On today’s episode of Period Story, I’m so pleased to share my conversation with Julie McClure, a clean and clear living expert and the founder and CEO of Hello Me, a wellness & beauty brand empowering women to take back control of their hormones and return to being the best version of themselves.
Julie and I had a great conversation about what inspired her to start her company, her healing journey through breast cancer and medical menopause and of course, the story of her very first period!
Thank you, Julie!
P.S. Julie has kindly offered listeners 20% of Hello Me products with the code PERIODSTORY20!
Get in touch with Julie:
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SHOW TRANSCRIPT
Le’Nise So tell me the story of your very first period.
Julie So my very first period, I mean, it’s I don’t remember the exact age, but I do remember I was later than the rest of my friends because it was one of those where everybody sort of had their period and you’re waiting to get yours. It was almost as milestone you’re waiting for. So I was about 13 or 14. I was a little bit later. And yeah, I mean, for me, it was something that was really quiet. Like, I feel like you’re waiting for it because you hear a little buzzes from your friends. But it wasn’t back when I got my first period, it wasn’t something that a lot of people were talking about openly. And so for me, it was just like, I just needed to know the basics, like when I get it, what do I do right? And that was kind of it was really a discovery phase because I didn’t feel like I was like prepped with a whole lot of information.
Le’Nise So you got it, and you said it was quiet. Tell us a little bit more about what that means.
Julie Well, it was something I told my. I only told my mom and my sister, but I didn’t openly talk about it was something I was still shy about. And in one way, you want it. Another way when you get it, you’re like, Oh gosh, like, what do I do now? And you know what? What should I use for products, et cetera? So that’s how it was quiet I wasn’t talking to my friends, who’s maybe my best friend, but that would be it.
Le’Nise Right, and so were your other friends openly having this conversation and you just chose not to participate in it?
Julie No, it wasn’t really open. It was like little whispers of conversation. That’s how I remember it. Like you’d be with your best friend and maybe one other girlfriend, and somebody would talk about the fact they got their period. And then you might be sort of overhearing another crowd at some other point. But it wasn’t really like this open dialogue about groups of friends we’re having or we are learning about periods whether it be the media or classes, et cetera. So that’s why it was fairly quiet. It was almost whispers whispering sessions.
Le’Nise And then as you got your period and this idea of this feeling of quiet, do you think you held on to that as you started learning more about your period?
Julie Yes, absolutely. I think you know for most of my life, these haven’t really been topics of conversation. I’m forty seven, so it’s been a few years. But yeah, it hasn’t been something that’s really been an open dialogue and I’m finding now with my my nieces who are now in that age, they’re teenagers. It is a little bit more talked about and I’ve had these discussions with them like actually trying to understand because I have this brand all about hormones to understand what is the discussion? Are people talking about it? It is improved, but it’s still not there, which is surprising.
Le’Nise So what do you think has brought the, not the massive openness, but a little bit more openness that you’re seeing in your in your nieces?
Julie I think social media has played a big part of that. I mean, you’re seeing on TikTok people, people have been openly out on Tik Tok talking about their period, checking their menstrutal health. Now just look at like a brand like August, right, that they’re really trying to destigmatize discussions around new periods. There’s been ads that have been much more bold over the years, so I think we didn’t have social media when I was, you know, computers are just sort of coming out when I was in my teen years. So it wasn’t something that we had access to these outside information. So if your family and your friends weren’t openly having the dialogue, which would have been ahead of the game if that were the case, you weren’t learning from those mediums.
Le’Nise And do you think that as you’ve gotten older, have you become more open in terms of the conversations that you’re having with your friends?
Julie Absolutely, yeah. And I think even more so because you know Hello Me is about destigmatizing what it means to be hormonal. I’m on that mission to really open up this dialogue and make this connection between hormones, wellness and beauty and creating products to do that. So obviously, I am actively talking about this. And then I also find a lot of my friends because, you know, they’re into wellness, they’re into health. And so we’ve, you know, we all realise how much an important part hormones play in our lives and the quality of life. And so the dialogue does open up as we go through these transitions of life, which know a lot of my friends are going through perimenopause right? Or they’ve had just had children and they’re going through postpartum. And so the conversations are much more open now, and maybe my circles are a little bit different because of the work I’m doing every single day. So it’s hard for me to know. I do know it hasn’t hit the masses, absolutely, because we’re still continuing to educate our customers and we get a lot of silent DMs and people asking or calling our hormone hotline and having these conversations with our hormone coaches. So it means it hasn’t gone completely mainstream in terms of everybody feeling comfortable. But I do think we’re making a shift and is going in the right direction. Absolutely.
