What It’s Like To Start A Period Subscription Box Company When You’re Still In College

When Sage Mellet got her period at the age of 12, she was too embarrassed to tell anyone. As she grew older and starting talking about puberty's changes to her body with her closest friends, she realized that she wasn't alone in experiencing shame when it came to talking about her period out loud. Then, after her brother, singer Troye Sivan, rocketed to pop-stardom, she began to develop a social media following that allowed her to speak up about the feminist issues that mattered to her. She set out to use this platform to change the way people thought about menstruation, co-founding Peach Pack, an inclusive and sustainable monthly subscription period box, at the age of 21.

Peach Pack provides customers with a monthly subscription box to handle menstrual hygiene needs. Mellet tells Bustle that she and her co-founder, Alyssa Carp, got the idea for Peach Pack after talking with their university friends about the self-consciousness they experience when they speak about their cycles out loud.

"Alyssa and I are really strong feminists," Mellett says, explaining that their feminism fueled their desire to make a period box that was both inclusive and designed to dismantle the taboo around menstruation. Mellet says, "[Peach Pack] uses all sustainable and environmentally-friendly materials and we always ensure that it's very inclusive. We use gender-neutral terms." Mellet says that the ultimate goal of the project is to de-stigmatize conversations around puberty, especially periods.

Peach Pack has three standard offerings available: Pad, tampon, and a combo. Each of these three boxes come with a featured tea of the month and a surprise self-love item that changes from month to month. Subscriptions for the Standard Peach Pack start at $27.55 (AUD) a month. Mellett also explains to Bustle, that the company more recently launched an affordable Basic Peace Pack for $12 (AUD) a month that includes all the standard offerings of Peach Pack, excluding the surprise self-love item. Although these offerings only ship to Australia at the moment, Mellet says that the company has plans to expand to the US within the year. The company gives a large percentage of the proceeds to organizations that support social change, like Share The Dignity, which collects personal hygiene products for women who are homeless or survivors of domestic violence.

Mellet is passionate about changing the way mainstream media portrays wellness on social media. On her own personal social, she has always been dedicated starting important conversations about the relationship between social media and mental health.

She tells Bustle, “I have been speaking about [the relationship between social media and mental health] for ages. I love Instagram and I use it a lot, but I do feel like were in a time where what we see [on the internet] is not really authentic, or real. I think it’s important to highlight that.”

"I want people to know that what you see [online], is not always the truth. I went to the Golden Globes and I was so thankful for that experience, and a week later I had a cold sore." Both were events that she posted about on her Instagram. Melett says, "I always remind myself likes aren't real, and social media doesn't determine how good of a person you are."

Up until now, Mellet and Carp have run the social media and executed all of the marketing initiatives for Peach Pack themselves. However, Mellet explains, that this may be changing in the near future, especially as Peach Pack continues to expand and grow internationally.

Mellet tells Bustle that she's taking next semester off from college to focus on Peach Pack full-time, and hopes to continue to focus on feminist issues one subscription box and Instagram post at a time.

"My goal in life is to focus on projects that I’m really passionate about," she says, alluding to her dedication to continue to change the way people use social media to promote wellness. Especially as her personal social following continues to grow, it's clear that Mellet won't stop celebrating her life for what it's really like on social media. Cold sores and periods included.