We were lucky to catch up with Stasha Washburn recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Stasha, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
I have endometriosis, one of the most painful conditions in the world. Unfortunately, when it comes to working, it didn’t work out. Every month I would be in so much pain I’d pass out, or have to run to the bathroom to throw up, neither are things bosses like. I couldn’t hold a job for more than a year because of it. So one day I realized if I want a chance of stability I’d have to work for myself – and I’d have to do it around my cycle. Because the medical system had nothing for me, I had spent 20 years looking into holistic health around the world.
While I was doing all that reading about menstrual cycles and health I was able to help so many of my friend have healthier happier periods. I decided, if I could save other women from the pain I went through, that would be soul satisfying. So I took the leap! I started my own business as The Period Coach.
I learned how to run my business with my cycle, leaning into the strengths of each phase, taking one week off each month for my period so I could focus on the self-care needed to keep the worse of my endo symptoms as bay. Many of my clients had their own business as well so I helped them to sync their biz and cycle. It quickly showed me that syncing our biz and cycles improved both our businesses as well as our cycles.
From there I founded Period Coaching School since I’d supported thousands of business and women at this point. Now I get to teach the teachers, coach the coaches, put everything I’ve learned over the decades in one place along with all the experts I’ve gotten to know. It’s a rich resource that’s always growing so my students can come back and keep learning year’s after they’re graduated. The risk of starting my own business to take care of my disability allowed me to do far more than I’d ever imagined when I first took the leap!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got into period coaching as a way to support my own endometriosis needs. It’s a chronic pain and fatigue illness and many who suffer with it can’t hold down a job. It’s terribly painful, and suicidal ideation is common because it’s so bad. I knew I was going to have to do life differently. I chose coaching because western medicine had failed me, and I realized that it really was failing most women I knew. 90% of us have a hormonal imbalance but the only way a doctor can help is birth control, which doesn’t balance hormones. It most closely resembles menopause, because what really happens is your hormonally shut down. That leads to short and long term health consequences. I saw a really big gap between doctor and patient when it came to women’s health and I had the knowledge to fill that gap. So I did! I worked with so many women it was amazing to see the results over and over again. I’ve saved 3 lives that I know of, as in clients who came to me and said I was going to die, there was no help and then you came along and saved my life. I’ve also saved a lot of marriages LOL!
Now I coach coaches in Period Coaching School. This is my primary focus and deepest love. The students come from all over the world, 16 countries and counting! This training is for anyone who works with women, or cycling people. Many students are starting their own menstrual business, from teaching about cycles to fixing specific problems. There’s endless options. Other students already have a coaching business and are realizing that they need to be menstrually informed to properly serve their clients and are getting this certification to enhance their business. Many are business, health, life, and relationship coaches, who have mostly or entirely female clients.
Period Coaching School is unique and comprehensive. Not only do we teach about the menstrual cycle from puberty through perimenopause and everything that can go wrong along the way, we also teach business and coaching skills. We have guest teachers on a wide range of subjects, all experts in their fields. We’re also internationally certified, so our coaches end up with double certifications upon graduation! We have multiple live calls every month for every time zone, so students can get support directly as well as an online community space. And for the nerds (like myself) we have a lot of forms, templates, spreadsheets, all the things you need to get started already there waiting for you. Many students come because they get everything in one place with real support.
I love one on one clients, mostly business owners with endometriosis or PMDD as they are such extremes it takes extra support to tailor to their needs.
One of my favorite things about my work is that I get to write books! Since I was a little kid I thought ‘I’m going to write lot’s of books someday’. Now I’ve written two full length books. The Revolution Will Be Bloody – a guide to cycles and the revolution and Bloody Brilliant Business – sync your business and cycle for success! I’ve also created a book to track our cycles called Enter the Red Circle, a full year of charting mandalas full of tips, games and other goodies. I’ve even created the first Period Oracle Deck! Yes that’s right! A card deck that lays out the whole cycle that you can use as a guide, communication device (lots of people put the cards on the fridge to let their family know where they are and what they need), or as an oracle deck. I never thought I’d be able to work and write, so this is really a childhood dream come true!
I have lots of small ticket offers as well to help people get started and a whole page full of freebies too! Flow Freedom and Money in Flow are two of my most popular small ticket programs.
