Shownotes
Bio
Ashlee Lena Turner is the CEO and founder of The Pocket Panty (TPP), a brand that offers small, discreet, individually wrapped panties—tiny enough to fit in a purse, glove compartment, gym bag, or even most back pockets. They’re the perfect solution for a quick and accessible spare pair after an intense workout, a last-minute overnight stay, an unexpected tinkle from laughing too hard at happy hour, or for women who experience occasional incontinence.
Ashlee’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2006 when she opened Sweet Sugar, a candy lounge on Melrose Blvd. in Los Angeles. With over four years of experience in real estate and more than a decade of business ventures, her passion has always been in creating solutions that empower women. But The Pocket Panty holds a special place in her heart, as it allows her to combine her love for women’s rights, reproductive health, and social advocacy.
Through The Pocket Panty Project (TPP+), a nonprofit 501(c)(3), Ashlee is committed to improving health and hygiene outcomes for women and girls by providing menstrual health education, advocacy, and access to essential products. At TPP+, we believe menstrual health is a fundamental human right and a key factor in the overall well-being and success of women and girls.
For Ashlee, The Pocket Panty is more than a brand—it’s a movement.
Summary
The salient point of this podcast conversation with Ashlee Turner is the profound importance of listening to customers and addressing their needs, which has been pivotal to her entrepreneurial journey and the creation of her innovative product, Pocket Panty. Throughout our dialogue, Ashlee elucidates her experiences as an entrepreneur, beginning from her early ventures to her current focus on providing women with practical solutions to their intimate needs. The conversation delves into the various challenges she faced, including the lessons learned from her initial failure in the candy business, which ultimately fueled her determination to succeed. Ashlee emphasizes the necessity of understanding the diverse reasons behind women needing extra underwear, which has expanded her market significantly. Our exchange not only highlights her business acumen but also her commitment to social impact, as she aims to empower women and girls through accessible menstrual health solutions.
Conversation
Jothy Rosenberg's conversation with Ashlee Turner offers a compelling narrative that traverses the landscape of necessity-driven entrepreneurship. Ashlee's journey is marked by a profound understanding of the importance of consumer feedback, a theme that resonates throughout the episode. She reflects upon her inception as an entrepreneur, rooted in her childhood experiences of reselling candy, which ignited her fascination with market dynamics and customer needs. This foundational experience evolved into the conception of Pocket Panty, a product that addresses an urgent need for women to have access to spare underwear, particularly in moments of unexpected necessity. The dialogue emphasizes how Ashlee's initial vision was expanded significantly through direct engagement with customers on platforms like Shark Tank, where she learned about the diverse medical and social reasons women seek her product, thus broadening her market and enhancing her social impact.
As the discussion progresses, Ashlee articulates her belief in the necessity of merging profit with purpose, advocating for a business model that prioritizes social responsibility alongside financial viability. She recounts her experiences in various sales roles, emphasizing how a focus solely on monetary gain often left her unfulfilled, prompting her return to entrepreneurship with a renewed sense of mission. The episode serves as a clarion call for aspiring entrepreneurs to identify and address real-world problems, particularly those affecting marginalized groups. Ashlee's insights challenge conventional notions of success, urging listeners to seek out ventures that align with their values and have the potential to enact meaningful change.
Furthermore, Ashlee’s partnership with Planned Parenthood exemplifies her commitment to community empowerment and education. The upcoming Breaking the Cycle initiative aims to facilitate conversations about menstrual health between mothers and daughters, particularly in the context of incarceration. This innovative program seeks to dismantle the stigma surrounding menstrual health and promote education among young girls, ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge and resources necessary for their well-being. The episode encapsulates the transformative power of entrepreneurship when it is rooted in empathy and a desire to create solutions that uplift and empower those in need, leaving listeners with a profound understanding of the impact that purpose-driven ventures can have on society.
Takeaways
- Customer feedback serves as an invaluable resource for identifying growth opportunities within a business.
- Ashlee's entrepreneurial journey underscores the significance of pursuing purpose over mere financial gain.
- Learning from past failures is crucial; each setback can provide essential lessons that foster future success.
- Addressing fundamental human needs can transform a business model while simultaneously improving lives.
- The Pocket Panty initiative illustrates how addressing urgent societal issues can create a sustainable and impactful business.
- Engaging with underserved populations can reveal market potential that may otherwise remain unrecognized.
- The Pocket Panty
- TikTok
- Jothy's TEDx talk - On why those with disabilities tend to overachieve
- The Who Says I Can't Foundation - Jothy's non-profit that helps disabled kids get back into a sport they love to restore their self-esteem
- Our YouTube channel
- Designing Successful Startups — Jothy Rosenberg | Author | Speaker | Podcaster - Site with all podcasts
- Tech Startup Toolkit book
- Please leave us a review
Transcripts
Hello, I'm Joffy Rosenberg, the host of Designing Successful Startups, where today's guest is Ashley Turner.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I tell people all the time, listen to your customers.
