Good Life Project - Taboo, Power & Possibility | Nadya Okamoto

Episode Date: November 5, 2019

Nadya Okamoto is a 21-year-old activist (https://www.instagram.com/nadyaokamoto), Harvard student, Founder and Executive Director of PERIOD (https://www.period.org/), the largest youth-run NGO in women’s health and one of the fastest growing organizations of its kind in the US. She is also co-founder and Chief Brand Officer of Gen-Z marketing agency, JUV Consulting. Her debut book, Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement (https://amzn.to/2mGr1h0), is a call to end period poverty and stigma through service, education, and advocacy. Okamoto was named to InStyle Magazine’s “The Badass 50: Meet the Women Who Are Changing the World." Astonishingly accomplished at a young age, Nadya's driven to make a difference, fueled in no small part by her own deep trauma, as she describes living through homelessness, abuse, sexual assault, racism and exclusion. But, it was her experience, befriending and hearing stories of homeless women in Portland that would lead her to found PERIOD, devote herself to giving voice and aid to the voiceless and launch a movement along the way. And, she's just getting started!-------------Have you discovered your Sparketype yet? Take the Sparketype Assessment™ now. IT’S FREE (https://sparketype.com/) and takes about 7-minutes to complete. At a minimum, it’ll open your eyes in a big way. It also just might change your life.If you enjoyed the show, please share it with a friend. Thank you to our super cool brand partners. If you like the show, please support them - they help make the podcast possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today, Nadia Okamoto, is the founder and executive director of Period, which is an organization she founded at the age of 16 while in high school, has now become the largest youth-run NGO in women's health and one of the fastest-growing ones here in the United States, with over 600 campus chapters in all 50 states and 30 countries. And while running that foundation, Nadia also headed off to study at Harvard, where in 2017, she then decided to also run for office in Cambridge. And while she didn't win, her campaign team made really historic waves, mobilizing incredible

numbers of young people on the ground and at polls. And along the way, she published a book, Period Power, a manifesto for the menstrual movement with Simon Schuster, and co-founded New York City Gen Z marketing agency, Juve Consulting, where she's now also the chief brand officer, while running her foundation and attending Harvard. And did I mention she's 21 years old? So in today's conversation, we explore really this entire journey along with the moments in her early life, some very painful on the level resulting in sustained PTSD that she's dealing with to this day that have really shaped her journey, that have inspired her to become who she is,

to discover her voice and a sense of power and step into a place of agency and impact and work insanely hard, travel the world and just make an astonishing difference. So eyeopening and so, so moving to know that it doesn't matter how young or old you are. There is a sense of willingness to step into a void, to teach yourself anything you need to know to make big things happen and to simply place one foot in front of the other and trust that doing that day after day after day will lead

you to a place of incredible possibility and potential and impact. Really excited to share this conversation with you. I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project. We'll be right back. Flight risk. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. We first met in kind of a fun way. It was last summer. We were both speaking at an event. And I wasn't, it's funny. I actually, I knew about your work before that, but I didn't realize I did.

Yeah. Because one of my daughter's closest friends actually had worked with you, but I never made the connection. And finally, my job at that event was actually to introduce you. And I started going into like researching. I'm like, oh my. What just an extraordinary human being. So it's so nice to be able to sit down with you and just spend some time and go deeper into your story. Well, thank you for having me.

Yeah, my pleasure. So we're hanging out in New York City right now. You grew up in Portland and we're going to get to that, but you were born originally in New York City. Yeah, I was born here, raised here for like about the first decade of my life. And then when I was nine, moved to Portland. But actually between the ages of like nine and 17, I was living a third of my year in New York.

So my dad was still here. And so every summer break, every day after Christmas, every other Thanksgiving, I would be back in New York. So I think New York to me has always been this home that we never really left. And I think in the last two years, I was able to like really reclaim the city for myself. Yeah, that's beautiful. And I know, so you're in your family, your grandparents originally came here from Taiwan. So my mom's parents came from Taiwan. My dad immigrated from Japan with his parents. Yeah, got it. And they were, did they end up both coming to New York City? Or did they sort of like move afterwards?

You know, I don't know. I think that they, so my mom actually grew up in Indiana. My dad grew up in Alaska. Oh, no kidding. And then they, yeah, I think they ended up in New York when they had me. They had me relatively young, like 22. So relatively young and really, really bad marriage. And Like my dad ended up being really, really abusive. And so I think that was a big part of like what I think was shaped a lot of my character from the beginning and also shaped a lot of our like life moves, you know,

moving to the other side of the country, taking those big risks with my mom. Yeah. And I know you've spoken pretty openly about it and written about those early years. And it's also interesting because, tell me if this is true, but I've read that, you know, like you're, it's almost like it seems like it's easier for you to share that part of your life when you're speaking to large numbers of people on stage than in just an intimate conversation. Yeah, no, it's interesting. It's like my mom and like my best friends, like some of the closest people to me found out about like my greatest trauma, like when listening to a speech, you know? And it's actually interesting because it's like, I think the stage and speaking,

like people, I think oftentimes think of it as this scary, like, oh my gosh, you're talking to so many people. But I think for me, it feels wildly comforting because they're there to listen to you. And like, I can say whatever I want to, and it's not a space where they're responding, you know, it's a space where I'm speaking and then, and then there's a conversation after, you know, but I think that because of that relationship with our audience, where I'm trying to give them something new that they haven't heard before, or I'm trying to tell a story that I want them to relate to, or that makes them think more about their life experiences, not necessarily anticipating what they're going to say back to me.

I think that there's like this odd safety I feel on stage. So actually speaking, public speaking is also like where I've said things for the first time out loud or to myself about what I've been through. You know, like the first time I'd said that my family experienced living without a home of our own and was legally homeless was in front of like 300 girls at my first leadership conference, right? Or the first time I said I was in an abusive relationship when I was 16 and was like raped when I was younger was in like my first TED talk when my mom was sitting there. I remember her face just like shocked. And like the first time I ever opened up about like experiences with my dad was at like a conference in LA two years ago. And it was the first time I'd ever said that out loud.

Yeah. I mean, I'm so curious what that was. I mean, like, I mean, it's interesting also, because when you talk about sort of the stage and I share that experience with you, I speak, there is this really odd sense of, it's like, there's this moment in time where for, you know, like 20 minutes to an hour, you control both the container

and the narrative. Exactly. And that is so rare in life, just in everyday life and conversation. I also think that like, I mean, I'm an absolute young workaholic, you know, and I think that for me, it is really hard for me to like put my phone down, put my laptop away, like forget about like, you know, the pushback that might be coming in from there or just like, you know, kind of block myself off from what's happening in the workspace. Anything in the age of social media, it's really easy for people to make judgments and like call you out or, you know, make comments to you. And when you're on stage, all of that kind of like

fades away. Yeah. It's just one directional. Yeah. Yeah. Which these days, yeah, I guess it really almost everywhere you go, whether there's a screen between you or not, there's a conversation always happening. Everybody else has a voice. You may put out the initial prompt, but everybody can come back with you with whatever they're thinking and say and want to say, which is not all, sometimes it's a great thing and sometimes not. Yeah. And I love, I love that aspect of social media and like conversation. But I think that when that's so present, it's hard for me to like reflect and delve deeper and like tell my story.

