times quite odd, but I'd
like to make it so that womencan do stuff at home.
And that was great for me when Iwas sewing, right?
For the company before.
I took over ownership.
I worked for three years sewingfor them.
So it was great for me.
(39:10):
It would gave me something to dowhen the kids were napping
during the day or in theevenings.
I'm always feeling like I haveto be doing something.
So when I'm sitting there, maybewatching a show, I'm cutting and
turning.
I'm a multitasker like mostmoms, so it's nice to have that
little extra thing that you cando on the side.
Ashley (39:32):
Well, I definitely appreciate that it does give you
sort of that extra activity, butit also gives you something like
your own sense of accomplishmentor your own Thing outside of it.
I want like a hobby even whenyou're getting paid for it.
Samantha (39:43):
When you start owning a business, it's a lot harder a
lot more to deal with I love thesewing side of it.
I love the creating side.
I Feel like my biggest hurdleowning the company Would have to
be the social media, themarketing, it's a wave that I
(40:03):
can't, you know, hard to getinto and to understand and to
make it work.
Ashley (40:11):
I completely agree.
And then once you do learn it, Iswear that the algorithm changes
and then you have to do it thisway.
It is really hard to balance itall.
And it is kind of hard because Ifeel like it can be a make or
break for a business on themarketing side of things and the
social media.
(40:32):
But it is really hard to havethe time to not only, you know,
do all the things that you needto do in a day, but then also
essentially create this likefull time social media channel
to make sure that you're doingenough stories and you're doing
enough posts and that you have aTikTok and a Pinterest and all
of the things that I candefinitely appreciate.
(40:53):
the struggle with that.
Samantha (40:54):
So like days where you're like, I'm so busy, but I
have to put a post out and youspend an hour putting together a
post and you're like, this isgreat.
And then you post it and you getlike, Maybe 10 likes or
something, and you're like,what?
Or yes for feedback, no onefeeds back.
It feels like you're not gettingin in this algorithm.
(41:15):
And it's really kind of more orless infuriating for those
people trying so hard, right?
Ashley (41:23):
And I feel like the algorithm definitely has made it
so much harder in some wayscompared to 10 years ago, where
you just put hashtags and all ofa sudden you would find like a
thousand people.
I do think, and I'm still badmyself for posting on it, I do
think growth is a little biteasier on TikTok than Instagram
and Facebook.
Samantha (41:45):
I don't know, because I put stuff on TikTok and
sometimes I get no feedback atall.
No one even sees it,
Ashley (41:52):
In some ways I feel like Instagram and Facebook are
easier for finding local peopleand then the numbers will be
there on TikTok, but yeah, it'ssort of a never ending cycle of
being able to have it reallyperform the way that we want it
to.
Samantha (42:06):
Yeah, I mean, like hashtags.
Oh, you put them on there, butthen you go look in the hashtag
and how many times were yourthings ever actually show up on
the hashtag?
Never, because unless you getover a certain amount of likes,
like over a hundred andsomething likes, your stuff
won't even show up on thehashtag.
Ashley (42:26):
And the problem also with it now hashtag and
everything Is seo and you haveto put keywords into it and it's
I feel like it's a never endingcycle once we master the like
not using hashtags and doing theseo Then it'll be some other
different
Samantha (42:45):
Yeah
Ashley (42:46):
thing on it so yeah, I can definitely appreciate the
challenge of it that way becauseyou're essentially having to
create Like a mini reality showof your business while you're in
your business.
Samantha (42:57):
I know, but you also see like other companies that
are doing kind of the same thingas you and you literally post
something about it like a coupledays before and you know, they
have over a hundred andsomething likes and you've got
like no, like there are one.
10 likes and you're like, well,that makes no sense.
Why are people seeing them andnot you?
(43:19):
Right?
It's
Ashley (43:21):
Some of the ones that I follow that have done really
well as far as businesses Wouldbe Birchhill Studio Now, Sierra
is one of those people where youeither love her or you hate her.
I think with how, like, just herpersonality is very, matter of
fact.
But she's another one thatshe'll take it and on her
business page, it's like she'llbe watching TV and making fun of
(43:42):
whatever she's watching or justtell you about what she's
watching.
But I think it's the fact thatshe's posting very frequently
all the time and essentiallytalking to her followers as if
she was talking on the phone tosomebody and kind of creating
this false sense of like knowingher being friends with her.
I think that's what people arelooking for.
And I know I'm in the same boatas you but I just struggle with
(44:04):
it and I used to be a lot betterand it is hard to stay motivated
when you feel like nobody'snecessarily paying attention.
Samantha (44:11):
Yeah, you're like going against a brick wall.
It's like, I don't know, but Ilove that.
I love the people that do likemy posts and stuff.
I have my regulars, right, I'mso appreciative for them.
Ashley (44:28):
But I do understand what you mean.
It is one of those things thateven if we have those hundred
people that comment all thetime, we really need those
hundred people to eithergenerate sales or for them to
tell a hundred other people sothat there's that growth behind
it too.
Samantha (44:43):
Yeah.
Ashley (44:44):
If people are looking for your products online or
they're looking for your socialmedia, where can they find you?
Samantha (44:51):
Our website is www.bluebirdpads.com or through
Facebook?
It's bluebird pads.
Ashley (45:04):
Thank you so much for having this conversation with me
today.
Samantha (45:07):
Well, thanks for having me.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday for this episode of the
filled up cup podcast.
Don't forget to hit subscribeand leave a review.
If you like what you hear, youcan also connect with us at
FilledUpCup.Com.
Thanks again for tuning in andwe'll catch you in the next
(45:28):
episode.
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