Embracing Inclusivity in the Menstrual Health Industry

There’s a lot of talk in my industry about women and females, which I totally understand, when speaking about menstrual cycles it feels like the default to speak about and to women and females.

When we sit down and do the standard exercise of coming up with our ideal client we so often start with gender and then that leads into who we target and talk to in our marketing etc.

I did exactly this when I started as a coach.

But I realised very early on that not all those who menstruate are women and I didn’t want to exclude them.

My mission as a Menstrual Cycle Coach is to help as many people as possible to heal and embrace their cycles.

It hurts my heart to think about all those people out there who are suffering with their cycles but feel excluded from my industry and therefore aren’t getting the help.

I am a safe and inclusive place for all those with a menstrual cycle.

I’m a CIS gender hetero white woman and this has held me back from shouting about this topic. I was afraid of getting something wrong and I didn’t want people thinking I was doing this as a box-ticking exercise.

Today (16 April 2024) I had the most incredible Queer Query Hour with Alex from Beyond the Binary and as they said they can see that I am heart-led in this. I now feel absolutely fired up and ready to be the best damn ally I can be.

Am I going to make mistakes along the way? For sure. But I’m going to take accountability, correct my mistakes and further develop.

I am going to continue to show up in women-only spaces, speak on ‘women in business’ podcasts, take part in women and Mum bundles. And in those spaces I’m going to communicate my allyship. I’m going to explain why I say menstruator/menstruating person/AFAB and not woman.

Am I an expert in all things LGBTQAI+ challenges that may be related to the menstrual cycle? No. Some aspects are outside of my scope of practice. But I’m going to tap into and expand my network to put together a directory of fellow awesome safe people that I can refer clients to. Just as I would refer clients to other experts should as aspect we come across during coaching be outside of my scope of practice.

In my business I’ve been a quiet and subtle ally. That ends today.