So I think that the stage has sort of become a platform for me to do that. And then after I absolutely seek out those conversations, like my favorite part about speaking is not necessarily the speaking, but it's like getting off and hearing the stories of all of these audience members who, for the first time, open up to me about something that they've never shared before. You know, I think I very much like attract the stories and like emotions of specifically like other women of color who've experienced domestic violence or abuse or have felt silence at some point in their life or struggled with depression. And I think that so much of those experiences, when you're healing from them, make you feel really alone and feel really isolated. And so I think that there is something so powerful about storytelling in that. Yeah, just knowing that you're not alone. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's the power of like Me Too. Yeah, no, 100%. So younger years in New York City, really tough home life.

Do you have strong memories from that window of time? No, I think if anything, I have like no memories from that window. I mean, anything like that's a aspect of like PTSD, you know, it's like, I think there are specific glimpses of memories that I have. And honestly, like every few months I'll like have a new memory come back to me randomly. But you know, I think that like, honestly, I like from looking at pictures, I think that I really see like how bonded my mom and I were like, I was just me and her for like the first couple years. And I see how bonded my sisters and I were, you know, I think from my first role in life ever was like being a big sister. You know, I think it was always, I was always told, like, it's my job as the oldest sister to be a good role model, but also to protect my sisters.

And that was like very literal when my dad would have like his anger outbursts and things like that. And I think that, like, I have glimpses of memories of, you know, when my dad would start, you know, kind of having these moments, like knowing that it was my role to like take them and like go to my mom's room and we would hide under the desk with some pillows and like watch those, you know, old DVD players, like the same movies over and over again. And, you know, just hug them and like, just try to like keep looking out to like make sure things were okay. And that was when I was like six or seven, like I think really young

understanding of like, okay, protect my sisters. Yeah. I mean, that's a huge responsibility to take on, especially at such a young age. Yeah. I think my sisters and I are definitely like very trauma bonded. And I think like it very much influences like I think that like my very strong belief in knowing that like at the end of the day, like my family is like what I do my stuff for and it's a big motivator for me. So around, I guess you were around nine years old when your parents finally split and then you and your sisters and your mom headed out to Portland. What's that like for you when you sort of hear the news that, okay, so this window of time and the trauma that may have gone

along with it is about to end. But now you're also about to completely pick up and move 3,000 miles across the other side of the country. I mean, I was devastated and angry. That's the thing is now I look back and I realize how abusive, in many ways, my relationship with my dad was. But when you grow up with that abuse, and you see even like the fight, the fighting, like with your parents, if that's all you know, it's just completely normal. You know, like, no one tells you this is abusive. Like, this is what abuse looks like, you know, to me, I'm like, that's my relationship with my dad. Like, if anything, sometimes I was like, that's how my dad shows me that he loves me, you know. And I think

that that's the hard thing about abuse. So when you know, when I was like, that's how my dad shows me that he loves me, you know? And I think that that's the hard thing about abuse. So, you know, when I was nine and we were moving from New York, I was, like, devastated. And if anything, I was angry at my mom. You know, I was angry, like, how could you take away the city? How could you take away our grandparents who live here? How could you take away my dad? And I think that those were the very real emotions I felt at the time. And now looking back, I'm like, thank God. Thank you, mom. But you know, when you grow up in New York City, there is this ego that comes with New York of

this is the best city in the world. No other city can compare to this. And I truly felt that everything outside of New York was like upstate New York. what I saw when we left the city was like cows and, you know, lots of grass and no buildings and no crowds. And to me, that was very, it felt very isolating. Like I was not comforted by that in any way. And that's what I thought of as Oregon. You know, I remember in my second grade class, my third grade class, we had this big map of the United States on the wall. And there were little like animals or little like trees to represent the different states. And, you know, there's like tobacco plants around like Tennessee or something. Around California, there were like grapes over Napa Valley.

And around Oregon, there was a mountain and a cow, you know. And I remember just being like so devastated that that's where we were moving. And then over New York, it was like the city and the apple sign, you know? And I think that for me, I was like, I can't, I was so angry that we're moving out to Portland. Yeah. So when, when that finally happens, when you actually, you guys touched down in Portland, so you've been nine, that's like the end of primary school, right? It was going into fourth grade okay what was the reality of when you sort of like landed in this new city i mean you know i think

that it was my it was our first experience like not having a home you know like even in the times when we were living in new york even though things were rocky, we always had our own home. My mom actually also did corporate law for the first few years of my life and then burned out and left when I was five. But I think that we always had a home of our own, a place that we lived that was meant for us, that our name was on the lease or whatever. We moved out to Portland. It was like no home. We knew one couple. We moved into their basement for a little bit.

And then as soon as we got there, my mom sent my sisters and I off to sleep away camp so she could go find a place. And then we got back and like moved into our own home. But it was really interesting because like for the first time I had my own room and I hated it. Like I would always sneak out and sleep with my sisters or sleep with my mom.

Like I was not used to it. And I was really scared of the silence because you know, in New York, like I grew up downtown, then you always hear like the fighting and then like the drunken partiers outside. But that's just like, you get used to that. That's just like the soundscape for New York. Exactly. And it becomes, for me, it's like comforting. Like I actually sleep better when I hear that. And in Oregon, it was my first time trying to fall asleep and just dead silence. We lived in the suburbs for a good nine months. And I just remember the silence was terrifying to me. And I had all my horror movie nightmares were always

happened when I was going to sleep. So it was really hard for me when I think adjusting in that sense. I mean, at the same time, I think like the lack of diversity was a huge culture shock. You know, like Portland is the whitest major city in the United States. And I really felt that at school. Yeah. I mean, especially coming from New York City, which is, I don't know, I would imagine it's one of, if not the most diverse city in the States. Yeah. And I think like the racism in New York is so blatant. Like people are unafraid to say things. And a lot of it comes from like other like Asian American kids as an Asian American.

