Hello, my name is Alex and I am new here at GladRags!  I thought I would share a little bit about myself.  I grew up in Muncie, Indiana.  In 2004 I moved to Portland, OR in order to attend Reed College, much like my friend and co-worker Elizabeth, and explore a different part of the county.  I graduated in the fall of 2008 with a B.A. in psychology.  Since then, I have worked with teenagers with Austism at an urban day camp.  My interests include reading, dancing, discovering Portland, biking, trivia, and snacks.  When I heard there was an opening at GladRags I was thrilled!  I am interested in learning more about how women make choices and talk about their own bodies.

We've all heard of fitness clubs but today I worked out with a fitness stick. A long bamboo stick to be exact.

For the last few months I've been going to an outdoor boot camp type exercise program at the park near my house. I hate the gym, I hate the florescent lights,  I hate watching people watch TVs while they work out on machines. There is something that seems so wrong about using electricity to work out.

I'd much rather watch the wind blow leaves around and the sun come up through the trees. Abdominals aren't nearly so awful when you can watch a cloud move overhead. Besides the aforementioned bamboo stick, our imaginative trainer, James, keeps it fresh every day by using the equipment available at the park and whatever weights or equipment he can pack in his bike bag – because he commutes to work by pedal power.  It's all very low-tech but very effective and I feel good about doing something for myself that isn't using energy. It's a "green, low carbon footprint" workout!  (It's kind of like using GladRags – you can almost be a little self-righteous about it.)

If you are in Portland, check it out at Portland Outdoor Fitness, or email James at portlandoutdoorfitness@gmail.com.

–Brenda

It's a virtual lovefest right now between we makers of menstrual alternatives!  My counterpart over at Lunapads , Madeleine Shaw, just posted about me and GladRags and I have to say right up front I did not pay her to write it!!! But I would have in a heartbeat because it is glowing and my head swelled to an enormous size as I was reading it. Read it here. I'm lucky to  have her as a friend.

And while it's kind of weird to recommend a competitor's blog to our customers and readers, I have to say Madeleine is worth reading anytime, on any subject.  As I have told her before, sometimes I feel like she has gone inside my head and taken my swirling thoughts and put them down into cohesive, inspired, and sometimes downright poetical blog posts. That's because she has the pulse of what is going on in the world and especially the world of women and the environment.  I usually have two reactions to her posts: 1) wow, that's right on; and 2) Damn! Why didn't I write that!  

So thank you, Madeleine, for your kind and generous words about me and for talking about our rather strange but happy competitor/compatriot relationship. And more than that, for your always thoughtful and thought-provoking words on important topics in our world.

-Brenda

October Monthly Friend: Rose

Hometown: Boulder, Colorado
Current Location: Los Angeles, California
Age: 21
What she does: New to the LA area, she is about to attend the second round of an intensive program of acting classes.

Interests: Her many interests include reading and crocheting. She loves to go out dancing and sometimes bowling with her friends. And of course, true to the California girl she is quickly becoming, she loves going to the beach and shopping.
Dreams: Rose dreams of being a successful actress, accepting roles in which she can express the deep passion she feels for life. She wants to be financially secure and looks forward to traveling as well as getting married and having kids. She also dreams of paying her parents back for all their help. Roses also has a personal goal of writing a book someday.

How long she has used menstrual alternatives: About six months.

Reason for switching: Upon hearing about the various options available for her, they sounded better for the earth and also more convenient. Rose religiously uses the Moon Cup, as she was a loyal tampon user. She found the Moon Cup really comfortable as well way more convenient than tampons. She also uses the GladRags Pantyliners on occasion, but finds that she hardly needs to use them except for at the end of her cycle because her Moon Cup doesn’t leak or give her any reason to need a back-up.

Rose was so smitten with her menstrual cup at first use that she has recommended them to many of her friends. She says that not one of her friends had heard about menstrual alternatives, in fact many of them thought it was super weird. In the past few months she has convinced three people to try menstrual cups and they have all love them and would never go back to conventional menstrual solutions.

