How Am I?

18/12/2025

Hello friends! We've got a little survey for you to fill in if you've got 5 mins.. (and a young person in your life who is menstruating). As always, thanks for your time, we really appreciate it! it's helping us create the best tools for you so that menstrual wellness in young people is more commonplace and difficult conversations are made easier. Please share this if you can. x

A short, gentle questionnaire to help us understand common experiences parents have when supporting their daughters. Your answers are completely confidential and will help us design better tools and guidance for families.

28/11/2025

Recently the Princess of Wales called on business leaders to prioritise 'time and tenderness' alongside profit and success, when thinking about family and raising children, in her first public speech for two years.

Yes! I agree!

But how to do this and feel connected to your family when you are busy, maybe working away, or have long hours? Or just find it hard to talk about difficult things like emotions…

It came up recently in conversation that running my own business gives me the ability to be there for my daughter in a way that I wouldn’t perhaps be able to if I was working for someone else.

But what’s most important beyond the time we give them is that there is an open dialogue and easy conversation about feelings, emotions and if they are female, periods.

This isn’t always easy, and picking the conversation up when puberty hits, if this hasn't been the norm from the beginning, can be even trickier..

We are designing something so that whether you spend lots of time or less time with your family, the Howami App can maintain a level of openness, as it acts like a bridge of communication to the adult portal so that you feel in-the-loop with the daily emotional unfolding of the young person in your life.
(As the young person shares what they choose to share with you).

We want teens to feel connected, as well as and seen and heard by their adults.
Communication is key to maintaining a good relationship throughout the turbulent teenage years and Howami exists to make it easier.

Help us get this out there!
The link is in the comments to sign up to our wait-list.

26/11/2025

Women’s Hour yesterday had a great article talking about the effects of puberty on young people and how it affects their involvement in sport at school.
Isabelle Kyson is doing great work in raising awareness of this.

When a young person embarks on their cyclical journey (usually sometime around the beginning of secondary school) a whole new way of living opens up for them.

Going from linear to cyclical is no small thing!

If they don’t know about this, then they meet it without any understanding about how changeable things can be on a day-to-day basis.

We want young people to be fully aware! So at Howami we are making tools to notice unique patterns from the start.
We encourage self-discovery in a fun and engaging way - this is about noticing, embodying and understanding and then connecting with a trusted adult or a friend to share where they are at.
It’s a great communication bridge into the more difficult conversations.

Isabelle is fighting to get more education around periods into the National Curriculum which is currently having a long overdue overhaul - we support her wholeheartedly!

Be part of our audience build and help us get Howami into the world - including schools!

Link is in the comments 👇

Created by Isabelle Kyson, directed by Greg Woodward in conjunction with Podoma.'Out of the Race: Why Girls Quit Sport' follows 17 year old athlete and filmm...

24/11/2025

This is where the fun really starts to happen - in the actual design.
Working out what’s most needed in the prototype, so that we can test our riskiest assumptions.

We want:
💫 Young people to be engaged with their cycles.
🩸 Whole Cycle Awareness to be commonplace.
💡 A fun and immersive UX and UI.
🦺 A safe, shareable daily readout.

A massive shout out to our in-house designer and master builder Dan Berridge.
Dan is taking the Prototype build in his stride, problem solving while staying open to mine and Nikki’s input and suggestions. Even with Nikki stepping back a bit lately by the power of three we are mighty!

Nikki, Dan and I have put years into the back story, the on-the-ground work, user journeying/testing and refining, and now weeks into the making.

The prototype will be ready to be tested in the New Year.

Get in touch if you and your young person would like to be part of that journey!

Sign up to our waitlist where you’ll hear occasional updates from us as to how we’re getting on. (link in the comments 👇)

(photo - behind the scenes!)

19/11/2025

Moods aren't always random!

It’s so easy to just see 'behavior'. But, if we’re also a menstruator, we have to remember from our own journey, that when our moods change (and wildly sometimes), and sometimes all seemingly in a few hours, it’s not that we’re ‘going bonkers’ its our internal system shouting out that something needs addressing!

Each hormone has a personality:
Estrogen’s like: Lets connect, create, fix the world!
Progesterone says: Lets slow down, stay at home, make things comfy
Testosterone charges in with: Lets get this show on the road!

So if you think along these lines, mood changes are an indication that we’re shifting phases.. A little bit like we’re in a car and we’re needing to change gear - We naturally adjust our driving accordingly don’t we..
Maybe we’re approaching ovulation, or into the Luteal comedown, or menstruation is on it’s way..
Cortisol can also then jump in and start pressing buttons like an over excited toddler… screaming to us that we actually do need to make these gear changes.