You know, like I remember being in elementary school in New York and people would come up and like call me a chink or a gook to my face. Right. But it was in a way of like, yo, chink. You know, it was like a, it was a racist thing, but not with like an ill-willed spirit, you know? And then I moved to Portland where everyone is like so white and so progressive in a way that the microaggressions that come out of their mouth are so racist, you know? But it's like so confusing as a young person that you don't know if you can say anything right like um you know i mean of course there were the comments from other students like

oh you eat dog like my parents told me you might eat dog like things like that all the way to like teachers being like oh honey like we know you got didn't get a perfect score on this test but like we just want to make sure you're safe when you go home with your parents you know just like assumptions like that all the way to like other friends, parents asking me if I, oh, do you know, like the Ling family, like the one other Asian family? And I think that that was something I never experienced before. Yeah. It's, it's amazing to me to hear that. I mean, I guess that shouldn't be, considering Portland from the outside looking in, or at least from my experience over the last five years or so,

has always embraced or sort of like identified itself in its recent incarnation as a very progressive, very liberal, very open city. But it is. Yeah. But it's a way, it's like colorblind racism. It's interesting. Like, yes, we had the amount of people, like teachers that told me, oh, honey, like we don't even see that you're a different color. We don't even notice it. We see you so much as a person like we don't even see that you're a different color we don't even notice it we see you so much as a person we don't even see your color you know like that's inherently like you know colorblind racism and i think also it was like i mean we would have black lives matter rallies where the majority of speakers were white people

you know where like it's the city of like white allies in a lot of senses you know and you know in class actually last week we read the book like white fragility and it was super eye-opening because i every page i was like portland this is portland you know like this this element of uh you know there's actually an snl skit about like be living in a white liberal bubble and i think like i felt that so much when I lived in Portland, but it was so confusing because when they're saying like, oh, like we're so lucky to live in Portland because like we don't, we put our race aside.

We come as two people. We come to the table as all one person, you know? I'm like, I think when you're in that space, you're like, oh, like that's very, I guess maybe that's beautiful, you know? And then you leave and you're like, no, that's actually really diminishing and racism in its own sense. Yeah. I mean, it's so interesting, I think, how the conversation around race has really evolved also just nationwide in really just the last four years or so. And because I remember, I mean,

I remember those words coming out of my mouth probably five, six years ago, you know, like I was talking about somebody and how amazing it was that they, quote, didn't see color. And I was quick to realize that's actually not a good thing. Yeah, yeah. all becoming homogenized. It's about us all identifying in our own unique, powerful, beautiful selves and still being completely okay and synergistic and alive together and sort of like, is that collective? Yeah. Yeah. And I totally get what you're saying. New York is such a unique place. I think when I step out of it, you're reminded quickly how incredibly unusual the city is. Yeah. So you're kind of growing up in this environment. Were you, you're experiencing this and also just being the new person in town and sort of like laying, creating new roots.

Were these things that you were able to or that you would express with anybody or with new friends or with your mom? I don't think so. I think that I very much internalized a lot of the insecurities that they built for me. You know, like I think that, I mean, even in like the social life of Portland, I remember like all the popular girls were like the white girls and juicy and Abercrombie and Uggs, you know?

And I think like people would make fun of me for the first time about like my eyes. Like I was made fun of a lot for like having like small eyes as an Asian person and I remember like always laughing it off but like you know getting up early in the morning in middle school to like put on more eyeliner to try to make my eyes bigger and I look back and I just look like a raccoon you know but like there were small things like that all the way to like people would make fun of me for being good at math because I was Asian and so I'd pretend like I was really bad at math and then I really hated math but I really loved math and I was really good at it, you know? And so I think that there are things like that, that I just very much internalize and just like, even when people

started asking me what I was, I would say, oh, my parents are Asian and I'm American, you know? And I think I became very ashamed of like being Asian American. I did not want to identify in any part with it. Yeah. I mean, at the same time, while this is all going on, you're already coming from a background of trauma. And you sort of slide into this, which is effectively a different kind of trauma. Yeah. What's going on with you just from a mental health standpoint? You know, I had anxiety from a very young age and I think part of

that was growing up in New York post 9-11 downtown. Yeah. Living like in the financial district. My mom's work building was across the street from the World Trade Center. And, you know, we lived in a building where we had to be like checked by security and sniffed by bomb dogs every time we went in and out. And like that in and of itself can be very like traumatizing in a lot of ways. And so I think it was that combined with like the family home life that we grew up in that was very like, there was definitely like a lot of PTSD that I internalized

in a lot of ways. But I think that when we moved to Portland, it was like a culture shock of like, oh my gosh, there's not an immediate danger around me. And that freaked me out even more, right? And my mom always points this out of like, I have this tendency and I recognize it when everything is okay and calm, I will like find myself picking fights, like unintentionally, like causing chaos because I grew up finding home in chaos. Yeah, it's like that's your normal. Exactly. My normal is instability and my normal is outbursts. And my normal was the amount of times I lost count of the amount of times I got in-school suspension in elementary school in New York because I was always the kid who got in fights.

That was my normal. And then to get to Portland, Oregon where our family is okay. And yeah, it was really hard. There were moments where I would wake up at night to my mom she, it was this new, she was alone, like in this new city, but like we were okay for the first time there was not an immediate danger, you know? And that was, I think so hard for me and I think escalated my anxiety. And so I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder, like super early on and, you know, built all of these tendencies for like catastrophizing, which is what my therapist

called it, which was like, anytime there was anything like a little bit bad, I would catastrophize it in like the grand scheme of my life, right? Like for the first time I cared about school and like, if I'd get a B, like, it'd be like no pressure from my mom, but I would catastrophize. This will mean that I'll be homeless when I'm older. Like I will never get a job. Like things like one thing would trigger like this deep anxiety. And I think it was also like I started falling into like depression in middle school.

Yeah. Yeah. And that gets compounded because I know when you go from middle school into I guess the early part, the first year or so of high school, you end up then, again, looking for a home. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so the spring of my freshman year of high school, my mom parted ways with her job. And, like, within a few months, we couldn't afford to live in our place anymore. So we ended up moving out and entering what I call our, like, time of transition, which is essentially, essentially like several months of living at the home of one of our friends. And, you know, I think we were looking

like we're very fortunate because we always had a roof over our heads, but I think it was very jarring. Like, this is not our home. You know, like, I think like it was like, we are staying here temporarily because we can't afford to live in our own place. You know, like we're renting out our place to like try to make ends meet. But, you know, I think like the year, my middle school years before that was very like when I recognized that we were not like well off financially, you know, like we had free and reduced lunch. Like it was, I was, I, you know, you, you know, you like are growing up on, on sort of like that end of like the socioeconomic scale or spectrum when like you start identifying anything you eat or anything you like do by like the monetary value

of it, right? Like every time I'd have a granola bar, I'd be like, oh, this is $3, you know? Or like every time I would take the bus, like I would know how much that cost in my head and have like active anxiety about it. Right. And do things and try to, you know, to, to, to minimize how much money we were spending, you know? And, you know, I think I remembered you, that was like when I was like growing up, you're like, I hate this. Like it's, it's not fun, you know? But I think that it taught me a lot about like being resourceful. But yeah, I think, yeah. So my family ended up, you know, living with another family for, or family friends of ours for like several months. And during that time, my commute to school turned from about 12 minutes to over two hours long on public transportation. And where I would change buses was in an area of Portland called Old Town,

where there was like 10 homeless shelters in a two block radius. And that's where I started like interacting with a lot of homeless people, kind of like unintentionally and then sometimes intentionally on my way to school. And it was like before Instagram was really a thing. So like, it wasn't like a, oh, I don't have anyone to talk to, like, look at my phone. It was like, I still had like one of those slide phones where you can't really do much. I'd sit there, read, get into conversations. And that's how I started talking to homeless women. Because there's a women's shelter a couple blocks away. And, like, started hearing their stories of resilience and eventually period poverty.