Le’Nise So just thinking back to when you were younger, so when you’re in your early teens and you got your period, you said you went on the journey of discovery to figure out exactly what was going on with you, the products that you needed to use. Talk a little bit more about that.
Julie The one story actually comes to mind. It’s funny because I remember most vividly when the first time I had my period and I wanted to go swimming right, we had us a pool in the backyard. I grew up in the Maritimes, in New Brunswick, in Canada, I’m Canadian. And I just that’s the moment I remember the most is like, Oh gosh, I want to go swimming with all my friends. And I was mortified because I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d never used a tampon and I wanted to go swimming so that it’s really one of those moments where it’s like, Okay, I have to figure out how to use a tampon. And I was it wasn’t taught, so I literally remember trying to figure out how to use a tampon. It was extremely uncomfortable because there is no YouTube videos at the time. This or nobody else is documenting it. I don’t know if they do now. I haven’t searched, but you probably can find it somewhere. So I remember that is my most vivid moment in trying to figure that, and that was clearly a situation of trial and error self-discovery. OK. Tampons must work. I need to figure out how they work. They can’t be this uncomfortable. They can’t cause pain. So obviously I’m doing something wrong and figuring it out, right? So that’s my most vivid memory around my period when I was in my teens because it was something you don’t feel embarrassed if something leaked or they show, like if you had any blood and you also didn’t want everybody knowing that you were on your period like that was kind of a whole like stigma around it. The taboo topic. So you’re doing this quietly, just trying to figure out in your bedroom like, Okay, I’m going to go swimming later today, I need to figure out the tampon thing.
Le’Nise And so did you figure it out?
Julie Obviously, over time, for sure. But that first day was I don’t think I did that correctly the first day because it was painful. I remember it being painful. And so I could have used a little bit more open dialogue and conversations to have somebody that I could have been like, Hey, now I was done so that I insert this properly and I had I known, I think, not to leave my mom and educated and not leaving tampons in too long, etc., things like that. So that was never something that I didn’t know, but it’s just the mechanics of it. And then the other piece I didn’t know we didn’t have organic brands back then, and that’s something I discovered much later in life because they had just started to emerge. But wow, what a difference that makes, and I think that’s kind of the biggest thing I wish I had known and had available to me when I was younger. In addition to a little bit of information on how to navigate things.
Le’Nise So talk a little bit more about the difference that organic menstrual products are meant for you.
Julie Well, organic menstrual products, I mean, your audience may or may not be aware of this, but I mean just the chemicals that they use in non-organic tampons. So when you’re thinking about, I think, particularly when you think of the need for organic, especially in tampons, I mean, all menstrual products and super important, but tampons in particular because you’re inserting them into your body for several hours and they’re going to get into the bloodstream. So when they’ve got, you know, they had chlorine back then, I think they’ve improved things. But there’s still chemical by-products from glyphosate, which is sprayed on the fields or dioxins and just very various chemicals that can be in these non-organic tampons. And I remember when all the years I used them, my body would try and like, like it would sweat during the time of my cycle, and it was clearly trying to get rid of the chemicals. Because when you have two ways to get rid of it, you have a few ways to get rid of things. But sweating is one way to eliminate toxins, right? And so when I switched to organic tampon products because once they were available, that’s all I ever used. I was like, I noticed that never happened again. And so because that was another level of uncomfortableness, right, because you’re like almost bringing changes of clothes in case you’re like sweaty or you’re having gym class and things like that, and you just don’t feel as you just don’t feel as clean, like, frankly, because it’s just like if you went and had to work out and sweated and you wouldn’t feel great going to class afterwards without a shower. So that was a big game changer for me, and I’ve been starting to educate my nieces about that, just trying to have these open conversations, but also saying, Are you using organic products? Because it’s really important and it’s amazing how many people don’t actually know, like the masses don’t still know how important that is. And, you know, hopefully things are starting to shift and hopefully prices come down. So there’s not this big disparity in terms of who can access organic versus non-organic. But it’s it’s really important for, I think, our reproductive organs and overall health from the inside out.
