Flex Mami – real name Lillian Ahenkan – is one of the most outspoken personalities in Australia.
Known and loved for her hot takes by her legion of followers, the 30-year-old has finessed her penchant for topics – ranging anywhere from the Twilight film franchise to philosophical theories – into a multi-hyphenate career as a DJ, podcaster, TV host, and even a small business owner selling homewares, clothes, jewellery, and conversation card games.
But if there's one person who is more outspoken than her, it would be her mother.
Watch the video above
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"I come from a family environment where my mum in particular is quite forthcoming and she's quite open," she told 9honey.
"If there's anyone who is really saying what people are thinking, it's her."
So when it came for her mother to explain to young Lillian about what would happen when she reached puberty and got her period for the first time, she didn't hold back.
"It wasn't a surprise that I was going to get a period," Lillian shared.
She had "developed early", starting her journey through puberty in late primary school, much earlier than her ever-curious peers who would constantly question her about her foray into adulthood.
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Lillian recalls smugly answering their incessant questions – like whether periods hurt or how many pads she used – with the information from her mother's pep talk at her arsenal.
It was open conversations like these that helped Lillian become secure in her own identity as she grew up.
So much so, she decided to help other people to "trick people into critical thinking" by creating her own conversation card game, ReFlex.
Questions featured varied in gravity from "Would you rather be feared or appreciated?" to "What fast food joint has the best French fries and why?"
Five years and many collaborations on, the influencer got her fans thinking and talking more critically about all areas of life.
But when she recently came across figures from U by Kotex that reveal 74 per cent of Aussie Gen Z women feel discomfort at talking about their periods, and that 69 per wish they could speak more freely, she was shocked.
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"Imagine all the people who are like, 'If I can't speak with this level of candour about my periods or anything that matters, then I shouldn't speak at all'" she thought.
Though she believed "everybody should be talking about this", she also recognised not everyone has the words or believe they have the authority to be speaking on such topics.
And so she decided to do what she did best: get people talking.
The Melbourne-based creative collaborated with U by Kotex on a brand new conversation card pack called Period Talk that aimed to get people to discuss menstruation in a casual and safe setting.
Though the possibilities for topics were endless, Lillian recognised those picking up the cards were not likely to be open about talking about the societally contentious issue, and so she purposely decided to get to the core of the issue with questions about periods in general.
Some include, "Do you understand your menstrual cycle?" and, "Have you ever lied about your period?" But their simple nature doesn't mean you should underestimate them.
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"You assume that it's obvious what [you] think about these things," said Lillian, suggesting players should "give yourself and your brain a break to really think about it."
By talking freely, she hopes people can see that "you really build a sense of trust when you share proactively and encourage others to do the same. But somebody needs to start.
"The more comfortable you can get with finding the words, finding the feelings and making sure they're accurate to what your experience is, the better things are going to be."
"I know that under pressure, people can default to social norms or common narratives as a placeholder of what they think they actually feel but don't have the words to express yet," she adds, but ultimately self expression is "a muscle that you must use."
Not only will the cards help create more productive conversations, they will also do so at no cost – a very deliberate decision on Lillian's part.
"If you really want people to speak about what's important to them, you need to make sure they can access the game," she said.
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"And if we already talk about cost of living crisis [and] expenses going up, it's the very least I could do," she said, adding that she didn't want to make it a free digital game but for it to have the same, in-real-life experience as all of her other conversation cards.
"I want nothing of this game to feel as though you're being ostracised from seeking the change that you want," she said, hoping that when people are done with using their cards that they pay it forward by giving it to someone else, so that they too can experience the same enlightenment that conversation brings.
"In an ideal world, I would love people's inner world – as in, your ideas and your feelings and your thoughts and your beliefs – to be reflected in what you say and how you hold yourself.
"I'm really bored, tired, not moved by this idea that it's not the right time, place or environment to say what we're experiencing, what we're going through, always trying to make the invisible spectator more comfortable with us.
"It doesn't push the needle forward."
ReFlex Period Talk Conversation Cards are available here from Friday October 11 at 9am, with limited units available.
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