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I mean, before we turned on the mics in here, immediately you started asking about me and my life and how I got to this place. So it doesn't surprise me that in those moments you would have actually been curious. But so many people also, when, when they're around people who are homeless and on the street, like they're the re the immediate reaction is to pretend they don't exist to not like intentionally not see them. So they don't have to interact with them and see them. But it seems like you, you really went the other direction. Like there was, it seemed like there wasn't that same sense of invisibility or othering coming from you.

Well, so a few years before that, my mom started taking us to a church called, at the time called the Downtown Chapel in downtown Portland. That was like, I think half the congregation was homeless. And I remember being so scared of it when we first went, like my sisters and I would be like, oh, we don't want to go. Like everyone smells bad. Everyone's a little bit scary. You know, people kind of say things to us, like when we walk by, like it's scary. Like we don't like walking in, we have to pass by all these scary people. And you know, I think my mom would always be like, would always enforce like they're human. And like, we all go to pray like under one God. And you

know, like, I think there was a lot of like community and recognizing people for who they were. Like I grew up actually rather religious. We're not anymore. Like my, actually because of like, like, you know, my mom being like a survivor and, you know, a divorced woman felt like very unwelcomed by the church, by like middle high school. So we stopped going, but I grew up going to church every Sunday. And that was one of the churches we went to that was actually three blocks away from that bus stop. And so I think even though I hated going there, of course, a few years in, I was like the solo singer, you know, as a cantor, like singing the songs. I was washing dishes there for volunteer hours. And I was like, kind of like really finding a lot of love in that community too. Yeah. And it sounds like the months where you were then traveling, you have like a two hour bus ride and you're sort of like, you start to actually have conversations. That was the experience that was sort of became a catalyst for a lot of what you're doing now.

Yeah. So, I mean, I think naturally at the time I became very fascinated by stories of hardship, right? Try to like better understand what I was going through, what my family was going through. And also I think to like check my privilege and like make me feel better about where my family was. Because when I was, I was at the time a scholarship kid at like the most expensive private school in Portland, you know, like $33,000 a year where my friends had like planes and multiple homes and drivers.

And I was lying to my friends about why they couldn't come over to my place. Right. Even when we did have an apartment, because I was like, it's so small, like I don't want them to see. And so I think I would hear these stories and realize like, okay, you know, my family's good. Like we're well off, you know? And so I'd ask them and I went in with no like inclination that periods was something I could talk to them about or like any thought that like that was something that they

struggled with. I would go in and being like, how did you get here? Do you have a job? Why don't you have a job? Did you try? Like, did you ever have, you know, asking them about domestic violence? And that was actually for the first time when I started to realize that my family went through domestic violence. Because I started hearing them label it as domestic violence and recognizing, like, yep, we did that too. You know, like, yep, we had the same thing. You know, or like, for the first time hearing about them being abused by their dad or their uncle. And then me realizing, like, that's what you call it? Like, that's abuse?

Or like, it's not just me you know and so I think like it was actually the conversations with these homeless women like outside of this drag bar like at this bus stop like sometimes early in the morning or late at night that like I think made me reflect a lot but I started asking them what they found most challenging about their living situation and like something they've never talked about before and that's how I collected this accidental anthology of their stories of using toilet paper and socks and brown paper grocery bags and cardboard to take care of their periods. And I think it was this thing that like made me so angry because it was like,

how do they have to use trash to take care of their periods, right? And like, I think truly being able to empathize with like how much of like a violation of dignity that would be and like something that's so personal and, you know, would hear their emotions about it and hear them know that like your period is something that like you feel silenced about because it's so stigmatized. Like how do you feel ready to go up to often the male authority of a shelter and be like, hi, I'm menstruating and I need a pad, you know? And I think like the fear that comes with asking for help on that and like how it becomes a reminder at once a month of like your living situation. Yeah. and gather stories and clearly it's affecting you. What happens that makes you say, okay, I can't just walk away from this,

but I need to actually do something about it? I mean, my initial reaction was not like, oh, period poverty, I'm going to start a nonprofit. My initial reaction was like, are you serious? How bad is this issue? So it's naturally with Google. I went to Google with Google questions, the keywords about period poverty, and like just went down these rabbit holes on Google and learned that periods are the number one reason why girls miss school in developing countries. It's this cultural significance of girlhood to womanhood, the single event that leads to them dropping out of school, getting married early, undergoing female genital mutilation, social isolation, Googling and learning about like in, you know, various places in the world, women aren't allowed to touch animals that will be cooked because it would

be considered contamination. Women on their periods, their touch in their eyes, gaze is considered a curse. They're not allowed to like see men, make eye contact with men, not allowed to see sunlight, just like the extremes of this practice, practices around menstruation, not globally. And then I started Googling it in the U.S. and honestly found like next to no research on that in the U.S. And I really like, this is something I've learned about the social impact space in the U.S. is like, this is like, all these problems are problems in the global developing country, not problems here. And then you're like, no, there's still problems in the U.S. But I did start learning about like, started finding anecdotes of, you know, people around

the country who are experiencing homelessness, can't afford period products. Learning food stamps doesn't cover period products, but it covers candy, you know? And then I learned about the tampon tax. So in 2014, when I started, now the number's 35, but at the time, 40 states in the US had a sales tax on period products, considering them luxury items. Meanwhile, products like Rogaine and Viagra and penile pumps, which I had to look up what those were and found really disturbing YouTube videos on penile pumps when I was 16, were considered essential goods.

I think I was learning about the tampon tax and also Googling and finding all these organizations working on period poverty and stigma globally, but none in the U.S. at the time, you know, like could not find, was finding stories of like activists who have spoken about it over the last few decades, but like was not finding a nonprofit in the U.S. that did something about period poverty. Yeah. So you're 16 years old around when this is happening. Yeah. And I think the Tamont X was like, I'm going to do something. I'm going to start a nonprofit. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what nonprofit meant. Didn't even know what profit was, I think the Tamontax was like, I'm going to do something. I'm going to start a nonprofit. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what nonprofit meant. I didn't even know what profit was, I think.

But like, I think I knew nonprofit was the word that described what my mom did. Like my mom was working in nonprofits at the time. And when she described to me what she was doing, it was like helping people. Yeah. What's the first step in? Because you're a 16-year-old. You're going to high school. This is happening.

But how do you actually like figure out what to do from there? I mean, the world of starting nonprofits for your average adult is complex and confusing. If you make it complex and confusing, yeah. Yeah. So how do you make it not complex and confusing? How do you at that age say, okay, I'm in, I'm making this happen. Like this is, what does the beginning look like for you? my mom really pointed out, like, there's so many skills that you don't have that would, you need to do a nonprofit. And your option is you either go get those skills or you go find someone who can partner with, right? And so there's like logistics, finance, all these things I did not want to do.