Speaker B:Like consumer and customer feedback is like the cheat code to, to growth of your business.
Speaker B:You know, when I started it, it was simplistic.
Speaker B:Like it was for that exact reason.
Speaker B:I tell the story all the time.
Speaker B:Like it's for the overnight bag.
Speaker B:It was for me and my girlfriend's going to happy hour and wanting to.
Speaker B:Not if I go home, I'm not going to come back out.
Speaker A:Welcome to Designing Successful Startups, where we dive into the journeys of entrepreneurs who saw a problem and had the courage to solve it.
Speaker A:I'm your host, Jothi Rosenberg.
Speaker A:Today we're joined by Ashley Turner, founder of Pocket Panty, who is revolutionizing how women handle hygiene emergencies with a simple yet brilliant solution.
Speaker A:From selling candy in elementary school to disrupting the feminine hygiene industry, Ashley's story is one of resilience, purpose and grit.
Speaker A:She's bringing dignity and confidence to women and girls everywhere, tackling issues from menstrual education to what she calls panty poverty.
Speaker A:Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned founder, Ashley's journey from real estate to creating a product that addresses an overlooked but universal need will inspire you to find purpose in your business ventures.
Speaker A:Stay tuned as we explore how addressing basic human needs can create extraordinary impact.
Speaker A:And hello, Ashley, how are you today?
Speaker B:I'm feeling good.
Speaker B:How are you?
Speaker A:I'm doing fine.
Speaker A:You're well?
Speaker A:Actually, the first thing I always like to ask and you'll tell us where you are, but where are you originally from and where do you live now?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:I'm originally from Compton, California.
Speaker B:My brother jokingly says it's a small hamlet outside of Los Angeles and I am currently in downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker B:I live in.
Speaker B:Currently live in downtown Los Angeles.
Speaker A:So would it be safe to say that you've lived pretty much your entire life in the LA area?
Speaker B:I have.
Speaker B:I had a quick blip in Chicago, which I actually loved.
Speaker B:I would have stayed there if the cold did not kick me out.
Speaker B:And I lived there for three years, but mostly Los Angeles county based.
Speaker A:Yeah, I've spent a little bit of time in la.
Speaker A:I've spent more time in Chicago because I'm from Detroit originally and it wasn't far and I love Chicago.
Speaker A:I think it's a.
Speaker A:I think it's actually a really nice city and it's got all that jazz and it's got great pizza if you like a good hot dog.
Speaker A:Theirs are the best.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Chicago is unmatched when it comes to food vibes.
Speaker B:Like in the summer it's like, it's chef's kiss.
Speaker B:Like, I'm telling you, if I could have survived those winters, I would have stayed longer.
Speaker B:But that cold was like, go.
Speaker B:And then my dad wanted me back home.
Speaker B:So it was kind of like a no brainer.
Speaker A:Okay, so that one I accept.
Speaker A:But here's the statement that those of us that live in a colder climate say is that there's no such thing as bad weather.
Speaker A:There's just bad clothes.
Speaker A:You just needed warmer clothes.
Speaker B:Whether there was just brutal, like it was just, it was bad.
Speaker B:It was bad.
Speaker B:Like it was bad.
Speaker B:And I remember too, like I used to drive a Mini Cooper and so the snow on my Mini Cooper, I would pay like the neighborhood kids to shovel it out.
Speaker B:I knew nothing about snow and shoveling out.
Speaker B:I mean, like again, I'm LA based, so it was an experience, pivotal time, like really kind of changed my life, to be honest with you.
Speaker B:But I don't, I don't want to live there full time.
Speaker A:The places that I've spent a lot of time in LA are Pasadena.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Some of the areas around Pasadena, little tiny towns like Sierra Madre and, and some of those places because I had relatives there.
Speaker A:And so I stayed, you know, stayed with them when I, when I was younger, you know, before I was married or anything.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker B:Beautiful.
Speaker B:Beautiful there.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was, it was beautiful.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:So why don't you tell us how you got started in general on your entrepreneurial journey and then we'll, we'll dive into the current startup you're doing now for sure.
Speaker B:So I started being an entrepreneur pretty young.
Speaker B:In elementary school there was a store, I'm going to date myself, but eff it, it was called Price Club.
Speaker B:That was before Costco.
Speaker A:Yeah, I remember it.
Speaker A:I was a member of Price Club.
Speaker B:You're old too.
Speaker B:And so we definitely had my mom, she would take me and I would buy bags.
Speaker B:I used to love sour belts, right?
Speaker B:Sour anything sour, sugary.
Speaker B:I would buy it, try to resell it.
Speaker B:But I used to love my own products, so I would eat it.
Speaker B:So that venture didn't last long, but in that moment I saw how I can buy it.