I also co-host Period Besties Podcast where my partner Katie and I get to share our expertise with the world. We share tons of tips, interview amazing experts, and even do live coaching for people who need cycle support!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One thing I had to unlearn was the ‘American work ethic’. When I started my business I thought I needed to do what all the startup bros said – hustle, work 24/7, never sleep, grind grind grind. And as an overachiever I was into it! I’m the kid who was in professional dance companies while in school, getting excellent grades. I went to college on an academic scholarship, a talent scholarship which included having to be an assistant for one of the professors and of course I got the crazy one lol, as well as worked part time for the student government for hourly pay… all while getting two degrees in 4 years!
But it turns out buying into hustle culture was the worst thing I did for my business! It made my endometriosis symptoms worse, so I never felt good. I was run down all the time. I was trying to work through the pain like I had in my teens and twenties but I wasn’t able to recover from that. My whole month was lost to inflammation and I was a shell of a human.
I had to learn to run my business WITH my cycle, to nourish so I could flourish. I need to spend that week when the endometriosis inflammation is at its worst, resting, cooking and eating really well, making sure I’m drinking my turmeric teas, taking magnesium baths, all sorts of things that reduce the flare. Meaning, while I’m not out partying, I am able to rest comfortably in bed instead of passing out and puking from the pain sobbing on my bathroom floor. And when I DO take care of myself that week I have three good weeks where I feel good, strong, healthy, and capable. This change meant my business could flourish too. I was able to see clients without having to cancel, I could go to events to promote, I could make good content and over the years I’ve compiled a huge list of freebies on all kinds of topics. Because of this change I’ve spoken internationally on stages around the world, and alongside some big names!
This really hit home for me when my clients, who mostly weren’t in such extreme pain, started trying my business in flow techniques – and their businesses improved! They worked less, but their biz grew. That’s when I knew this wasn’t just a solution for those of us with disability, but an incredible power for every cycling being that’s gone untapped solely because periods are taboo and we know nothing about the cycle as a whole.
Now I teach every student, unless your a cis male, or on hormones to replicate being a cis male, most of the business advice out there isn’t for us. I teach my system in depth in Period Coaching School, and am always adding on new discoveries. I wrote Bloody Brilliant Business to give the rest of us the tools to work in the best way for US.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Period coaching is a taboo field. Despite 90% of women suffering from a hormonal imbalance most of us feel like that’s just ‘being a woman’ or ‘the curse’. Working in this field takes courage. It takes courage to step up and say, I’m here to make a positive impact for women and I’m going to start with the most essential, basic, core place – menstrual cycles. Many women just want to shut them off, take back to back birth control. The patriarchy has done a really good job on making us think we’re disgusting for having a period, that we need to hide our tampons up our sleeves. That the best option is to pretend it doesn’t exist and speak to no one about it. The reality is, it’s powerful! There’s a reason the power structures don’t want us to embrace our cycles. One of the biggest acts of rebellion is learning your cycle. Get to know each phase, and how to feels for you. Track your ovulation. Lean into the strengths of each phase. Take time to rest, and nourish. Learn your fertility, take control of it. These simple acts are some of the biggest ways we can be an activist everyday. So to be a leader in this field, to be a coach teaching and guiding, it takes courage. To declare, I’m a period coach, is scary but vital. To pick an expertise, say to the world I’m a PMDD coach, or I’m a PCOS coach, or I’m a menstrually informed coach, etc, are all acts of delicious defiance or “good trouble” as John Lewis would say.
Many of the people in this field are women, women who have suffered and want to reduce the suffering of others. Many are nurturing, loving, people who wouldn’t think they are courageous. But they are, even if they don’t know it! So if you’re someone who wants to help women, who wants to help educate the world or just your community about these vital cycles, but don’t think you’re anything special… I promise, you are. You are exactly who we need, someone with the desire to reduce the suffering of others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://PeriodCoachingSchool.com and https://ThePeriodCoach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stashawashburn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StashaWashburn/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stashawashburn/
- Youtube: bit.ly/TPCchannel
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@stashawashburn
https://bsky.app/profile/stashawashburn.bsky.socialFree gift page: PeriodCoachingSchool.com/Free
Image Credits
The ones watermarked Tanita Seton are her.
The sword photo is by Edra Lara.
The two outdoor ones, the headshot, and the grey dress are Christopher Nelson
The last two speaking idk who the photographer was but they are mine to share.