The Hive Collective Podcast: Shifting Power in Nonprofits · Beth Ellen Holimon

Shift Power with Period Awareness: "Period Reality" Shares How Work Can Better Support Women

·47 min·2 clips

"There's no gender equity without menstrual equity" drives the episode's organizational argument.

The Hive Collective opens with Beth Ellen Holliman framing the show’s focus on shifting and sharing power in nonprofits. The episode turns to Period Reality and its aim of supporting gender equity through system-level change. Marlou Cornelison introduces the organization and the idea of living more in sync with hormonal cycles. Slindalee Kuzwayo and Denzil Doyle join the conversation and help ground it in everyday work life. The discussion treats periods as a reality for 50% of the population, not as a private inconvenience to be brushed aside. It starts from the simple fact that bodies do not always feel the same from one week to the next. That difference can affect confidence, focus, mood, and physical comfort. The guests talk about cycle tracking as a way of noticing patterns rather than judging them. They describe how a person may feel articulate and confident during one part of the cycle. Two weeks later, the same person may feel bloated, uncertain, or less steady. The episode names the frustration that can follow when someone blames themselves for that shift. It argues for a gentler interpretation of those changes. That gentleness is presented as useful for both self-understanding and teamwork. The conversation also pushes back against the narrow way society talks about periods. It notes how the loudest narratives often center discomfort, mood, and irritation. The guests suggest that the story can also include strength, clarity, and self-knowledge. They connect that shift in framing to better work culture. If people understand their own rhythms, they may make choices with more care. If colleagues understand those rhythms too, they may respond with more grace. The episode keeps returning to the idea that people cannot always change their schedule or the demands around them. Even then, they can still learn to work with more honesty and less self-punishment. The result is a conversation that moves from personal experience to organizational implication. It lands on the idea that kinder workplaces are not just nicer, but more aligned with reality and better for the people inside them.

As heard by us

A reflective discussion about periods at work and the case for kinder organizational culture.

The episode treats periods as a workplace reality, not a side topic, and links that reality to shifting and sharing power in nonprofits. Marlou Cornelison, Slindalee Kuzwayo, and Denzil Doyle keep it rooted in lived experience, moving between presentations, confidence, and the…

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Why you'd press play

A grounded conversation about period reality, cycle awareness, and what it can change at work.

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