Le’Nise Yeah, I’m sure I can agree with you more the way the vagina is one of the most absorbent parts of the body. So as you say, anything we put up there, if it’s, you know, if there’s chemicals sprayed over, it is going to have an effect on our oestrogen and progesterone balance. I want to just go back to what you said about your, you know, the difference that organic tampons made for you. Were you experiencing painful or heavy periods?
Julie No. Well, I did have some PMS, and that’s something else I didn’t know, but now I’m very well versed. In fact, 75 percent of women have PMS and it’s preventable. Right? Kind of talk I’ll go back to your question, really, your menstrual cycles, really. A lot of people refer to it as your fifth vital sign telling you so much about your body. And we can have a discussion on that. But um. Yeah.
So did I see improvement? No, it wasn’t a change in my period itself in terms of the flow. And I also just I think they came out when I was in my thirties. So my cycle was always very regular 28 days and it was always four to five days. Not heavy. I never had heavy cycles. But what I would say is that one side effect I told you about, like the sweating that stopped immediately. And that was the biggest aha moment with the organic products because and I’ve since I’ve been immersed in this whole wellness space, which I study about, you know, clean products and the effect of chemicals. And I have chemical sensitivities, so I’m very aware of things affecting my body. And so I’m not surprised that that was the first thing that changed for me. But in terms of the duration or how much bleeding I had that didn’t get affected, I think what affected PMS and things like that was more my lifestyle over time. So if I was going through a really stressful time or not sleeping a lot or my diet had fallen off and I was having a lot more sugars or inflammatory type foods, that’s when I would get very severe migraines three days before my cycle, like clockwork. And I would also, I had some cramping, but it was really the migraines that was the debilitating piece. And then when my when I cut out sugar and adding in very like kind of greens and whole foods and not a lot of processed food or grains, et cetera, prior to my cycle, then like a week or two before or for that month, I would have a completely different experience. The PMS was almost nonexistent.
Le’Nise What you’re saying is so interesting, because there is this narrative that I see where people talk about my PMS and they take ownership of it and it’s kind of something that they expect to happen. And as you say, it doesn’t have to happen. And what’s really interesting is that you were able to identify that you had you were experiencing these migraines and that you were able to make really in the grand scheme of things where that easy, simple changes that were able to change your experience of that time right before your period, which actually doesn’t have to be that bad. We can get a lot of wisdom out of that time of before our period. So tell me a little bit more about how long that took for you. So you had the migraines and then you made these changes. How long did those migraines take to resolve?
Julie Well, literally if I had a month of very clean month, so I’m drinking green juice, I’m moving my body, I’m actually sleeping. I’m not under tremendous stress, are pulling all nighters at school or something like that, or working investment banking, pulling all nighters. If I was doing those things, then that next month, literally my cycle would be different. I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t have these crazy three day hormonal migraines. Now I’ve also since learnt like I was like, nutrient deficiencies can be play a big role in hormonal migraines and PMS in general, right? So when you’re under a lot of stress, which I have had these careers where I was working on Wall Street, I was working a lot of hours and not sleeping a lot, so my body was deficient in magnesium. When you’re stressed, your magnesium just like plummets, right? You’d get depleted and things like your vitamin C, which helps balance out your progesterone, which is involved and it fluctuates around your luteal phase and can cause these fluctuations can cause pain. So things like my B vitamins, my magnesium were definitely depleted. And when I started getting more into the science behind all of like overall wellness and health, and with my migraines, treating them proactively with things like magnesium and B vitamins, et cetera, I wasn’t getting as severe hormonal migraines.
The other interesting trick that I learnt over time or I had to have in not a trick but a service that really helped me with these hormonal migraines. This is before, like we had the science has caught up, and we created product like top up signs to help women, not happiness. But prior to that, when I would go and get colonic, I would just get colon hydrotherapy. I would get that a week before my cycle and I would have zero also have zero migraine. So what that was doing, it was helping my body because I’m not the best detox, like I’m on the best detox genes or detoxification genes, so hence the chemical sensitivities. But what the hydrocolon therapy did is it pulled out like some of these extra hormones helped my body kind of get rid of things that otherwise we’re ingesting and creating inflammation in my body so that my PMS was also much worse, which meant severe migraines three days before my cycle.
Le’Nise So for listeners who aren’t aware, one of the ways that our body gets rid of hormones it’s already used is through a bowel movement. So if you’re not having a bowel movement every day, at least every day, then your body can reabsorb those chemicals. So the oestrogen, oestrogen, for example, that is already broken down and that can lead to increased premenstrual symptoms. So for you? You mentioned the colonics. Were you were you constipated or was this just giving you a bit of a helping hand?
