Pioneering as the Period Coach w/ Stasha Washburn – She Leads She Thrives Podcast Episode 005

Shannon  01:57

A huge welcome to you. I am so ready for this episode because this is our very first guest here on She Leads She Thrives podcast, my gorgeous friend Stasha Washburn, I have known Stashs I don’t know Stash for a while now a few years. And it doesn’t really matter how long it’s felt like a lifetime in the best possible way. Okay. 

Stasha  01:59

I’m so excited to be here and I can’t even tell you how stoked I am to be the first interview. I like the inaugural it’s I’m just I’m very thankful. And I’m very excited to be here.

Shannon  02:19

Stasha and I met online. Stash’s in the US she will let you know a bit later on whereabouts she’s based. And like a lot of the guests that I have on the show I have met these incredible women in the online space. So gratitude for technology. But also, we got to expand and deepen our beautiful friendship when Stasha came all the way out here to Australia came to the West Coast even, which a lot of people that come from the US don’t make it all that extra way. And we spent some time together here, we were then connected at a conference in Adelaide, so in South Australia, the middle of the country. And then Stasha was in Bali when I was going up there for a retreat, so we got to hang out there. 

Shannon  03:00

And that was all in 2019 and then early 2020 we were both keynote speakers for the inaugural Ultimate Girls Week away, which was a whole week long retreat immersion for women in Fiji just before the world change and oh my goodness, how grateful like to have had that time together and we were roomies as well. So we’ve had lots of fun times lots of laughs lots of really deeply meaningful conversations as well. about all the things that we love so much. I’m gonna read your bio in a moment, but coming to say hi quickly. 

Shannon  03:52

I know, it’s kind of weird always like, well, who are you going to ask first? Like, who is you going to have as you kind of you’re leading set the tone kind of guest on the show when you go from solo episodes to guests. And, you know, there’s so many reasons I’m not going to go into them now for everyone listening but so many reasons why you were top of my list. So I knew you’d say yes with enthusiasm. There’s no doubt in my mind, right? Because we know that we could talk forever about their shared work that we love and the different things that we do. 

Shannon  04:22

So let me tell everyone about you kind of from the official business this is Stasha’s bio. So Stasha is the period coach. Not A period, THE period coach, the bloody kind, she says not the grammar kind and that will make sense to those of you that are listening in the US because I think everywhere else in the world period actually means menstrual cycle. Whereas for you guys, that means as you said it’s a grammar. It’s a full stop, but we don’t refer to our full stops as periods.

Shannon  04:47

 So she is the founder of Period Coaching School certifying coaches to incorporate menstrual cycles into their work. She’s author of The Revolution Will Be Bloody. I have a copy of that book here for anyone who is watching the video version of this and It also what have we also we got here, the creator of the first period tracking mandala and period oracle deck, which is a new offering that I know that you’ve just shared into the world. 

She’s a dancer, a cook, a sword fighter, 100%. One of my favorite photos of you is the one where you you’re at the ocean with the sword and all that energy, Tai Chi practicing, speaking, skateboarding, INTJ, generator, we haven’t got your Thrive Factor Archetypes in there, but we’re gonna get to those. Basically we’re going to go down as nearly impossible. Oh my goodness, yes. And we can see that in your Thrive Factor Archetypes. 

Shannon  05:36

She’ll go anywhere, as long as there’s a tea kettle, and Wi Fi. For sure. So, certified holistic health coach 20 plus years of research has fueled her passion to reconnect women to the power of their period. Stasha is leading the bloody revolution to the end to end the taboo of menstruation worldwide. No longer whispers in bathroom, she’s leading powerful public discussions. Welcome, my beautiful friend, how cool is it to be chatting again.

Stasha  06:06

I’m so excited. And here we are having another powerful public discussion.

Shannon  06:09

So much so much. I, you know, when I invited the guest to come to the show, because I have to say to everyone, as I did to you, you know, kind of give me some points. If there’s particular things you want to talk about. And I loved you’re like, Well, you know, we don’t kind of really need to pre plan this, because we’ve got so much we can talk about, which is exactly one of the reasons that we can add to the list of why you’re, you’re here first for sure. 

Shannon  06:32

But you know, leadership is something that has been a big key part of your life and self leadership. And it’s been from my kind of external observation and also the time I’ve spent with you, you leading your life has been in many regards a survival mechanism, right? So tell everyone a little bit about your background and kind of how you ended up morphing into and then creating this whole dynamic and this revolution around period coaching, because it’s, I love it as a story. And it’s I think a lot of women will resonate.

