The Truth About Period Products, Sustainability, and Building an 8-Figure Business with Jen Eden

My business partner and I were sharing an apartment in Santa Monica. We have $40 in the bank account. We were delivering pizzas and whatever we could do to make some extra money. I was doing voiceovers, just being scrappy, and we did it also with a really positive attitude. Believe in yourself, Take a risk. Let's use this opportunity. We've got to create something new.

All right, Jen, welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. Thank you so much for coming on.

Just a pleasure to be here, Laurie. Thank you.

Oh, I'm really excited to chat with you because you have built some really incredible things throughout your whole career. And I also always love hearing about women who have come from, you know, different fields and then launched a company from all of their learnings. And you have a really amazing company that you run called Tampon Tribe, and it's genius as well, and I love it because you are in the space of really wanting to create something better and bring awareness to women. Let's just start at that point. What problem was this solving for you? Like, I love to know the beginning of where an idea started. Where was that? Like, where was the very first thought of, whoa, this could be a thing?

Yeah, sure. Mine's from a very personal point of view with this business, which is quite different to other businesses I've had in the past. So for me, I've always suffered from endometriosis, like millions of women the world over. And I've always been told, you know, just deal with it, right? That pain, that's just normal. You don't take a tablet. It's kind of. You kind of get gaslit, I think is how we'd say it today. At that time, it was like, huh. But I was in LA about eight years ago, nine years ago now, and I was like, that's it. There's got to be something, you know, that has to give here. And so I started researching and found that a lot of toxins in period products could be exacerbating my pain. I was like, wait, what? Oh. So, you know, you start that exploration, you know, like, wait a second. And I actually got some of these really good imported organic tampons and pads from Europe. And I'm like, I'm going to try this. My period pain went away the next month. I'm like, this has got to be a coincidence. There's no way. Like, it can't be that simple because, right, we're told that it's got to be complicated. It doesn't necessarily have to be complicated. So I went on this journey of like looking at organic products. I've always eaten pretty healthily and I've been into the organic space for my, I guess every other part of my body. But I never thought that hey, toxins, chemicals in tampons, in pads, in period products actually impact you. Of course they do, but we never think about it, right? So at that time I was actually as I said in la, in Venice, if anyone knows the big whole foods there, I'm like, I should be able to get these organic products here. So off I go, done. Or one or two brands. I'm like, wait, what? I'm in one of the most organic places on the planet and I don't have access to really good products. So my business mind started working. I was with my business partner here at the time and we thought we wanted to do something new. And the business kind of entrepreneurial juices kicked into play and we did a lot of testing with the product. We had a Kickstarter to see if people would like it. And yeah, so that's kind of the root of the, of the product. And we're also totally plastic, plastic free. And that also comes from myself and my business partner Gabby's passion of, of making a better planet, you know. So we kind of thought how do we put these two things together? And tampon drive was born.

Oh my gosh. I mean when you think about it, everything that goes on our skin and that's like a really personal thing that is literally inside of your body. Like you know, and it's just thinking about like all of the different things that we are putting on our skin and into ourselves and that is ins. That that was one of the things that immediately made you feel better. Did you notice what it was immediate for you?

Immediate the next month, zero period pain. And you know, I thought this has to be a coincidence. You know, I'm getting a bit older, my body's changing. Next couple of months, nothing. And then it was about four months in maybe five and the period pain came back. I'm like ah, see. And then I thought no, I was traveling, I was in Texas and I used store bought products the month before. So that that pain came back. That was the correlation went back to totally organic. Never had period pain again. And it wasn't just a little bit of pain that I had Laurie, it was the double over like crawl to the kitchen, have some food to have the tablet just to exist. And you know that since you what 13 years old and I was then going to give away my age, my early 40s and so you've put up with it how many times? You know, during work, during everything. Just like. So we're not saying this is a cure all for everybody, of course, but what fascinated me was that we hadn't even thought about it. No doctor told me to look at my period products. Right. You never, what are you putting in on your body? It never, never spoke about it to anybody. So that's kind of when all the light bulbs went off and we thought, wait, there's a real issue here. This is a real industry that needs disruption. And, and there are other brands that were kind of starting to do it, but we're like, let's go all in. Let's only use the best products. And I know this resonates with you really well. Let's only use the best ingredients. Let's not compromise on anything. And that's got us to where we are today. Wow.

You know, when you think about it, for anyone who's like, oh, is it really that impactful now, there's literally medications and horm hormones that we take through our skin, you guys, because it's that absorbable into our skin that a lot of these different creams, these hormone creams, these topical products, it's like that is what you are soaking into your body. And there's no question if we're putting something in our body for that many days, that is like 24, seven for seven days. And you're really making me think because I, I legitimately am going to switch over to your product.

Yeah.

Because I, number one, just want to see if there's possible way that I could feel better during that time. But also just knowing that that is really crazy. I put thought into everything else, but that's one thing I haven't actually put a ton of thought into. So tell me about what customers should know when they're looking for a product and things labeled organic.

