Rescripted_Future of Fertility_Aunt Flow: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Rescripted_Future of Fertility_Aunt Flow: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Abby Mercado:
Hi, I'm Abby Mercado, an IVF mom, former VC investor, and CEO of Rescripted. Welcome to the Future of Fertility, a podcast dedicated to shining a light on the entrepreneurs and innovators who are changing the face of family building. With billions in funding over the past few years, we'll introduce you to the people, the ideas, and the businesses that are changing the fertility industry and in turn, millions of people's lives. The future of fertility is bright. Now let's get into it!

Abby Mercado:
Claire Coder is the founder and CEO of Aunt Flow. Aunt Flow, a company that's making the world better for people with periods, provides high-quality and sustainable period products for schools and businesses. With 86% of women having reportedly started their period in public without the supplies they need, Aunt Flow believes that period products should be freely accessible in all public bathrooms. Aunt flow and Rescripted both went through Techstars, way back when, which makes us cousins, and Claire and I met on a Techstars alumni panel. I love what Aunt Flow is doing because as a proud menstruator, I have personally started my period more times than I can count in public without the supplies that I needed, and ten out of ten women agree that folded up TP doesn't do the trick. Claire is dynamic, outspoken, and a force to be reckoned with when it comes to equity, inclusion, and period poverty. And I'm so thrilled to welcome her today. Welcome to the podcast, Claire!

Claire Coder:
Oh, gosh. Abby, Thank you so much. Thrilled to be here to talk about all things periods.

Abby Mercado:
Yay! We love periods, it's so normal. Let's normalize it! Well, cool. Well, let's dive in. I think the, first and foremost, we just want to know who Claire is. Tell us about yourself, where are you from? Where did you grow up? What did you major in college? That kind of stuff. Here we go.

Claire Coder:
Here we go. Well, I knew nothing about startups when I was growing up, I, born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, and a pretty normal childhood, right? Grew up in Toledo, Ohio. In Toledo. I thought the only way to be successful is to follow that typical path. Graduate high school, go to college, get married, you have your job, you have your kids, and that was the path. That was the path that I know and saw around me. But early on, I loved making things. My first company, was a button company. I made buttons and magnets and compact mirrors, and I sold them to my friends and my family and on Etsy. And that was what I did when I was 13, 14, and 15. And it was just such a fun journey and my foray into what I now know to call entrepreneurship, right? That was not the verbiage that I had when I was growing up, but I really just loved making things that people enjoyed, even if it was commoditized. And I think that really plays into the land of Aunt Flow, right? We're in this category of period products where there's a ton of different period product brands, but how can you make something that stands for something and that resonates with the end user? So grew up in Toledo, Ohio, born and raised Ohio, proud to say Aunt Flow is headquartered in Ohio and the origination story for Aunt Flow is actually after I graduated high school, as mentioned, the only way to be successful is to get a college degree. I went to the Ohio State University.

Abby Mercado:
The Ohio State University.

Claire Coder:
The.

Abby Mercado:
They trademarked that.

Claire Coder:
So The Ohio State University, I was there studying comparative religion, not the school of business, comparative religion. And I wasn't loving it. I am dyslexic, I don't like drinking and I don't like football. So literally, what was I going to do at this Big Ten university? So I found myself trying to engage in the community and attended an event, Startup Weekend, which is powered by Techstars. And at that event, basically it's a hackathon. You come, you create an idea, you work on it for the weekend and then you pitch it and it's your business. But at that event, I arrived and I realized I started my period with a $20 uber ride away from campus and I'm scrambling to find a tampon and I go to the bathroom and it was at a location that offered free lunch and kayaks to float along the river. But you needed to have a quarter to get a tampon. And who the hell carries coins? And that's when I had the idea of toilet paper is offered for free. Why aren't period products? And that was really the moment of inspiration. After that weekend, I left university to start on what is now known as Aunt Flow, a seven-year journey to become where we are today. It did not start as a business, it started as like a crazy idea and a wild project. But I'm now proud to say that Aunt Flow, in its form today, stocks over 23,000 bathrooms with freely accessible organic cotton period products. So that's a little bit of background on where we started and where we are.

Abby Mercado:
Oh, my gosh, there are so many follow-up questions. So I think, first of all, thank you for sharing that you're dyslexic. I guess how is how does that play into, like, how you think about things as a business leader, just in general? I think that a lot of people don't share that, don't share, that they have ADHD or they have OCD or they are dyslexic or whatever the case may be. But I think it's so important to share those things. So tell us a little bit about how you think about that.