Stasha  07:04

Yeah. So I have endometriosis, which is a disabling chronic fatigue and chronic pain based illness. So not everybody has the exact same set of symptoms, but I’m like a textbook classic case, I’ve got the fatigue, I’ve got the intense intense pain in it was just a massive it was really right out of the gate, so when I was a teenager, and I had my first periods, they were brutal. And I mean, okay, in high school, at the doctor’s office being told, well, you’re too young for endometriosis, but we don’t know what else could possibly be. 

Stasha  07:48

So let’s put you on birth control. That didn’t work. Okay, let’s try this birth control. That didn’t work. Let’s try this experimental birth control. Oh, that didn’t work. Oh, that killed a lot of women, we need to not put you on that anymore. Let’s try this instead. Let’s put you on these painkillers. Let’s put you on the stronger ones. Let’s put you on these narcotics. So, I mean, I’m in high school on experimental birth control and narcotics and it’s still not working. I’m still passing out every month. I’m still in such pain. I’m just writhing on the floor of bathrooms, you know, throwing up from the pain in the bathtub, just trying to get a little bit of peace or serenity. It was terrible. 

Stasha  08:27

And at one point, you realize I have, you know, 40 years of this ahead of me, and there is no way to get around it. You have to go through it every month. And that really set off warning bells in my head. Because at that point, doctors are like, well, you know, painful periods, are just normal for some people and I was like, No, absolutely not. No, you there’s nothing I could possibly say. That is gonna make me believe that this is just normal. Now I’m on the floor for three days begging for death and had I been able to keep anything down, probably would have taken that entire bottle of narcotics.  I guess fortunately, I couldn’t. So it was just like, I can’t I don’t. ..no. 

Stasha  09:15

So that really set me on a path of you know, I tried doctors I tried all of the Western medicine and then I went okay, well, I gotta just figure this out for myself. So that really set me on that like you said kind of leadership path where there was nobody. There was nobody to help, there was no conversation, periods were gross. No one wanted to hear it. So you know, I couldn’t even talk to anybody about it. Because as soon as I said like, Oh, that’s my period people will be like, Oh my God, that’s super gross. TMI, don’t want to know.

Shannon  09:45

He’s just, I mean, I experienced that you I’m a little bit older than you but we’ve lived through a time in the world where that was the reality and you know, and worse for women that went before us. I celebrate the change I am seeing slowly coming, you know, in the younger generations of women are more openly talking about their period. And I think, you know, much of that is because of women like you having to carve their own way through the horrendous kind of symptoms of living with certain things that are related to hormones and our menstrual cycles and all the things that we go through as women. 

Shannon  10:25

So Pioneer Seeker is one of Stasha’s archetypes. Very much the path of leading the way as the innovator and the disruptor. That’s the whole energy of that archetype, which I feel like everything bringing you to a Period Coach School. Yeah, it’s not just that archetype. But she was kind of I feel like from the outside looking in a big driver in you, being able to amass the knowledge, the research, the lived experience, and the learned experience, to bring everything together to go, you know what I’m doing this in my life. I’m coaching my clients through different aspects of what you know how to make the most of their cycles. And I can teach others to do this. Yeah.

Stasha  11:07

Yeah, a big driver was, can I spare other people this pain? can I spare anybody else? Even if they just have mild inconvenient mood swings? can I spare you those? Yes. So when I started this, I was like, if I can just spare other women and menstruators this pain or whatever they’re going through, then I will die happy. You know, it was just like, if I can help others avoid this than, win

Shannon  11:43

For me, when I kind of hear someone turning a story of their life that’s been full of pain and challenging trauma and all the kinds of stuff into something positive and useful, impactful and meaningful. In the world. It’s like, that’s such an inspiration. 

Shannon  12:03

So motivating, you know, and your drive behind that kind of, I feel like you and I’ve got similar things where we’ve got our thing that makes sense to us. Like, for me, it’s the Thrive Factor Archetypes. For you it’s all period coaching. And we’re not here to give up on them at all, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many people kind of look at us strangely, and why are you teaching this and talking about this? We are here to make that thing happen in reality.

Shannon  12:29

So because like, where are we going next with questions? Like, because there’s so many like that I can ask, that’s all I’m not I’m not stumped. I’m never stumped for what to say and what to ask. I’ve got too many things to ask you, I think. But, you know, at what point though did your learning come to you as as kind of an opportunity from a business perspective? Yeah, because you’ve done lots of different things in your life, from a kind of a career perspective, right? So when did we, you know, all the things come together, and you’re like, there could be a business in this. Or this is, uh, you know, I could get paid for sharing, you know, for teaching guiding for supporting others.

Stasha  13:10

You know, it was a little bit of, it was a little bit of intention, a little bit of luck.

Shannon  13:17

However, it happened.