Julie My I would say because I’m coeliac, so I’ve had my digestive tract has been off and on throughout the years and this is pre diagnosis of coeliac. So I would have made my bowels weren’t moving as efficiently as they should, and I also didn’t have as much knowledge as I do 15 years later in terms of how to have a healthy gut biome. It wasn’t really talked to go back then? So yes, absolutely with those variabilities. And then you can also experience that as you go through and have your menstrual cycle too. So they kind of compound each other. Then if you’re depleted and things like magnesium to it, just it’s not going to help it right? And so the colon hydrotherapy and I would say it’s really important to go to somebody who’s registered and certified and you’ve done your research, not just anybody, in the closed systems, I think are kind of the best for people if they’re looking to do that. But those really did help pull out anything that I wasn’t getting out naturally. And I think and then a little bit extra, right? Because if my digestion was backed, digestive system was backed up. It was just like making sure things are staying and stagnating into my body.
Le’Nise Hmm. It’s so interesting about colonics because I had one. I’ve only had one. Just I had. I actually, I think maybe about 15 years ago there was this place in Notting Hill and I used to live in Notting Hill in London, and I used to walk past it all the time. And I was always really curious because that time colonics were kind of seen as this kooky sort of thing, whereas now it’s, you know, wellness and health is become more mainstream. So you tell someone your, well, I think you maybe get a mixed reaction depending on the person.
Julie I still get a mixed reaction.
Le’Nise Yeah, but I had this. I had this colonic and I remember back then I was a vegetarian and my diet was really bad. I was constipated constantly. So that was one of the reasons why I wanted to go. And I just remember this lightness that I felt afterwards and I thought, Oh, I must, I must do that again. I mean, fortunately, I don’t feel like I need to anymore because I’m very regular. I have no issues in that department, but it is. I just remember thinking how marvellous that feeling was of just feeling so light.
Julie Yes, and it’s interesting. And obviously, a lot of people show digestive issues through like bloating or, you know, things like that. Or always having gas and you can get a lot of bloating around your cycle, too, which which of these things help with. So you don’t have to go through a service like that. I’m just kind of that’s one of my sort of like hacks that I discovered over the years with when I didn’t have Top up tonic available to me to balance out my hormones. So it’s just interesting what works for different people. But I think universally that’s if you’re open to it, that can be very helpful, particularly if you’re really severe symptoms around your cycle.
Le’Nise Tell us about your experience with your, your period and your menstrual cycle. Now you mentioned you’re forty seven. So are you perimenopause?
Julie Well, OK, so there’s a little bit more to this, I stopped getting my cycle, I guess, two years ago because I had breast cancer two and a half years ago, so I guess a year and a half ago. And then because of the breast cancer, I have a BRCA2 gene, which means I have a much higher risk of hormone cancers. And so because of the breast cancer, I went through preventative surgery to remove my ovaries and fallopian tubes, which means I was no longer I was thrown into menopause overnight. So I was forty five. And basically, I’ve never had a cycle since because I don’t have the organs to produce a cycle, right? So so as I was getting into my 40s, I can say that shortened to about two days. It was very light in two days, so it was definitely switching sides. I’m sure I was entering perimenopause. I didn’t have night sweats and things like that, which are very common as you start to go into perimenopause. But I did notice a shift in my menstrual cycle and that it was it had always been quite like only one heavy day and then quite light, and it was never more than five days. But then it shifted literally to being two max three days and really only only one day of sort of normal flow and then very light. But it was it was still very much like every 28 days. I might be off one day if I had like a really stressful month or something, but it was like clockwork up until the point that I had the surgery.
Le’Nise Can you talk a little bit about the impact that going through the medical menopause had on you?