So I ended up finding a co-founder who was like a kid in my class, a male classmate of mine that I never really had a conversation with, but had a reputation of like being really smart and organized. Out of the blue convinced him to do something with me. And he was like, yeah, I'm really interested in entrepreneurship. I don't really know what menstruation is, but like we're going to do it together. And our first step was like sitting down together and Googling, what is a nonprofit? What is the IRS? What are taxes? What is a board of directors? What is a 501c3? And then, okay, to become a 501c3, we Google learned, you know, you have to fill out this form, you have to get this money, you like register. And we literally just did any

step that came in our way. And so it was rather simple. Within two months, we were a 501c3 organization. You know, our goal at the time was serve 20 homeless women a week in Portland, because I personally knew like 20 homeless women, you know, it was like, that was the first step, raise money to buy product to give it to them. Okay. Raise money. You know, I did not come from money. So it was like busking on the street, trying to raise money, realizing that was not a good use of my time, you know, going to just conversations, going to like Fidelity Insurance, Jiffy Lube auto mechanic store, small law firms asking to speak at their staff meeting, asking for like two to

five dollar donations, right? Raising money, ended up getting really good at pitching just from that experience. Going online, Googling pitch competitions and incubators, finding them, applying to like at least two to three incubators or startup grants a day and probably getting like two percent of them. You know, I remember having like these Google Docs of just like this like template answers to like, what do you want to do? Why are you doing it? Who else is in the space? These small like $50, $500 grants. Ended up with a small pot of money, started using that

money exclusively to go to Walmarts and Costco's and buy out period products. And, you know, would then gather friends together, put packages together. And that formula for the packages, the number of tampons and pads was cultivated by calling up shelters and asking them what they need, right? And learning that, you know, a lot of them did not put tampons and pads out openly because it was a privacy thing that in order to display them, they had to be in bags you could not see through. So all of our packages are in paper bags, you know, now they have our logo on it. But when we started, the reason for that was because of like a comfort thing, you know,

and it still kind of is like there are a lot of people that we serve or a lot of shelters that don't feel comfortable having tampons and pads out. So like we try to eliminate that and be like, okay, until you're ready, like we'll give it to you in these packages, you know, that are really cute package with a little stamp on it. And like, you know, these stuff like cards or some of them still have like cards with like words of encouragement on them. But we really wanted to like, okay, how do you make a bag that kind of is like a gift, you know, like a, here's a period product, like, yay, period products. And we started partnering with shelters to maximize our impact. So getting them to shelters to give out to the people that they served, getting friends together.

And then slowly, within a few months, we're getting like hundreds of messages from students and journalists across the country who are reading about what we were doing. And kind of similar to your story with podcasting, a lot of it was we were early people in this movement. We started in December 2014. That's when we were incorporated. 2015 was the year Cosmopolitan NPR named the year of the period when we talk about period poverty. So we were literally like one of the first organizations. Not the first. I know there's some other out there.

But we were one of the first that knew how to use social media because we were young people on social media, right? We were one of the first that like was ready to tell our story. Yeah. So you, when that hits, when that year hits, you're already in place, you're already in business, you're already doing good work, but that just starts to exponentially sort of like amplify and send a ton of attention to you. I mean, within six months, we had written down everything we did in our community, distributed and called it a chapter playbook and was registering chapters nationally and then globally.

And within our first year, six months in, we had our first national story in 17 Magazine. Like we're starting at press for the first time. And I was 16. And so as a, and this is also like before the wave of youth activists, you know, like now youth activism is like, okay, Gre this is also like before the wave of youth activists, you know, like now youth activism is like, okay, Greta is 16, right?

Incredible. Like climate change activists are all students, you know, March for our lives, all high schoolers. This was like five years before that when like, it was rather abnormal, you know? Like there wasn't a lot of like, oh, you're 16. It's like Greta who's 16. It was like, no, it was like, you're 16. Haha, that's so cute. You know?

And the press was like, we've never seen anything like this, you know? And so when we started, we got gained a lot of traction really quickly. And then it started being like, our model started changing. We started adding more programming, right? Like, okay, we want to do services, but people don't want to talk about periods. So we should add education and then we should do educational workshops. And then we should do, in order to keep our chapters engaged, how do we do different challenges? How do we tell them to do drives? How do we tell them to do year-end giving? How do we fundraise even more?

And then how do we not pay for products? How do we go get Tampax, Always, U by Kotex, Maxim Hygiene to give us product? And then I would used to have a calendar invite for like an hour every Sunday where I would bump emails or LinkedIn messages to like literally like the CMO of P&G, you know, or would literally cold email people over and over and over again until they responded. Yeah. I mean, so while this is all going on, you're in high school, this thing is taking off. You're making a really big difference and a big name and also building a public profile at the same time. You're also in high school. So there's the other side of your life where you're in school, you're taking classes. And I was just not doing, I was always overcommitted. I did 16 clubs, three sports. I was pre-professional ballet. I was also boys varsity baseball, like mock trial. I was president of mockessional ballet. I was also boys varsity baseball,

like mock trial. I was president of mock trial, MUN, Asian pride club, you know, all of these things. Like I was always overcommitted in high school. Right. So, but when your identity publicly starts to become known as the person who started this, like the period organization, like the foundation, and like you said, there was still, especially in your teens, so much discomfort, public discomfort around the conversation, like around quote marks menstruation and the word period. For you being that person in the context of your high school, which you described as, you know, like the way it was. I'm so curious how that sort of like reflected on your life and and the social life and the interactions that you had with people your age in your immediate community in your high school you know so i distinctly remember when we started this chapter thing right our first one was like at our high school right like let's try it at our high school and i remember we went up and we stood in front of

the whole high school and we presented on what we were doing. And the original name of the organization was Cameons of Care, which is like truck, cameon, you know, truck of tampons. That's originally what I wanted to call it. But we called it that because periods were so stigmatized at the time that we weren't really allowed to say tampon publicly, like in media interviews, even like I would do radio interviews and they were taken down because they were inappropriate, you know, like even five years ago, it was a lot more stigmatized. So we call it camp hands of care so that I remember we were presenting in front of the whole school and no one really knew what it was. And then we started talking about tampons and pads and menstruation and just giggling. Like I

was just speaking over giggling. And like, that's what my life was like for, that was honestly what my life has been like for the last five years is like, but I think for me, I found it motivating. Like every time I pitch and people would giggle or like make a cringed face, I'd be like, you're the problem. That's why we're doing this. And I would sometimes, I learned to like call it out, be like, like, you know, now if I were to do that and people giggle, I actually do this in speeches. When I say I do, I want to talk about periods. I'm like, okay, see how we all giggle? Why do we giggle? Like the majority of us in the room menstruate. Like, why are we giggling? Like, why is this a weird thing? But I didn't know to say that. So like, I remember that those moments

of being giggled at like my peers was really hard. And I also think that because it was rather unheard of that, like young people started nonprofits even five years ago. Now it's a norm. Everyone's trying to start a nonprofit to get into college. But back then, I didn't really talk to my friends about it. And if they did know, to them it was so unheard of that they were like, okay. It was just weird. It was just kind of like a quirky thing that you were doing on the side. I also had a reputation of being the person who was starting weird things.