Yeah. And this is a huge, huge thing. Not just in our industry, I guess across all products, there are quite a few packages that say organic on them. And this is not just in period products. Right. This is in food, this is in drink. But they're not organic. They have no certification. So what people should look for, look for the certifications first and foremost. And a certification is not like a little canvas circle with a piece of cotton in it. Like, it has to have a. Which is everywhere. Right. But it has to have an actual certification. The certifications are super hard to get. So if a company has those certifications on their pack or on their website, that's the first thing I would look for. If someone doesn't have a certification on their pack or on their website, then just question it. So with the organic tampon space or the organic period product space, we have what's called GOTS and ICE certification. So it's the highest level of certification you can get for organic products and sustainable certification as well. So to us that's really important. And our whole product is certified. So this is another thing. Sometimes people will use an element of a certified product, but then they'll mix it with a man made materials. They'll put titanium dioxide, they put wax, they put petroleum jelly. They put a whole lot of things in period products that are insane. But I'll say organic because part of their product might have been organic cotton. So just, you know, if you're looking at a product, just ask for a bit of transparency and I think we deserve that. I feel a huge responsibility to have that on the product and I'm really proud of it as well. So that's another thing. If a company has the certifications, they'll be there. They're really hard to get. It's like, you know, yeah, you sure.

Are a lot of money.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. It's just like being a doctor and not having a medical degree behind you. You know, this is a hard thing to get. So it should be easy to find a certification on any product, on any product. But it's important in our opinion, in the period space because the chemicals and the man made materials that in these products can be terribly detrimental. You know, they really do impact your endocrine system, they do impact your fertility, they do impact your entire body and your hormone balance. So it's at least worth seeing if that switch impacts your body. We find for most of our customers, we get just such great feedback that their periods have got less, that their clotting has stopped, that their pain is reduced. So give it a go for yourself, I would say, and just look for those certifications.

Wow. You discover you just, you're not hearing this conversation around how to feel better around your period about the actual products that you're using. This is, this is like kind of a wow moment for me. I know that may seem, I just haven't given it a lot of thought, to be honest.

But I hadn't either. And that was the crazy thing. I've never thought about it. I just put up with the pain every month. And like you say, let's get a hot water bottle or a comfrey or a wrap or the tablet. So we're putting Band Aid solutions. That's how we're brought up. And that's fine. Like, the other thing we've got to be very careful of is not feeling bad about our choices that we have made. Right. It's like, but now that we know something, how do we slowly integrate that better choice into, you know, our bodies? And I'd never thought about it either. Never had thought about it. And then once you start kind of doing that investigation, and there was a large report that came out in July that a lot of people will be aware of out of Berkeley University showing all of these toxins in tampons, including organically labeled ones. And then everyone now is like, wait, what? Let's dig a little deeper. And so, I mean, for us, that's just been a great awakening in terms of education and people including myself, saying, hey, we need better. Why are you putting these, these awful things in our period products? And it's got to a point now where a lot of states are legislating that those products won't be allowed on our shelves. So that'll be really interesting to see how that goes. But it's a serious, it's actually quite a serious topic as well, you know.

Yeah, it is. Especially women who are fighting so hard for fertility right now. Just with all of the things against women for fertility and for health. I think that's a huge, a huge conversation. So what, what do you think positions you guys uniquely compared to everybody else?

Yeah, for us, it's really that authenticity and purity of ingredients that we're not compromising on. So we're the only period product company in the US to only use GOTS and ICA certified organic cotton. That's it. We don't mix it. We don't use chemicals, we don't add anything. We're not putting a bit of titanium dioxide, nothing. We don't just have an organic cotton core or a cover. Our whole product is certified organic cotton. And the second part is with the only plastic free period product company. And, and that just is not about, not just about the environment, of course. That's massive. You know, the plastic applicators, the plastic wraps, the plastic backs of your pads. It's insane. I think it's something like 15 billion plastic back pads and 7 billion plastic applicators end up in landfills every year. It's insane. And also, if you're looking at a pad and it's got plastic on the back of it that creates that really kind of icky microclimate in a very warm Part of your body, you know, so as all plant based, it's all breathable, we don't use a glue. We are vegan and hypoallergenic. So we like to think that we have, well not even like to think I should stand behind this. We made sure that every element of our product is totally good, good for you, totally clean and that that just sets us apart. So if that's your thing, then we're great in that market. There are a lot of hybrid products out there as well. That's a good stepping stone. But we like to bring the best, not just a better for you product, but let's put the best on our body. And our whole aim is to make that accessible to everyone as well.

I love that. So you talked about, you know, what is filling our landfills with the products that we use. How is building this and learning all about it. Because I know in my company like the more I learn, the more I'm like oh my, like the more I, I become passionate about certain things. So has this made you be more passionate about like sustainability, about health? Explain like that journey for me, what that's kind of opened up for you?

Yeah, definitely. I mean for me coming from Australia and growing up on the beach, I've always been a pretty big advocate against plast sick and again for recycling. And we've had that since I was a little kid. So that's a while, you know. So we're very used to, you know, having three trash bins at the house and separating everything. So but opening my eyes when I dug into the industry more and looking at the waste and looking at a tap on applicator which has the shortest use life of any single use plastic on the planet. When you use for 2 seconds, 1 second, and you're putting 16 of those into landfill forever every month. Gosh, that's a lot of plastic. You know, we can do better, right as human beings. So 100 and now I look at sustainability of pretty much everything. It really has opened my eyes, like you said, into the fashions, what we wear, what we dispose of. I look at my trash, I'm like oh gosh, that was a lot. Can I get that a little bit less like that? That was a little unnecessary. And in the space for sure. Really knowing what to look for in every product and not just taking the package at space value, which of course I did like everyone else. Oh, organic. That looks great, I'll take it. But turning it around and going wait, wait, what? These are the ingredients in this food in this, you know, personal care item in this skin care, in what we drink, in everything. Yeah. Looking at labels is where I've really seen myself evolve as a human being and then as a business, how do we add more items to our line that are beneficial to women's health? Like, let's look after each other. How do we get better products for each other out there? And how do we make sure they're sustainable as well? So one of the certifications we have with our products is icea, and that's an Italian certification, which not just certifies what's in the product, but all of the ethical standards that go through manufacturing. So that's really important for us as well. And both myself and my business partner have lived all over the world and always tried when we've done business to make sure that we're working in a very ethical capacity. I think that's super important, too.

