Ep305: We Need to Talk About Period Pain. Period. With Lux Perry

Endometriosis affects more people than prostate cancer, breast cancer and heart disease combined. It's in the top 20 most painful diseases in the world, and there’s no cure. It affects 1 in 10 people with a uterus. And it is so undiagnosed, so misunderstood, that patients get threatened with expulsion from school, or fired from work.

Today is International Women’s Day. It happens once a year. But this disease affects the people who have it at least once a month, and Lux Perry has suffered from it for over 15 years. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The crippling effects of endometriosis
• Who can get it (hint: it’s not just women)
• The ways capitalism, ableism and misogyny are linked
• How period discrimination presents in work and school
• How companies can create a culture of inclusion for people with periods (and disabilities)

If you know someone else who’s been told their period pain is normal; who is struggling to hold a 9-to-5 job or attend school; or has been silenced by patriarchal society – please share this episode with them so they know they’re not alone. You can share straight from wherever you’re listening to this podcast right now, or from my website, www.changinglenses.ca/podcast.

Thank you!

Link to episode transcript here.
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Guest Bio

About Lux Perry:

Lux is a non binary disabled queer who was formally diagnosed with endometriosis after struggling for 15 years with debilitating pain. Lux and their two friends founded Somedays on the not so radical idea that period pain is not normal and that you deserve the tools and support you need to have a pain free cycle. Somedays provides safe, natural and effective period relief products based on muscle recovery principles.

Find Lux and Somedays on:

Website: https://getsomedays.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getsomedays/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@getsomedays

References and resources in this episode:

UNICEF article: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/fast-facts-nine-things-you-didnt-know-about-menstruation

Lux’s Personal Pain and Healing Journey – https://getsomedays.com/a/blog/pain-my-entrepreneurial-mentor 

30 Days for Endo: https://go.rallyup.com/f795a7/Campaign/Details
 

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Transcript

Please note: the transcripts attempt to stay true to the essence of each conversation, while maintaining clarity and readability. As a result, certain "filler" words, and nuances of tone, emotion and emphasis will be missing.

If you're able, you're strongly encouraged to listen to the audio podcast. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human editors, and may contain errors.

Ep305: We Need to Talk About Period Pain. Period. With Lux Perry

Rosie: Hey Lux. Thanks for being a guest on the Changing Lenses podcast. How are you doing today?

Lux: Hi, Rosie. Thanks for having me. Um, I'm all right. I'm sitting on a soft bed to do this podcast because I'm in a little bit of pain as per usual, but other than that, all right.

Rosie: Other than that alright. Yeah. Um, I'm glad you're on a soft bed. I actually. My bed is stripped right now because I leaked all over it this morning, which made me even later than usual. So I had to scramble around trying to shove everything in the laundry machine and figure out how I'm going to make up all the time, but I'm sorry to hear your in pain.

Lux: Yeah. I'm sorry to hear about your morning. The strifes and struggles never end.

Rosie: No kidding, but you know, I think, cause, you know, I'm not in pain, but I'm feeling all bloated and mucky and I just don't feel like standing around doing presentations. I want to call in I think, and ask my boss for a day off. I mean that makes sense, right? Isn't that what sick days are for?

Lux: Yeah, I definitely think that they would just give you the day off. No problem. Say that, that's a great idea. Take care of yourself.

Rosie: Absolutely. Especially, you know, the CEO, the male boss right. Like totally. Yeah.

Lux: Yeah. All my male bosses have always given me lots of time off for my periods.

Rosie: And they love to talk about it too.

Lux: Yeah, definitely.

[record scratch sound effect]

Rosie: Said no boss in corporate North America ever. JEDI friends and visionaries. If you're still with us, thank you for being here. I am Rosie Yeung. I'm the host of Changing Lenses and no, it is not normal for me to open a podcast episode with an improv with my guest. But you know what else isn't normal? Talking openly about our periods. That's right it flow. That time of the month. Menstruation. Conversations like the one Lux and I just had might happen in our heads or in a very private chat with our best friend, but never in a professional setting. Did you know that quote on average, a woman menstruates for about seven years during their lifetime, yet as normal as it is, menstruation is stigmatized around the world.