Claire Coder:
I share it so that others can determine if they might have it, too, because I did not know that I was dyslexic. I didn't have that term, I didn't have that until I was 19 years old.

Abby Mercado:
Wow.

Claire Coder:
Went through all of school without knowing that, understanding that. And it wasn't because my parents didn't pay attention to me or anything like that. But really, there just wasn't that level of understanding or knowledge or terminology to put next to my challenges when it came to test-taking. Why could I perform really well when it came to oral and spoken opportunities in a classroom, but as soon as you put me down at a test and I'm forced to read something in a timed manner without extended period of time, like why was I not doing well? And that was my challenge in school. I was not performing well when they came to those things. And actually my button company, I used the money that I made from my button company to pay my friends to do my homework for me. So I was ... Like this solution.

Abby Mercado:
As an ever entrepreneur.

Claire Coder:
And I think that is really, really the way that I think about dyslexia, right? Every superpower has a shadow, and dyslexia, some could consider the shadow, but I actually consider that a superpower for me, because I always, for my entire livelihood, have had to find workarounds, and that is the world of business. Finding a workaround, right? You're presented a problem, there is no rulebook or playbook to read, so you find the workaround. And that's how I think about dyslexia today is, some might consider it a shadow, but I think that it is potentially a superpower. And that's how I really try to lean into that aspect of my life too.

Abby Mercado:
So I know that you all have 15 or so employees, which is fantastic. You raised a series A last year, amazing. So you have people that are on your team. And I'm curious, as somebody who is dyslexic, like how do you create a supportive workplace for people, just understanding where they have superpowers and where they might have limitations? How do you think about that as a leader?

Claire Coder:
Yeah, dyslexia aside, I think the real challenge for me as the leader has been this is my first and only job, the first and only time that I've managed, the first and only time that I've had an experience to relate to, right? When people join the company, they have other experiences that they help build the organization with, and I share that pretty openly, and I really try to make sure that our team knows, look, this is an area that I don't have a unique ability in, right? Just, I believe that culture is actually designed by the team and it is a 90-day rolling period. Changes in a startup, in my opinion, every 90 days, and it is designed and built by the team. Of course, I've learned from the team and I try to continue to adapt there as well. But I also know it's probably the area where I'm trying to learn and level up the most because I don't have a ton of insight when it comes to culture or building organizations and building teams. I can talk to you all day, every day about design and develop a dispenser and build the product market fit and build a brand that resonates. But you learn management through repetitions, right? And I have like only a finite amount of reps just given my age and where I'm at in my career, and thankfully, the leaders at our organization today have really looked at that as an opportunity to, one, help craft and build the organization to where they want to go, taking the experiences that they've had and helping, helping lead the company to the next phase of growth. So I know I will never pretend to be a guru on culture, rhat's not something that I know intimately well, but that's an area where I'm trying to constantly level up and learn. So maybe, Abby, if you have any advice for that, to give me that feedback.

Abby Mercado:
Oh yeah, No. It's like when you shared, when you shared the fact that you have dyslexia. And I'm just, I'm thinking about how I was, I think, unfortunately, up until now, I have been a member of a handful of toxic workplaces, and that sucked. And I think like for me and for my team, it's about just really having an understanding of how people like to work. So the first thing I thought of was, like the personal user manual. So at Rescripted, we all have personal user manuals and have a bit of OCD. So like absolutely that shows up in my personal user manual because I have diagnosed OCD, this is how you'll see me react to certain things, this is how I'll behave when it comes to certain things, all the things. And I think that plays a, plays a big part into how a culture is built early on in a company, is making sure that everybody has that element of psychological safety. So anyway, well, thank you for sharing that with us.

Claire Coder:
I love the recommendation of the personal user manual. Maybe we'll put that into play.

Abby Mercado:
Maybe you should, I love it.

Claire Coder:
One of the fascinating components that I've really worked to navigate is making sure our team has empathy across the board. And that has been a fascinating challenge because I think as Aunt Flow has grown, I have noticed that I might be bucketed as like your average CEO, right? There's this philosophy that as a venture-backed corporation, all CEOs are like out for themselves and all CEOs are really just taking all this money from their employees. But when Aunt Flow was going through financial hardship, I was the first to cut my salary and I cut no one else's, right? Like I, and I really am trying to navigate how can I make sure that the team understands? Look, I'm just a girl from Ohio trying my best, and I know that you're badass from Oklahoma doing trying your best too. And we're not here against each other, but we're actually all here for each other and really trying to navigate that because I think that generally in our world there has been kind of a shift, especially recently on vantage points towards CEOs, and that's been something that I've been using on recently.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, amazing. I'm excited to dig more into that. So you said it's just a girl from Ohio, so and you've kind of referenced your pride for being an Ohioan, right? Sorry.