Stasha  13:18

I, you know, I realized at a certain point that I was in my 30s, probably early 30s. And I just sort of went, I was teaching yoga and ballet bar and dance, I was a dance major and dance, worked with Graham Company in New York City, and I just kind of went one day, I can’t do this anymore. 

Stasha  13:38

My body’s beat up. I was dancing since I was three. Every joint is has been mangled at this point. I just can’t keep this level of physical activity. And then of course bartending and waitressing they actually paid the bills. So I just kind of went, Oh my God, all of my jobs are very physically demanding. And I can’t keep doing this.  It’s getting harder and harder and harder every month, and I’m getting more and more wore down. 

Stasha  14:06

So I am, I was living in New York City and I’d heard of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I moved out to the West Coast, kind of hit this realization of like, I gotta do something else. Like I can’t have such I can’t do this anymore. It’s not sustainable. Like I’m not I can’t just this not going to work. But can  I can’t even imagine my 40s with endometriosis trying to like bartend. 

Stasha  14:27

So I went to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to be a health coach. And originally the plan was to work with athletes. That’s what I’ve been doing since I was three. So I thought I’ll help athletes, I’ll be able to block off my calendar when I have bed endo days. I can work from bed on my mid days and then the rest of the time I can go hustle, get clients and that kind of thing. So I just really thought this would be a way to take care of myself and make money and it just happened to all of my athletes were women. Most of them came through the yoga studios or the ballet bar Studio. Yes, they were all women. And they all had period problems.

Stasha  15:03

And all that research that I had done for myself, that didn’t really work, because it turns out endometriosis is not just a hormonal imbalance, the whole huge thing. So all that research I had done for myself that didn’t superduper work worked quick, easy, like a dream for them. And I was like, well, that fits. If I can do this for these women, then let me just focus on helping women with period problems, whatever it is, because I can do that for everyone else. It just turned out that endometriosis is more like an autoimmune disorder exacerbated by hormonal imbalances. 

Stasha  15:40

So like the work that I was doing, and made it better and more tolerable, and I wasn’t throwing up every month, it wasn’t passing out anymore. I wasn’t like writhing on the floor in pain. But it was still not awesome. So one of the things that I discovered was that when I started working on those women, and their period problems, again, luck, they all happen to own businesses.

Stasha  16:04

And I was trying to figure out how to run my business with endometriosis. So like, I started reading things like, okay, so verbal skills are tied to oestrogen and visual skills are tied to progesterone, and I was like, okay, so how can I do this in my business? And then then I was like, Hey, do you want to do this in yours? And you are. And they were like, yes. 

Stasha  16:26

And that was it, we started, basically, I kept saying, we’re going to balance your business and your hormones together. And that was where I started really into, like the period coaching, you know, and business. And then I really got passionate about helping women make money. And then it was like, Oh, my God, that’s all like ties together in a beautiful break. Like we’re helping heal hormones, we’re helping women make more money, we’re getting all these world changing businesses to thrive, like this is good. The little bit of luck, a little bit of a tangent.  

Shannon  16:58

But you know what, I think when that’s the reality, there’s kind of another level of magic that comes with it. You know, when when we see people and you and I’ve been in the world, in business world, particularly with a lot of women, that, you know, they’re all about the it’s only about the strategy and all the intention or all that, you know, it’s kind of very driven. I feel like there the opportunity to pause and actually really enjoy the experience doesn’t happen as much when you’re all drive drive drive, right? The hustle thing , the push the, you know, that very masculine driven energy when it’s not acknowledged with the fact that that’s not the only part of us? Yeah, there’s so much more to that for sure, so much more. 

Shannon  17:42

So I’m trying to remember, I did one of your courses with you. Some years ago, now might have been Your Business, Your Flow, I think, yeah, probably. And I shared this piece of information with lots of people in other kind of interviews or chats that Stasha and I have had. I remember sitting in there at the time, as I was probably in my I reckon heading to at least my mid 40s. Heading towards perimenopause, I knew that things were shifting from a hormonal perspective, and just sitting there going, why didn’t I know this earlier? Like, why didn’t I know this? And it wasn’t even about the business thing. It was just about life. Right? Why did I not understand this? 

Shannon  18:22

And that’s, I know that that definitely fueled something in me, aside from our, like, kind of natural, beautiful connection that we had, to go I need to tell more people about my friend Stasha and her work here, sharing that and you know, listening to even your like your recommendations for you know, what books to get for, like younger, you know, new mentstruators, when my my nieces were kind of at that point at that time, then look at me in horror when I handed them a book about periods. But then, you know, eventually there’s been some gratitude for Thank you, you know, for things like that being the Auntie that has the open conversations with them much to their horror early on, now that’s different as they’re getting older. You know, encouraging them to have conversations with their friends encourage it. 

