unboxing cycles - the hub

And just like that, 38 days passed, and our crowdfunding ended this afternoon.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to this journey—financially, with goodies, communication, and/or emotional support. It has been invaluable, and we’re truly grateful to you all ❤

While we didn’t reach our minimum goal of CHF 50k, we want to emphasize the many other victories we achieved - we’ve grown, we’ve learned, and we’ve been blessed with your unwavering support 💪

We reached out, stepped out, and made ourselves vulnerable. 
And we’re not giving up - more than this will be necessary to take us out of the game

Are you still with us, sharing the vision of the digital Hub about the female cycle becoming a reality? 🫶

We still depend on financial support to bring it to life, especially to cover external costs such as web programming, design and the digital infrastructure.

The donation button is now live on our wemakeit page (go to the unboxing cycles profile), and you can still support us financially. All the money supported there will land on our account and in the project –minus a 5% charge for wemakeit.

We also set up a donation page on our website unboxingcycles.com/support 
to keep it ongoing. 

Subscribe to our Newsletter on our website unboxingcycles.com to stay up to date on everything yet to come 🤓

Do you have other ideas, beyond money, on how you could support us (marketing, exhibition venues, sponsoring, etc.)?

Reach out: hello@unboxingcycles.com 📢

Running this campaign has been a truly unique experience. We’re glad and thankful for all the exchange and support and how all of it made the project grow and evolve. 

Let’s continue unboxing this cycle and see what it has in store for us in the future 🩸❤

Love M&M

We do!

There are only three days to go, and even though our odds don’t look that great, we still believe everything is possible.

There’s still a chance to find a few kind souls who see the potential in our project and are willing to invest in making a difference in our society.

A little reminder: the campaign is all or nothing—if we don’t reach our goal, the money flows back to all donors, and we will need to find other ways to finance the project.

Fingers crossed that the tables will turn and that something unexpected happens. If you know about anything or anyone, reach out Karma points are guaranteed 🫶

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend ahead, and on Monday, we will know if a miracle happened 💫

Much love Maja & Marina

We have exactly one more week to go!!

It is crazy how fast time is going by! There is a bit of a stretch to go but with your help we can make the table turn and reach our goal

On the morning of Monday, April 29th, the campaign will automatically close.

The campaign is based on the principle of all or nothing, which means that if we don’t reach our goal until then, the money goes back to all donors, and we would have to start from scratch 🫣

We just dropped three more goodies to our page (see images) ❤️

In general, there are so many things to choose from - starting from CHF 20 all the way up to CHF 5’000. There’s something for everyone (including men ). Choose your goodies, combine them, gift them to friends and family, and invite your circle to contribute, too.

Let’s make this happen to share knowledge and (finally) open the conversation around menstruation.

Can we count on you? 🫶

Do you have questions or have some ideas of how we could give an extra push to the campaign? write us a message: hello@unboxingcycles.com

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead 🐣

we have 10 days left, but we’re positive, that we can do it!

Can we count on your support for the last mile?

for the crowdfunding campaign to be a success, we need your help! there’s still a bit something that has to flow in.

the campaign is on the basis of all or nothing, which means that, if we don’t reach our goal the money goes back to all donors and we’ll have to start from scratch 🫣

support and share how you can

we’ll have a few new goodies coming out on Monday, so stay tuned for that, too. and if you know of other means of support or people we should contact, reach out

Let’s make this happen 💪

PS: last week, we had a «business week» where we talked about menstruation at the workspace. We did two LIVES on our Instagram Channel:

• Elisabeth Dewey, co-founder of Mondays - with a focus on period products and the importance of raising more awareness about the topic. They donated a period products dispenser + 1-year worth of period product for a company of approx. 20 employeed. Check out the Goodies.

• Joelle Zingraff, co-founder of The Women Circle - all about menopause, and how it still is a black box, where knowledge is lacking. They too donated a combo of their products to support women in their perimenopause journey.

you don’t have Instagram, or just want to hear the audio? check out both conversations on our updates pages: unboxingcycles.com/updates

have you seen us on the media this week? https://www.ellexx.com/de/themen/innovation/was-kostet-der-zyklus-frauen/

let’s continue sharing to everyone around us to turn the tables and make this happen

It’s half-time of our crowdfunding campaign!! 

Unlike football, we don’t get a 15-minute rest; this is the time to give a full sprint 🏃

We still have a way to go to reach our goal! So far, we have got CHF 8’121 from the minimum mark of 50k.

It’s ambitious, but with your help, we can make it happen!

Support how you can - financially or by sharing with friends, family, co-workers and strangers in the street. The more we spread, the higher the chance we can make this happen

Do you have any contacts or creative ideas on how we can share it with the world? Write to us at hello@unboxingcycles

All our love ❤️ Maja & Marina

PS: Karma points are guaranteed for every support we get

This week, it’s all about business at unboxing cycles!  

If you’re looking for free period products in your office bathroom, need support when transitioning into menopause at work, or would like to raise more awareness in your professional environment, our crowdfunding campaign has a few new goodies for you. 

Below is a glimpse at the new goodies available for purchase!

🩸 period products dispenser by Organic Mondays  💪 meno combos by The Women Circle AG 🤓 company lunch & learn by Marina Hagen personal branding session with Maja Juzwiak 👯 meet the founders - online or offline

As they say in Swiss German: «es het solange es het» - it has as long as it has - make sure to guarantee yours as there is limited availability

To celebrate that, we’re holding a live event today (Monday, April 8th) at lunchtime, from 12:00 to 13:00, with Elisabeth Lützow Dewey co-founder of Organic Mondays. 