Claire Coder:
Yeah, we'll call it an Ohio.

Abby Mercado:
So tell us about what is it like building a startup in Ohio? Tell us a little bit about the Ohio startup.

Claire Coder:
It's small but growing.

Abby Mercado:
Yes.

Claire Coder:
I think, interesting about Ohio, Columbus specifically, is there's so much opportunity, right? If you think about Ohio, we have L Brands, which owns Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret, Pink, Express, like tons of retail brands, and it is an awesome talent source. We also have, to the south, Procter and Gamble, to the north, Gojo, the owners and inventors of Purell. So there's a lot of really great mindshare in Ohio and therefore a lot of logistic opportunities. Right at the end of the day, Aunt Flow is a logistics business. We have hardware and physical goods that we have to get everywhere all of the time, all at once. And so those are really important things to remember. What I think is positive about Columbus is there is obviously that interesting talent pool, but what has been challenging is there's ten startup companies that all kind of recruit from each other and the investor base always believes like, oh, maybe, like maybe there will be a discount on the Midwest because talent is not nearly as expensive. But actually the talent prices in those regions, if you're hiring specifically somebody who has startup experience, the ... of them, that's obviously like hyperbolic, right? But you know, there's like that smaller group and so there's not nearly as much competition if you're hiring in that base. So I think that those are kind of the pros and cons, but generally it's been delightful and it allows our company to grow strategically, really lean into what Ohio's best for, logistics and products. We're at the end of the day.

Abby Mercado:
We're in Ohio.

Claire Coder:
We love the dancing category.

Abby Mercado:
That's awesome. Okay, amazing. Okay. So kind of now that we know a little bit more about Claire and obviously we're going to get to know Claire a lot better, this is something that well, so, do you know anything about the history of periods? Like why are periods stigmatized? Obviously, we've had periods since the dawn of time. Like, why are they so stigmatized? Tell us a little bit about how we got that way. If you know about the history of periods and it's okay if you don't,

Claire Coder:
Just real quick there's the word that I now cannot remember, but period comes from the word, do you know the word?

Abby Mercado:
But also think. It's like menstruators, it comes from the word.

Claire Coder:
So what's fascinating and where there is a little bit of linkage between taboo and menstruation is that the word taboo traces back to the Polynesian word ..., meaning blood, menstrual blood. So there's actually a direct connection to taboo and menstrual blood. I think what's also fascinating is, as it wasn't until the 1900s that the link between menstruation and ovulation was understood. So obviously there's like that verbiage component, like direct link from taboo and menstruation, but historically and even today, as a society, we fear what we don't know. We fear what we don't know. There's, frankly, not been a lot of research until recently and still not even enough research, you're battling in this same area, Abby, about reproductive health, and we fear what we don't know. And so those are some reasons that I believe and think that there's this level of taboo around menstruation because we don't know a lot about it and we aren't taught a lot about it in school, and folks that don't menstruate are taught nothing about it. And when you don't know something, you point and laugh or you make fun of it, that's just how we've kind of operated as a society. So that's, that's the linkage that I see.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. No, that's so interesting, especially as kids, like you point and laugh at things when you don't understand them as children. And we are literally children when we start menstruating and our, like, brains aren't developed enough to really treat this with respect. And as a part of sex ed like this is a part of sex ed, it's not, we always say that sex ed is really pregnancy prevention. It's, we all learned how to put a condom on a banana, but why aren't we learning about our actual bodies and how they reproduce and what, I mean, 40% of women today don't know what ovulation is. 100% of women have been ashamed about their periods before. I can't even, I mean, do you remember like in middle school when you'd say to friends, do have something on my butt? And you're like, why didn't I actually say, am I bleeding through my pants? What I, what I thought I had on my butt was period, my period. But.

Claire Coder:
Yeah. It's wild that.

Abby Mercado:
And.

Claire Coder:
It's wild that.

Abby Mercado:
Right?