Shannon  19:04

And as I said, I can see shifts happening. You I see younger women use the word period or menstruation out in the world more than they ever have. I saw something on saying this to someone not long ago on like one of the reality TV shows that was on during the last couple of weeks. And there was a young woman. I think she’s probably in her early 30s When she said I’m on my period this week. I was like, that was aired to like, you know, national television here I was like, yes, I knew you’d love that. Yeah, and things like that. It’s, you know, it’s not this taboo hidden, kind of we can’t talk about this anymore. Thank goodness.

Shannon  19:41

And I think the narrative is changing too, that there is no one way of you know, a cycle happening. There are so many thousands of variations for a woman in her own lifetime that alone women to women, or menstruator to menstruator, so diverse. So, yeah, so what kind of things? Have you loved doing the most to change the conversation out there in the world? Because you’ve done a lot of things is that like, you know, we’ve got the rebel energy and you the disrupter energy, you know?

Stasha  20:21

Oh, I have to say that one of the early on moments that I realized I was actually making a difference was a sitting at a bar, where I sat every Sunday where I watch my American football. And if a girl would sit next to me, we would have a conversation. And since I was usually a single girl at the bar, they would and so we end up having a conversation. It’s something that asked what I do, and I tell them and they go, Oh, my God, I have a million questions for you. 

Stasha  20:55

And at one point, so I sat there with like, these older gentlemen. They were the guys I watched football with every Sunday, and they were well and truly 60s 70s. Like older dudes, still also 30, 40, 50 years, right. But at one point, I looked over, and Mayor Tom , he was the youngest mayor, but at this point, he was probably in his 60s was sitting next to me. And a girl asked a question, and he answered it.

Stasha  21:24

But it was like, Tom, have you paying attention? And he was like, I have what can i this has just been fascinating for me. And I, that’s when I went, Okay, this is, this is cool, like this, we can, we can actually make some real change. And we can do it as easily as sitting at the bar having, you know, a soda water because it was early in the morning. Watching some sports and having casual conversations, and that was an that was one of my favorite moments. Early on, that really, like helped me go, okay, we can do this, we can definitely do this.

Shannon  21:24

Yeah, so good. So good. So I think I’m pretty sure it was earlier this year, you made an investment to support a new film. So tell us about that. Because again, sitting on the outside here, and the other side of the world, I loved watching you kind of you know, go through that and sharing what you were doing and why and then seeing you at the, you know, the premiere and you know, all that kind of stuff, I felt so proud. But tell us kind of what that film was about and why you decided that you know, you wanted to take the period coaching school and actually make it you know, I’m going to invest and back this.

22:42

Yeah. So the film is called The Business of Birth Control. It’s produced by Ricki Lake of Ricki Lake fame. Abby Epstein, and then my friend Holly Grigg-Spall, who wrote the book, that was the basis for that documentary. So she wrote a book called Sweetening the Pill, I highly recommend it. 

Stasha  23:04

She in that book talks about the history, the very racist history of birth control. And then you know, what it really does to the body all of the side effects that people don’t talk about, what’s really like the harm and damage that it’s done that most doctors don’t even know about, even. And, you know, she does workshops on basically how to get yourself off of birth control. And, then, of course, she also talked about the birth control syndrome. So after you go off of birth control some people continue to have really bad problems for years. So she really kind of sounded the alarm that like, yes, this is an amazing tool from the feminist movement, and it gave women power that they had never had before. But without the education of it’s really what it’s really doing to your body, the the health effects, the long term health effects, and the fact that there’s just no research done. So there was like, here’s the pill, good enough, if some of you die, no big deal, move on.

Stasha  24:10

So she really wanted to make a point that like, you know, we can have safe birth control, we can have control over our bodies and our reproductive systems, but we can do it without having to make a detrimental health decision at the same time or not even know that we’re making a detrimental health decision. So I think it’s a conversation, it’s nuanced, it’s tough, because it is, you know, a life saving medication for so many. Um, so it’s tough to have that conversation because it’s so nuanced. And I thought that they did an excellent job in The Business of Birth Control to really talk through all of that nuance, and, and they did it well. And they didn’t make it you know, this is bad or this is good. They really, I thought they did an excellent job. 

Stasha  24:57

So when Holly reached out she actually was reaching out and asking if we knew anybody who would want to sponsor it. Like she just kind of reached out we have a, we have a text group called the Mensority. It’s all a bunch of us that work in the menstrual industry together. And we used to have dinner in Los Angeles, pre, you know, panini all together, like once a month, and it was just fun. And so anyway, she texted the thought I was like, who wants to, you know, do you guys know anybody who would be interested in being a sponsor? And I was like, I think I would be interested in sponsoring. 