Join us on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85422621048?pwd=ETsSAjaL84NagwwtwJJApxez68z21b.1 or via Instagram

share, love, support 🫶

We’re one week into our campaign! And we have another 28 days to go - the average length of a cycle 🤓

To celebrate that, we released a few new goodies for you! (And no, it is not an April 1st prank; we mean it )

LET GO FLOW BY KAREN FLEISCHMANN

• A special treat from Let Go Flow by Karen Fleischmann. As a donation to the project, she’s offering:
  • 5 sets of her inspiring EVERYDAY SPIRIT GUIDE CARDS
  • 6 spots on her INTUITION FLOW workshop.

EXERCISE TIPS BY AMELIE BERTSCHY

• Ever wondered how to best sync your cycle with your exercise routine? Amélie Bertschy is a Swiss Menstrual cycle/Sports scientist, athlete and physiotherapist. She has prepared a PDF with everything to consider for cycle-optimised training.

BOOK «GO FIGURE!» BY LISA FALCO

• Lisa Falco has been working on the interface between medicine and technology for almost 20 years, working on how data can be used to better understand the human body. After working many years in varying fields of women’s health, she recently wrote the book «Go Figure! - the astonishing science of the female body». This book unravels the mystery surrounding women’s biology and explains what is happening underneath the surface.

She donated 10 copies to our crowdfunding campaign and will also be hosting a reading of the book on May 28th at 18:00 in Zürich - 30 spots available. 

ONLINE SESSION BY LÜN

• As we saw a big demand for an introduction to the cycle for men, we created another similar goodie—an online session specifically for men and one open to everyone about the basics of the menstrual cycle. The sessions will be held by Marina Hagen, co-founder of unboxing cycles, founder of LÜN, and menstrual health coach. Reserve the dates:

  • For men: May 23 at 12:00- 13:00
  • For everyone: June 10 at 19:00-20:00

RISO PRINTS BY MAJA JUZWIAK

• 2 options of RISO Prints (see the images), size 29 x 41cm, created by Maja Juzwiak in 2019

POSTCARDS BY ILENA

• 2 sets of handmade postcards by one of our focus group participants, Ilena (see the images for reference)

There are plenty of options to choose from!!

You can choose one or more for yourself or to gift to loved ones.

Don’t forget to share the campaign with friends, family, and co-workers, and support us in making this digital enCYCLEpedia a reality Every support is welcome 💗

Happy Monday, Happy Easter 🐰

PS: tomorrow, April 2nd, there are also two events happening related to the crowdfunding:

• a 1h donation-based yoga class at 17:30 organised by Ornella Willi (check her out on Instagram @ellas.space, and reach out to her or us to participate)

• our info & Q&A session at 17:30 (see previous update for more information and RSVP)

Exactly one week from today, on Tuesday, April 2nd, at 17:30 we will offer an Info and Q&A session free of charge 🤓

In this online session, the two founders, Maja Juzwiak and Marina Hagen, will give you a brief update on the association, share where we are currently standing in the project(s), and how you can help and open the call for a Q&A session.

RSVP here (copy and paste in your browser):

https://eventfrog.ch/en/p/courses-seminars/general-education/unboxing-cycles-info-and-q-a-session-7167483010052199925.html

(we will send you the login details for the call one day before the event)

If you can’t attend the call, you can send your questions beforehand, and we’ll answer them live. We will record the call so you can watch it afterwards if you miss it.

We look forward to exchanging with you ❤️

THE ASSOCIATION

With unboxing cycles, we want to use the power of art and education to enable a safe space to share knowledge and, through experimentation and co-creation, develop tools to support and empower menstruating women in their journeys. 

We created the association in November 2023, with its base in Zürich. The hub is the project’s core, but throughout 2024, we will also develop and create a photographic exhibition and a co-created journal to support women in their journey of learning about and understanding their unique cycles. 

A co-created 360-degree project aiming to demystify and normalise the topic of menstruation. To read more about the association and the entire project, you can visit our website: unboxingcycles.com

The focus of this crowdfunding campaign is solely on the digital hub. The platform will be the baseline for building on top of it later. Not only will we continue maintaining the hub, creating events around the topic, talks and workshops, but we will also create similar projects for other related subjects such as Menopause, menarche, trans-menstruation, hormonal diseases such as endometriosis and PCOS, and so much more. 

This is the first seed of an upcoming forest.

THANK YOU

A HUGE THANK YOU to the beautiful souls that have been supporting us with this campaign:

Kev Ringli, Sandro Alvarez, Rea Egli, Christian Bärtsch, Nathalie & Ricardo Utsumi, Merle Zur, Céline Spillmann, Alex Plaza, Karin Fleischmann, Elizabeth Dewey, Lisa Falco, Amélie Bertschy, Linda Continisio, Adrian Krahn, Markus Fässler, Manuela Coelho, Patricia Andrade, Anu Anthamatten, Sara Mettler, to name a few…

And, of course, our dear focus group and advisory board! And all others who directly or indirectly are contributing to this journey 🖤

DISCLAIMER

«Not all women menstruate, and not all people who menstruate are women,» OB-GYN Dr Jennifer Conti.

This sentence is a crucial acknowledgement of this project’s scope. However, for ease of understanding and to niche the focus group, instead of using the word «menstruators,» which would be more inclusive and proper when speaking about the menstrual cycle, the project will focus on the wording of «menstruating women» or simply «women» (implying those who menstruate).

The intent is not to exclude other menstruating individuals but to facilitate communication for a wider audience. It is a knowledge that is not yet well spread but one that will be tackled in future opportunities following this initial project.