Claire Coder:
Right. And what's wild too it you mentioned like, we all go through sexual health but that's actually changed. Many states actually don't even require reproductive health to be factually, wild, there's no requirement for that segment to be factually accurate. And in our world, states have passed legislation requiring schools to offer free period products in the bathrooms, which is phenomenal. 20, 20 plus states to pass this legislation, most recently was the state of Utah, which passed with bipartisan support, which is phenomenal. But at the same time, there's not, it's not always matched with education, and not just education for girls, but also education for boys. Because even if you're not menstruating or even if you will never menstruate, you still should have some understanding so that you could have that empathy and support and know that if you do see one of your fellow menstruators menstruating, you don't point and laugh, but maybe you give them your sweatshirt instead. And those are some of the things that whenever I learn about, I'm like, wow, this is the world that we live in yahoo! I mean, kind of, not really.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, Yeah. Well, so I mean, you've given, you talk about the legislation on your website and I know you do a lot of public speaking and you know your personality, you know, yourself in addition to being the CEO of Aunt Flow. So, so tell us, so 20 states have passed this legislation that make it, like it's a requirement to carry free period products, is that right? I guess, tell us about the legislation as it relates to this space, if you can.

Claire Coder:
Yeah. So there's over 20 states that have some form of legislation requiring schools to offer free period products in bathrooms. Each state has a little bit of a variation on that. So, for example, California, the first legislation that they passed was that all girls bathrooms in grades 6 through 12 with students, where 40% of the students qualified for free and reduced lunch, those schools had to offer free period products.

Abby Mercado:
Oh, okay.

Claire Coder:
Now, it's starting to expand a little bit more. So each state has a little bit of a different flavor of that requirement. But the reason that states are passing is because we found that by offering free period products in bathrooms, in school bathrooms, it increases attendance amongst girls.

Abby Mercado:
Wow.

Claire Coder:
So it's truly a no brainer. Low cost, high impact solution to making sure people have access to basic necessities. So that's a little bit about the legislation. There's also really interesting federal pieces of legislation that are currently in the works. One of those would be the Menstrual Equity for All Act, which was introduced by Grace Meng in New York, which would be a federal mandate requiring all buildings to offer free period products. That's also a really exciting one in, the US is actually a bit behind compared to other other nations. Scotland actually was the first nation to require all buildings to offer freely accessible period products, so this isn't necessarily a new concept. This is actually a basic concept that other nations have adopted, because they've been seeing so much opportunity and success of increased attendance and making sure people had access to basic necessities just like toilet paper or soap and paper towels.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. So I can, the point is obvious, right? If TP is free, like why something that half the population goes through at any given time, at any given period during the month, like, let's provide this for free. So what is the counter point? Like, why isn't this just happening? Why? Yeah, yeah. What is it? It's got to be economic, I'm guessing.

Claire Coder:
Well, Abby, I think one of the, so a few of the reactions that we've received is don't you just know. Well, don't you if you know when you're getting your period, like you should just carry your products, right? It happens every month. But I think that's a really important myth to debunk, and if you menstruate, like you understand, like it's not that consistent, but if you don't menstruate, you think of, oh, you just get this period monthly. But that's not the case, right, as you're going through perimenopause, you have even more irregular periods. And so I think that education and understanding was our first focus area for Aunt Flow. How can we make sure that people understand and also for menstruating people that are experiencing this, supporting them, that they can ask for freely accessible period products in their workplace, in their school. For decades, women, girls, people with periods, have just hid tampons up their sleeves and was like, I'll just deal with it. But like, that's not something that, just because that was the way that it was doesn't mean that it always has to be that way. The lower zone of the stigma situations that have led to the moment that we're in today, where there's still so many places that don't offer freely accessible period products.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Claire Coder:
And then of course, there's the economic consideration.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. So connect to all of this. So the term period poverty, what does that mean? Why does it matter?

Claire Coder:
Period poverty, lots of discussion on period poverty. Generally what it refers to is not being able to afford the basic necessity of tampons, pads, other alternatives that could support you during your time of the month, whether that be ibuprofen, midol, other heating pads, etcetera. This has become a challenge in a large conversation because tampons and pads are not covered by wick or food stamps.

Abby Mercado:
So wild.

Claire Coder:
They're, right? If you're one of the 16 million women living at or below the poverty line in the United States, this is an incredibly expensive investment to make. Now, within the past few years, period products recently were made eligible with FSA dollars, which is definitely a move in the right direction. But if you're living at or below the poverty line, you likely don't even have an FSA account.