Stasha  25:31

So that started our conversation, I found out how much it would be, I found out what they were doing. And then I was like, you know what, screw it. Let’s just do it. Sometimes you got to make a leap. And I just decided I believed in this film so much, it was so important. And I did. And then, you know, as people were leaving the movie afterwards, they were coming up to me, and I assume the other sponsors, going thank you so much for making this happen. That blew my mind. I had no idea. This is such an important film that should be required watching in every high school, like, it was just such, just being there after the film showed and getting all those reactions was like, that was it that was super worth it. So and they do free screenings. So if you’re interested in watching it get on their mailing list, because they do free online screenings from time to time.

Shannon  26:20

Brilliant, brilliant. So anyone who’s listening that piques your interest, go and do that, for sure. That leads me to your one of the other topics I think is so important for us to talk about is that and you know, an extension of leadership is leading in a space where no one else or very few people are doing what you’re doing. . 

Shannon  26:42

How do you maintain the momentum, the energy, the inspiration, when there it’s kind of like I’m talking about the thing no one wants to talk about, like, I know, things are different now, but in the early days, when you first started doing this, you were really the epitome of that Pioneer Seeker disrupter. Yeah, more so than you are now. You know, and I have no doubt your Visionary Creator was behind your video kind of jumping on board with I can see the possibility here. And archetype you and I share that we both love so much. I’m still one of the rarest archetypes that I see come up in profiles, and your Heroine Adventurer with you know, there, see that archetype has got that fierce drive and determination. Nothing’s getting in her way. She’s also a champion for women and girls. So just those three archetypes alone let alone you have others, your driving you but what how do you maintain that momentum and inspiration energy? When you feel like you’re the only person talking about something?

Stasha  27:40

I think that there’s a bit of that Heroine Adventurer that wants to win. Yeah, that the competitive challenge? Yeah, I really do. Because I feel like, I feel like when I really get down on it, and it’s like, Oh, my God, I feel like I’m shouting into the void. No one’s listening. No one hears this. I kind of take a moment and go well, but I can’t let anyone else beat me to it. So keep going, because you got to figure this out before anyone else does. A little bit of that. 

Stasha  28:22

But there’s also a little bit of the clients that I’ve had. And I think that’s probably the Mentor Teacher part. Um, where I have clients who, you know, will send me an email that says, you know, like, you’ve literally saved my life, I was suicidal before we started working together. Because of you and the work that we’ve done, I actually am off of all of my depression medications. And you know, I’m no longer suicidal and I’m leaving the house for the first time. I got a picture from one of my clients who was in Japan for the Cherry Blossom Festival. And this was somebody who couldn’t even leave the house or even her room. And she was just sent me a picture a year after we stopped working together. And she sent me a picture of her and her husband and just said, I want you to know that it’s the work that we did together that has gotten me to the bucket list thing I’ve always wanted to do my whole life, but couldn’t do it because of my PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder). 

Yeah, and so every now and then when I really feel stuck, there is a little bit of that, like, I want to get out there first and then there’s a little bit of you’ve saved lives, you’ve saved marriages and you’ve saved businesses…keep going.

Shannon  29:40

And it’s so in those times where it does feel overwhelming or too much or you know, at certain times of our cycle, you know, they’re just by the nature’s of where your nature of where hormones are. We can feel like giving up on everything and why are we bothering that kind of thing. So there’s other aspects as well influencing us all the time. 

Shannon  30:00

But in those moments when we can remember that we’ve impacted someone, let alone lots of someone’s, that I know that, for me is a motivation. For sure. It’s, you know what, there’s something in this, this is worthwhile. Keep going. Because I know, you know, when I first started talking about the Thrive Factor Archetypes, which were called something different back then they were still archetypes, they had a different name. 

You know, in 2009, 2010, when I first started defining them, people look at me, like, you know, and say you use the word “archetype”. And I would get a blank face, or an eye roll of confusion. It was a word very familiar to me. And I realized that wasn’t a common kind of used word in the world, more so these days. It’s like, it’s, you know, it’s a piece of psychology really, like, it’s not that complex. But it was a kind of a big word that people hadn’t heard of, I was like, I need to keep going through this, I need to keep believing in what I can see as possible, which is a, you know, the gift of our Visionary Creator archetype is being able to hold that vision of a future of that visionary aspect, and then use the Creator to bring that to life, even though it’s so futuristic, that it can be way out of the realm of the general population, or our desired kind of ideal population for some years, right?

