Pads in Plain Sight: LOJEL’s Path to Normalizing Period Health at Work
- Good Period Team
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
For Nicole, it started with a simple question: where should we put the period care products?
Nicole works at LOJEL, a global travel and lifestyle brand known for its design-forward luggage and commitment to sustainability. As part of the People & Culture team, she was instrumental in introducing free menstrual products to their office.
It may seem small, but that question led to something bigger. At first, there were nerves: would people feel awkward? Would the products actually get used? Would the products just sit untouched in a shared bathroom?
We just knew: “We didn’t want it to feel hidden,” she said. At their office, they placed the dispenser just outside the bathrooms in the common area, a shared and visible space. Slowly, the refill boxes started emptying. People were using the products. “We don’t count who uses what, but we know they’re being used. That’s what matters.”
That visibility became its own quiet form of advocacy. Just having period products out in the open, in a shared space, not hidden away, helped normalise their presence. “Even the guys in the office felt comfortable just seeing them around,” Nicole said. There were no big announcements or forced conversations, just consistent visibility. And over time, that simple presence created space for dialogue. “Eventually, the guys started joining the conversation, talking about it too.”
After a menstrual health session hosted at LOJEL, new conversations began, not just at work, but at home. That evening, Nicole spoke with her partner, who admitted, “There are so many things I didn’t know [about menstrual health] as a guy.” He’d never really considered menstrual symptoms, what menstrual products were made of, or how they might affect someone’s health. For Nicole, it was a reminder of how much still goes unsaid and how open conversation can shift the way people think about menstrual health.
In her wider network, Nicole began to notice how rare these conversations were, too, especially people in similar roles to her. “When I talk to other HR professionals, they’re always surprised,” she said. Few were offering menstrual care in their workplaces, and many had never thought to. “It’s actually a very small amount that we’re spending,” Nicole explained, “but it brings a pretty direct impact.”
That’s what surprised Nicole most: not just that it wasn’t more common, but that even large, well-resourced companies hadn’t taken this step. “I was expecting a little bit more from bigger brands,” she admitted. In her role, she’s seen many companies focus on diversity and inclusion, but menstrual health is often left out, even though it affects half the workforce. For Nicole, that contrast was clear. LOJEL might not be a global giant, but they were leading where many larger companies hadn’t yet stepped in. In her view, it isn’t resistance holding others back, just a lack of visibility into how much impact a small gesture can have.
This work reflects LOJEL’s wider commitment to sustainability and inclusivity. “Big changes don’t just come overnight”, she said. “That’s why we focus on small changes, and we’re already seeing the effects.” Providing period care wasn’t a one-off initiative; it became part of how the company shows up for its people, in a tangible, everyday way.
Joining the Good Period Alliance felt like a natural next step. For Nicole and the People and Culture team, the question is always, “How can we keep improving the space we create for others?” This was one more way to answer that: not just in words, but in action. Because sometimes change doesn’t come from a sweeping policy or a big campaign. Sometimes, it starts with just one person, asking a small question, like where to put the pads.
