{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Making It with Jess Ekstrom","title":"Making it to Free Tampons in Every Bathroom with Claire Coder","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/98b55ee8\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3435,"description":"In this energizing episode of Making It with Jess Ekstrom, Jess sits down with Claire Coder, the visionary founder of Aunt Flow. Claire shares the exact moment at age 18 that inspired her to drop out of college to make tampons and pads just as free, dignified, and accessible as toilet paper in public restrooms. She opens up about the evolution of her company—from packing subscription boxes in a U-Haul storage unit to raising nearly $17 million in venture capital and stocking Aunt Flow dispensers across 70,000 bathrooms worldwide. Claire provides a candid look at the realities of being a B2B founder, including why she considers entrepreneurship a \"genetic defect,\" navigating the surprising pushback she gets from female decision-makers, and why balancing a world-changing social impact requires owning a unapologetically capitalist mindset.\nEpisode Highlights:The \"Quarter Dispenser\" Moment: Claire recalls her monumental 18th-period story that exposed the lack of basic period care in public restrooms and sparked the idea for Aunt Flow.Dropping Out for Menstruation: Navigating the awkward, bold conversations with parents and advisors when leaving Ohio State University after one semester to build a period care empire.From U-Haul to B2B Leader: The scrappy early days of running a subscription box out of a 3rd-floor apartment and storage unit before pivoting to patented B2B bathroom dispensers.A Shift in Policy: Celebrating the legal and cultural shift across 27 states that now mandate or fund free period products in school bathrooms.\"No Mission Without Margin\": A raw masterclass on why purpose-driven startups must maintain for-profit discipline and high performance to create true long-term impact.Selling Tampons to Men vs. Women: Why heads of facilities (mostly men) are often an easy sell, and the unexpected challenge of overcoming internalized taboo from female decision-makers.Handling 86 VCs Rejections: What Claire learned while pitching investors, raising $17M, and...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/UeJn2_qX0SbHd9je8M1i3xYiHk_fwyHMoyDCBRs8oF8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mNTBk/MGE4MGJlZWNlNDM5/ZjAxOTM5MzA2ODI3/MzUwMS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}