Julie Well, let’s just say it’s a journey, and that’s my mission now, with Hello Me, as I’m creating products to not make it a difficult journey for women so that they can just literally, you know, avoid all the side effects that I had to go through. So, yeah, menopause, obviously. So for people who haven’t been through it, I mean, your oestrogen, you know, your hormones are declining slowly. Typically, it happens, starts a little bit in your forties. It can go up to, you know, people can be full on menopause and they’re 50 ,55, whatever and it can so people can have symptoms for anywhere from three to 10 years. For me, I went from having, you know, a normal level of estrogen, progesterone, et cetera, and dropped overnight. So I had seven months of very severe symptoms, and I spent my time figuring out how to kind of hack that so that I could be hormonally balanced again. Because really, what the doctors were offering me was nerve blockers and antidepressants to deal with night sweats and anxiety and insomnia, etc. instead of anything else that was more natural. So I wasn’t interested in going on a nerve blocker for the next 20 years. And so that’s why I was kind of determined to hack it through more natural sources. And that’s where Hello Me is also moving to launch products for women in the spring. So it’s a life change, I would say. In Chinese medicine, they talk about as a second spring, and I love that because it’s not something to be feared. You know, you’re in your own skin, your company, you have all this wisdom and you really come into full bloom. And yes, you do have to tweak your body. You can tweak a few things because your hormones have fluctuated, just like post-pregnancy you have tweaks. When you’re in your reproductive years, you have tweaks, and so you have to do that again. But it doesn’t mean that you’re past your prime. It doesn’t mean that you have to live with these symptoms forever. And the science now is really advanced. And there’s so much, you know, so many of us focussed on innovation, the space that I’m excited for, where it’s headed in terms of a category because there’s so much that we can do to make women’s lives better. So, yeah, so my experience was not pleasant because there just weren’t any natural solutions for me. But I’m back in a place where I feel I’m back to normal. I don’t have the same symptoms, so I’ve resolved it. And really what it’s done is just been a catalyst again for Hello Me and a whole other category of products.
Le’Nise So someone’s listening and they’ve gone through that experience of medical menopause, which is very different from the natural menopause, where it can happen more gradually. Medical menopause, it’s hitting you like straight away. What were the kind of natural solutions that you would recommend to someone going through that experience?
Julie So one thing that’s really important, and I don’t know that it’s common knowledge, is that your adrenal function, so you know, the organs are a little bit above your kidneys that help support you and give you energy prior to adrenal fatigue or if people have heard of that. It’s really important that your adrenals are healthy and nourishing your adrenals. So. And that’s done from lifestyle factors as well as nutrients. So like, you need to be taking your B vitamins because you’re going to have lower energy. If you’re don’t have all your hormones supporting you, you do need to take things that can support the adrenals. In others, things like ginseng, there’s adaptogens you can take.
But I’d say I did for me, I did the Dutch test, which is a hormone test, and it really showed me sort of where my cortisol was. And it’s not really that surprised that my cortisol was quite low because I was in the middle of launching a business and I had breast cancer. I had a few things that had gone on. And so those weren’t supporting my body because they typically step in to help when your other hormones are coming down. So I would say the Dutch test if there’s the option to take it to just really understand where your hormones are and then to kind of work with that and understand, like how do I support the adrenals? Usually if you’ve gone into surgery, like in menopause overnight, you want to be working with the health care practitioner to like, help guide you, at least from the beginning. So I was working with specialists who are naturopathic medical doctors or specialists, and we were working on really getting my adrenals back and nutrient IVs, which gives you sort of like high dose nutrients so that it’s a quicker recovery period for your adrenals. And because that was exacerbating my symptoms. And once I had my adrenals in a much healthier state, I slept better. I didn’t have the same low grade anxiety every day. So a lot of things shifted. I wasn’t getting night sweats and waking up in the middle of the night with a racing heart. So I would say that was sort of the biggest takeaway for me. I saw that massive shift. One I spent 8 weeks supporting my adrenals. And it’s also sleep, an exercise like yoga and things that are nourishing and doing things that literally like reduce your stress level so nourishing for you. It’s not just supplements and diet, it’s also, you know, doing things that are going to bring your stress levels down and release those sort of endorphins naturally.
Le’Nise I think the message you’re sharing sharing is a really positive one because certainly in the UK, the message that we get is that once you’re in your when you’re in perimenopause and then in menopause, it’s all about HRT or hormone replacement therapy. And that’s a kind of drumbeat that’s in the press over here. And you know, as a nutritionist, I know that there are other solutions out there, but the doctors over here are really kind of adamant about women going on HRT. And so I’m really kind of enthused to hear your story because there are alternatives out there. And so for women who are listening, you know to what Julie’s talking about around adrenal support is so powerful because you do make sure you’re making a weaker form of oestrogen in your adrenal hormones don’t all stop and you support your adrenals. You can access this really important form of oestrogen that takes us through to post-menopause. So fantastic. I love the message you’re sharing.
