A Gen Z founder on breaking down big stigmas and surviving hustle-culture burnout

Nadya Okamoto launched her nonprofit Period as a teenager at the height of startup mania, hustle culture and girlboss memes. It grew to become one of the largest youth nonprofits in the world, but the fast growth led to burnout and a harsh cost to her well-being. She talks about how she learned to value rest, set boundaries and get 10 hours of sleep a day – and the moment she decided to pass the leadership torch for the organization’s next phase. Her non-profit Period, one that got started distributing menstrual pads to the homeless in San Francisco, and her current startup August, a menstruation care brand, both deal with tackling access to women's health products, health equity and ending period poverty. She discusses the unique challenges leaders face in this space and the boundary pushing ways she leverages social media and grassroots organizing to bridge gaps in awareness and funding and drive positive conversations and change. She also shares her lessons from her work in non-profits, policy work and startups on how any leader can be more accountable to what their organization needs right now. About this episode: August: Period: Related report: Prescription for Change: Policy Recommendations for Women’s Health Research: Blueprint to Close the Women's Health Gap: How to Improve Lives and Economies for All: Related podcasts: 7 women leaders on the books that shaped their lives: Bridging the gap in women's health research, policy and innovation: Kearney How bridging design gaps in science and tech can tackle gender bias:

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A Gen Z founder on breaking down big stigmas and surviving hustle-culture burnout is an episode from World Economic Forum by The World Economic Forum.

This episode is 00:36:41 long.

This episode was published on Jun 20, 2025.

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