Meet OU-riginal Ruby Raut founder of Wuka
Today, the OU is be taking part in an exciting social experiment with BBC Radio 1 presenter, Gemma Cairney, stream live via YouTube from 11am.
Gemma will be tasked with sitting at the helm of a fictional business for the day, faced with a series of business challenges that she will have to overcome with some specialist advice from our alumni, academics, and students – known as our ‘OU-riginals’.
Ahead of this, we are launching an interview series on some of those ‘OU-riginals’ who will be helping Gemma out with the challenge on the day….
I’m Ruby Raut, CEO, and co-founder of Wuka. We make period pants that completely replace the need for pads and tampons. I was born in Nepal, so I’m a Nepali girl who migrated to the UK when I was 20 years old. During this time I completed my university education at the Open University where I studied Environmental Science from 2014 to 2016, so I’m a proud OU alumnus. Within the realm of being a female entrepreneur, I’ve had the honour of winning multiple awards, as well as my business Wuka for being an innovative and inspiring brand.
What were you doing prior to launching Wuka?
After graduation, I was quite determined to find a job in the field that I studied. OU was fun, but also very hard and I thought after putting two years worth of effort into Environmental Science I wanted to do something in the same field. After graduation, I was job hunting, quite intensely. Being an immigrant you’d think that it would have been easier to get a job after studying at an English university, but it wasn’t. This led to me doing a lot of voluntary work with Plan International, and whilst volunteering I developed a curriculum to teach children about food waste. I packaged up, delivered my proposal to Sainsbury's and received the funding to run the project for one year to teach over 4,500 children about food waste. That project was my first venture into entrepreneurship. After completing that project I began touring other schools to raise awareness and educate students about environmental issues, one of which was period products.
What inspired your mission to not only make menstruation positive but also an environmentally friendly experience?
Growing up in Nepal, it was a fairly sustainable environment. For instance, we didn’t have a bin in our house, so it was innate to consider how to purchase products with the least amount of waste possible. When we went grocery shopping, we’d pack everything into one bag - we didn’t have individual bags for each category of product. This experience meant that we grew up in a very sustainable environment. For my menstrual products, I used my mother’s sari rags cut into small square pieces and made into a pad, but there was also a huge taboo around period which is still ongoing in some ways. This taboo is not just in Nepal, it’s all over the world. Women tend to suffer in silence without having the opportunity to speak with anyone about what's happening with their bodies.
This is partly because of the stigma surrounding menstruation. When I was having conversations with the young girls about my experience and using reusable menstruation products there was a lot of uncertainty and lack of knowledge.
Talking to young girls around 9 to 10 years old, it was clear that a lot of education and confidence needed to be instilled in them. The last thing they needed to worry about was how to use a product, whether it would work or if it's safe, so I intended to make the most comfortable, simplistic, and sustainable period product.
We were the first company to create this kind of product in the UK, I’d go even further and say across the globe. Nobody else had done period underwear for heavy flow, the only thing that was available on the market at the time was leak-proof underwear. Although this leak-proof underwear was available you could only wear it on lighter days or with tampons or pads. For me, it didn’t fully serve its purpose, it didn’t do the entire job and wasn’t sustainable or working to replace tampons and pads. My mission was more about how I could convert people into using something sustainable that lasts for two years, is comfortable to use, washable, and in the long-term saves quite a lot of money. That was the intention behind launching Wuka.
Having the desire to solve a problem is one aspect of the journey, but what was your catalyst behind getting started?
The catalyst was a combination of things, as I mentioned earlier, it was hard to find a job and with my accumulated experience of working with young girls, having hands-on experience of what it is to live and use sustainable products it was inevitable that Wuka would be born as a result. Speaking specifically about the success of that project with Sainsbury's gave me the confidence that I could do anything.
Initially, when I had the concept for Wuka my first action was to talk to the community and do some market research to see if there was a need for it. Although I liked the concept, I knew that not everyone would feel the same, so I needed to validate my concept.
Even today, with the mission of the company being centred around creating the most sustainable product we’re always asking how we can be more transparent - in terms of production and inclusion. That way, the minute you land on our website you’ll see that it’s for everyone who is in need of period products. The reality is, even if you’re a millionaire you’ll still use the same period products as someone doing a warehouse shift. It is a necessity product. It serves so much more than just being a period product, it means that unity and inclusivity could exist at the same time. It’s about bringing people together and using products that will save the planet.
Wuka is a much bigger picture for me than just a job. It’s more mission-oriented.
What keeps you driving forward amidst the road bumps involved with running a business?
It’s most certainly the feedback and comments I receive from customers. Whenever a customer gives us a review it’s a story rather than just a comment saying they love the product. We've created this platform where people can share their personal period stories and how Wuka has changed their lives.
Every morning the first thing I do is read what our customers are saying about the product, which also allows me to learn the challenges people are facing and then think about how we could solve them. At times we’d receive amazing recommendations, anything from new colour ideas to bespoke challenges and I love that. That’s something I thrive on!
Tell me about the last business book you read?
To be fair I'm more of a listener than a reader. I’m currently listening to Reid Hoffman’s podcast Masters of Scale. It’s an ongoing series, which is brilliant for anyone moving from the startup phase to scaling.
What advice would you give to fellow founders working to solve a problem?
I'd say hustle and ask for help and suggestions!
LinkedIn is a great platform, especially for entrepreneurs, so I’d advise utilising it as much as possible to find the people and businesses who align with your brand values and make an introduction.
For any business building in the sustainability space, I’d also say that just creating a product that solves a problem isn’t enough. That’s why we are continuously innovating and finding ways to do things differently. We recently did a carbon report on period products, which has never been done before, and found that period pants have 5 times less carbon footprint than disposable pads and tampons. Not a lot of people know about this and the positive impact period pants have on our environment.
What value would you say your Environmental Science course with The Open University has added to the growth of your business?
Everything! It has inspired me to go out there and do my own thing. Within the course, I had to do a lot of practical projects, meet people, and communicate with confidence. The ability to build on my confidence and communication skills was just invaluable. It’s something I might not have gotten from a traditional university because everything is given to you as opposed to you going and getting it. I had to be on top of everything because of the pace and workload I had to get through.
Unlock Your Inner Boss LIVE! The CEO Challenge
Gemma will go live on the hour, every hour between 11am and 4pm at the OU library on campus, tackling a series of lively tasks that cover the below. She will also need YOUR help as the viewers, voting live to help steer her decisions through the day.
11am: Street Smart: Understanding customers and the market
12pm: Making The Case for Your Business: Putting together an effective business plan
1pm: My Way or The Hire Way: Hiring and managing
2pm: The Profit Is Right! Making a business profitable and having adequate finances
3pm: Leadership Leveller: Mindset and leadership
4pm: Future Feats: Staying ahead with technology
The livestream forms part of the OU’s new Skills campaign, bringing to life the values, expertise and skills that the OU has to offer in a world where people are increasingly veering away from traditional career routes. Tune in to contribute, and benefit from advice and insight from our ‘OU-riginals’, plus an exciting free collection of resources for livestream viewers…don’t miss it!