Stasha  31:18

Oh, absolutely. 100%. I know that The Period Coaching school is going to be the Institute of Integrative Nutrition for period coaching. Or you know, whatever, like, it’s going to be a flagship school for getting certification in menstrual cycle coaching. And I can see that even though we’re, you know just starting our third year, though, we’re not there yet. But I can see it so clearly. And I know exactly how it’s going to build into it. And I even sat down with the lawyer when I was putting it together and said, I want to build this to succeed, post my death. So how do we put this together so that the school continues on after I retire, or die, or whatever happens, but you know, so we have, like, all the board positions to take over as I start to downgrade my level of involvement in like the back end stuff. So I mean, I sat down with that vision of what it’s going to be hopefully, a solid couple of decades down the road. 

Shannon  32:28

That’s such an expression of the Visionary Creator for sure. But also leadership, of being able to go you know what, I believe in this so much right now, in this moment, even though it doesn’t exist yet. I believe in its potential in the future where it can go. And it makes me think about, like, one of the things I love to look at as a, you know, what we can create, through being self led, and through really honoring our leadership is legacy. Yeah, talk about making an impact in the world. 

But I know for me, when I think about legacy, it’s like, but what am I going to leave beyond my physical being, you know, what is going to be and I have a vision, you know, that people are gonna, like, we might talk about, you know, what Myers Briggs do like you even in your bio. And Human Design is such a big popular kind of thing at the moment as well, you know, and we can talk to each other, like your What are you with your, whatever the thing we talk about, for archetypes, I know that there are going to be women in different languages as well, not just English as it is taught at the moment, that are going to connect with each other and talk about who they are, and celebrate each other because of the archetypes that they have as an expression of themselves.  

I love that, you know, in your community, you ask women to or the menstruators to share where are you at in your cycle. So you can kind of also create that community and that dynamic of supporting people, wherever they’re at in their actual cycle and what they’re going through, you know, and you’re supporting those of us who are not in the space of menstruating still to come to understand how to use the other cycles that are available to us in nature and the world, you know, to still support us at the most but you know, that being able to have that tenacity to go, there’s something bigger than me something bigger than what I can see. And oh, my goodness, yes, I created this, or I’m making this or I’m doing this. So it’s kind of a bit of a weird kind of dynamic to let you know, I think one of the many reasons that we have such a great friendship and connection is that we truly understand that and it’s very unique to create something original and have it out there in the world. 

Stasha  34:34

Its surreal to be living in it, you know, to know what it’s going to be but to be like stuck in the moment.

Shannon  34:42

Totally 100%

Stasha  34:43

The very surreal feeling. Yeah. 

Shannon  34:46

I think you know, you as you said, you’re in your third year kind of period coaching, similar kind of timeline to you with Thrive factor School, and we only have such a small number of coaches right now. And there’s definitely there’s been times of frustration with that. because it’s like I can see where it’s going and then I go okay just chill,  be patient and you know be in that space of trust, hold the vision because the time and how many kinds of people are doing this isn’t what’s important the fact that you’re going to get there at some point in the future that’s where the focus is. 

So you know you have I think you’ve got such a great community that’s growing I know some of your period coaches Laura Dick is going to be on the podcast as well as a guest very soon some of your other coaches that are in this part of the world some of your coaches overseas like the women that I have kind of come to know in business so you know where do you kind of see that community now compared to where your vision is and the legacy you want to leave?

Stasha  35:47

Yeah, I when you were saying you know, this will be common language at some point I at the very beginning of doing this work even before I kind of realized what it would turn into I said all I want is for you know, two people to be walking down the street and say one person is in that deep luteal phase the four-ish days before you get your period you know, so if you have PMS that’s when it’s gonna rear its ugly head. And you know, she’s a she bumps into somebody else. And that person goes oh, man, and nice lady says, Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I’m in deep luteal absolutely just foggy. I’m so sorry. And the person she bumped into goes, Oh, boy. I just had the best chocolate last month during my deep luteal. I have a bar in my purse here take this. There is no need to explain what deep luteal is there’s no need to explain how you’re feeling. It’s just an easy conversation that you can have with a perfect stranger. And that’s what I want to see someday that it’s just common vernacular with and men too men, anybody but it’s just common vernacular where you can kind of go, Sorry, I’m a little deep luteal today. Give me just a second to like, put myself together and I you know, or whatever it is, but are like, I am freaking ovulating. Like, let’s rock this out. Like you get it done.

Shannon  37:15

I’m gonna get in your way. Because I’m not gonna stop like, yeah. And people like, what just happened to her? She just got a surge.

Stasha  37:20

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And I would just love to see that those phases and what they mean, you know, and of course, people have different things I see probably about 10% of my clients, students over the year who have kind of an ovulation dip. Or they actually just feel kind of worn and mellow during ovulation. So it happens. It’s not super common, but it’s also not super uncommon. So you know, everyone has kind of their moment. But if we had the idea of what each phase was, and what it feels like, and how you interact in the world with it, we all just had that common vernacular. And we’d be able to make so much more progress, so much quicker, and so much more empathy and understanding it would just be I think, enormous to healing a lot of the crap and division in the world today too.