Abby Mercado:
Sure.

Claire Coder:
So I think there's so much more opportunity. And the reason that there has not been a ton of focus on this was really the taboo, right? Nobody knew that people needed period products because folks in need weren't asking for it because they were nervous and they were using alternative methods like socks and diapers or.

Abby Mercado:
Socks, oh my god.

Claire Coder:
And plastic bags.

Abby Mercado:
Oh my god. How uncomfortable.

Claire Coder:
And yes, so large challenge in the US and of course internationally as well.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, you feel like my questions are like, I'm like just so fascinated by this topic, it's so important. So how much more are period products than toilet paper? So can we lower the cost of period products to like, what goes into a period product to make it work well? Like, you kind of understand where I'm going, can we fix this with some of the input of what actually makes the period product? Like?

Claire Coder:
Yeah.

Abby Mercado:
how do we address this challenge?

Claire Coder:
Abby, loved the question, right? When we think about.

Abby Mercado:
Love the like poorly ....

Abby Mercado:
Why are ...?

Claire Coder:
I mean, it goes back to like why are more locations not adopting this? And of course there's an economic component. But what I think is important to also debunk is that it's not that expensive compared to the impact, so.

Abby Mercado:
Great. That's where I was hoping you'd go.

Claire Coder:
Right, so when working with Aunt Flow, it's 5 to $20 per female student per year for a school, K through 12 and university, which is not a lot of money when you see the tangible impact of increasing education amongst girls. What's been really incredible too, is that schools K through 12 schools, have been able to use CARES Act money to implement freely accessible period products. So there's lots of opportunity for federal and state funding to be able to implement this program. And for universities, there's been a lot of discussion about how implementing free period products is a title nine issue and obviously referring to equal opportunity for female and male, female and males on campus. And so oftentimes there's budget allocation there as well. So not like the money is not there.

Abby Mercado:
Right.

Claire Coder:
But also the investment is not insurmountable. This is actually, frankly, from my vantage point, a no brainer, and obviously, it is obviously an investment in something that organizations have not paid for in the past.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Claire Coder:
That said, it's a fraction of the cost compared to your toilet paper line item, right? You mentioned what is it compared to toilet paper? Right, 1 to 3% of your toilet paper budget will be period products.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Claire Coder:
Like it's not a massive investment when you compare that to the outcomes of increased attendance, people feeling safe, comfortable and confident at their workplace or at their school, so much opportunity there. And it's my belief too that period products one day will be come the expectation.

Abby Mercado:
Of course.

Claire Coder:
Right now people who have periods, we don't bring our toilet paper with us. My vision for the world is that we can confidently navigate this world without having to carry a worry about getting our period in public because we know that bathroom or washroom or loo will have freely accessible period products. That's the crazy vision, Abby, that's the vision and mission that we're working towards.

Abby Mercado:
I'm knocking the vision, and it's super crazy and I think the mission is very noble and want to help in any way I can. So let's talk more. Let's talk more about just the business. I want to know how it works. So you told us about the idea, the story is amazing, I don't know, well, you probably know this because of the panel that we sat on together, but for the listeners, Rescripted, fun fact was also started through a Techstars startup weekend, was just so fun, I know, it's like totally what Techstars wants you to do. So okay, so tell us about like atarting the actual business. What was that like? So how long has Aunt Flow been around?

Claire Coder:
Yes, so I've been working on this for seven years. But Abby, you know, the difference between like founder and business, right?

Abby Mercado:
Totally, totally.

Claire Coder:
Well for three right years it was really a project and it was, I waitressed every single day and all the money that I made from waitressing, I poured into building this brand and movement and concept and eventually learned a little bit about venture capital through Techstars in 2018 and raised our venture round in 2019. And that was really when it turned in from a project to a business. And initially I actually imagined it was maybe a nonprofit, mission-oriented, maybe we're, maybe we should just rely on donors. But as I spent more time on this area, I realized like for this to make, for us to make systemic change, we needed to be a business because we needed other businesses to look at freely accessible period products as a good business decision, not as a charity. You don't look at toilet paper or soap as a charity for your employees, that's not what it looked at. It's a good business to offer those products in the bathroom. And similarly, that should be the way for period products as well. So originally I thought of it as maybe just a nonprofit, expanded that horizon, and now the business model is simple. We have these patented tampon and pad dispensing systems. We place them on walls, now in over 23,000 bathrooms across the US, Canada and the United Kingdom. And then we make the recurring annuities, offer the period products that are patented to fit our dispensers. That's the business model, very simple, it's very similar to toilet paper, soap, towels, all the other stuff that you'd find in the bathroom.