It’s certainty not always easy as an adult to remember all of this, our lives are in full swing, s**t happens, and many of us have such busy existences these days! who’s got time to feel in and listen to these internal whispers??
It really is hard enough for us, let alone our children who are new to cyclical living! - BUT we know that when we do listen in, things get much MUCH easier.

That’s why we’re building tools to help out with this self-understanding.

Follow us if you don’t already, join our waitlist (link in the comments). Help us to help you and all the young menstruators in your life.

14/11/2025

This wild ride! (both running a start up - and being a parent!)

Both things are not the easiest jobs in the world, but parenting has to be the hardest sometimes! like when your child silently walks away from you, shuts (or slams!) the door, rolls their eyes, or seems miles away..
I have a tween and it’s easy to think in that moment that i'm the one that has done something wrong, in the way we’ve bought them up or some such thoughts…
The truth is that hormones are taking hold and new feelings are being felt and not yet understood.

These changes can feel really big for our young (or not-so-young) ones!

One minute they can be really loving and chatty, and the next they can be quite prickly and withdrawn.

We all know this as being part of growing up, but it doesn’t mean that the connection has to fade.

I've learnt the key is understanding what’s beneath the moods.

When we learn or remember how emotions, hormones and communication are all interlinked we can stop reacting and start relating! yea!

And at this point in a young person’s life, many parents might be peri-menopausal too..! throwing the other end of the hormonal cycle into the mix for good measure!

Tonight, you could try asking:
”What kind of day has your body given you today?”
It provokes a little deeper thought into what makes us tick, and is a gentle doorway conversation with no pressure and no judgement..

At Howami we're slow and steady in our creation, making changes as we receive feedback, and now we're busy creating two things:
An engaging, playful space for young people to find some hormonal & emotional understanding and a space for Adults to connect in with their young person for more easeful communication around emotions and periods.

If you haven’t already, we’d love you to follow us and sign up to our waitlist to support us at https://www.howami.co/signup

Please spread the word we want good communication and open talk around periods to be commonplace.

27/06/2025

Join Kate on Sunday 29th from 18.00 - 18.45 GMT for the last free webinar in June.

🩸As intro into the Course we'll be discussing menstrual awareness for home and school settings and how this can strengthen your relationships.

Sign up here: www.howami.co/course

24/06/2025

Today from 12.00 - 12.45 GMT
Join Nikki and I for a free webinar.

🩸Exploring the lived experience of a menstruating teenager.
💥Intro to inner seasons, brain function, energy and mood.

Sign up here: www.howami.co/course

See you later

17/06/2025

Right now, the NHS states that girls are more than twice as likely as boys to experience mental health challenges in their teens.
💣 Yet the impact of the menstrual cycle on emotions and mental health is rarely discussed !

Come and join us for a free webinar this Thursday evening from 7-7.45pm where we introduce a course we're designing called 'A Grown-ups Guide to Teenage Menstrual and Emotional Health'. We will also be talking about the benefits of being an advocate for the menstrual and emotional understanding of your child.

You can join up here using this link: www.howami.co/course - please tell anyone you think might find this useful!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Kate & Nikki x

29/05/2025

Dear friends

We have an offering for mums, dads, carers and educators of menstruating teens that we want to share with you.

We'll be holding free weekly webinars in June to introduce our upcoming course:

🩸 A Grown-Ups Guide to Teenage Menstrual Awareness

This course is currently in development and we would like to run these co-creative sessions with you to get a feel for what you as guardians truly need.

During the Webinars we will cover a range of useful subjects related to teenagers' Menstrual and Emotional well-being.

Bring your experiences or questions or just come and listen!

💫 June 10, 2025. 12.00 - 12.45 GMT
An introduction to Menstrual Awareness and to the Howami Online Course.
With Nikki Berridge and Kate Penning

💫 June 19, 2025. 18.00 - 18.45 GMT
The benefits of being an advocate for the Menstrual and Emotional understanding of your child.
With Nikki Berridge and Kate Penning

💫 June 24, 2025. 12.00 - 12.45 GMT
Exploring the lived experience of a menstruating teenager. intro to inner seasons, brain function and mood.
With Nikki Berridge and Kate Penning

💫 June 29, 2025. 18.00 - 18.45 GMT
Menstrual Awareness for home and school settings and how this can strengthen your relationships.
With Nikki Berridge and Kate Penning

We're really looking forward to connecting with you and keeping the discussion moving around how we can show up and be there for our teens!

Link in the comments 👇

Much love
Nikki & Kate xx

24/03/2025

🌟 We’re now on Instagram! 🎉
Follow us .co for updates, behind-the-scenes moments, and more! 💫
Let’s stay connected ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/howami.co/