Show Notes
We’re all about female empowerment this week and we’re delighted to be joined by the founder of the UK’s first eco-friendly period underwear brand. Ruby talks about how she started WUKA to provide sustainable alternatives to traditional menstrual products and to break the stigma surrounding menstruation. Growing up in Nepal, periods were never spoken about and during them, she was separated from her family and stigmatised. Moving to London when she was twenty, founding a cool brand was the last thing on her mind, but it was when she was talking to girls in schools about reusable period products and they all said they thought the idea was tacky, she had an epiphany moment, bought a second-hand sewing machine and, with the help of a YouTube video set about solving the problem herself. Starting small and perfecting the product has been key to her success, but she’s now a B-corp business and is on a mission to end period poverty, as well as tackling the issue of girls dropping out of sports at a grass roots level. A collector of things, Ruby shows us a beautiful blue sari, a sentimental Mulberry bracelet from her husband, as well as her handmade jewellery from Nepal including her gold sun pendant that reflects the incredible energy she puts out into the world. Get her products and find out more at wuka.co.uk
To view our guests' special bits, please follow us on Instagram @showusyourbitspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Show Us Your Bits
It’s breast cancer awareness month and we’re joined by the inspirational podcaster, author, journalist and food writer, Laura Price who tells us about her own breast cancer journey and how it has led to her living her best life. When Laura was first diagnosed at just twenty-nine, she wrote a list of all the places she wanted to go whilst she was in the chemo chair. She re-qualified as a magazine journalist, before unexpectedly landing her dream job working for The World’s Fifty Best Restaurants. She spent her thirties profiling some of the world’s most incredible chefs, sampling the top tasting menu spots around the globe from Bogota to San Francisco. She reveals that one of her favourite restaurants is a high-end Mexico, Kol in London. Her novel, Single Bald Female was inspired by her dating experience, when, having gone through treatment, she wrote an honest dating profile and found some wonderful matches as a result. In 2022, Laura was promoting the book on the Breast Cancer Now podcast, but she said it was the day before her hospital appointment that revealed that after ten years, her cancer had spread. She describes receiving the devastating news alone and how it felt to explain it to her future husband who was outside in the car. She was invited back to be the podcast host for The Breast Cancer Now podcast, which is widely considered to be the go-to podcast for people going through treatment, and Laura, who loves her job, says she’s met some wonderful people, including actor Lisa Riley and Sir Chris Hoy. She explains the challenges of living life the full whilst also planning for the future, but despite her diagnosis and the statistics she’s outliving, says she’s living a beautiful life full of hope, joy and optimism. Laura brought some special pieces to show us, including a cherry necklace from Portugal, a stack of precious airmail letters from her year off in Brazil, the medals she’s collected from her charity fund-raising events and a very special memento from the living funeral her friend who set up the charity Coppafeel. She says you can’t live every day like it’s your last, but she spends less time sweating the small stuff. When faced with an uncertain future, it’s important to find a way to make your dreams happen. Find Laura on instagram @laurapricewrites and The Breast Cancer Now podcast.
Publisher, successful author and a Swiftie, Harriet Evans joins us from Bath to tell us about the origins of her literary life and how being a catastrophist has helped her tell the stories that have earned her awards and legions of loyal readers. Regaling us with stories from the heyday of publishing in the 90’s, Harriet talks candidly about her love of books, her total lack of snobbery when it comes to a good story and how it feels to have insights as both a publisher and a writer.
Meet Lee Cooper who says it’s great to be a slashie and describes himself as a- fashion art director - slash- filmmaker - slash screenwriter slash author. Lee says he’s always been a story teller, and as a fashion marketeer has opened stores for many famous brands including Jigsaw and The White Stuff. After a film making course, Lee has pivoted into film making. His documentary ‘Maisie’ follows the oldest performing drag queen in the UK. Drawn to his long, colourful life, Lee says Maisie was still performing into his 80’s and Lee had unprecedented behind the scenes access and make a beautiful, powerfully honest film about a man dealing with cognitive decline and ageing. HIs latest project is ‘Backstairs Billy’ - another project Lee describes about being as another saucy old queen. It tells the story of the late Queen Mother’s most trusted servant. Lee regales us with some great stories about what actually went on in Clarence House.Lee says he’s a collector of stuff - or a ‘curated hoarder’ - but brought some fascinating pieces to show us including pictures of Bonnie and Bo his beloved Lhasa Apso dogs. The second caught Alice’s attention - a rubber replica of Salacious Crumb, the space monkey from the Star Wars films. Since seeing the first Star Wars film as a child, Lee says he’s been a secret Star Wars nerd. His loft is crammed with figurines that he hopes to use in a future film project. Lee says his great love is the ceremony of breakfast, done properly hotel-style, with a tea pot, china and toast rack - only eaten at midday. He brought his treasured old butter knife picked up in a vintage store and a little pot of jam.He says living in a post truth world, story if more important than ever. It’s so easy to get caught up in the everyday, so his mantra is to not sweat the small stuff. Find Lee on Instagram @leecoopercreative. To view our guests' special bits, please follow us on Instagram @showusyourbitspodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Career guru, Sunday Times bestselling author and podcast host Helen Topper says that she was always so independent that she didn’t even tell her Mum she was leaving for Uni until the morning she went.
Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously - with Mia Drennan