Nadya Okamoto on the Value of Being Unapologetically You

Nadya Okamoto is the Executive Director of PERIOD (period.org), an organization she founded at the age of sixteen to provide menstrual hygiene products to those in need. PERIOD is now the largest youth-run NGO in women’s health, and one of the fastest growing in the United States. 

In 2017, Nadya ran for office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although she did not win, her campaign made historic waves in mobilizing young people both on the ground and at the polls.

Nadya’s debut book, Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement, made the Kirkus Reviews list for Best Young Adult Nonfiction of 2018. Earlier this year she made InStyle Magazine’s The Badass 50: Meet the Women Who Are Changing the World list along with Michelle Obama and Ariana Grande.

Today Nadya is also the Chief Brand Officer of JUV Consulting, a Generation Z marketing agency based in New York City.

Keep in touch with Nadya on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadyaokamoto/

In this episode Nadya and I discuss:

• Why receiving a lifetime achievement award made her feel inadequate
• How she stays true to herself while in the media spotlight
• How she handled pushback from family, peers and trolls during her city council campaign
• How Nadya found success in a political campaign that she ended up losing
• What Nadya does to avoid spiraling into self-doubt and getting lost in negative thoughts
• How Nadya finds balance through late night workouts and Netflix

Resources mentioned

Follow the national campaign to repeal the Tampon Tax on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/periodmovement/