Shannon  38:16

We don’t exist as human beings in the world without a woman having menstruated. Right. It’s kind of a thing that needs to be talked about more, which is yes, for people, like Stasha doing that very thing. I love it. We’ve got so much we can talk about. And I know like we’ll probably get you back again, at some point in time. But what I am also, before we kind of officially wrap up, I am asking all of the guests a series of questions just to get your kind of take on thing and tie us back into the energy of She Leads She Thrives because this is a podcast that I have created to have a global conversation about rich and meaningful topics with other business women around you know, what does it mean to lead? And what are what is thriving really look like? So the first question I’d love to hear your answer to is what role does leadership play in your life and business?

Stasha  39:07

It’s huge. It’s, I mean, it’s really, there’s not much that I can do that’s on topic of menstrual cycles, that’s not leading a conversation. So it’s a big one. And even in the school, we talk about what it feels like to be somebody out in that forefront. And I do spend a lot of time actually and I even tell the students regularly, you know, Shannon has this Thrive Factor and the fact that you’re here means you’re either a Mentor Teacher, or Pioneer Seeker or both. Yeah, because you wouldn’t be here without that. 

Shannon  39:48

Particularly this early phase of the school. Yeah, over time that way that will shift because the Pioneer energy will change as it becomes more, you know, in the world who lets just say, I’m not gonna say commonplace, but more in the world. Yeah. So how do you know when you’re thriving?

Stasha  40:06

It’s a feeling. It’s easy. It flows, it feel good. It’s today, sitting down and creating a whole webinar funnel from top to bottom on bringing in clients. So typically not terribly, like, unique, but coming at it through that lens of menstrual cycles. And it just was like, oh, yeah, there’s 20 ways right off the top of my head that we can do this. Yeah, easy. Let’s just do it. And that’s when I’m like, oh, yeah, this is gonna be good. this is going to be really, this is gonna rock. And that’s when it’s just like, Yeah, it feels good. It’s flowing. It’s easy. And part of that is working with my cycle and knowing what I’m good at. So I’m not sitting down to do this in a phase that would be hard. But having that structure to thrive by being in flow by knowing what I’m good at, when I’m good at it sitting down and do it. And then when I sit down to do it, it just pours out. And it’s like, yeah, it all came together,

Shannon  41:18

You’re in your effortless success. So in which we you know, I’ve talked about that a few times. Now on the podcast, I will do probably a whole solo episode on that. But you know, from a very quick thing for anyone who’s listening, the way that we teach to activate your effortless success zone and amplify your thriving from a Thrive Factor Archetype perspective, is to intentionally and consciously and curiously, use the strengths that you have of your archetypes. 

Shannon  41:44

Yes, as you said, you knowing you’ve got the Pioneer Seeker is going to bring a different lens to things the Mentor Teacher has the knowledge and wisdom and expertise, you’re just those two on their own, forget all the other archetypes that you can tap into. And just then then doing it in line with your cycle. We really must, Stasha and I’ve talked about doing a collaborative program together and it keeps, you know, the world gets in the way, we really must do that and bring the gift of the cycle and the archetypes together. What is happening for each of the 12 Thrive Factor Archetypes at the different phases of her cycle. Right?

Stasha  42:18

Huge!

Shannon  42:19

Reach out to us, tell us you want it might give us a different motivation. We got too many other things we’re trying to do at the same time I think. 

Stasha  42:25

There’s always so much going on, but it’s so good. And I know which phase of my cycle which archetype is leading. I know the Heroine Adventurer is 100% leading when I hit my real stride and follicular and ovulation absolutely 100%. And I know when I get into luteal and the energy starting to lower a little bit, I’m really into that Mentor Teacher space like I just want to really work with my people. And then as I move into that deeper luteal, I feel like that Shapeshifter Alchemist, yes, really bubbles up to the forefront. And that Creator actually kind of sticks with me all the time. Because there’s no matter what phase I’m in, I can see some aspect of what it’s going to be you know, so I would say that was constant.

Shannon  43:06

The creative energy and essence an expression of the Visionary Creator evolves over the course of our week or month or days or whatever that looks like so our cycle. So I ended up get what you say when you say the kind of she’s always there, because her ability to see, her connection to vision, her ability to see into the future and bring it into the present. And then the creative piece of that will evolve over the course of your month as well. Yeah, so interesting. 

Shannon  43:46

So we’ll have I do have a final question to ask you after this next important one. So there’s going to be a wrap up piece but right now, how do people find you like how do people connect with you?