Former GladRags employee Diana, here. To give you all a glimpse into some of the expeditions upon which I have embarked since my departure, here’s bit about my most nautical journey to date – working as educator/deckhand aboard the schooner Adventuress.

The breathtaking vessel Adventuress is a 1913 schooner, currently underway in the Puget
Sound, educating all who climb aboard about environmental stewardship, nautical skills, communal living, and marine life. Participants in Adventuress sails are taught by crew about the benefits of plankton (they provide 2/3 the world’s oxygen!), shown how to tie a buntline knot, get to check out the living quarters below decks and, of course, must haul away on lines to raise the four sails of the ship: main, fore, stay and jib.

Cape Cod mamas ain’t got no pies
Heave away! Haul away!
They feed their children codfish eyes
And we’re bound away for Australia!

At first the sea shanties we sung as we tugged and pulled on the lines seemed a little silly, but they were invigorating during some challenging physical work. This good dose of manual labor, mixed with discussions of environmental education theory and the characteristics of chitons (super cool monopods found in the intertidal zone), gave great balance to life on Adventuress. My duties included helping to sail the ship and teach the curriculum of the environmental educational program, but I was the real student during my time on the ship. I came out of a month on the boat knowing more about sailing a tall ship, but I also was reminded of personal capability and empowerment.

Adventuress prides itself of the empowerment of its students. Many are nervous to be entrusted with tasks aboard a ship, especially if they have never sailed before. But the attitude aboard this schooner is: no new skill, unknown concept or uncharted land is out of anyone’s reach. I was at the bottom of the totem pole, skill-wise, on the boat and I was humbled, but I was then given the opportunity to learn boatloads (literally) and remember that my capabilities know no limits!

One of my most rewarding accomplishments coming out of the month on the Adventuress was the conversion of the majority of the female crew to reusable menstrual products. The sailor ladies received a big package from GladRags full of pads, sea sponges and cups – they really live the light footprint that they teach.

Sailing the seas in GladRags style,
Diana

Name: Tracy P.

Hometown: Portland, Oregon

Age: 22

Profession: Vocational support staff for adults with developmental disabilities

Interests: Knitting, spinning, music, bicycle rides, friends, coffee, animals, reading, etc

Dreams: In first grade, my teacher had my class all create pictures of ourselves performing our dream jobs. I drew myself in overalls, boots, and a floppy hat standing at an easel and painting a portrait of a nearby pig. It was captioned “Farmer/Artist.” I think I’m still pretty into that.

Number of years/months using (appreciating) menstrual alternatives: About a year and a half using alternative menstrual products. Much more than that wondering about/appreciating them.

Reason for switching to alternatives: It makes so much more sense! Better for the environment, better for my body, better for my bank account.

Favorite thing about alternatives: Reusable menstrual products required me to get to know my body in a way that disposables can’t. I’ve gained a greater appreciation of my menstrual cycle since using GladRags and the Moon Cup.

Funny anecdotes?: Never chop up a big pile of jalapenos with your bare hands. Especially if you’re going to have to empty your moon cup any time in the next 24 hours.

We’ve got some new faces at GladRags these days. One of the great benefits of owning the GladRags business is meeting great customers and getting to work with amazing women.  Elizabeth and Tanya continue the tradition of GladRags employees being forward thinking, trail blazing, interesting women.

Elizabeth grew up in California’s Bay Area. She moved to Portland, Oregon to attend Reed College in 2002. Since graduating with a BA in Anthropology, in addition to working for GladRags, Elizabeth has led groups for teenage survivors of domestic violence and organized books at the public library. Her interests include: learning, music, art where animals wearing clothing is featured prominently, gender studies, road trips, and Anthropological theory. This summer Elizabeth is joining other activists as part of a bicycle caravan for reproductive justice called Wanderlust where she’ll ride from New Orleans to New York. Elizabeth loves working for GladRags because she gets to help create more positivity around our cycles.