Julie And would say everyone’s individual too, right? So for me, I had like I zero. I like there. They’re so low. My doctor said, I can’t believe you’re feeling worse, not feeling worse than you are. And I said, Well, I didn’t know it could feel worse, to be honest. And and I would also say, like for me, now, I do this DUTCH test just because of the cancer risk and everything else, and I do that test every six months for me. And it’s important because they are monitoring how I’m breaking down. So I have a very, very low dose bioidentical hormones, right? It’s like the lowest you can just so that it made a difference for me and made a difference. So that plus the adrenal support was the game changer. Not everybody is comfortable doing bio identicals, and I’m on as low dose as it can possibly be just because of the cancer risk. But for me, I found it at my age and where I am, I wanted to have a little bit. And so I do this Dutch test every six months to make sure that like, I’m still where the risk is, is when you start to, you know, you take bio identicals and you realise your body’s not breaking down. The by-products are being processed properly and then that can increase your risk. And so some people say don’t ever take anything, you know, even the bio identical hormones. But for me, I’m monitoring it and I take like such a low dose that that plus adrenal support, it gets me to where I need to be, plus my daily nutrients that I take my supplements.
Le’Nise And so let’s talk a little bit about your, your company and also you, you as a clean and clear living expert. What does that mean?
Julie So clean and clear living is really about getting to your best version of yourself by first. You know, clean living is many pillars, so it’s hormone balance. But it’s also environmental, right? Like making sure you’re living in an environment that’s clean, not full of toxins that you don’t have a toxic burden that is unmanageable. It’s movement. It’s it’s doing something that’s purposeful in your life. So when I combine these things like my passions is about helping people live their best lives, that means having great health. Because when you’re in great health, we can do so much more and I’ve experienced the other end of things. I also believe that once you’ve got service, clean internal blueprint, which makes you feel great, you have more confidence and you have more clarity in terms of like, you’re your path. You have the confidence to pursue your path and things that are important to you. So you feel like you’re living a fulfilling life. And for me, I feel like when people are following their own authentic journeys is a whole other level of healing that goes on too. And I’m a spiritual person from the sense that I believe like when you’re on, you feel like you’re living a purposeful life and you’re authentic and you’re really being true to yourself. It’s kind of back to those molecules of emotion. You’re not storing all the stress in the body. The body has more levels of inflammation, so you not only make your biggest impact in the world and you give the gift to the world by being authentic self, but you also feel your best. And you look your best because you’re more when you’re happy, right? Or you’re more joyful. So clean and clear living is about those pillars that allow you to have that super clean, balanced imprint on the inside, which provides the confidence and radiance and clarity to do what you’re meant to do and follow your profession, be your authentic self.
Le’Nise And then in terms of the company that you build. You mentioned that you went through this really tumultuous time in your in your mid-40s or early to mid 40s where you had breast cancer and you were launching a company. Tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind the company. You’ve alluded to it a little throughout our conversation and why you chose to launch it during this time in your life.
Julie Yes. So Hello Me was born prior to getting breast cancer. So in terms of the idea and the vision, it’s quite interesting that I basically went through all the life phases in a very compressed period to, I guess, accelerate what I can do for women with Hello Me. But that’s the only way to put it into a positive light. But Hello Me. Originally, I was suffering from migraines, all in my twenties and thirties, from a hormonal imbalance. I was on birth control. The science wasn’t caught up. I finally went to a holistic practitioner. They said, Look, these symptoms are low grade anxiety that later develops from the nutrient depletions, as well as the migraines, from being on birth control. Right? Depletes your key nutrients that most women don’t realise, right? Probiotics, antioxidants, et cetera. And so I went off it, and then I dove into the whole wellness world like I was always interested in wellness, et cetera. But I really dove in to heal myself. And so after I spent a year healing myself through studying nutrition, anti-inflammatory diets, really replenishing everything, I’d been putting it through for a decade. You know, I realised what a change in quality like you can have. And fast forward several years I started to look at like, how could I create a company that truly impacts the lives of the masses for women? And nobody was making the connection between hormonal balance and wellness and beauty and the dialogue, really, you know, we talk about with periods like, no one’s really starting to talk about it and shows like yours are a gift to everybody because you’re really sort of opening up this for people. But nobody is making that connection and talking about it. And so it really was a combination my personal experience of having alleviated that hormone imbalance, which completely changed my quality of life. When you’re having six migraines a week to like maybe two a month, and that was those were the hormonal and around the hormone hormonal period time. And so I just felt like this is a way that I can create products that truly address from a root cause level and provide natural, effective solutions. Having been created for women for decades, and so all these women who are suffering in silence or just in the survival mode like I was, can now take our products and actually get back to looking and feeling their best and feeling like their most truest, authentic forms of themselves. So I like to say, you know, we get you firing on all cylinders because we make those tweaks. You do it at the root cause, and it’s amazing what happens to how you feel and your skin and the bloating and everything else. So Hello Me about looking in the mirror, being proud of who you are. You’re back to the best version of yourself and you’re ready to conquer the world and do what you’re meant to do.
