Period Story11 Dec 2025

Kate Smith: We Don't Want Anyone To Be Held Back By Their Period

On today’s episode of Period Story, I speak with Kate Smith, the CEO and co-founder of Hey Girls CIC, a multi-award-winning social enterprise dedicated to ending period poverty in the UK.

In this episode, Kate shares:

How she went from looking forward to her first period to feeling overwhelmed by shame once it arrived
How her experience of teaching menstrual education has helped her feel more in control of her period
Why the luxury of menstrual product choice is so important and empowering
What the term period dignity means and why it’s connected to period equality
The importance of non-stigmatising and inclusive language when it comes to menstruation
The work Hey Girls are doing to help reduce period poverty, including the 42 million products they’ve donated into the community since 2018!
Why you should buy from social enterprises and why Hey Girls was set up this way
The work Hey Girls have done with This Girl Can to share low cost ways to move during each phase of the menstrual cycle
And of course, the story of her first period

Kate says Hey Girls doesn’t want anyone to be held back by their period, whether that’s speaking up in a meeting or participating in sports. She says that menstruation shouldn’t be a barrier to being equal in society or feeling dignified.

Thank you, Kate!

Get in touch with Kate:

Hey Girls… Website

Pads for Dads Kit

Instagram

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

periodstorypod@gmail.com

A transcript is available on www.periodstorypod.com

Get in touch:

IG @periodstorypod

periodstorypod@gmail.com

Book a 30 minute hormone health review with me: http://eatlovemove.as.me/hormonehealth

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