Tanya moved to Portland late summer 2007 from Boulder, Colorado where she had worked for Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy (a great place to purchase GladRags products!) for the past two and some odd years.  A graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in 2005, she has wanted to move back to the Pacific Northwest since leaving the area.  Her interests include but are not limited to making and appreciating all art, especially visual art, biking around Portland, friends, bars, concerts, gardens, fish tanks, traveling and languages. She has always been a passionate bleeder and has been dealing with her menstruation alternatively as well as sharing her knowledge with her peers since late high school.  She can’t really remember what inspired her to do so, but she thinks it might have had something to do with common sense and the book Cunt by Inga Muscio. She is really excited for the opportunity to work for a small, local, proud-to-be-bleeding company such as GladRags and it ready to give it her all.

Amy over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess recently answered some interview questions on her blog sent to her by another blogger.  She asked if anyone else would like to be interviewed and I said, "Yes!"  So, here are her questions.  And, my answers.  Enjoy!

Oh, and if any of you, my fellow bloggers, are interested in my sending you your own individualized set of interview questions for your blog, drop me a line.

1) Would you mind telling me (and any other newbies) a bit about yourself and your background?

Sure thing!  Well, first off, my name is Diana.  Hello.  I began this life in the state of Massachusetts, dreaming of leaving home to travel and do my own "thing".  I did and now I am very happy.  After Spanish speaking in Latin America, attempted Japanese in Kyoto and various other jaunts around this fascinating planet, I moved west.  I currently reside in the extremely livable and generally happy Portland, Oregon.

Various other tidbits – I am the youngest of 7 children (can we say Irish Catholic?!).  I like exploring a variety of cultures (including, for example, woodworkers) and finding out what makes them tick – more or less.  I started eating vegan some months ago and enjoy delving into whole foods cooking and reaping its delicious benefits.  I like my friends, but who doesn't?  Children are amazing.  I don't think it's ok for a person to say that they don't like people.  I really enjoy my alone time.  Oh, and tennis and snowboarding and walking and laughing.

2) How did you first get involved with GladRags? 

I have to say that I was primed for the 'Rags before I started working here.  It all began in Costa Rica.  I was at a birthday party and my friend whipped out this interesting little device – looked like a shot glass.  So, we used it as a shot glass.  We were doing what we knew.  Anyway, turned out to be her new (a.k.a. unused) menstrual cup.  The seed was planted and I bought myself a cup and a cloth menstrual pad.

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As the founder and owner of GladRags, I want to thank you for being part of the GladRags community, a community dedicated to empowering women and fostering healthy and sustainable lifestyles.  You might have been using GladRags products for years, or you might have started using them last week. Whatever your level of involvement with GladRags products, I’d like to learn about your recent experience.     

I hope you will  invest 10 minutes to share some information with me. I’m interested in learning about the type of people who purchase GladRags and how GladRags products are used.  Your feedback is critical to the company’s success and will help me and my team better anticipate and respond to your needs.

Everyone who completes our online survey will receive a coupon toward their next GladRags purchase.

To take our survey, please go to: www.surveymonkey.com/gladrags

I really appreciate your participation in this project. Thank you so much.

Brenda Mallory

Founder and Owner, GladRags

I’m sorry to all who don’t live in this city (for reasons beyond the following, but we can discuss that at another time – I heart Portland) but this tip is for all locals.

A warm, sunny Friday afternoon is a perfect setting for walk to Mississippi Ave armed with the singular mission of sipping at a revitalizing concoction from Moxie RX. Ah, stepping off the sidewalk and up to the counter of this old Airstream trailer is bliss – an escape from a rapidly bustling street (they did film Feast of Love with Morgan Freeman at the coffee shop, The Fresh Pot, next door – this avenue is famous!).  Moxie’s smoothies and elixers are dizzingly delectable.  My favorite is the RX – almond butter, banana and dates.  Decadent.

Alls I gotta say is, make your way to Moxie.  It’ll rejuvinate you for those painfully slow final hours of your Friday workday (just kidding, Brenda!).

What is YOUR favorite smoothie combo?

Peace out!

Diana

P.S. Jodi was an extra in Feast of Love.  If you want to see her – something about being on Shaver when a girl looks through the coffee shop window and Greg Kinnear passes.  Whatever, she’s famous ok?!