We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Caitlin McGuire-Flatt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Caitlin below.

Caitlin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero is my Mom. My Mom is the first person who introduced me to the idea that periods are not shameful, scary, or embarrassing. She is the one who taught me to love my body and showed me that bleeding is a sign of strength, not weakness.

When I was 11 years old and got my period, she was the one to throw me a Period Party to celebrate this exciting life moment. When I was 12 and tried using my first tampon, she was the one who stood outside the bathroom door and instructed me on how to put it in. When I was 13 and my body was rapidly changing, she was the one who instilled confidence in me that these changes were normal and that I should love my body just the same. And when I was 22, she was the one who inspired me to take a leap to start investing in this crazy company idea I had to bring Period Parties to more people.

My Mom’s ability to normalize and celebrate periods, changing bodies, and all that comes with being a woman / menstruator is the reason I have confidence in myself today. She is the reason I started Bloody Awesome and the reason I now get to bring Period Parties and promote period positivity to young girls across the United States.

Caitlin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started Bloody Awesome to celebrate periods and empower young girls / menstruators. My story towards building this business goes all the way back to when I got my first period.

My first period arrived when I was 11 years old. I was at my sister’s soccer tournament and the epicenter of my awkward years, but unlike many girls, I was thrilled to start this monthly flow. My Mom had come up with the concept of throwing a Period Party for my sister, and now it was my turn. My Period Party was the ultimate celebration. We made homemade t-shirts, went out to eat, played period-themed games, and ate exclusively red candy until we were sick. The night allowed me a chance to ask questions and gave all of us at the party an opportunity to be unapologetically ourselves. Getting my period was a time of pure celebration and joy.

Unfortunately, not many people can say the same. At puberty, the game changes for girls. Changing bodies lead to eating disorders. Newfound womanhood leads to harmful gender norms. The media teaches that other girls are competitors, not allies. And society turns the biological miracle of menstruation into a place of shame. That is why I started Bloody Awesome, a company working hard to bring Period Parties – like I had – to more young girls / menstruators, helping to both normalize periods and celebrate them.

Through our flagship product, The Bloody Awesome Box, we provide parents with the resources they need to throw a Period Party for their newest menstruator. At their core, these parties celebrate menstruation, restore confidence, and help spark (and facilitate) questions. And while the thought of uterus cakes and piñatas filled with pads and tampons may sound daunting, Period Parties are a fun, carefree way to introduce young girls / menstruators to this new phase of life. There is so much stigma and shame around periods that this can be a terrifying and uncertain time; Period Parties provide a space to remove the fear and replace it with celebration.

I am eternally grateful to my Mom for throwing me one, and I genuinely believe that my Period Party is why I am confident in my body, myself, and my cycle. And that is why I want to bring the Period Party to more people. Because getting your period is pretty Bloody Awesome.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have slowly built up my Instagram followers and engagement through consistency and intentionality. When I first started my Instagram, it was a sea of sporadic posts with little to no consistency in what I was putting out there. Over the last year, I have tried to focus my content by creating a content calendar to ensure I have an even mix of posts, reels, and stories. I have also been more intentional about engaging with my followers’ content and creating content that people actually care about.

One piece of advice I received that’s been really helpful is to Google a question related to your business and then look at Google’s “People Also Ask” section. This section will provide a ton of other topics that you can then build additional content around, allowing you to stick to a similar theme while still providing value to your followers.

Since shifting to a more intentional, consistent posting schedule, I have seen my followers and engagement significantly grow.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

When I first started Bloody Awesome I was exclusively selling on my personal website. While this allowed me to have higher margins, it was difficult to drive clients as I slowly built up my SEO and heavily relied on higher cost social media adds to drive traffic. About a year into running my business, I decided to start an Etsy shop since that is a common place people turn to when planning a party. Etsy also offers it’s own ads service, which has lower cost ads than Facebook / Instagram and allowed me to be more targeted in my approach. Since joining Etsy, my sales have increased and it has definitely been well worth the slightly lower margins. I was also able to save money in changing my website plan from premium to basic and not having to pay additional fees to run my site. All in all, Etsy is definitely a niche site and only works for certain products, but if it makes sense for yours, I would highly recommend checking it out.

Contact Info:

• Website: iambloodyawesome.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/bloodyawesome.co
• Facebook: facebook.com/bloodyawesome.co

Image Credits
Maddie Dockry Photography