Stasha  43:58

So you can head to theperiodcoach.com if you’re interested in like just learning the cycle basics. If you are a coach with a cycle or you are a coach without a cycle but you are coaching people who have a cycle, then I would highly encourage you to go check out periodcoachingschool.com and think about up leveling so that you’re serving your clients and their hormones properly. Because no matter what kind of coach you are, you can be screwing up your clients hormones. 

It’s something I saw a lot of and it’s actually one of the inspirations for creating the school was seeing like health coaches screwing up their clients reproductive hormones because they don’t really learn much about that and health coaching school. Business coaching, you know, giving clients this homework and then they come back feeling like a failure because it was just an assignment in the wrong phase. Yeah, right relationship coaches being like, oh, have this conversation and I was like, Are you deep luteal, that is a terrible time to go have this conversation. You can’t do that. Yeah, so I would like kept course correcting and I was like, you know what, that’s it. We just need to do this like let’s put the school together you know, and so that was one of the big inspirations for the school.

 But on social media I’m on Instagram at @StashaWashburn as well as Facebook, and on Tik Tok, I’m Stasha.theperiodcoach.

Shannon  45:13

You’re brave to the world, of course you have Pioneer Seeker, brave the world of TikTok, I just can’t even go there yet you never know that might change. We will make sure as we will, for every everyone who’s listening that you know any guests that we have on the show their links, their social media links, their websites, key places where you can find them and connect with their incredible because all of them, the ladies that I know I’m going to have on the show, have got great free resources. They’ve also got incredible programs and learning and coaching and ways to work with them at very different price points as well. 

So all those links will always be in the show notes along with the transcript of the show, which will be always available on the thrivefactorco.com website, which is my core website place to find me. And okay, the little kind of wrap up question for you, my dear friend, what’s kind of one final piece of wisdom that you want to leave everyone with today? So you think about you know, there’s ambitious ingenious souls in the world are listening in, tuning in eIn today, what’s kind of a wrap up piece in this moment that feels right to share?

Stasha  46:18

Okay. If you’re into your wise woman years, menstrual cycles are training wheels, for your cyclical living past that point, so if you are a wise woman listening, and you’ve made it this far, yeah, don’t be afraid to embrace say the moon cycles as that monthly cyclical guide. But no matter what, whether you’re using a moon cycle or using your menstrual cycle, it is a gift of presence every day. And if you can take a moment and just be where you are in your cycle, everything is easier.

Shannon  46:58

Yeah. Love it. Love it, love it, love it. I remember being so kind of relieved in some regards. When you reaffirm for me, it wasn’t new information that moving past the menstruating aspect of my life was about moving into working with the moon cycles, because, of course, I love the moon. I love all that, you know. Thank you. So yes, there is more.

Stasha  47:21

I’m super convinced that pre-industrial revolution and all that stuff that menstrual cycles were we know they were observed. We know that they’re, you know, red tents and moon lodges and all that good stuff. So we know that they were celebrated and enjoyed and part of life and there was no weirdness or taboos around it. And I really am quite convinced that that was what then the wise women started observing the moon cycles, and we typically did bleed with the moon, pre industrial revolution. So it was I always thought that the wise women were the embodiment of how the men and children could also live, not cycling, but in cycle. 

Stasha  48:11

And I really, really, I don’t know, there’s just like a real deep belief that it some that that’s what it was. menstruating people showed everyone else how to live in that smaller cycle, the wise women embodied it and taught the men, children, whatever, non cycling people for whatever reason, that there was still a cycle that needed to be observed and respected and that you do, you know, rock it out on full moon and you do receive and chill on new moon. And that’s that’s just what we should do as humans. So you cannot convince me otherwise.

Shannon  48:49

No, it makes sense to me and you know Visionary Creator to Visionary Creator, the knowing that that particular archetype has about things is amplified compared to any other knowing in any other of the 11 other archetypes. So I get it. Like, you know, I don’t have to convince me when you say I just know this. I’m like, Yeah, I can. I can sense that. Yeah, love it. 

Shannon  49:11

Thank you so much for being here today for having this great opportunity to chat together. For anyone who’s listening in if you have any inkling to follow Stasha, please go and do that here. As I said, I started with following her initially and then you know, we have now a beautiful friendship and we’re talking about more travel together and doing lots of other things and probably doing a course together one day, when we get our selves organized. But there’s so much incredible opportunity when you learn about yourself. And you know, we have different ways where we teach to learn about yourself, but at the same time, we’re still here with the same message that self awareness and honouring self is definitely a pathway to thriving. 

Shannon  49:52

So thank you beautiful soul for being here. Thank you everyone for listening. Please share this episode. If you’ve loved it, go and find the menstruators that you know, the wise women that are no longer menstruating but still can get into the cycles, share it with them. So there’s definitely information they need to be listening to for sure. Thank you again everyone. I look forward to seeing you again very soon.