Did it start like that or were you like, okay, we're gonna build on this? Because in the beginning, you're kind of just like trying to make it work, right?

Yeah, yeah. It started very simply. We started with a tampon. Like, we're going to sell organic tampons without plastic, and we're going to use the Dollar Shave Club model, and we're going to get the products out there and disrupt the industry. The end. Yeah, right. We'll be fine.

Let's all do it.

Yeah, let's do it. But it's funny, as soon as we put that product and our little Kickstarter, which was our Indiegogo campaign, people wanted pads, people wanted liners. I'm like, wait, what? And that was in our first couple of months of kind of getting the product out there. Now we have period underwear, we have reusable pads, we have menstrual cups that are not made from silicone. So, yeah, that first little step was almost like just opening the door a tiny bit, going, wait, what? Wow. And now knowing what we can do without going crazy, because that's a hard thing in business, you know, how do we keep laser focused but still add some extra things that are awesome at the same time? So, yeah, it's definitely a learning process and. And testing the market as well, seeing what, what people like. Because you might love something doesn't mean everybody else is going to love something. Right? So, yeah, definitely. Step by step and still learning every day on what works and what doesn't work often is what not what we think.

Yeah, I love that. I want to. I want to get back to that. I, You Know, I was just thinking about your conversation with sustainability too. I completely like, you know, you have those moments in your life where you are just awakened to how much we waste over here. And to really take that standpoint when you're trying to create something or even in your own life. I went over to Italy and we were walking in a town that doesn't have like roads for cars. So it's like a garbage truck can't make it up these mountains where all of these people live. And so they have somebody come once a week who comes and picks up the garbage, but by hand. And you're only allowed to fill one, like, picture, like a CVS bag. You're only allowed to fill like one CVS bag a week. And so they have to think about it from a standpoint because they just don't have the ability to get rid of their waste. So when they go, it's reusable bags, it's reusable curtains, they're getting their fruit from, you know, the person on the corner in their reusable carton. Like they are not adding any trash. One CVS bag a week. And that just blew my mind to come home and look at what we're doing. So I love that you're, you're thinking of that, but that was such an eye opening moment for me when I was like, they just don't even have it. And there's. There was no trash around the area. Zero. It was like the cleanest, most beautiful area ever. But, you know, thinking of it in terms of what if you, what if you took that challenge, could you even do it? We couldn't even do it.

We don't live that way. Yeah, yeah. And we live in such a fast, consumable society, you know, and so how do we then mitigate that in our own lives? But then what responsibility do we have when we're creating product? So for us, it was also to be very cognizant of what we're packaging products in and what we're shipping products in. So we don't use plastic at all because that makes a difference. And to be like you just mentioned there, you know, the people living in that, in that town in Italy, knowing that one person can make a difference. And sometimes we think, oh, it's not going to matter, it's just one person. Well, there's a lot of just one people. Right. We can make that difference. So, yeah, it's really important to me. And I think just thinking back on what you asked before about the sustainability, that really has Grown in my importance, I guess, you know, metric of my life since doing this company, without a doubt. Even though I think thought I was pretty good, it's definitely opened my eyes to what we could be doing better. And I see that, you know, even when I came to the US and I don't see it that much. When you go to a coffee shop, no one brings their own cup, right? In Australia, for years, if you bring your own little cup cup and they refill it, you know, you don't use a disposable cup, you don't have the plastic lid. I mean, they still do. But if it's a regular thing you go to every day, you have a little keep cup and you take that and you fill it and that's it, right? And you might get a discount. Like sometimes the shops incentivize that. And of course the shopping bags, bringing your own bags, bringing your own boxes to the fruit market, you know, things like this, we'll get there here. And I know some places are working very hard at promoting that too.

I love that. You know, growing up we didn't even have a recycle bin. Like I didn't know what it was at all until I moved because I was from a small town and it was like, what is recycling? We had, we literally didn't even, we didn't even know. So I remember even just learning that for the first time. Okay, so I want to know what the most fun, rewarding part of Tampon Tribe is for you.