That is from an article published by UNICEF, which is linked in the show notes if you want to check that out. So have you ever noticed that such a normal and necessary biological function is carefully hush hushed in the workplace? When I worked in an office, I would tuck my pad in the waistband of my pants when I went to the washroom, rather than bringing my purse with me so it wouldn't look like I needed to change my pad. Periods are such a taboo topic that I actually felt more comfortable telling my female boss that I have a mental illness than saying, I have period cramps. But folks, pads and tampons and leaks and PMS are just the tip of a very big iceberg when it comes to the way periods and period pain are stigmatized. If you menstruate and you don't like talking about it or want to talk about it, that's okay. I'm not saying we should all be sharing the details with our colleagues at the lunch table. What I am saying is it should be okay to talk about it if we want to.

Think about this. Western society is patriarchal established through colonization and reinforced through capitalism. Exactly who are the people who feel uncomfortable hearing about menstruation. If our society was matriarchal. Which some Indigenous and non European cultures are. Would we be forcing ourselves to go to work with cramps or migraines or worse? As Lux says in one of her awesome Instagram posts and I quote, stop making people on their periods, go to work and act like we're not passing a blood clot mid-conversation Oh my gosh. I think women everywhere know. We've been there. Which is why I am beyond excited that Lux is graciously here to have a real conversation about discrimination against menstruation.

Lux Perry is the co-founder of the company Some Days providing safe, natural and effective period pain relief products. Lux themself struggled with debilitating pain for 15 years until they were formally diagnosed with endometriosis in 2021 and finally able to get surgery. Lux's pronouns are they/them. And they worked in muscle recovery before Some Days, which is what the pain relief products are based on. Now before Lex, I didn't know my own period privilege. I'd never heard of endometriosis or period discrimination until I saw Lux and their co-founder Dominique on TV pitching Some Days on Dragon's Den. On national TV, Lux shared that their period pain almost got them kicked out of school. And Dominique said her period pain almost got her fired from her job. This was a JEDI moment for me and changed my lens on how I see periods. If you're new to Changing Lenses, JEDI is my acronym for justice equity, decolonization and inclusion.

My life goal is to be a JEDI coach, helping people with privilege, dismantle, systemic inequity while helping people without privilege survive it. Well, when it comes to period pain, I'm definitely in the privilege category. So Lux, I am so grateful that you're here today to educate all of us on the ways that people with periods are not being treated equitably and inclusively, and also to encourage people with period pain, to survive and even thrive as you have. Thank you for being here.

Lux: Thanks so much for having me. It's really a dream come true in some weird ways to be able to talk about my period pain every day and all day.

Rosie: Not just some days?

Lux: Not just some days. I always joke about how if somebody had told my like 14 year old self that in 15, 20 years, I would be talking to large amounts of people on a very national and public stage about my pain, I would have been absolutely mortified but now I forget that it's even stigmatized because I speak about it all the time. Everybody and their dog is coming to me about their period problems. And so my whole life revolves around it. And it's so deeply, de-stigmatized in my body now that I really want to share that with other people.

Rosie: I can't wait to hear more about that. And I loved the fact that it is normalized for you. Like this is how it should be. Cause a period is a normal thing. I hope that we can all get there, hopefully by the end of this podcast, we'll have moved a little bit further towards de-stigmatizing in our own bodies to talk about our periods.

So I shared a little bit about you, but I mean like anybody, they are much more than just a two second introduction. You've already started talking a bit about your story, but I wonder if you could tell us whatever you will feel comfortable sharing about yourself. And I think particularly how you did go from somebody who would never have imagined talking about this openly to now feeling completely comfortable talking about this.

Lux: Well, I went through a lot of different phases in my journey to acceptance and to de-stigmatization or normalization. And I think that started when I was younger with the gift of my mother who also had endometriosis. And so I always had somebody around me who did validate me. Every doctor, every specialist, professional that I saw, um, superior in school. Like all my teachers, principals, bosses, nobody was able to validate me except my mom. And that is a gift that I am deeply, deeply grateful for. And so having that partner essentially throughout my life led me to continue to fight, even if it was quietly and with professionals in that specific field.