Sophomore year, I was like, I want to do high school musical. So I started like the Palm Cheer Squad and was like choreographer and coach for like the first dance and cheer team at my school. Yeah. It sounds like, I mean, the part of the backdrop of all that what's going on also is that dance was a really big part of your life. In fact, like classical ballet even. Yeah. I mean, I think like I grew up dancing since I was two. And I grew up in New York, like Alvin Ailey steps. It was very dance heavy. But that also changed in high school. Yeah.

I mean, when my family lost our apartment, we couldn't afford dance classes. And my dad kind of held it over me of not paying for them too. I think that I wanted to do ballet so badly and I was actually on track to like be really good. Like I was doing the advanced Royal Academy of Dance exams every year and was like the highest ranked in my whole ballet school, like was very, very into ballet. And then it was like affordability and doing so many other things. And, and then when I was 16, actually, like, at the time, I started having these conversations with,

actually, like, after my family moved back into our place and got back on our feet, I found myself in a really abusive relationship with someone who's a few years older than me in my high school who just, like, made me feel at home because of how abusive and, like, chaotic it was. You know, like, I think that there's a sense of how abusive and like chaotic it was you know like I think that there's a sense of familiarity of like yep this is where I belong you know which is really sad but in that relationship for a few months like rape and sexual assault and physical assault were like a daily

sometimes part of my life and I never told anybody and would you know my mom now when I told my mom a few years ago like she was like I remember like asking you where this bruise came from assumed like you always said it came from baseball or like you know I would always make up these stories and you know it was it was really hard I was 16 you know I was like a virgin before that like and that was my first introduction to a lot of like sexual experiences. And at the same time, I think it was like, it was, you know, I was, had sort of become used to that sort of treatment in a lot of ways. Like in middle school, I was the only girl on, I was the only girl a lot of times on a school bus. And I was on a school

bus where boys were regularly getting suspended for, because they had to install a camera in the bus because of sexual harassment. Like the first time I watched porn was because all the boys like tied me down my first day of sixth grade and held porn in front of my face and made me watch porn, you know? Or like would pull my pants down

as I walked down the aisle with like credit card swipe where they like put their hands between your legs. It was not a good middle school experience. And so my first introduction to those experiences was like feeling very objectified. And, but then at the same time, learning to crave that attention, right? Like I reflect now realizing like I truly understood my self-worth at the time is like, how objectified was I? How wanted was I? You know? And I think like that was something I

really had to work on. Yeah. So, I mean, this and this is all, it's like everything, everything you're describing, the most incredible devotional work and service and building. And at the same time, this is also like the other side of the spectrum in your life. And it's all just sort of blending into this one swirl of experience. Yeah. I mean, I think like activism and the workaround periods became like my like healing, you know, like there were times when I would get really hurt and actually it was really sad, but like, you know, ballet is something I love so much. And I actually had to stop for a while cause I hurt my back really bad from sexual assault. And, uh, and you know, I think that when I would go through those experiences and feel like so powerless and voiceless, I would just stay up all night and work on period.

You know, like I would apply to new things, send more emails, find new places to speak at. You know, never paid for speaking. I was a volunteer for the first three years. But, you know, would start speaking. And like every time I could convince someone to be involved or get involved or stand up for periods, it was this like, my voice matters. I can do something. My potential comes from my self-worth. And I think I just kept doing that and kept doing that.

And then I started seeking out inspiration online. Watching videos of Wendy Davis at the time, who did a 14-hour filibuster against anti-abortion, you know, like watching videos like that, like reading about Gloria Steinem, reading about like these powerful women that gave me the courage to finally like get out of these abusive situations and be like, I don't deserve this. Like Wendy Davis, like went through all this shit and like she went to Harvard, like all of this stuff. And then even like reflecting on my mom, my mom went through that and like she got out of it. My mom also went to Harvard, like all of these things that like i'm going to get out of this i do not deserve this mayday mayday we've been compromised the pilot's a hitman i knew you were gonna be fun on january 24th tell me how to fly this thing mark walberg you know what the difference between me and you

you're gonna die don't shoot him we need. Y'all need a pilot. Flight Risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes.

The Apple Watch Series 10. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. By the time you graduate high school, what does your organization look like? By the time I graduate high school, Period was a national organization. And like, I think maybe we had, I would say maybe, I would guess we had like 50 chapters. Oh, wait, I remember. I think we had, I gave my first TED Talk like at the end of high school. We had addressed 9,000 periods.

So like 9,000 period packs or menstrual cups 9 000 periods and i think 50 chapters which is insane to say now because that's so small but when the time i remember getting on stage 9 000 periods and people were so stunned right um that's what the organization looked like and it was me and volunteer. Our operating budget was probably a few thousand dollars every year. Yeah. We just surpassed a million. That's amazing. But yeah, that's what it looked like.

And then we rebranded my first year in college. And yeah, now what period is where global youth, rent and geo fighting, period poverty and period stigma through service education and advocacy. So we're distributing product, a lot of product still, trying to change the way people think, talk, and learn about periods through education. And actually actively passing and advocating for policy from the local to the national level. So passing legislation about period products for free in schools, taking down the tampon tax in the remaining 35 states. And advocating for schools to be freely accessible

and period products to be freely accessible in schools, shelters, and prisons. And to do all of this, we mobilize young people. So to date, we've addressed over 900,000 periods, the product distribution, and we've registered over 600 chapters at universities and high schools in all 50 states and 30 countries.

Yeah, that is so incredible. And in a really astonishing short period of time, when you think about it. Yeah. That is so incredible. And in a really astonishing short period of time, when you think about it, this has only been a couple of years. Yeah. That is incredible. At the same time, you mentioned, okay, so you go to college, so this is continuing while you're in college. You end up in Harvard and at the same time running this foundation. And then I ran for office. Right. So tell me, because, you know, more stuff, more stuff, more stuff. What was happening that made you say, I need to run for office? I started running around Cambridge. And, you know, Cambridge was like a kind of like a special

place for me because my godparents are there. And so actually we would go there like kind of every year or so. And it was like without my dad, it's like kind of like a safe place. And I had just never seen gentrification like I did in Cambridge. It was like without my dad, it's like kind of like a safe place. And I had just never seen gentrification like I did in Cambridge. It was like Harvard for a few blocks and then like white professor houses and then like public housing. You know, like I was so fascinated by the gentrification. And so similar to like my obsession with periods leading me to Google rabbit holes, like with Google, like downloading every publicly accessible report on housing affordability and income inequality, and ended up with an 80-page Word document about what I thought

city council could be doing better, and started taking it to city council, sitting in on meetings, wanting to know more, researching and learning, and then meeting with city councillors and telling them my ideas, asking them, and then recognizing how much disdain there was for students. In a college town of Harvard and MIT and Lesley, like legislators and constituents did not like students. We're like, students are the reason for gentrification. Like you don't care about the city you come in. You don't know anything about the city you leave. And then really feeling like, okay, like, no, we want to get involved. No anticipation of like even knowing it was a possibility I could run. And then they started joking, oh, if you have so many ideas, why don't you run yourself? And so one day I