Gosh. Fun and rewarding customers has to come to mind straight away. Follow closely with my team. I think building that and, and being here in a warehouse that we are now in, which is ours and you know, that whole journey from working from my living room, you know, filling the bags at night, whoever wanted to help me out, coming to a place where we're about to outgrow this warehouse right now and go to another one. I think that's really fun. But most enjoyable is when I have a customer call me, email me. I still do a lot of the customer service myself. I love it. Customers so important I have, you know, people help. We're a team. However, I love getting on to make sure that everyone's journey is good, that I can help with questions. It's my favorite thing is being a service. I guess that's, that's what I love to do. And so that is what really lights me up. And, and when we work with schools, we've got a strong give back as well. So when we're giving Back to people in need. You, you feel in a way that you're making some kind of positive impact on the planet. We all have those moments like, what am I doing? Why am I here? Like everyone has that and it can be so hard. We know what it's like. We're in the weeds every other day. Right. We know this and I know that everybody is, whether they have a company, whether they're starting a side hustle, whether it's just in your day to day life. So I really get excited where we can help somebody else. And then in terms of building a small team and seeing the team grow and feeling a certain sense of autonomy in what they do, we like to get everyone involved in it. The simplest and the most complicated of decisions, so everyone's voice is heard. For me, I love that. And not in a way that I even feel I'm giving an opportunity. I feel I'm getting the opportunity, you know, I'm getting that opportunity to learn from our fulfillment team. You know, people that work with me on marketing and as an assistant in every aspect of the business. I love that collaboration. So that's probably the two most joyful and fun things that we lose sight of sometimes. And I come in here, I'm like, oh yeah, you know, you feel, yeah, that sense of excitement and then the opportunity of growth. You know, where can we take this to? And, and because we're an impact product, how do we then amplify that so people feel better in their skin, in their bodies and, and the planet? So it's multi layered for me.

And where do you want to take it? What is a goal that you have in your, in your mind right now?

Well, our goal is to, to bring this into an eight figure business this year, which is really exciting and we're well on the way. Yeah, it will, it will. We've got some great collaborations. Great growth this year and last year or great growth the whole time, but this is, it feels like it's coming together. You know what it's like.

And what year is this for you?

Just so people hear, this is our eighth year.

Yeah, eighth year, everyone. And she just said, I feel like it's coming together. I love that. That's important.

Yeah, it is. But every step of the way comes together in a different way.

Yeah.

You know, like, like we were, we were talking about like year one. It comes together and gosh, we've learned five things. It has been hard. That's still good, still great.

We needed to learn.

Yeah, it does. It's still the 3am Wake ups are still there. I don't think they ever go away. I spoke to someone about this the other day. Like do these, they Never stop. But 20 years now for me in business.

Yeah, Suica's been full of them, so.

Oh, I hear you Laurie. Me too, me too. And from previous businesses as well because your mind's working all night. It's how it is. And you wake up with even if everything's going great, you wake up with stuff on your mind. The joys of entrepreneurship. Where else? We'd like to make this more of a household name and it's getting there at this big shift in the awareness of organic is changing our positioning in the market which has been really interesting. Tampon Tribe prior to about July last year was a bit more of a niche brand, you know, so we focused very much on a great customer base of people who were very much into organic already, who already understood the benefits of organic plastic free. We're in a little more high end grocery that's taken a huge shift shift which I am super excited about. And now we're finding every consumer is calling for transparency in, in this sector which is just great. So we love championing everyone's calls now. So we're working. We've just got into unfi, which is a large distributor in the natural grocery space which is a huge unlock for us. Very exciting, very, very large milestone for the company which enables us to then really get into a lot more stores and also amplifies our mission and enables our D2C part of the business to direct to consumer to grow as well. So yeah, I think having Tampon Tribe on, on everyday shelves is a great mission for us and one that we're working very, very fiercely toward.

How long have you been in retail?

We've been in retail now, gosh, probably about five years. Okay. Yeah. We started D2C. We also have a large B2B part of the business. So we sell to a lot of schools. We sell to a ton of hotels, schools, hotels, businesses. We're in Pixar, postmates. We sell to the Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, the Marriotts. A big, big hotel deal that we're just about to to announce has just come on board which is super exciting. And you know what's also great about that is that these hotels and businesses are passionate about organic and plastic free products in their doors, which I love. And it doesn't necessarily have to be one of the more ritzier marks which we have sometimes it's a home, two suites and I'm like, yes, I love that. I love that. The managers of that hotel, Big, Small, doesn't matter, is a passionate enough to say, I want safe products. My guests. Right. So, yeah, growing that part of the business has been really exciting. Retail. We started with the Air Kwan, you know, which is kind of an upscale grocery store here in.

You started with Erwan.

That was my. That's how I designed. I designed the product for Air Juan.

Oh, wow. Okay, cool. Because Erewhon is more expensive to get into.

It's changed a little bit now. Okay. So when we first went in there, they were still had a single ownership. I know it's really different now. I'm not sure we're not in Aircon at the moment. They changed management, they changed everything. They changed ownership, I think, of the company. But when we got there, I literally. I'll tell you the story. I got my little. I had my little tube. This is our tampons. And it wasn't even a tube. It was just a blank tube with a sticker. And I'm like, nice. And do this. And so I knock on the door, you know, hi, yeah, I'm from Chaplin Tribe. I'm going to build this. And they're like, we love it. We'll take it. I'm like, better get those tubes printed tomorrow. You know.

Okay, I gotta get to work.

We do a lot of that. I love building businesses that way. So something that I really enjoy doing is making sales before I have the product. Yeah. It's something that I guess I've learned doing business for nearly 30 years. A long time. We can love a product doesn't mean everyone else is going to love the product. So having those secured sales before you actually have the product, knowing that you have the ability to get the product, like, you gotta be able to fulfill everyone until. And probably can. And we're in la, we could do that. But having that. That scrappiness is how I kind of love to build businesses and still do it. To a. A certain level. We're a little larger now, but even to that level, you know, we gave a free water bottle out the other day, which I accidentally turned on at night. And the next day we'd sold them all. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I better get this water bottle.

