Why This Canadian Fragrance Company Is Taking On Period Poverty

Why This Canadian Fragrance Company Is Taking On Period Poverty

The newest addition, Lotus Pear, will assist 700 ladies in Nepal have higher entry to menstruation … [+] merchandise and schooling.

The 7 Virtues

For Barbara Stegemann, working a enterprise has by no means actually simply been about being profitable. So a lot in order that she didn’t pay herself for years, after beginning her enterprise. Rather the revenue is a automobile to push for higher fairness.

Stegemann began The 7 Virtues, a fragrance firm, over a decade in the past earlier than the time period “clear magnificence” had gone mainstream. Now, her product is bought in Sephora areas throughout the US and Canada. Though the inspiration for the corporate and its flagship product got here from farmers in Afghanistan, searching for another supply of revenue whereas dwelling in a battle (and even publish battle) state, Stegemann has broadened the scope to incorporate components from around the globe. What began with the orange blossoms and rose oils from one Afghan farmer (and thus, helped create the corporate’s tagline, Make Perfume, Not War) has snowballed into a complete line of fragrances with scents simply as patchouli, jasmine, and vetiver thoughtfully sourced from around the globe in an effort to profit growers and producers — be it from Rwanda, Haiti, India, or elsewhere.
This yr, the corporate has a brand new launch, the Lotus Pear, a perfume designed to solely rejoice ladies and produce to mild an underreported difficulty — interval poverty. Still utilizing natural, honest commerce important oils, this perfume has develop into symbolic for Stegemann as she deepens her entrepreneurial journey, and learns in regards to the on a regular basis challenges ladies face globally. By partnering with Days for Girls, gross sales of the Lotus Pear perfume will help 700 ladies and younger ladies in Nepal and supply entry to menstruation merchandise for them.

“The lack of easy sources for girls around the globe throughout their intervals simply frankly stunned me,” Stegemann says. “Even in at this time’s age, we’re nonetheless struggling to get these fundamentals!”
After studying from the non-profit Days for Girls, Stegemann determined to align her firm with the trigger. Though this launch hones in on supporting ladies in Nepal particularly, she’s enthusiastic about taking it a lot additional. “This is only the start,” she says.

Stegemman has a considerably distinctive motto she lives by: “Get mad, take a shower, have a nap, after which get mad once more.”
She’s mad this time not solely about ladies not having pads and tampons, however the stigmas that include a menstruating interval — she can’t eat along with her household, she can’t work, she can’t go to high school. Depending on what nook of the world the girl is in, there are cultural practices that menstruating ladies nonetheless comply with. This, she argues, retains ladies from pursing their desires and infrequently, continues to maintain them confined to their properties.

While she admits she’s not the knowledgeable on interval poverty, she sees it as a significant difficulty and one which her firm can get behind wholeheartedly. Women are on the core of her personal firm, she explains, working with a primarily feminine workforce. “We have to concentrate to the wants of ladies as a society, assist them develop, and actually take heed to their wants.”

https://www.forbes.com/websites/eshachhabra/2022/03/23/why-this-canadian-fragrance-company-is-taking-on-period-poverty/

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