And then eventually those injustices add up. And so the weight became heavier and heavier. And when I realized that it was almost impossible for me to work a regular job, or it was impossible, it led me to entrepreneurship and then entrepreneurship taught me all sorts of other things about how to respect our time and our bodies. As an entrepreneur, as I'm sure, you know, it is very, very easy to burn yourself out, to put those pressures on yourself even more than a boss would. And so that was sort of when I started to realize the intersections of capitalism and my pain and my period in general. And that capitalism was actually influencing the way that I was disrespecting my body. And for me disrespecting my body meant not listening to it, hating it. I literally would scream and cry and say that I hated parts of my body because I felt like they were torturing me. And it wasn't really, until I realized that that anger was misplaced, that the anger was actually about the lack of validation and care that I received when I was in so much pain. And so there's like these two parallel journeys happening of me normalizing the conversation around period pain so that I could speak about it more and find more help essentially. But also at the same time de-normalizing pain. So trying to normalize the conversation of periods and then de-normalize this idea that we are just supposed to be in pain, but that's just part of our lives. That's part of the curse of being a quote unquote woman. And that's rooted in all sorts of like misogynistic Western beliefs. And so, yeah, there's lots of waves on that journey to coming to terms with the fact that we've been wronged for a really long time.

Rosie: I'm glad we're going to do a transcript on this because there is so much stuff there that is empowering. Empowering to hear you say. And what we've normalized, shouldn't have been normalized at all. I should also give a little bit of a trigger warning to any listener who may themselves be experiencing period pain or have gone through stuff because first of all, I appreciate you being able to share so vulnerably and openly Lux with your journey And I want this to be a place where we can talk openly about it, but I recognize some people may have trauma or may just be triggered and aren't ready to hear this conversation. So please for you, if you feel that way, take care of yourself. Don't listen to this. We are going to be talking openly about period pain and endometriosis. And, you know, I just want to make this a safe space for you as well Lux. So I'm committing to you that wearing a lens of a woman, cis-gendered straight woman who never had endometriosis. I am here to listen and just share this space with you out of love and respect. And your story matters. And I want people to hear it today. So I'm glad that you're in a place where you feel comfortable sharing, because I think it will empower others and be a role model for others. Maybe we could start because honestly, I feel like I had never knew the word endometriosis until maybe I saw your episode and Dragon's Den. And now I feel like I hear it all the time, or kind of like the when you buy a yellow car and you see yellow cars everywhere. So for people who don't know, can you tell us from your perspective just what is it that you go through so we can appreciate better what you have to deal with.

Lux: So endometriosis can affect everybody differently, but the primary identifier is chronic pain essentially, or extreme pain. It's in the top 20 most painful diseases in the world and there no cure. So there's really not much they can do for you. Which we can attribute to the lack of funding for women's health research. The disproportionate funding and then essentially what it's meant for me, I can only speak for myself is that I started having debilitating crippling pain when I was 13. So I ended up in emergency rooms from just the most intense abdominal pain you can imagine. I've had to pull over on the side of the road and roll around in the back of my vehicle for an hour, because I can't see or talk or do anything other than scream. I've had two incidences. I was brought to the hospital by ambulance. One time this year where I was feeling totally fine. And I asked my partner to pour a bath. And in between the time that I asked them to pour a bath and the bath was poured, I was collapsed on the floor and turning blue because I had a cyst rupture. So you can have endometrial lesions or endometriomas, which is sort of like cyst, but a little bit different on your ovaries and things like that. And they can rupture or pull down your ovary, which is connected to all sorts of nerves. So there's a lot of nerve pain happening. I collapsed on the emergency room floor this year. I thought I had visions that I was going to die. I had never felt so close to death. And then the doctor accused me of being addicted to narcotics and that's why I was there. So I was unable to get timely help because it's dismissed all the time. Abdominal pain in quote-unquote women is viewed as period pain and that therefore viewed as non-emergent, non serious and not worth investigating. And so it's really just like such a struggle of being in such intense, incredible pain all the time. And then coupling that with people, knowing absolutely nothing about the disease and being absolutely uninterested in investigating what's causing you that pain. Simply because it's located in your abdomen.

Rosie: I am shaking my head in it shouldn't be disbelief, but it is disbelief. Cause this is not a brand new disease that has just been discovered in the last year, right? Do you have a sense of how common it is that people are affected by an endometriosis?

Lux: Yeah. So endometriosis affects one in 10 people with a uterus, um, which is incredibly a lot. So for some perspective. That's more people than prostate cancer, breast cancer and heart disease. So there are run for the cures, t-shirts ,wristbands, big events, all sorts of, you know, fundraising campaigns and awareness campaigns for those diseases and tons of specialists. And then in the endometriosis category, there's almost nothing. And that is why I think that it's important to talk about women, when we talk about endometriosis. So I'd love to segue into how that intersects with gender. And because we talk about it a lot at Some Days, that absolutely not everybody that has a period is a woman. Not everybody that has endometriosis is a woman. I am not a woman. And I talk about these things all the time. But it's very, very important that we recognize that the reason that there is such a lack of understanding, awareness and validation around this disease is because it's primarily women. So the roots of that are that women have long been dismissed as hysterical when they're talking about health concerns. There's a significant lack of funding and research in women's health. So if even though many people, many different genders or anybody on the gender spectrum can experience this disease. The reason that the problems exist is because of misogyny and because it primarily affects women.