Oh, God.

Yeah. How do we do this? Yeah, but be able to do it really quickly. You know, we're. We're in the US and, And we have great relationships with all of our suppliers internationally. So get that product here in three days. Let's just do it, you know. So how to be agile and how to be a bit scrappy is something I really enjoy. It's stressful, but it's also enjoyable. But yeah, from Erewhon, we. We went into some of the more natural grocery stores, primarily on the west coast, but also some on the east coast, some in Texas as well. And we are in a lot of the smaller independent stores where refilleries and natural, I guess, mom and popcorn stores, we're in a lot of those as well.

So how did you first start getting into stores but then also B2B because that is. Were you sitting there just thinking about, you know, was it a big meeting of who needs this and what can we do? Like, how did you know when to expand into those?

Sure. Ours was a combination of how do we be a little bit clever and how do we got it? Get marketing for free. So if you've got your product sitting on a shelf, they see your brand, it doesn't cost you anything. In fact, someone's just bought these. So I'm like, okay, that's a great marketing tool. Let's reach out to some of these stores and get our brands on the shelves. Not only are we making sales, but also we are letting more people know about us, you know, because what do you need? Three to seven touch points. Yeah. Before people become a customer often. And the B2B seemed like a very natural fit for us. So we started in Santa Monica in California, and we had a lot of co work spaces around us. So at co work spaces, you know, they give away products to their customers. So once again, knocking on doors. That's what it was. Knock on doors. This is what we have. Would you like to buy us? I feel like a traveling salesperson with my suitcase most of the time. Time. Because it's all about sales. Everything in life is about sales. Right. You can pretend that it's not, but it kind of is. Yeah. Even the marketing message, you don't sell anything, you can have the best in the world.

I mean, we're selling ourselves in relationships.

And marriages and friendships, but it's literally all sales.

Everybody we sell to ourselves every day, we sell an idea 100%.

So yeah, B2B was very early on because we started selling, we saw to a lot of the WeWorks in LA. We sold a lot of smaller co workspaces. Then we started selling to schools and yoga studios and gyms. And we just were on the ground selling things once again. That enabled us to get our name out there so people would see Us in a co workspace and they come online and buy the product. So I saw it as they used to call it guerrilla marketing, but it's just think outside the box, you know, how do I get this product everywhere? And then Amazon came after that because we had to be on Amazon to get some press deals through. And Amazon's up and down, but it also is good to have a presence there, in my opinion. And there was a time, like I say, where if you're going to be featured any, in any media because of their affiliate links, you had to be on Amazon too. So that started our journey through Amazon. But B2B is huge for us when it comes to hotels and schools. Really large part of our business business, we sell to a lot of them. And also it's when you look at an average order value, say a tampon, average order value is not super high. Maybe someone's spending a bundle of $25. You know, if you're selling into a hotel or a school, $250, $300, a larger school, $15,000 a quarter, you know, a larger company, 20,000 a quarter. So suddenly I'm like, wait a second, let's, let's do some math here, you know, and you' company that's buying your product on a regular basis, very little churn in the B2B space as well. And once you've made that sale, you can nurture and keep them. Whereas, you know, with a direct to consumer product, you're always almost not fighting so much. The personal care space, and I know in your space as well, people are pretty loyal. But you do have to do a lot of work to keep and retain a customer as well as capture new customers. So I like that combination. I've always been someone who's omnichannel. It doesn't, not everyone thinks that way. Some people like to just do one thing and you get told just focus on one thing. I disagree with that.

Yeah. You know, I've talked to a lot of entrepreneurs who, when that one thing has gone away, they're like, oh my God. Because those one things go away frequently.

Yeah.

So it's really important to have, have multiple things. So I, I, I love that way of thinking. So for you, as you're growing this company, what have been some things that you personally had really struggled with that you had to either learn or, you know, let go of? Like needing to think differently. What are some things that come up for you that you really see where you've had to grow your skill set in order to Be the woman you.

Are now in multiple areas, actually, one of them being a DTC company. So I'd never run an online company before. I'm okay with computers. Yeah. You know, like, we all are. Right. We know our basics, but you have to do a lot on the back end of the company, you know, so knowing how to learn really quickly how to manage the back end of your store was something I had to pick up pretty quickly. Because you can put. Put 10 different tech people on it, you still need to understand, I think, how it works. And I like to understand how all aspects of the business works. So learning the tech side, learning how to do business in America was a new thing for me. I'm obviously from Australia and before America, I was working in Beijing in China for eight years. So now learning and also a little bit in Brazil. So now learning how to work in a totally different culture. It seems similar to Australia. It's not at all similar. Very, very different. Yeah.

What's a big difference that you could share with us?

A big difference is how we do business with each other. From a business to business point of view. In Australia, we just tell it how it is. Not super worried about your feelings because it's business. Just do business.

Yeah.

Here's a very different level of building that personal relationship that you mentioned earlier is key. And I was like, what?

What do you mean?

I've got to be nice to this person. I mean, I'm a pretty nice person, but I was like, what are we just doing business? I was like, really? I got. I got kicked on my backside a couple of times that I had to go, all right, this is a really different culture. And so learning a new culture, yeah, I think was really important. And learning how to also then promote products to a different culture. Very different. Because what someone in the US might like is very. Even the east and west coast is really different. Right. In the US and the Midwest, how we market to different people. So learning that. And it's learning the new culture. And then I'd worked a bit in CPG consumer packaged goods before, but not a lot. So I've learned how to manage entire supply chains, all the logistics. We do all of that in house. We also do all of our fulfillment in house. So we don't use a 3 PL. We do everything here. Oh, wow.

