January's Monthly Muse: Necesse
Welcome to the first installment of Monthly Muse, a guest blog series which aims to share lessons, insights or interesting stories from women doing incredible things. January’s muse is the more like muse’s (is that a word?) as not one but two driven women took their passion for ending period poverty in New Zealand and turned it into a social enterprise and environmentally conscious company.
Necesse, founded by Isabelle Smith and Josie Milton demonstrates why more women should be sitting at the “table” when it comes to business and why our empathy for one-another as women can be a powerful driver for social change and business success.
Without further ado, here’s more from Isabelle…
There are so many layers to the Necesse story but can you tell Your Monthly readers about your brand?
Necesse is a social enterprise providing a convenient service for the to-your-door delivery of quality organic cotton tampons. We founded Necesse in an effort to address the ongoing issue of period poverty in New Zealand, creating a collective of women supporting women. Every order delivered to our subscribers results in the donation of a box worth of Necesse tampons to women in need.
Can you tell us more about period poverty and how it affects women in New Zealand?
In an NZ Herald article published in late 2016, Lizzie Marvelly delved into the realities of period poverty in New Zealand, titling the piece “Girls missing school because of periods is a national disgrace”. We couldn't agree more with Marvelly’s statement. The effects of period poverty are wide ranging - impacting the mental health, personal hygiene, and school and work attendance rates of women and girls across New Zealand. These impacts all have added negative personal, social and economic flow effects. Unfortunately, even after the wave of news stories and articles that first brought this issue to our attention, period poverty continues to impact women and girls throughout our country.
That’s why Necesse doesn't work like most other tampons brands. As a purpose-driven social enterprise, making a positive social and environmental contribution the core of what we do. We’ve partnered with Aviva (formerly the Christchurch Women’s Refuge) to ensure our donated product is available freely to Aviva clients, many of whom are experiencing financial hardship due to the effects of family violence. We’ve also supported other campaigns and charities including the Christchurch City Mission, Dunedin Women’s Refuge, Soap for Society and the Wellington City Mission. As our subscriber base grows, we will be able to donate more product to a greater variety of charities and organisations across New Zealand.
How can Your Monthly followers subscribe to your tampons?
Your Monthly followers can support Necesse by subscribing on our website: www.necesse.co.nz
Our subscriptions are customized to suit your needs - with a range of absorbency and delivery frequency options. Every new subscriber helps to address the issue of period poverty in New Zealand by making a tangible positive impact on the lives of other kiwi women. The best part is you just have to order, and we take care of the rest!