Rosie: This is something I am learning from you. You're right. We associate menstruation with women. So we would associate period pain with women as well. What do we need to change our lens on, on who else if they don't identify as women? I've seen some really interesting photos on your Instagram. And if anyone doesn't already follow Lux on her Instagram or Some Days Instagram go and check it out is amazing and inspiring, but there are what looks like to be men with period stains on their underwear on the Instagram account. So who should we be thinking of when we think of people who menstruate.

Lux: Literally anybody, because obviously because of access to new healthcare and a little bit of increased social acceptance, it's still, it's still not normalized completely. But the increased social awareness around transness means that there are more trans people in our lives then we know. And that periods and endometriosis exists within every part of the gender spectrum. And they have found endometriosis in cis-gendered men. So even people without uteruses, it can be found. Endometriosis can be found anywhere in your body, even though it's primarily found in the abdomen, it's been found in every single major organ of the body. So it really does not discriminate based on gender or sex.

Rosie: I love that you brought up earlier around colonization and our patriarchal society and capitalism because people, they don't necessarily automatically associate capitalism with women's issues or you know, menstrual equity, but it is all tied together in the way discrimination actually plays out. So our binary thinking around women menstruate And that's it. And we don't consider any other gender identities. That's a problem. So that's one way that discrimination happens, that we can start changing that. But even when you describe your horrible experiences with the pain. You had talked before about almost being kicked out of school. So this discrimination doesn't just happen in the workplace. It started as soon as you basically got your period. Can you just describe for us, so we understand the magnitude of what happens. How was it they almost got kicked out of school just for having an illness.

Lux: Well, because endometriosis is really hard to diagnose. You can't get diagnosed without a surgery. Doctors don't want to give you surgery. So when you first start to experience the effects or the symptoms of endometrial. You don't have any language for it. So it's just viewed as period pain. Just quote unquote, because people do not care about period pain.

So when I was in high school, I also did not want to tell anybody ever about period pain or talk about my period. And so I had to come up with other excuses for why I wasn't making it to school. My mom knew. Validated. Didn't care. Really fortunate for that acceptance at home. So I didn't have the like two-pronged thing where your parents are also like, why are you not going to school? But I made up every excuse under the sun. Sometimes I say that my period pain taught me how to lie because I really, really had to get creative with why I couldn't go to school all the time. So it was like a headache or an abdominal muscle or a cold or whatever it was that I could come up with. And my school started to catch on being like you've missed more days than you've attended this year, which is the reality of endometriosis. It creates chronic inflammation in your body. So often people with endometriosis or period pain, um, cause it usually has a root cause and inflammation have coexisting issues, other issues. So I had chronic pain all through school, all through high school and so when I stopped going, my school gave me an attendance contract and said, you have to sign this. And if you miss another day, you're expelled. And I had no choice. So I signed it and I missed another day. And they were like, well, we're going to have to expel you. And I begged to stay in school. I told them a little bit about what was going on, but they don't care. They think that's more of an excuse. And then I also was an athlete and so I missed sporting events and my coaches hated that and had a similar approach of like, if you miss one more practice, you can't play in the game. So it was just like consequences stacking up on top of each other. And further isolating me when I already was only able to attend high school probably about 25% of the time.

Rosie: Wow. And well, it's funny too, that we're now in a COVID place where back when you were in school, we were not doing zoom school. And now this is what I always go back to too, is all these things that people say it's impossible. You could never do it that way, right. So I'm sure that the teachers, all of the other teachers who wanted to kick you out would have been like, of course you have to physically be in school. How else are you going to learn?

Lux: Absolutely.

Rosie: Turns out actually, you don't have to physically be in school. And like you said, you studied at home, right? So the problem wasn't necessarily that you are not learning. The problem was that the teachers, well, what do you think? Like, what do you think was behind their adamant, like that you have to be in school?