When did that change?

It never changed. We've always done our own.

Always done it.

Yes. Wow.

Did you raise money to start or what did that look like?

We raised a tiny bit of money, but once again, we sold before we bought the product.

Okay.

So we run a very lean, hyper lean company, actually hyper lean. So how we've managed to do that is, first of all, selling the products before I had the products and doing our own fulfillment. So really being able to control every single aspect of cost, every aspect on the sticky tape, we buy to, you know, how many desks we have. And not in a control freak kind of way, in a very fiscally responsible way. So we know exactly what's happening. What also that enabled us to do was to iterate different products very quickly. So we bring all of our products in bulk and we package them here. Will we run to a law of diminishing returns? Maybe. Maybe we're going to hit that ceiling, but so far not. And you know, someone like Dollar Shave Club, they do their own fulfillment too, out of Torrance here. They've just grown their. Their fulfillment center. It's working well for us. It might not work well for everybody, but because we have very small items, it enabled us to then go, wait a second. Like I mentioned before, people want bulk items. I can do that. I've got a larger bag. I'll put. We'll put more products in it. There you go. So it enabled us to be super agile in terms of raising. We did our Indiegogo campaign, then we did some equity crowdfunding. So we've actually done three rounds of equity crowdfunding and we've had a couple of private investor checks, but only small. We've raised just under a million dollars in the lifetime of our company.

Oh, wow.

Yes. So, yeah, not a lot. We're about to do a raise soon as well, to take us to that next level. Just for inventory as well, because that's the other thing. Suddenly you get. You have to get very inventory heavy. You know, we're running through our inventory in a couple of weeks. That used to last us four months. So I'm like, all right, now suddenly our business is changing right now. So that's going to be an interesting and interesting experience to go through. So, yeah, that's kind of how we manage to do that. And we're doing our fulfillment. I say I'm at our warehouse right now and our team's downstairs and they're doing the fulfillment. It.

What's been one of your hardest challenges in leadership?

Communication, I think, is the hardest challenge in leadership. Being able to work with people of all different ages. Oh, yeah. Is really different.

Period.

Enough said. Yeah, that's it. I understand that. It's diff. Yeah, it's different but it is also where we're at.

It's learning a new language.

100%. 100%. And with my. I have an outbound sales team as well. So you asked briefly how we did B2B sales. We have outbound salespeople. We do call.

Yeah, that's great.

Cold call. Yeah. So keeping someone and keeping a team that can make 100 calls a day. Yeah, every day, which is monotonous. Keeping them motivated, keeping that team that does cycle through, setting team cycles through. We've actually broken our sales team now into setting, into middle of funnel, into closing, so everyone can own that part of the funnel, which is an interesting way. I'll let you know how that goes after a few months. We've done it for a few months. It's working well. Should be interesting to see how it plays out versus salesperson that runs the whole process themselves. So, yeah, we've been doing that. But the communication from people to people all over the world and all different ages, I think is something that I am still learning. Learning, believe me. Still learning.

Yeah. There's. There's just so many. So many different layers to it, especially as you grow. Like, how do you. How do you lead all of these people? And how do you lead your leaders who are going to lead the people below you? There's. There's so many different levels to that. Tell me. I want to rewind, though, for people listening, because a lot of my listeners are either in the beginning phases or they're in like year one to five. Can you tell me what your first. First year looks like? And can you remember your sales, your first year, kind of what that process looked like and what was your team like?

Sure, I can remember it very clearly. So my first year, we did 60,000 in revenue. I remember that. I was working, maybe mask.

Where did those 60,000 come from? Like, how were you guys marketing?

That was mainly D2C. So on our website. So we were. Were everywhere in terms of at fates or fairs, we were at market stalls, we were going to events, every networking event known to mankind. We have a little tent we'd put up. We'd be there, you know, we were everywhere. We also all had jobs, drove, delivered pizzas at night. We did everything, you know, and I think that's the thing. There's a little story I'll tell you briefly. So there was one point which started the company and I would. My. My business partner and I were sharing an apartment in Santa Monica and I said, gab, we have to pay rent, like in a week. It's $4,000. We don't have any money, you know, we have nothing. I don't know what, what are we thinking? And she's one of these people. It'll work out. Like, will you tell me how it's going to work out? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I said, I thought, slept on it. Like, wait, I have this idea. We had this nice apartment with a rooftop. I'm like, we have $40 in the bank account. I can buy this little canopy. It's the middle of summer. We're going to sleep on the roof on a rooftop garden. And we're going to rent out our bedrooms. We're going to keep the office. We need an office and we need somewhere to sleep if it rains. But we're going to Airbnb. There's this new thing called Airbnb. So make the house look really good because she's really great at that. I'm going to do the listings. Let's see what happens. And this is in summer in Santa Monica. We were pretty near the beach. So what you think, what can I sell? I can't sell an organ. You know, maybe I could have, but like, how do I get money? So we wake up the next day, there are all these inquiries for wanting to rent the room. I'm like, thank you, universe. And there was this one inquiry, our lady said, I'm wondering if you take $4,000 for a month. Like, wait, wait, what? Yes, yes, we will. So we did stuff like that. So we slept on the roof in our little rooftop garden, which is not a hardship. It's actually really beautiful in Santa Monica. Rented out two bedrooms. We had our office downstairs. And it was an apartment. That was a nice place. I mean, that was the rent then eight years ago. So it had different levels you could live very comfortably with in that scenario without a problem.