Googled what it took to run for office, like learning to be 18 and was like, I'm more than qualified. I'm 19. And so ran for office. What happens? We ran against 26 candidates, nine spots up for reelection, six incumbents running again and recruited like six of my friends to turn down sometimes their paid internships and run this campaign, all live together in a two-bedroom apartment. And we ran for office, Canvas, for like six hours a day. I was like between Portland and New York, like every few weeks, because period had just hired our first full-time staff. You know, it was crazy. And, you know, we started, you. And we just kept hustling and we ended up knocking

on more doors than any other candidate, on like 24,000 doors. And just did a lot of social media and one of our first videos went viral. I mean, in the back of your mind, are you thinking, I have a legit chance to actually do this to win it? Yes, for a while, because Cambridge is ranked choice voting, meaning that the way the voting works is you can rank like one through 26. And then you only need, and it like, basically like, you only need a certain number of number one votes to be guaranteed a spot. And that number was like less than 2000. Got it. And 2000 is like not a lot of people, you know, that being said, the voter turnout was very low. It was like 20, less than 20%, you know?

So for a while I was like, yeah, if we hustle and I get enough number ones, that's what I went into. I went into it thinking we could win. And then of course I was discouraged all the time. You know, we published this video, we're getting support from all over the country, being like, yes, we need more young people in office. But from constituents and from a lot of people around the country, it was like, hate, death threats. How dare you be involved? People calling me the start of an Asian invasion, a one-person Asian invasion. A lot of hate.

Every day I would go out and come back and sometimes cry because I was so tired. But also people would slam doors in my face, be like, just think of like, laugh at me in my face at the door. Right. Or like my volunteers would come back and be like, yeah, a lot of people slam the door. And like my, I would watch my volunteers and my team actively feel discouraged because we went out every day ready for the majority of responses to be doors slammed in our face, being laughed at, or literally being told what you're doing is stupid. Like, how dare you try to be involved? Like, this is just an attention thing, right? And it was, I don't know, like running for office was exhausting. Yeah. So at the end of the day, you ended up not getting in. No. But we made history with student underneath turnout. And I

think by the end, I was like, I do not want to do this. Yeah. So, I mean, you walked away having, okay, so not done the thing you set out to do, but at the same time, it was still an incredible, powerful experience for you. Yeah. And I think if I can back on it, like we did what we did, what we intended to do. What was it? Like we wanted to show that young people could mobilize. Got it. And we did not come in last. In a field of almost 30 candidates, we came in like 15th. Right.

Which is like relatively, like considering nine spots was like not like, I wasn't devastated by the results. Yeah. relatively like considering nine spots was like not like I wasn't devastated by the results. I also think that the community realized the power of young people because I did win some awards. Like some of the awards like was we won like MIT area, Harvard area, like that was us, you know, we mobilized a lot of young people to vote. And my thing was, I will think I'm successful if another young person or another student wins or another young person runs next time. So that was two years ago. So actually this year right now is the next, is the election or the, and so there's a new slate of like 30 candidates and there's an MIT student running who reached out to me and I was like, that's amazing, you know? And there are candidates

reaching out to me being like, how did you mobilize young people? Yeah. I mean, so it's, it's amazing to me that you're doing that. You're doing your running period and you're going to Harvard simultaneously. And all my Harvard clubs. Right. Of course, all the other academic extracurriculars at the same time. And then because it had to happen in the middle of that, on one of your breaks, you wrote a book. Yes, I did. Yeah. So I decided to write a book before college and originally got signed by a literary agent to write a memoir.

Oh, wow. And then after I signed, I lost contact with my dad. So after I signed, you know, I was in PTSD therapy. My sister was hospitalized for an eating disorder. And our therapist realized, like, all this stuff with my dad. And, like, in a 24-hour span, it was, like like no contact, restraining orders, all of this, you know? And so like after like I signed and every day I was remembering something new about my dad, I was feeling a new emotion about my dad and that whole situation. And I think it was like,

I can't write this. Like, and also I got dumped by my high school boyfriend and who also goes to Harvard. And that was so hard. I think it was like, because, you know, I was so in love and like, so like, he was like my best friend and we, you know, it was a kind of like amicable breakup, but it was like, I think I put a lot on that. And it was like heartbroken teenager. Looking back, it was just like high school love.

But like, you know, I think like there was so much I like was like, I can't write a memoir, you know? So I ended up writing a book about like what I knew and what I believed in, which was, I wrote a book and eventually published it with Simon & Schuster called Period Power, a manifesto for the menstrual movement. And I was working on the proposal while I was running for office. And then I ran for office, election was in November. And I wrote the book in January. Yeah. So a month, basically. Yes. That book kind of becomes a manifesto for the organization to a certain extent,

too, even though I know now there's actually a newer, sort of like different version of a manifesto. Yeah. I mean, I wrote the book and called it a manifesto for the menstrual movement because I think I started realizing, okay, we have hundreds of chapters. And why is it that what their agenda is is different from our agenda? Or like other organizations who were sometimes sending us me like hate emails, like disagreeing with how I did things. And I was like, we're part of the same team. Like we're both, we're fighting for the same thing. And that's something I'm really critical of the nonprofit world. It's very competitive. And I'm like, we're all here for the same goal. Like realistically, I think every nonprofit should be actively trying to put themselves

out of a job. The goal of a nonprofit is that you're doing something so incredibly impactful that you're getting rid of the problem, meaning that you should be fighting to not exist as a nonprofit anymore. And that's what I think of as like period's job. I think of if we achieve menstrual equity, we can shut down. And that's the dream. And I think what I get so frustrated by is seeing other people in the movement actively hindering themselves and our

movement because they don't want to collaborate and they don't want to work together. And there's some personal petty disagreement, right? And that's why I wrote this book because I was like, how can I write something so we can have a collective understanding of history and have a collective understanding of our potential and outline and have a call to action to young people of like, let's all be part of this together. Yeah, so powerful. So that comes out and that hits. And then you make a really interesting decision, which is to take a leave of absence from Harvard. What's behind that? And what were you looking to do and what did you accomplish during that window of time? So I took time off. I mean, I didn't actually decide to take time off until like August. But I left school. We had just opened up headquarters in Portland and New York City. We had more full-time staff and a bunch of, we had 60 interns because I didn't know how to say no. And I think like my book was coming out and I was like,