Lux: I think it's ableism to be frank. And so a large part of the disability community, disabled community is coming out now and saying we've been begging for these accommodations and these measures and this access to the workplace or school forever. And they've just told us repeatedly that it can't be done. It's not possible. It diminishes the quality, et cetera. But now that there's some like extenuating circumstance, like the pandemic. The whole world has got on board with these accommodations. And so it can be a bit hurtful for those of us that have suffered from these rules or these regulations or this like stiffness around cultural norms. That have now just been tossed out the window and everybody understands it. And so yeah, I think that in school, people couldn't understand or validate that maybe there was a real reason that this person can't physically make it to school because they do not have a disability or a chronic illness. And so they don't consider. They don't have any capacity to understand what that means to not be able to make it somewhere. And therefore a lack of compassion. So they were not interested in like, what's going on for you you know? Like as a kid, I was scared. I was chronically ill all the time and nobody asked me at all. They just said we don't want you here if you can't follow these rules.

Rosie: I love that you brought in the ableism piece because still in, especially in the diversity, equity and inclusion world, the DEI world. There's a growing awareness about ableism and accommodating. I don't like that word, but accommodating people with disabilities. But it's still only really the visible disabilities or the majority disabilities are the ones that are more commonly acceptable that get considered. And so what you're describing, it sounds to me like it's invisible because we can't see your uterus. And it's chronic, but because it's invisible, we don't know that it's going on. And something I learned last year from a different podcast guest was about episodic disabilities.

So it sounds like it's chronic. But it isn't necessarily every day. And if it's in the day, it may not be all 24 hours of a day. And so there are ways; if anyone's interested it's episode number 212 talking about episodic disability. So you can take a listen to that, but so we talked about your school and the school is one thing where they want you to be there every single day otherwise you won't learn according to the rules. What about at work and maybe drawing also on Dominique's or other people's experience, but for you as well? How did you, or didn't you experience accommodation and inclusion at work?

Lux: I can say with confidence that I've never experienced any accommodation or inclusion in any workplace that I did not facilitate. At any point at any job. And I can vouch that Dominique has experienced the same. It's just not in the realm of understanding of people. If you don't have this issue, you don't know how to accommodate it. One time I had to send a picture of myself in the hospital to my boss so that he would stop angry texting me about showing up to work. Yeah, there's never been anything. The only way that I've ever been able to access any sort of flexibility around my work schedule was by becoming an entrepreneur, which you'll see also on my Instagram, there's a post about. I don't think people understand how many quote unquote women are driven to entrepreneurship because of disability or illness. It's shaped my entire life. It's shaped who I am as a person. It's shaped the way that I think. I also have a blog about that on our website, about how chronic pain really taught me all of the skills that I needed in order to become a good entrepreneur. And in some ways that's sad, but it's also how I've learned to cope with my illness and how I've learned to channel that for myself. People with disabilities and chronic illness do not owe us success or productivity or anything. They're entitled to full, healthy, dignified lives regardless of their output. And so I'm not trying to model myself as a person with a disability who's managed to somehow participate in capitalism in a way that benefits me. But yeah, it's very, very hard to balance work and disabilities.

Rosie: I can imagine some people might need a different type of trigger warning cause when we talk about capitalism and how it has been discriminatory or just how the system of capitalism is not healthy and is a exclusive system. But I don't know that they would make the connection. Can you maybe help tie it together for people what you mean when you say that like a capitalistic society is contributing to bias and oppression of many things, but including people with endometriosis.

Lux: Yeah. So when I talk about the intersections of capitalism and disability or chronic illness or the dismissal of pain. It's based on the principle that capitalism only values your productivity. And barely. It barely values your productivity because you're not even being compensated properly. But essentially it teaches us from the time we are born, that our worth is rooted in our ability to produce something. And so for those of us that struggle with either physical disabilities, mental disabilities, mental health, illness, pain, whatever it is. Even if it's like a disrupting event in your life that prevents us from participating in that way or from producing in a way that we are expected or that we place those expectations on ourselves. It is very difficult to find self-worth. And other people also treat you the same way. So people view you through the lens of what you're able to produce. How successful are you? How successful are you at your job? How much money do you make? Do you have a nice house, etc.? And so capitalism absolutely plays a large role in the unnecessary pressure that we put on ourselves to perform. When what we should actually be doing is taking care of our bodies. And listening to our bodies. And acknowledging what's happening in them and taking the time that we need, as opposed to trying to perform all the time.