And this was crappy to sleep on the roof though.

Pretty scrappy. And we, this is the other thing. We're in our, our 40s, we're not 21. So this was a big commitment because the last thing I want to do is sleep on a. I'm like, I'm not going to be sleeping on a futon. And there I am sleeping right. You know, but we knew it would be short lived and we did it also with a really positive attitude. It wasn't like, oh my gosh, I've got to do this, let's do it. Let's use this opportunity. We've got to create something, something new. And so I was also working as a, as A reporter at the time, Gabby, was. We were delivering pizzas and whatever we could do to make some extra money. I was doing voiceovers, just being scrappy, but really owning that and really thinking, what can we do? And it was a change because we'd had successful businesses in the past, very successful, and we'd sold a couple of them. And we found ourselves in a situation that perhaps wasn't so favorable monetarily that we've all been in. But how do we just get out of it? How do we start again? So I don't know what your question was now I think I've got a whole tangent, but that's amazing.

I was what your first year in business looked like.

Oh, the first year.

That was really great.

Yeah. And it was doing that. And then we do fun promotional things. I remember my parents were in town and I'm like, mom and dad, we've got a hundred T shirts I need you to iron on the. This transfer. My mom and dad are like, there. They're like, are you kidding me? Like, this is our holiday in our retirement. You know, we're doing it. And they're like, okie dokie. Then just getting people on board, I think was very important. And being able to weather the storms because they're going to happen. You know, the journey of being an entrepreneur is pretty difficult, right. And not many people understand that anxiety that you go through, the losses that you go through, the pressure that you have on a daily basis. So how to get up and go, right. I can do this. And how to do that day in and day out is just something we work on. You know, I think as entrepreneurs, right. And I always like to see the positive in most things. So getting through that first year and just selling and enjoying it and just loving it and being there for customers and. And being out there, we store demos. We. I think we. We might have been in Airan. Maybe that was year two. It was pretty early on. But, you know, I had people that wanted like, can I help? I'm like, yes, you can. So when people ask for help, just say yes. Exactly. How do you feel about doing an in store demo? Oh, I'd love to. Okay, then, you know, and then being very, very careful with what you spend.

I learned that one. You learn it because it doesn't feel good to be in pinches. And so you're like, oh, how do I never go back to that again? Which is. Is so vital. And what's so cool is that women actually, when we become, you know, business owners and founders we tend to be better with our cash.

So that's great. Yes. And also holding people to account, I think sometimes what we do, and I know we went down this not in the first year, but the second or third year, is the hiring agencies to do everything thing.

Yep.

And then they're the wrong, they're the wrong ones, the wrong one. So putting all that money and I still feel, I'm like, oh my gosh, that money that we spent that didn't return. And sometimes we, we almost feel like we don't have the right to ask, like, hey, what are your KPIs? What do we, we say, oh no, they know what they're doing. Put the KPIs in place. That's a really big lesson I, I've learned, even though I've been doing this for so long, is we have KPIs on day one. What are you going to hit? Not just so we can hold someone to account, but so everyone involved in the projects knows what's expected, including us. What are our KPIs? What do you need from us to make this project really successful? And we probably dropped the ball plenty of times. You can't. I'm not just blaming agency, you know, it could also have been us in terms of not being a great team player or not working with them as well as we could have. So I think learning those lessons in year one, year two, year three, year four, all the years. Yeah, but you want just, I think, is being very proud of what you're doing and be proud of what you're building and being able to recognize pretty early on if it's going to be a success or not. And knowing when to quit is very important.

Do you have something that you go off of to tell people, you know, how they can tell when to quit? When people ask me this, it's like the hardest question, but see if you've got an answer for me.

How to know when to quit. When you are not selling what you've produced, you still got to give it a try. But there's that balance of putting all of your resources, all of your money, all of your time, you've knocked on all of the doors. And sometimes you have to have that realization that this is not what the market needs right now or what's going to succeed in the market right now. That doesn't necessarily mean quit it altogether. I mean, there are these stories where people were knocking on doors for 20 years and finally it hit. But can you sustain yourself through those 20 years, not just financially but emotionally, that's a hard road to go down. Maybe your product or service just needs a tweak. Maybe listening to the market is all you need. You know, we had tampons. We thought that was all we would need very early on. We need pads, we need liners, at least those two things. People don't like a product. Okay, listen to that. How do I take that on board? And if you hear that from enough people, how do we change the product a little bit? How do we be cognizant of. Of what people are telling us now? Not everyone's going to like everything. Some people just don't like what you do, that's fine. But if you're not making money and your goal is to make money, there has to be that tipping point where you change something in the business. I'm one of those, never say die, never quit, never give up. I don't think I could give up. However, could I change my product a little bit? Could I change my approach? Could I listen and just sit with people and hear what they would buy? Hey, phony, you did this. And you're only. You're going to hear thousands of those, but there will be some that you hear on a repeated basis. And sometimes we also just have bad ideas. Yeah, I've started a few businesses that didn't work. We all have, without a doubt. And you, like, you think you're going to get this traction. You don't. You're like, okay, no, that's it. I'm out. I'm going to get out before I even put more money into this business. There are plenty of those. Tampon Tribe was one that really, we knew, had the synergy as soon as we started talking about it. But that doesn't mean we haven't changed our products, we haven't changed our lineup, how we sell it, who we sell it to. You're always evolving and you're always improving. I don't know if I answered the question when to quit.