every day I'd be like, this is really a big deal. You know, like having the book come out was like, didn't feel like a big deal because it was just Google Docs to me. And then I remember seeing it and being like, oh my gosh, like this is a book. And then I also realized that I had never met another author. And I was like, I'm going to be the only author I know. And the only published author most of my friends know, right? And I was meeting other like aspiring writers, like people who are decades older than me who had always wanted to write a book and could not find a publisher. And I was like, I got a really big book deal. And like, oh my gosh, yeah, we got a big book deal from my dream publisher. And I think it was like, I will forever regret it if I'm in school, not preoccupied and cannot give this book my full attention. At the same time, I was overworked sleeping three hours

a night all of sophomore year, was tired. And with period alone that summer in no school, I was still only sleeping three to four hours a night and hustling on period and feeling like I wasn't getting my work done. And I think my goal was that I was going to take a year off. And by the time I went back to school, period would be financially sustainable and I'd be able to be on track to hire a new executive director because period was getting so big. I was like, I cannot run this anymore. I do not know the ins and outs of operations. I am so good at like the external mobilization. I'm really good at media and communications. I'm not good at HR and finance and all of these like backend things that like, that's just not my genius work. And so I think I got to a place of like, yeah, I want to, I need someone else to like be my right hand. And now we're at a place of,

we actually just hired a search firm to do that, which I'm really excited about. And of course, like when I take time off, I ended up starting a new company with some friends called Juve Consulting and Gen Z Marketing Agency. We opened up headquarters in Times Square. Now we work with small companies all the way up to over 30 Fortune 500 companies employing like 100 of young people, deploying them out to work with companies to work on marketing strategy, social media, event activations. Yeah, I remember. And tell me if this is right because I remember being in the wings on stage while I was watching you speak and you sort of describing what led to that and you painting a picture of you, of large companies starting to reach out to you and sort of like, tell us what the Gen Z like population thinks about that. And you're like, well, why don't? Yeah. Well, I mean the, the, the background for Juve as a

company, like why I got into Gen Z marketing in this first place is period became a case study for companies of like, how did this girl who was like, quote, homeless, like, you know, how did this girl go from this to quote, homeless, like, you know, how did this girl go from this to running an organization that is like the fastest growing youth run nonprofit, right? How did you mobilize that? How are you passing policy? And then when I ran for office, how did you do that? You know, how did you mobilize young people? How did you get young people around the country helping the campaign, you know? And so to me, I was like, like my honest answer is like my most real answer I can say to that

anytime anyone asks me how I did what I did is, I don't know. I just did it. Like literally, like there was no, okay, read a book about how to start a nonprofit. It was like Google and like all these different answers of what the first step is and just do whatever felt right, you know? So companies started reaching out being like, what ad do you like? Like what mobilizes young people more? Well, how do we stay in social media? Like how do we mobilize young people? Because social media was

our biggest tool on no budget. It was a free thing we all knew how to use and how we could reach young people. And so I started doing Gen Z marketing without calling it marketing, was calling it just like, I don't know, they're going to pay me to give them feedback, you know? And yeah, and then a friend of mine had started this company. And so we joined forces, merged client lists, merged expertise. And it's been incredible to watch that grow. Yeah. And so that now is, so that's Chief Consulting, offices in Times Square in New York City.

You are back, as we sit here recording this, it's the fall and you're, the leaf of absence is over, you're back in Harvard. Yes. And it's funny, you were just telling us your schedule, you know, like you're, you basically take all of your classes in a single day and then get on a plane. And on any given week, you're bouncing between Portland, New York City, and then on the road speaking and evangelizing. Yeah. So I'm like usually a plane or train every day.

So like next week is D.C., Boston, New York, Minnesota, San Francisco, DC, Boston. I guess the question I really want to ask is how are you? I'm good. Like that's the crazy thing is like even my friends at Harvard who I hadn't spoken to in a year because I was on leave, I came back and they're like, you seem like more balanced. Like I seem to the people who know me, I'm like more well rested and more balanced and happier than I've ever been. I think it's really confusing to people because I'm busier, but I'm a lot more confident and I'm a lot more, I think I understand the importance of self-care a lot more. I was hospitalized when I was a junior in high

school for exhaustion. So like, I know like that is important because that was the worst experience was like feeling like so tired. I couldn't do work. And now I like sleep a six hours a night at least, which is like a lot for me. And I go to the gym at least once a day or go to a workout class. I eat whatever I want. It's like, I also have an incredible team. I don't feel alone. And I think now I do my work because I really believe in it, not because I'm trying to prove my worth. Yeah. And I think that's so like, that is so energizing. I mean, that like when you wake up in the morning and you feel like you're doing something that is truly an expression of who you are and that really matters. I think we often underestimate how much that actually gives us, how much bandwidth and capacity and

energy that gives us to go out in the world and do things that seem normally impossible. And I think like the big distinction for me that's been really impactful for maximizing my potential is like when I started, I was like waking up being like, I'm worthless. I'm suicidal. I want to hurt myself. I actually struggled with self-harm all through high school, like cutting myself and like, I want to punish myself, like being so angry. So I'm going to work and hopefully that will make

me feel like I have a voice, right? I'm going to work and do impact. Yes, because I believe in this fight, but also because it gave me this, like, I can offer something to the world, you know? And now I think I've proven that to myself. Now I think it's like, yeah, my voice matters. Yeah, look what we've built. Yeah, we can do something. And I deserve to be alive and I deserve to have a platform. And I deserve to make money and not feel on the brink of poverty all the time. I think I've much more internalized that confidence so that I wake up every day and it's not proving something to myself or proving something to anybody. Now I wake up every day being like, here's the goal, serve X number of women, pass number of policy, make this systemic change, change the world and do that. Yeah. I love that. It feels like a really good segue into us coming full circle also. So

when we sit here in this container with the Good Life Project, if I offer up the phrase to you now to live a good life, what comes up? You know, I had this really cheesy, you know, like those cheesy quotes that are on like the little wooden boxes you put on the wall. I had this one that I got at a store in like Ashland, Oregon when I was in middle school, and it's been on my wall, like around my room for a long time. And it says, if you love the life you live, you will live a life of love. And I think like, that's what the quote you just said reminds me of. Because I think to me, like, I think there is something really beautiful about like being surrounded by people who you love and who love you. And I think like love to me is this just like feeling of like safety and home. And I think I actively push myself to love what I'm doing and love the life that I'm living.

And I do. Like a lot of people look at my life and they're like, how could you love traveling every day and no stability? But remember, that's where I feel most comfort. But now the chaos that I feel comfortable around is not domestic violence or sexual harassment. Now the chaos that I live on is like hustling to do the work that I want to do and spread this movement. And so I love what I do. And I know it's how much of a privilege it is to love your profession, right? Like to be able to turn your passion into a profession is a privilege and it's very rare. And I know how lucky I am to have that. And I love what I do. And I think because of that, I feel a lot of love in my life. Thank you.

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