Rosie: Yes, you're hitting for me too how there is no room to take care of ourselves. Like you said, the listening to our body, there's no time or room for that because that doesn't produce dollars in a capitalistic model at the end of the day.

Lux: Nobody's making money off you when you're napping. You know, you're not on social media, you're not consuming ads. You're not producing content for somebody. You're not creating some sort of money-producing environment. So they want you to do as little of that as possible. And by they, I mean capitalism.

Like the people actually profiting from capitalism. Like Jeff Bezos doesn't want you napping. He doesn't even want his employees going to the bathroom cause it doesn't make him money.

Rosie: Yes, that's right. While he's skyrocketing off to Mars or wherever he's going. Yup.

Lux: Yes.

Rosie: This is really good context and background, cause I think it's important for us to understand. The issue and all the issues that come with it because of intersectionality. With all the different things that are happening. I think that what Some Days is doing, is a great example of how to start turning this narrative around and for organizations and people; people who, in the organizations now that they know about this, like, okay, well, what can we do? Let's start talking about how we can be different and what we can do. Like one thing, as we're talking about capitalism. I love that on one of the posts again, on your Instagram account, somebody was complaining about the price of Some Days products. And I remember that that post said, yes, thank you for your input and the reason why our products costs what they're actually worth is because we're paying people, not, you know, minimum wage, but living wages.

And so that all goes into the cost of the product and I'm thinking, yes. If we actually pay people not just what they deserve, but what they need to survive, everything would cost more, but that means consumers and the end-users have to accept that too. We can't just be buying Amazon products. Who you know, Amazon doesn't treat people very well. So what are some ways that you could suggest, like, even thinking about how your boss angry texting you and you have to send a picture of yourself in the hospital. Which my HR hat is like, that feels like an invasion of privacy, but okay. Like you now run a company. How would you advise employers that they can accommodate different abilities and including period pain that will still allow them to run a business because you do it.

So some of the things that we do was we moved into a space that was accessible. So our first space had stairs. Cause that was all that we could afford at that time and everybody that was using this space was able to use the stairs, but our new warehouse. All ground level. Anybody can use it. So like starting like right from the point of where your locating your business. And then in smaller ways. So we model self care. That is the biggest thing that you can do. So the executives at Some Days all model self-care. When we are on our periods or experiencing a flare, we say so .We take the day off or we make accommodations for ourselves and work in a way that feels good for us. Honestly leading by example, so by having those conversations, that means that other people that work with you understand that that is okay to say. We all have one common goal at Some Days which is to grow and to de-stigmatize period pain. And so at the end of the day, as long as we are all committed to that mission, I don't care how you get your work done. I don't need you to sit in front of me and work. I trust you. I hired you because I trust you. And if there's a mutual reciprocal relationship of respect, then you know that those people are honest with you. And you know that they know their bodies. And so when they need a day off, we say absolutely. There's no like rigid structure around like how many days you take off or how they're taken off. If you want to rearrange your schedule to accommodate your health or something else in your life, that's important to you. That's fine. Whatever you need to do to be well is the way that you are most helpful to us. Because like our team being well is what inspires us to create change and to connect with people. That is how we connect with people is by modeling wellness. And so how would I expect anybody to do anything different or to buy into the Some Days idea if we weren't deeply practicing that.

So wait. You don't have like, okay, you're only allowed 10 sick days and we're going to it on a list. And once you hit nine, you'll get a warning. You don't, it's just, if you need a day, take a day.

Lux: Yeah.

Rosie: Wow. When I worked for other people. I couldn't even take, I could, but it was so hard to actually get the vacation day. Like that, not about my period or not about something personal, just I'm legitimately allowed this, but all of this work has to get done. And so I can just picture, you know, the other side of it saying, but what about, how will the work get done if suddenly you have somebody like, oh, now today, all of a sudden I can't work. It doesn't sound like it's been a problem for you though.

Lux: No, I mean, It's about company culture, which is why it's going to take a really long time for corporate structures to have those shifts. I mean, shifting corporate culture is almost impossible. It is possible, but it's slow. And so when you're starting a business, it's really important that you start with the type of culture that you want to carry through as you grow.