I mean, you really did, though. Just if it's not because I'm, I'm, you know, I think of it in terms of all of the businesses I've started. And it's definitely like if you are just bumping up against wall after wall after wall, because my company actually was not what it is now when it first started, and it was like, every single wall. And I'm not a quitter either. I am like the girl who, you tell me it's not possible. I will, like, run myself ragged and do everything I can to make it work. But there were just so many. It's like there were no wins, like, zero for like two years. You know, it was just like, wow, I've never experienced that in my entire life. And then also it was going back to my audience and being like, is this even what we want anymore? Because it had changed.

Yeah.

So much changed during the pandemic that it was like, whoa, they don't even want this anymore. So it was a lot of exactly what you said, like, serving people, seeing if it's a fit. Why isn't this moving at all? Even after tweaking, even after changing. Changing, even after all of the things. So, yeah, I think. I think that those are amazing questions. What's some advice that you would give that you wish you would have had in the early stages of your entrepreneurship?

I think listen to your intuition. It really does guide you. Ask for help when you need help, and if something's not working, acknowledge it. It. We have to put our egos way out of play. And that's what I would love to have learned maybe 20 or 30 years ago. But you've got to go through those lessons. Right now. I'm pretty data driven. I don't have much ego in play at all. A little bit, though, when someone told me the other day the project I was working on, they didn't like I was still a little bit. Like, really? It happens. I like it. However, I still took their advice and I'm doing what they say because they actually know more than me. I'm going to incorporate me a little bit into it. But I think taking ego out is a lesson that we probably have to learn ourselves. And knowing when something doesn't feel right, also ask for help. You know, I have great people in my life. I'm very fortunate. Even my parents, who have been super supportive with all these crazy, different, different things I've done, I still use them as a really great support. They're also business people, so they've got pretty clear heads, and that's that. That's something I probably would add in now as well. Be a little bit careful of who you ask for help, because sometimes everyone knows better. They think they know better than you. Right. And maybe you actually do know how to do this. Maybe you can discover how to do it by yourself. Ask your peers and see what they have to say and just go confidently forward. Believe in yourself. Take a risk. Being entrepreneurial is all about risk and all about having courage. So lesson one, I would say if you don't have a big appetite for risk, this might not be your game. There's another one out there. Not everyone has to be an entrepreneur. And we can get caught in that right now, right? Because on social, everyone's got a hustle. Everyone's doing. We don't see behind the scenes. We only see the glittery gold stuff. You don't see the tears. You don't see the money. You don't see the bank accounts that are zero. The sleeping on the roof, delivering pizzas at night. Oh, gosh. I actually really enjoyed doing those things, but there's hardship involved, you know, So I think knowing if it's a good fit for you, giving it a good go. But I also don't want people to quit early. So it's a hard message, isn't it? What do you think? What would you say to people?

I think the same thing. I think, you know, you have to. You have to be good with risk because you live in a state of not knowing every single day. There is no certainty whatsoever. So if you are someone who needs a lot of certainty, this is absolutely not for you. You have to be someone who likes new things, things a lot and that like learning and feeling uncomfortable. I think the people who crave challenge, it's like, it's. It's amazing. It's like air, because you're gonna it. If you love personal growth and personal development, it is that every single day. And some people love that and they need it. And sometimes it's just a shift into acknowledging that what really gives you life is challenged. So instead of looking at all of your challenges as challenges, you're like, oh, this is actually the way. Like, this is what makes me happy. That was a big shift for me. So I think that would be advice that I give to people is like, if, you know you're not going to do anything else, like, if you know you want to create something and it has to come out in the world, like, really learning that you actually need challenge to be happy. I think that was a really huge shift for me in the last two years, is going, wow. Instead of these challenges that come and they suck and they're no fun and oh, my God, why can't I have more wins? It's like, oh, those are the things that are turning me into the person that I actually see in my head. And like, I. I want to be that person so bad, but the only way to do it is to sit here and solve this or, you know, face this, because you're always. It's.

It's.

If you're not solving it in this business, no new business is going to bring you a different set of fun challenges. It's like we have to solve the ones right here to become the person who can handle more. So, yeah. I have loved this conversation so much. We need everybody to get on your subscription or try out your product. And I know that you got a coupon code for the listeners and it's happy 20 for 20% off. So we can try it for 20 off. So the key to that is place a really large order for the whole 20 off. Okay, Jen, where can we. Where can we go?

Thanks, Laurie. We can go to Tampon Tribe and you'll find everything there. Our social handles are also at Tampon Tribe and if you have any questions or you're not sure what products to get or sizes, just DM us and we'll get back to you straight away. And we'd love you to. Yeah, try us out. Use the code, Make a big order. Save all the money. It's our pleasure.

Oh, well, thank you so much for coming on the show. You guys. Make sure you go below and click that link. Think you all need this. Send it to a friend, make sure that she's also taking care of her health and wellness, and you could truly make a big difference in someone's experience every single month. So thank you so much, Jen, for coming on. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.