Creating Impact & Period Equity
We recently had the chance to talk to Miranda Hitchings, co-founder of Dignity, a period equity business.
Dignity was created by Miranda and her co-founder Jacinta in response to the issue of inaccessibility of period products, and the general unfairness that women were spending $15,000 over their life on period products. With time to spare over the summer break, the two signed up for a summer business bootcamp and Dignity was born! Miranda talks to us about what it was like starting a period equity business, shares about the challenges and lessons she has had throughout her journey, and gives us some advice on how to support each other as young women!
What was it like starting your own business?
It was a massive learning experience. I felt it really useful to be a part of the business bootcamp, because it gave us a bit of structure and resources to start a business. But it was definitely overwhelming. I still have imposter syndrome - I still feel like I’m not qualified to be doing it, even though now we are the experts in period poverty and inequity in New Zealand. You never feel like you are qualified to be starting a business, but I found that as operations grew and then seeing other people that also had businesses, I saw that everyone has the same thing, that no one is really qualified to do anything. In that same vain though, everyone has capabilities to start a business and have leadership roles and things like that. So, I definitely have imposter syndrome, but it’s so fun to see something that you’ve put your life and soul into become something, it was so awesome to see change happen as well.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting good at taking rejection was really important because we got told a lot that the idea was silly in the early stages, as well as getting feedback that it was good. But its always easier to focus on the negative stuff. Then once we started getting customers, we would go through lull periods where we wouldn’t get customers for ages, or when things didn’t work out the way we thought they would, that was really hard.
I’m quite a sensitive person, I find it difficult not being liked, so the ability to be rejected and not to do well is scary. But you just have to in order to be able to achieve stuff. In order for Dignity to work we had to pitch it to so many people, we had to come up with ideas and be shot down. I think it’s been really good lesson for me professionally, to put myself out there and not take it personally when things don’t go right because it means that
you’re giving it a shot and sometimes things do go right and it means that your dreams do actually come true.
You don’t get them all, but you get some of them because you put your name in the hat, and that’s pretty cool.
What motivated you to continue doing what you do?
A large part of it was because it is an impact business, so we knew there was the need out there for students to have access to period products. It gave it purpose beyond just building something for the sake of just building a business – it was to achieve an outcome and because we knew that it kept us going. So, I felt an obligation to do it. But then also beyond that it just became something that I decided to give my all to, and I made sacrifices for, so
it just put everything into perspective, and it meant when the disappointments came it wasn’t the end of the world.
We would refocus and pivot and look at how we could achieve things in a different way.
What has been the best part about creating Dignity?
We do impact reporting, so we talk to the schools and community groups that we support, and we get feedback from them on how the project has been going. I remember the first time we got our impact results back, because at that time no one had really given out free products and collected the data, it was just kind of assumed that it was a worthwhile thing to do. When we got it back and saw that people were not only accessing free period products in schools, but it also increased students confidence, reduced feelings of shame, let people participate in sports, getting all that feedback was so rewarding.
What tips would you share with other young women wanting to get involved with social change and advocacy?
I think the number one thing is to not get in the way of yourself. Things don’t have to be perfect before you give something a shot, and that also
you don’t have to be perfect to give something a shot.
Just put yourself out there, contact people and organizations that you want to help – even if you’re scared of being rude or out of place, you’re not. Most of the time people like to hear from other people. So, get out of the way for yourself and go for it!
What do you think girls can do to support each other with things like period equity?
The reason that it took so long for period equity to be something that had change around it was the fact that it wasn’t discussed. There’s a lot of shame and stigma around periods in general. It’s been so awesome in the last 4 years to see periods talked about openly, but it’s still shameful and we’re still seeing that. So, I think that the first step is to talk about it, make it known that it’s an issue, and also
talk about periods openly because they’re a natural part of having a menstrual cycle.
In terms of supporting period equity generally, make sure that your schools sign up to the government roll out, schools can sign up to get free period products and lots of schools have come onboard which is cool, but there are some that have said “it’s not an issue at our school”. I think there some unawareness about what’s happening at the ground level, so talking to schools and school boards to sign up for it is really awesome. Then the other thing is making sure that the schools are aware of the importance of choice in products, so that everyone can be comfortable and get the products that they need whether that’s pads, tampons, menstrual cups, or period underwear. And of course, get your school to sign up for Dignity as well!
