Mariah Mansvelt Beck

Mariah Mansvelt Beck has many goals in life and we reckon that one of them is definitely this: to leave the world a better place than she found it.

After picking up a masters in philosophy from the University of Cambridge she spent the next seven years working for Médecins Sans Frontiers. That is always a tough gig. And a true one.

When she completed her service, she embraced yoga, becoming a sought-after teacher whose goal was to help those around her reconnect with their body and relax their mind.

By 2011 her mind was wandering to the idea of how to better look after the female body, especially during the menstrual cycle. A ‘specialist adviser’ had flagged up the concept of 100% organic tampons and sanitary pads – something she admits she had never considered before. Together with her friend, Wendelien Hebly, she set about some serious research and quickly discovered how poorly served women actually were by a product that was crucial for their health. For example, many tampons and pads are made from oil, plastics and chemical perfumes, but the makers weren’t bound by rules or legal requirements to list the ingredients.

Maria reckoned this was simply not good enough. And neither was the total lack of public conversations around how the female cycle actually works and how women need to care of themselves during menstruation.

The result of all the work from Mariah and Wendelien is Yoni. It makes tampons, pads and liners that offer women the same comfort as other products but are made exclusively of 100% certified organic cotton. As they say loudly and proudly on their website, ‘chemicals are not for pussies’.