Abby Mercado:
Did you have a particular customer or set of customers who said, who kind of stepped up early on and said, and kind of convinced you that this wasn't a nonprofit, this is a good business. Like what was kind of that, that early founder market or that early ... product? Well, there's, there's definitely founder market fit here but you know that early product market fit. What was that like for Aunt Flow?

Claire Coder:
Yeah so winding back the clock. Imagine the world of 2019, right? It's hard to think about, but imagine the world of 2019. And at that time we were starting to do pre-sales, right? It had my, one pager of a what a dispenser would look like, and we went to all of these large companies. By we I mean me and one of my first team members who was also in sales and we were just pounding the pavement. And our first guess was Viacom, which obviously owns a ton of, like MTV.

Abby Mercado:
Just like basically runs the world, like no big deal.

Claire Coder:
And then after that was Twitter and then after that was Netflix.

Abby Mercado:
Wow, Claire! That's amazing.

Claire Coder:
Right? And they all they were all like yes, we want to pre-order and I was like, cool, this is awesome. And then we were planning, we were like, okay, this is great, we're going to finish all our dispensers. We're going to make them all up for you. We're going to ship them in March of 2020. And my gosh, you know what happened?

Abby Mercado:
Covid.

Claire Coder:
Covid, Covid. So we, I joke, I think I've earned a decent amount of stripes in my founder career so far because in 2020, obviously did not place all of those dispensers across all of those marquee logos. And we actually pivoted, we launched Work Flow, so we had Aunt Flow and Work Flow. Work Flow was all the other basic necessities, aka masks. We retooled pad production to make FDA approved three ply masks.

Abby Mercado:
Wow.

Claire Coder:
... Masks in 2020.

Abby Mercado:
That is so cool and like a huge problem. And you turned it into a huge opportunity just based on your knowledge of logistics.

Claire Coder:
And also focusing on what we're really good at, right? Like we, we manufacture class two medical devices, we import FDA approved products. And oh, by the way, we have a really inviting and fun brand in a really unsexy category aka period products. How could we do that for masks? So we had the trademark Spread Joy, Not Germs. We had all these fun little assets and we did as much as we could to make a really crappy situation a little bit more inviting and fun. And that's what we did in 2020. So 2020, crazy year, did all of that, had a really healthy profit and top line that year. And then as we shifted back to 2021, I said, okay, no more.

Abby Mercado:
You're like, my, my passion is periods, not.

Claire Coder:
Right. And really just listening to the market, right? Eventually there was not going to be an insane need of masks and everyone would go back to their standard procurement solutions. And so in 2021, we focused all of our efforts back to Aunt Flow and here we are in 2023. So really we've been in market for just two years, even though we've been, I've been working on this for about five before that, so seven total, so yeah.

Abby Mercado:
So how, post-COVID, I can imagine that uptake was just so fast. Were there any learnings, any growing pains? Like what has it been like for the business since COVID became slightly less of a thing?

Claire Coder:
Yeah, well, as mentioned, we originally started the business focused on Class A office assets and premier tenants, aka the Google, the Netflixes and the Twitters. But 2021, they are still remote. Omicron was still a thing.

Abby Mercado:
Thing was raging and yeah.

Claire Coder:
And there was not, for offices, a high need to get people back, compared to sports and entertainment or compared to hospitality. And so some of our team members really helped collaborate and think who needs to go back to their places, who needs that for their businesses to run? And so in 2021, we really focused on K through 12 university and sports and entertainment. Now in 2022 and 2023, we're seeing a lot of that real estate assets and those assets come back. But we really had to adjust to the situation and focus on who needs Aunt Flow the most and who really wants to make sure that people are back in their locations. So now proud to say that we do stock stadiums like State Farm Stadium, which is where the Super Bowl was, and that's where Taylor Swift's first stop on her tour will be. Yeah, geez!

Abby Mercado:
Oh, my gosh.