And for Some Days that culture is around , if you're out, I know that I'm going to be out sometime this month. I also have a period, for example. So I'm going to help you. If you're out for a day, I can cover your tasks. I will take on a little bit extra. I know that you're going to cover me. And so there's just this like reciprocal relationship where everybody is supporting everybody, understanding that we all have off days. And so the time that I put into caring for your work or supporting you in your off days will be returned by somebody, whether that's not you, cause you're unavailable or whatever. It's a team effort as opposed to individualistic, which is also rooted in capitalism colonialism. This idea that like we each have our one job that we are responsible for and we are not allowed to ask for help. That is absolutely an individualistic approach. And when we approach business and work from a team perspective, it allows a lot more space for community care.

Rosie: Oh, yes. Something. I'm not Indigenous. I have been learning from Indigenous communities. The idea that economy and wealth, we can take a community or a communal view of it, worldview of it. That is not just how can I, and maybe my spouse and my kids have enough money to retire on and live until we die.

But a much, like how does this benefit financially and holistically everybody in our community, in our country? Or what have you. So yeah that call to decolonize our thinking that I think is really important Lux. I appreciate that. Talking about company culture, I really love so many things that you say about what your beliefs and your values are on the Some Days website. And one of the things it says is that your intersectional, sustainable and radical and under radical, I'm going to quote this. It says from our advocacy to our trauma informed approach to pain relief, we're pushing boundaries and fighting for a future we want to be a part of. Like fire. Oh my gosh. You talked at the beginning about how there's all these awareness and fundraisers for diseases that they're tragic diseases, but they're actually not even as prevalent as endometriosis is.

And so can you tell us about this campaign, this first ever campaign that you're doing. 30 days for endo challenge? What is that? And how can we support it?

Lux: Yeah. we're so excited about the 30 days for endo challenge. I mean, I'm deeply, personally excited. I was in the car the other day talking to my partner and I was like. I can't believe that we might actually be able to make a difference in this thing that ruins my life. Like it feels so surreal in some ways. But we launched this campaign and essentially we've partnered with the women's health collective of Canada. And so they're made up of three other organizations who have been doing independent research and studies and awareness things around women's health specifically. And they've all come together to share their information with each other under this umbrella. And we've launched a 30 day challenge for the month of March. So we have a kit that we use on our website. It's called better cycle kit.

And so that's actually like a castor pack that we've redesigned. So castor packs are widely accepted as like a natural remedy for pelvic pain, endometriosis relief. It was one of the first things, the first products that I used when I was in my early twenties, that made a significant difference in my life. It was like pulling teeth, trying to do this treatment because you need to do it every day for 45 minutes. And so it took me like three years before I actually ended up doing a 30 day stint of it. And so at Some Days we developed this so that it's actually like this like really enjoyable spa-like thing. A jelly, there's this like soft, bamboo belly wrap that can be wrapped all the way around and tied around your abdomen. And then this camomile scented heat pad. So it just feels like a dream to use.

And so we know that it's a challenge to do those sort of treatments. We know that it's a challenge to step outside of our productivity and listen to our bodies and take that time for ourselves. And so the 30 day challenge is the challenge to use this kit every day for 30 days. And in doing so we're going to share it for awareness. So there'll be like posting and sharing and hashtag on Instagram. So you can find other people in the community and obviously connect over.

There's a lot of sharing of healthcare advice for how to find help within the endo community. And so we thought this would be a great opportunity for those people to connect and then also to bring larger awareness. And then there's actually a page that's linked in our Instagram bio and on our website where you can register for the challenge. And then you can actually raise money from your friends and family. A hundred percent of the registration fee and a hundred percent of the profits from the better cycle kit are all being donated to WHCC.

Rosie: That is really amazing. And I think that what is a differentiator too, is I can tell when I see your products. It is designed by people who have periods. Like there's been stories I heard from you and Dominique and on your website around duct taping heating pads to your stomach to try to get something cause you're forced to have to go to school or work to you know, to not get fired and whatnot. It seems simple. But even from a design principle. If even the men just followed human centered design principles, you would shape the heating pad different, like you would shape it like your body shape and you folks have done that at Some Days. And you can make it sorta well, I don't know if it's portable, exactly. But at least, you know, better than a heating pad, better than a water bottle, right, that you carry around with you. So genius and yet so obvious.

