How do you feel about your period? On average, most women get 456 periods throughout their lifetime. That’s roughly 2,280 days. That means women spend over six years of their life bleeding, cramping, bloating, and more. Okay, so getting your period might not be the most fun experience, but Be Prepared Period (BPP) founder Tara Bruley doesn’t think the journey should be difficult. As the mom of a tween quickly approaching puberty, she sought out to solve how she could prepare her daughter for her period. This mission grew into an all-encompassing platform to empower women of all ages to accept, be comfortable with, and learn more about menstrual issues.
Be Prepared Period branches out into three avenues: useful resources, the online store, and community support. Bruley is a big advocate in menstrual education which is why the library of articles, quizzes, and Q&A forums that make up her useful resources are top tier.
Regardless of the fact that half of the world’s population deals with menstrual cycles and issues, there has always been a taboo surrounding “period talk.” Be Prepared Period is breaking through the discomfort to help girls and women normalize and feel comfortable discussing their period. As part of its main goal to educate the masses, BPP’s library of articles includes content for girls and their parents, women, and educators.
Because of this stigma around periods, most parents don’t know how to broach the topic with their young daughters. BPP articles help provide moms and dads with the tools and confidence they need to talk their daughters through the process. Moreso, their content gives both girls and parents comprehensive information all in one place. And while educating young girls is crucial, a woman’s period doesn’t stop in her youth. On average, a woman's menstrual cycle ends in her 50s. Understanding that menstrual issues don’t stop at puberty, Bruley sought out to make sure women of all ages felt supported and educated through the journey, but the education doesn’t stop there. There are hundreds of educators across the country who lack the proper resources for their students and being advocates for healthier period products, Be Prepared Period is a helping hand to equip them with the knowledge and tools to talk girls and women through their menstrual cycle.
While Be Prepared Period is a great hub of information, it also allows its users to have a bit of fun and engagement as well. Their quizzes are a crossover between fun and educational, which is why you’ll find tons flocking to their most popular quiz, “When Will You (Your Daughter) Get Your Period.” The site also offers great quizzes for women who might be dealing with concerns surrounding Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) and endometriosis. And these women don’t have to go through the concerns alone. The PeriodTalk Q&A forum is a great place where women can not only receive answers to their menstrual questions but also break through the taboo of talking about their period with a community of supportive women with varying perspectives.
The comprehensive list of free resources that Be Prepared Period is able to provide is through the support of their online store. It all started with their period kits. Hoping to prepare her tween for her period, Tara Bruley was on a search for a product that could help introduce her daughter to her changing body in a positive way. When she came up short, the BPP founder took matters into her own hands.
With the goal of making these kits fun, educational, and useful, Bruley branded these period kits to feel like a gift, both physically and educationally. This isn’t where the usefulness of the online store ends. BPP offers menstrual teas to help women through cramps and hot flashes. It even offers subscription and delivery options on their affordable, organic, and reusable products. Some women feel anxiety or embarrassment when publicly shopping for menstrual products, and now, they can simply have them shipped to their homes. With a passion for healthy, eco-friendly products, Tara Bruley and Be Prepared Period have even created their own line of affordable pads and tampons so women don’t have to prioritize their budget over their health.
Since the start of Be Prepared Period, the company has focused on helping women. While this began through building an online community, community support has spanned beyond the internet. Most recently, BPP has worked with individuals and organizations to help end period poverty. They have collaborated through fundraisers to help support those struggling to buy necessary menstrual products. With the help of their partners, Be Prepared Period was able to send out over 168,000 pads and tampons to those in need in 2020, but the mission doesn’t end there. Period poverty continues to affect millions of women around the country. Find out more about how you can donate.
Period poverty is real. In the United States alone, millions of women don’t have the adequate resources or products to care for themselves during their period. Be Prepared Period might be a small business, but they are mighty. Their passion to help young girls and women starts at their website and continues with you. To help BPP reach more people in need of their free resources and affordable menstrual products, share their site with friends, family, and every woman who deserves to be confident and empowered through her menstrual cycle.