WoW Woman in Women's Health I Lucy Self, founder of Save My Knickers
Lucy Self is the founder of Save My Knickers; the first and multi-award-winning blood stain remover.
Through the power of Save My Knickers, Lucy is empowering women to feel favourite knickers amazing every day of the month. Save My Knickers has been recognoised as an award winning New Business and Best Period Product. Lucy was a finalist for Inspirational Womxn of Industry, listed in the top 64 Women StartUp and Tech and a Women of the Year 2022. She is passionate about breaking period taboos, raising awareness of women's health issues and reducing waste. Lucy is based in Oxfordshire and Save My Knickers is available throughout the UK.
Save My Knickers is a unique blood stain remover that empowers women to feel confident in their favourite knickers every day of the month, while also reducing waste. Save My Knickers takes pride in making a positive impact on women's lives, as well as its efforts to break period taboos and raise awareness of women's health issues.
Lucy, tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.
I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) so have really irregular periods. I was so fed up with ruining my underwear, pyjamas and bedsheets because of blood stains that back in 2019 I decided to find a solution. I couldn’t find anything on the market that was specifically for blood stains or more importantly actually worked. So, I experimented until I found the magic solution that successfully and consistently removed blood stains. When I shared my discovery with some friends, they pointed out I wasn’t the only person to ever have a period. That’s when I realised I had created something that could positively impact the lives of so many women as well as the environment that I needed to share with the world. It was that at that point that Save My Knickers, a blood stain remover, was born.
At the time I was working as a children’s physiotherapist in the NHS as well as juggling mum life. Starting a business, product development, financial planning, marketing etc was all new to me so it was a huge (and steep!) learning curve. Then the pandemic hit and I was mid-start-up and working in some of the most challenging and unprecedented times in the NHS. But since launching at the end of 2020, Save My Knickers has since gone from a concept in my kitchen to be a multi-award-winning product and in February 2022 I hung up my NHS scrubs to take on full-time knicker saving.
How did you get into this industry? Has it been an easy industry to get into or have you had many challenges?
Save My Knickers has been my introduction to business and the women in tech space. Before this my background was health care, which although doesn’t directly relate to the business side of things it does compliment the women’s health side of Save My Knickers really well. When I first started developing Save My Knickers I was met with a fair bit of reluctance and resistance. Initially I thought this was due to my lack of business experience, but the further I’ve got into it I believe it’s actually that periods and women’s health issues are still a taboo topic. Overcoming these taboos and stigma around periods has been a continual challenge. But I will continue to question the narrative, open up these conversations and encourage these discussions; not only for Save My Knickers, but for women and women’s health everywhere.
How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in?
I came up with the concept of Save My Knickers in 2019 and it took about 18 months of research and product development before it was ready to go to market. One of the hardest things, in the beginning, was working 4 days in my NHS role and then looking after my, then 2-year-old, daughter on the other days. I had to squeeze Save My Knickers in the evenings and weekends to try and push it forward as much as possible. I continued this physio/mum/wife/life juggle for the first two years so time was a huge obstacle for me.
One of the other challenges I face is that women have accepted blood stains as a part of their lives for so long that they aren’t necessarily searching for a solution. This alongside the stigma and taboos around periods and blood stains, it is hard to get the conversation started and show them a solution to a problem they, until now, have just put up with.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
My biggest achievement by far was being a Women of the Year 2022! Especially because the nominations for this were done anonymously by someone else rather than self-nomination. Closely following this was by Save My Knickers winning its first awards of New Business of the Year and Best Period Product. As well as this industry validation, I think some of the best moments are the amazing feedback I get from customers. Hearing from them directly about the positive impact Save My Knickers has had in their lives and what it means to them is such an honour.
What are the projects you are currently working on?
I am developing a miniature version of the current Save My Knickers tube that will be perfect for travelling and nights away. We’ve had a lot of requests for this so I’m really excited for it to finally be ready. We’re just in the process of looking for funding to help with this project so watch this space.
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
I believe it’s hugely important for us as women to support other women; we are stronger together, which for me is what the #WomenInTech movement represents. Women from all backgrounds and industries have each other’s backs and raising each other up; it’s extremely powerful.
What will be the key trends in your industry in the next five years and where do you see them heading?
Making periods more sustainable is already starting to take off but I can see this becoming more mainstream over the next few years. There is already a lot more discussion in the media about certain women’s health issues, like menopause, which is really helping to remove those taboos. I can see this trend continuing with more and more other women’s health topics becoming more mainstream conversation, particularly with things like the Women’s Health Strategy that was published last year. I think women as well are becoming more and more confident about speaking out about their concerns.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry?
Keep going, even when things feel really tough, just keep going. It’s the little bits that you do each day that make a big difference over time, so show up consistently, every day, even when things feel difficult; it will be worth the effort in the end.
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
Mika Simmons – The Happy Vagina; Mika is all about empowering women to talk openly about health, relationships and pleasure, she is brilliant.
Ruby Raut – Founder of WUKA; Ruby is a pioneer in the sustainable period world, a beautiful human and inspirational business owner.
Joanna Kenny – Joanna is all about body positivity, breaking down beauty standards, and normalising conversations around periods.
Find out more about Save My Knickers on their website.
Follow Save My Knickers on Instagram.
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This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, founder, and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic and read her stories for Forbes here.