Claire Coder:
So that's really exciting and really drives towards that initiative or initiative that no one ever has to worry, no matter if you're going to a game or if you're going to your local high school volleyball tournament.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah, amazing. I saw Aunt Flow in a bathroom in a ski resort that I went to recently and I was like I feel safe and confident. I'm not currently on my period, but if I was, I would feel super safe and super confident. So thank you. So working in the fertility and women's health space, we see so many different period products from the period products that we've always seen at Walgreens and CVS to period products made out of bamboo, avocado, not really, but that'd be funny. But anyway, we're just seeing a lot of stuff out there. How do you decide what to put in these dispensers? Tell us a little bit about that.

Claire Coder:
Yeah, it's awesome to see the category grow. So that's first and foremost, want to just raise the roof to all the folks in this category trying to change the world for people with periods like by your side cheering you on. For Aunt Flow, we play in a different category, right? We're B2B, so we sell to other businesses. We have our two basic product lines, organic cotton regular day pads with wings and organic cotton regular smooth-tip cardboard applicator tampons. We, and focus on those two products because one, we want to make sure that the products that we're delivering are safe, healthy and comfortable for our end users. But we also recognize that these products will be used in a moment of need. We're going to offer light, regular, and super tampons and winers and night pads and all the other stuff, like we'll offer the two solutions in the bathroom to reduce cycle challenges for the client and also to make sure that you have what you need for the moment that you need it. And so that's how we decided on what to offer in our dispensers. And when it comes to alternative period care, my gosh, I'm so excited to see all these new innovations. Abby, do you have any favorites right now?

Abby Mercado:
Oh my God, our customers would killing me if I had favorites, but, no, I love them all. ... I love all. No, I agree with you. It's our job to make the consumer aware of everything that's out there. And there's so much that's out there and it's just so cool to see, it's so wonderful to see. It's, I'm a millennial, I think you're a Gen Z, and it's amazing to see this new demographic that is so excited about this category and that they're running businesses in the space and these businesses are super successful, a lot of them are venture-backed. And it just seems like this category is on a rocket ship. And it's been really fun to see and it's been really fun to work with a lot of them. So I totally second what you said. So at Rescripted we know that words matter and you've spoken about the words hygiene products and like essentially you have this culture of inclusivity. Words matter, like people matter, let's be kind, let's be empathetic. How did you, and you've already said that your people have helped create this culture, but why is this, like, uniquely important for Aunt Flow in the business that you're in?

Claire Coder:
Yeah. So even before we had dispensers, before we had venture, before we had really anything, we did have a brand and that was focused on changing the language around menstruation. So I'm proud to say that back in 2016 we were in, one of the first companies to remove feminine hygiene from all of our branding. And this was actually brought to me at the time from an intern who helped really uncover a clear what the hell does feminine hygiene even mean? What does it mean? Like literally sounded out feminine hygiene. It could be a boob cleaner, it could be.

Abby Mercado:
Hahaha, a boob cleaner.

Claire Coder:
Like what could that be? And so really focusing on calling it what it is, therefore reducing the taboo, right? Like reducing shying away from talking about what's going on, and then also recognizing that not everyone who menstruates identifies as feminine or identifies as a woman. So really focusing on the language people with periods, also recognizing that even if you are female, you might not have a period. But that doesn't mean that you're less than so really focusing on that language of people with periods, menstruators, obviously thinking about how we can make sure that everyone has access to their basic necessities. So that's always been in our blood, if you will, because language does matter. So that's how, that's what we've thought about it even from the very, very early days.

Abby Mercado:
So you have a particularly loud voice, you have a big following, you have your own website, why is it important for you as a series A, founder, and CEO, to evangelize? When did you start thinking about this and how have you made it happen in your life and in pursuit of the success of Aunt Flow?

Claire Coder:
Oh gosh, Abby, well, here's the truth.

Abby Mercado:
... Wish me, my friend.

Claire Coder:
I wish I didn't have this obligation, Abby. I really wish ..., but I do. When I first was working on Aunt Flow, seven years ago, there was no conversation about B2B period care. I couldn't lean into a movement that already existed, I had to start talking about it. Early days, we hosted a Menstruation Nation event, we hosted period parties, right? We, I had to find my voice so that others could start learning about the mission. I think what's also been fascinating, just generally probably seen this too, Abby, is I didn't have a network to raise capital. I had to build a brand so that people heard and listened. And that has now become an obligation. And what I think is important, whenever there is a spokesperson, oftentimes, especially female CEOs find themselves in this position to be the brand, the spokesperson and the CEOs, those are three ... and.

Abby Mercado:
Totally.

Claire Coder:
Exhausting. Exhausting.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Claire Coder:
And I own it.

Abby Mercado:
You're like, and so I don't sleep.

