Mary Bond & Robyn McLean, Co-Founders of Hello Period: Trusting the Voice in the Back of Your Head
Mary Bond and Robyn McLean have been best friends since they were kids. In 2017, they launched Hello Cup, a fun, comfortable, hypoallergenic, recyclable menstrual cup, made here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since then, their company Hello Period has gone from strength to strength, growing internationally, and launching a range of new period products.
Mary and Robyn are also passionate about being a business that makes a positive impact on our planet. Since launching, Hello Cup has saved over 200 million single use tampons and pads from going to landfill.
In terms of career backgrounds, Mary has been a nurse for over 20 years, with her most recent years as a palliative care nurse at a hospice. Robyn started her career as a journalist before moving into Communications, PR and Marketing.
In this episode, Mary and Robyn talk about:
- How they learnt to trust their instinct and commit to the things they believe in
- Running a profitable business while looking after the environment
- Bringing fun and humour into their work
🎙 "Trust your instinct. If you've got a good feeling about things, then follow that instinct. If something doesn't feel right, leave it alone – avoid it. Don't ignore the voice in the back of your head."
This episode is one of a special 5-part miniseries that we’re really proud to have developed in collaboration with Te Taurapa Tūhono, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. NZTE helps grow Kiwi companies internationally, bigger, better and faster. Each of these 5 podcast episodes brings you the inspiring story of a woman who has taken her Kiwi company to the global stage. A big thank you to NZTE for their support to bring these stories to life and if you’d like to find out more about NZTE and how they might help you grow your business go to https://bit.ly/nztewomen. We really hope you enjoy listening, and if you’d be interested in any leadership or career coaching to support your own career journey, drop us a line at hello@thefemalecareer.com.
You can listen for free to Mary and Robyn sharing their career journeys here on The Female Career website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to your podcasts.