Lux: Well it's just crazy to me. There's this one thing that we talk about at Somedays, but one and that thing is that it really takes so little to make us happy because we have been so ignored for so long that we literally chopped the corners off a heat pad. And we're like, that's it, that's all we needed. We just needed something that wasn't rectangular. Cause we can't sit with it. Like it's, so basic. And in some ways it's so exciting that the changes needed are so small in order to positively affect the outcome. But in some ways it's also so sad. Like those changes were so small and that nobody has ever considered us when making a heat pad. Like it's just incredible. And that also goes for, we notice a lot that when we talk about validating pain, that it only takes one line or something really small for people to feel this like deep sense of validation. And it's moving. We're so happy that it resonates with people and that's the whole point, but it is deeply concerning that it is that easy to make somebody feel validated and they haven't been able to find that in their entire lives.

Rosie: I didn't think about it from that angle before Lux. That's an interesting one because I have saved more Instagram posts from Some Days site than any other site, because it's just like bang, bang, bang. I'm like, yes, that is truth. That is fact. And you're right. It's blown my mind, but in a way, it shouldn't have blown my mind.

Because it should have been more okay. Or I shouldn't have been so like, this is the first time I've ever heard this, but it is the first time I've ever heard this. So yeah speaking of Instagram, actually. How do you want people to follow up and keep supporting this journey? Because I can imagine there's more, I want to talk about, but we can't talk forever. We could, but we're not going to talk forever. How might people get more information or support your journey and Some Days journey, what's the best way to support you and also get in touch with you if that's possible?

Lux: The best way to support us is to share our content. I mean, that's what we're trying to get across. We're just trying to share a message that period pain is not normal, that your pain is worth investigating. And these are the reasons you've been invalidated your whole life. And this is why you deserve to be validated. So absolutely you can follow us on Instagram @getsomedays, and then basically we're on all platforms as the same thing. So we're on Tik-Tok, Facebook all under @getsomedays, but Instagram is really where our community lives. And you can also DM us there and there's also a contact form so it's easy to get in touch with us through Instagram.

Rosie: Awesome. Okay. And we will have links to all the different platforms, but particularly we'll highlight the Instagram one on the show notes. So if you're looking for get Some Days, you're going to find them. And our show notes will be housed on my website, which is changinglenses.ca/podcast

So I am really sad that I have to let you go. But before I let you go, I wonder if you could add onto the already incredible value that you provided to us. Maybe just some parting words of encouragement for anybody who is right now sitting on their soft pillow or experiencing pain or endometriosis, and didn't know that they were not alone until now. What encouragement could you share?

Lux: I think that the most important thing that we as individuals can do to shift the perspective and the conversation around period pain and periods - and I think that that can also relate to disability and chronic illness - is to validate ourselves. It's very easy to internalize the beliefs that we've been taught our entire lives about our need to be productive and our need to contribute in the same way as everybody else. And the minute that we stop expecting that from ourselves, we give permission to other people to do the same.

Rosie: Beautiful and powerful, excellent way to sum that up. Thank you Lux. It has been a joy and an honor to have you as a guest on Changing Lenses today. Thank you for being here and thank you to everybody who's listening. You are a true JEDI friend. I'm glad that you joined us. If Lux helped to change your lens on periods as she's changing mine and you're wondering what you can do to support. You've heard her say, just share all the Instagram posts or Tik-Tok, wherever you are on. And also please head over to wherever you listen to your podcasts. I know not every podcast platform has this, but Apple does. Wherever you can leave a review and give us a rating. This really helps get this message out and helps people find Changing Lenses and hear the JEDI messages even more. And maybe, you know, someone who doesn't know Some Days yet, but you think could really benefit from hearing Lux's message. Please share this podcast episode with them as well, or share their Instagram site @getsomedays. I think you can hear that Lux is very inspiring, very encouraging, and I'm sure that they would appreciate hearing this too. So thank you. Miigwetch, 多謝, 謝謝, Merci, and Thank You.

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Rosie:That’s a wrap! This episode of Changing Lenses was produced and hosted by me, Rosie Yeung, with associate production by William Loo, on land that was taken from many Indigenous nations, including the Anishinaabe, the Huron-Wendat, the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Today it is still the home of many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis people, with whom I seek to reconcile by learning the true history of colonization, including things that seemed legal and honourable – like treaties – but were often marked by fraud and coercion. I’m Changing my Lens by learning to see land, creation, even business and economy through Indigenous worldviews. And I’m making new friends and building relationships with Indigenous neighbours, cousins, aunties and uncles, in a genuine desire to know, love, and honour them, and live together in peace.

This podcast is one way I’m sharing what I learn to help settler-immigrant folks decolonize our thinking, and respond to the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Miigwetch, 多謝, 謝謝, Merci, and Thank You.

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