Claire Coder:
I do the best that I can.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Claire Coder:
But it is really tough. And I am so excited for the day that I don't have to scream so freaking loudly every single day to get people to pay attention to period care. Like, I can't wait for that day. But until that day comes, like I do find myself in this position of obligation to use the platform that I have now built to make sure that more folks are aware that it is important to offer freely accessible period products from Aunt Flow in your bathrooms.

Abby Mercado:
That's so profound. And it's something that I hadn't really thought of. It's, I'm a women's health CEO, you're a women's health CEO, and we all, like there's so much data that points to the fact that we're already, it's harder for us to raise capital. It's harder for us to put out content that is successful on social without it being knocked down by the algorithm. There's already so much just knocking us down, pulling us back, all the things. And it's, it's just, it even adds so much more kind of with having this obligation to flip the conversation, to change the conversation, to change the narrative like it's an obligation and it makes being a woman's CEO that much harder than being a regular CEO. So yeah, I think you just brought up a really amazing point that I hadn't even considered myself, so thank you for that. So last question, I ask this to all guests. So as we're closing up, I would love to hear one thing that you would rescript about the reproductive health industry and about the women's health industry, what would you rescript?

Claire Coder:
Rescript?

Abby Mercado:
What would you change? Rescript is not a word. We made it up.

Claire Coder:
A controversial opinion, Abby, I think we need another diagram for vaginas and vulvas other than fruit.

Abby Mercado:
Okay.

Claire Coder:
There's a controversial opinion.

Abby Mercado:
Why is that controversial? We have a lot of OB-GYNs and fertility doctors who listen to this podcast. Who do we need to talk to about that? What should the drawing like, what should it be?

Claire Coder:
Well, I think what's been, as you mentioned from an algorithm perspective, it's very challenging in this category to get your word out by using real images of vulvas, right? That's challenging.

Abby Mercado:
Right.

Claire Coder:
I don't know if fruit is the best alternative, I'm not coming here with a solution.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Claire Coder:
But maybe your listeners can. But I think that fruit was a good solution because what are you going to do? You can't publish a whole bunch of vulvas, everything gets taken down. I also think that it might or might not be the best vehicle for sharing information about reproductive health because not all vulvas are as symmetrical as an orange and not all, like I think that there's maybe a better way, so.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah.

Claire Coder:
That would be one thing that hopefully the listeners can help us solve because I think we should have an alternative to fruits.

Abby Mercado:
I think you're right. I think you're right. I love that. And it totally came out of left field, which is why I love it so much. And by the way, I feel like we spent I think we've spent the whole podcast talking about what you would rescript, so this answer works and I absolutely love it, so.

Claire Coder:
... Keep, brands that are using fruits, keep doing it, like cheering you on, and we hope that a listener comes up with a better alternative. And when we have it, we will use that.

Abby Mercado:
Amazing. Well, Claire, this has been an absolute joy. Thank you so much for coming on. Where can people learn more about Aunt Flow?

Claire Coder:
It's easy. Instagram, website, Go Aunt Flow, F L O W, and the easiest takeaway here today, if you're like, man, I'm really pumped to get involved in the menstrual movement, there's two things that you can do that are no cost and no challenge. The first is stop hiding your tampon up your sleeve or down your boob when you go to the bathroom.

Abby Mercado:
... Tiger Woods .... Product.

Claire Coder:
That can be number one. The second is if you are a student, a employee, a team member, a mother, a friend, basically for anyone you can advocate for Aunt Flow period products.

Abby Mercado:
Yeah. Or somebody who loves a woman or somebody who has a period.

Claire Coder:
Anybody loves someone who menstruates, really anybody can take this action item, which is to advocate for Aunt Flow free period products at your workplace, school, alma mater. And we have all of those advocacy resources on our website.

Abby Mercado:
Amazing. Amazing. Well, thank you again, Claire, thank you, Aunt Flow, for just making the world a safer, more confident place for women and people who menstruate. So I'm sure we'll talk soon. And thank you again.

Claire Coder:
Yes. Thank you, Abby!

Abby Mercado:
Thank you for tuning in to the Future of Fertility. We hope you'll leave here feeling empowered about all of the exciting innovations taking place in the fertility space. If you liked today's episode and want to stay up to date on our podcast, don't forget to click subscribe. To find this episode, show notes, resources, and more, head to Rescripted.com, and be sure to join our free Fertility Support Community while you're there.

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