Le’Nise I love that. And tell us more about the products within that you offer.
Julie So at the moment, we have three products that women can purchase, and we’re launching a fourth one in the spring, which I’m excited about. So we’ve got Top up tonic, which is a once a day capsule, it’s vegan, and it’s got 18 nutrients, probiotics and antioxidants that your body needs for hormonal balance. So what we find is women who are on birth control. Women are suffering from PMS, PMDD or you’ve got hormonal acne that’s happening or just really fatigued a lot. This product is a godsend for women like me in terms of you look, take it for six weeks, up to eight weeks and your body has bio-accumulated these nutrients you’ve been needing and you start to really feel and see a transformation. And so that’s for women, really. I’d say 16, you could take about 18 to thirty five is really the sweet spot for that product. I also had a lot of women in their 40s, 50s, 60s later in life because it supports adrenals, they take it for energy. And so tonic really is going at once a day solution that balances out your hormones through all the key nutrients you need and adjust your gut biome that has probiotics in it. That really helps reduce things like bloating, right? And see how this impacts immunity, too. So Top up tonic is one.
And then we also have a product called Hydrophoria. So Hydrophoria is my favourite daily product because it’s a ritual for me. It’s a sachet. It’s collagen, probiotics one. So we have 10 billion colony forming probiotics seven strains. So it’s multi strain five grams of therapeutic clean, bovine collagen. So we get different types of collagen. And then it’s got ingredients like snow mushroom, which is a natural form of hydrolonic acid. So this product is all about gut healh, which is a core pillar of hormonal balance and then nice benefit is skin as well. So women who take this product, we take it in the morning. It tastes like berry flavoured water. It’s super clean and it’s just hydrating from the inside out and it balances out the gut. So you get rid of bloating, you get rid of digestive issues, and it balances the hormones and hormones that way.
And then the last product is Inner Charge, which is all your oil based therapeutic nutrients and antioxidants that need to be in an oil base that help you with hormone balance and mood. So your omega-3 is it’s got GLA from borage oil, potent antioxidants like Astaxanthin, Zeaxanthin, Lutein. So you take those capsules with the AM and PM sachets, and those really help reduce inflammation, which helps balance the hormones and then add all the healthy oils helps with mood.
Le’Nise Fantastic. So we’ve got three really interesting products. If listeners want to find out more and purchase these products, where can they do that?
Julie [Just go to the website, www.hello.me, and you can see the products there and we have a hormone coach hormone hotline. So if you’re curious and you have questions about your own health or you know what’s best for whatever you’re dealing with, you can text us or email us on the website. And I’d also say happy to give all your listeners 20 percent off with their PERIODSTORY20 for the next month, if they want to purchase some products they’ll get 20 percent off their order.
Le’Nise Fantastic. So you said a lot of really interesting and valuable things across the course of our conversation. What’s the one thing that you want listeners to take away today?
Julie The important thing, hormonal balance and how you feel every day, and if you’re suffering from mood swings, depression, anxiety, irritability, constant bloating, hormonal acne or lots of fatigue. This is very likely a symptom of hormonal imbalance, right? And we can help you. It’s really usually a nutrient depletion that your body needs. You just need some tweaking and you can get back. So I don’t want people to feel discouraged and women who are going through PMS. Those women don’t need to suffer anymore. You know, take a product like Top up tonic for two months. You’re going to have a massive shift. And so, you know, just to really bring that to the forefront in terms of thinking, like, are these symptoms a symptom of hormone imbalance? And if so, yes, we can help you.
Le’Nise Fantastic. Thank you so much for your time today, Julie. It was really fascinating to talk to you and hear more about your story.
Julie Well, thanks for having me. I love meeting you and having this conversation. So have a wonderful day.
