Making It with Jess Ekstrom

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.

Episode 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 how she gives direct, constructive feedback to the next generation of founders.
  • The Art of "Playing the Game": Why context-switching and matching the energy of any room—from janitorial trade shows to Manhattan rooftops—is a essential founder superpower.
About Our Guest:
Claire Coder is the founder and CEO of Aunt Flow, a B2B company that designs and installs patented, free-play dispensers packed with organic cotton tampons and pads in public and corporate bathrooms. After dropping out of college at age 18 to solve period poverty and bathroom inequality, Claire has built Aunt Flow into a global brand operating in over 70,000 bathrooms across all 50 states and multiple countries. She has raised nearly $17 million in venture capital, donated over 7 million period products to communities in need, and continues to champion menstrual equity worldwide.

What is Making It with Jess Ekstrom?

Making It with Jess Ekstrom is a top rated business podcast designed to help you amplify your ideas, influence and income. We have a special focus on amplifying women's voices, but this show is open to everyone. Tune in every other Tuesday to hear from Forbes Top Rated Speaker, Jess Ekstrom as she talks to speakers, authors and entrepreneurs who are crushing it in their own way.