Meet the founder of Hello Period: Robyn McLean

Get to know Robyn McLean, co-founder of Hello Period, the Kiwi brand changing the way we talk about and experience periods. From humble beginnings and kitchen-table dispatch to a global movement for better, more sustainable period care.

Can you please share a bit about yourself?

I’m a former journalist who fell into becoming a business owner after getting frustrated by the lack of quality and innovation in the period care industry. I’m a Kiwi but was born in Hong Kong and went to primary school in Sydney. I now live in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand which is known for its wine and sunshine – a gorgeous combination which makes me feel very lucky to live where I do.

Can you tell us the story of your brand? How did it come to be? Was it a seed of an idea for a long time, or did it all happen very quickly?

I founded Hello Period with my friend Mary, who is a registered nurse. We have been best friends since we were 11 years old and had always loved the idea of working together but we never had that lightbulb idea until I tried a menstrual cup. I found it more comfortable to use and it held so much more – giving me more freedom. I Facetimed Mary and proudly showed her my full cup – admittedly probably TMI for most people! However, there were things I didn’t like about the cup so I said to Mary ‘We can do better. Let’s design and manufacture the world’s best menstrual cups’.

We came up with the name ‘hello.’ because we wanted to talk about periods in a positive way. Yes, periods can be a challenge, but our goal from the very start was to encourage people to talk about periods more. By sharing our experiences, we can help each other to not only learn, but also to know when you might need to see a doctor to get help with managing them. For too long periods just had been a topic that was ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and we wanted to change that. It was nuts to us that periods were something half the world’s population experienced yet they were virtually a taboo topic.

We spent countless hours designing a menstrual cup that ticked all the boxes for us. It needed to be smooth, have no unnecessary grooves or crevices, and it needed to look good. Why was that important? Because if it was as visually appealing as possible, then people would be more drawn to it. Our goal was to get as many people to try menstrual cup life as possible and to do that we needed to create something that stood out.

We officially launched in December 2017. We had no idea what to expect. I ran the social media, taking crappy photos on my iPhone and Mary dispatched the orders from her kitchen table. We had no business experience, just a passion to give people with periods another option. The orders started rolling in. It was both exciting and terrifying. The customer emails often reduced us to tears – in a good way. People were so grateful to have something that was easier to use and better for them.

As a nurse, Mary’s compassion and love of helping people has always been her superpower and this transferred into our business – she made our customers feel special from day one.  For me, I loved the creative challenge of talking about periods and education in a way that didn’t sound like the elderly health nurse who was rolled out awkwardly at school with a purse of bulky ‘demo’ pads.

Launching our Hello Undies, Hello Pads and Hello Disc in 2022 was a huge milestone. We are now the only sustainable period company in the world that offers something for everybody – internal and external period care as well as specialist menstrual cups for high and low cervix.

All our products are designed to replace single-use period care. They last for years, are more comfortable and hold more. They also will save the users so much money – literally hundreds of dollars.

What inspires you every day?

I love art and graphic design. My idea of bliss is going to an art or design gallery and soaking in other people’s genius and creativity. I’m inspired by people who follow their heart and pursue something that makes them happy. Hello Period was never going to be a boring brand because I wouldn’t want to go to work if it was! From day one we have injected fun into what we do and that sense of fun is always inspired by people and design we love.

What challenges do you face?

For us a key challenge is educating people on the ‘why’ – why reusable period care can be better and more comfortable than the single-use tampons and pads most people have used for decades. It took me so long to be brave enough to try a menstrual cup so I can understand when people are nervous about trying something different, however, the most common feedback we get is: ‘I wish I’d made the change sooner’. And that was me too so if we can convince people who are sitting on the fence to get off it soon – then we are very happy. One of the other challenges is the cheap knock-off menstrual cups and discs that are starting to emerge. Unfortunately, these are often made of inferior materials, that despite what is claimed on the box, are not medical-grade and often flimsy and will leak. We always encourage people to do their research into the brand and its values. Is it a B Corp? Does it have a face behind the brand? Does it state where its products are made? Has the medical grade material been designed for internal wear? We’ve heard some horror stories about other products and we really want the industry to be one that is safe and reliable for everyone – people with periods have enough to worry about!

I won’t lie, running a business is a huge challenge – there are big highs and lows – especially when you throw in a global pandemic. But as the years have gone on, we have only become more motivated. We have continued to innovate and create period products that are the best quality and that are designed with the people who will use them at the forefront.

What does the future look like for your brand?

I’m really excited about the future – our goal is to continue to make reusable period care as accessible as possible. We have just launched a steam steriliser called Hello Steamy which makes sterilising your disc and cups super easy.

We never set out to create a business that would be more than a hobby on the side. We’re so proud of how far the business has evolved but it also kind of cracks us up – we’re a bit like ‘OMG – did we really pull it off?’ We literally knew nothing about business when we started and have learnt some hard lessons, but it’s been so satisfying to change lives for the better.

Our Hello Disc is our best-selling product, and we have a design-patent for it. It’s the only menstrual disc in the world which has a double looped tab. We created it in collaboration with our friend and US period expert, Kim Rosas from Period Nirvana. The number of five star reviews it gets are off the chart.

While the loops look a bit like tabs on a can of coke, it allows the disc to be removed easily and without any mess – which is a frustration people often have with menstrual discs. The Hello Disc is the top reviewed menstrual disc globally on Google and is one-size fits.

We’re super proud of our business and the way it has grown but what we are most proud of is the fact our daughters now have sustainable period choices available to them. If you ask me, single-use period products won’t even be available in 20 years’ time – and that’s bloody awesome.

What drew you to work with WholeLife?

We are so excited to be working with WholeLife. Our brands and ethos align so well. Whenever our team are in Australia, we always find the nearest WholeLife to head to. When we decided to branch into Australia, WholeLife was definitely one of the places we most wanted to be in as a brand because we know our customers appreciate stores that support businesses that are purposeful and care about their consumers – and that has always been at the heart of everything we do. We are B Corp, Vegan Certified and Climate Positive – all things we know that WholeLife shoppers understand and appreciate – it’s a match made in heaven!