Speaker B:Bag them up, sell them for 50 cents or quarter, whatever I was selling it for.
Speaker B:I saw how you can make money from that.
Speaker B:And then I would say in my adult years, everyone in my family went to college.
Speaker B:I tried, I went.
Speaker B:And I just wanted to get to the money.
Speaker B:I Don't know what it was, but I.
Speaker A:Where does you go to college?
Speaker B:So I started off at a school, Cerritos College.
Speaker B:And then I went to, at a brief stint at Dominguez Hills and then I ended up at a school called American Intercontinentals, like for fashion design.
Speaker B:Because really that's where I was really into fashion.
Speaker B:I'm like, okay, I can make money doing fashion, this is what I want.
Speaker B:And I was going there and it was pretty good.
Speaker B:Like I enjoyed it going to class.
Speaker B:But then I needed a part time job.
Speaker B:My parents came to me and was like, listen, we don't have any more college money for you.
Speaker B:We spent it on your brothers, kind of like you're on your own, right?
Speaker B:So I had a family friend that was into real estate.
Speaker B:I started working as his assistant.
Speaker B:Loved it, right?
Speaker B:He didn't know what he was doing, so he was like, well, I'm gonna have to fire you.
Speaker B:And this was like after a month.
Speaker B:And I had gotten a taste of like the fast pace of real estate and making phone calls.
Speaker B:And so there was another agent in the office, God bless him, his name is Steven.
Speaker B:He came and grabbed me and was like, you're good.
Speaker B:Like I want you to join my team and we'll figure it out.
Speaker B:And when I tell you, we hit the ground like every weekend.
Speaker B:We had territories or there were Spanish speaking territories, so we were in like Huntington Park a lot and neither one of us, we knew little Spanish, but we just kind of just spoke it.
Speaker B:We got with a realtor that really trusted us and he opened us up to his, to his clients.
Speaker B:And I had went and Steven said, study this book.
Speaker B:He was a.
Speaker B:He was studying to get his broker's license, I was studying to get my real estate license.
Speaker B:We studied, we went, took the coursework, saved his book, got my license, decided I did not want to sit sell real estate.
Speaker B:I wanted to do mortgage lending.
Speaker B:After that, took off in mortgage lending, like it was insane.
Speaker B:And obviously, you know, this was before the market crash.
Speaker B:But I knew my heart was not in real estate, my heart was in candy.
Speaker B:So I went back to that and I opened up a candy store when I was 25 years old on Melrose called Sweet Sugar.
Speaker B:And I guess independently, that was my first entrepreneurial.
Speaker A:And how did that go?
Speaker B:That is the.
Speaker B:I'm not going to go into that long story.
Speaker B:But let me just say this.
Speaker B:The owner of the building and was his grand.
Speaker B:He was the heir of the LA Philharmonic.
Speaker B:So he was a land use attorney by trade, I thought, because again in my 25 year old brain that I was doing all the right steps.
Speaker B:I hired a business manager, I hired someone to attorney to read over my contract to make sure it was good.
Speaker B:I found this store that was an urban clothing store.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Business one on one, do not change a regular store into a food, a food establishment.
Speaker B:The permits will kill you.
Speaker B:And so I went.
Speaker B:So the store was urban clothing store.
Speaker B:It had some like asphalt on the ground.
Speaker B:Sign the lease, let's crack up this asphalt.
Speaker B:I don't want it.
Speaker B:Crack up the asphalt.
Speaker B:First thing you have asbestos, asbestos.
Speaker B:Go to my landlord, landlord, there's asbestos.
Speaker B:He was like, read section 4, item A.
Speaker B:This is your problem, not mine.
Speaker B:That was the first thing.
Speaker B:And when I turned it went like that.
Speaker B:From electrical, asbestos.
Speaker B:Tried to get electrical permit, electrical.
Speaker B:I had to redo the electrical in the whole building.
Speaker B:Tried to get a water permit.
Speaker B:These exposed pipes, a young kid could touch these pipes and burn their fingers.
Speaker B:Had to do the plumbing in the whole building.
Speaker B:And the crazy part was, is that my building?
Speaker B:And it was another, it was like a lingerie store next door.
Speaker B:They were connected.
Speaker B:And so if I had to do modifications in mine, I had to do it in theirs.
Speaker B:And I had to pay for it because she wasn't going to pay for it because she didn't need it for her permit.
Speaker B:She wasn't selling food.
Speaker B:So $120,000 later, nine months later, after I'm signing a lease and paying rent of 7,000amonth, you got to sell a.
Speaker A:Lot of candy for that.
Speaker B:God, if I could do it again.
Speaker B:Like the grove had opened and this was on Melrose.
Speaker B:So the grove had opened, so the foot traffic had decreased.
Speaker B:I should have sat in front of my store with like a club clicker and counted every time somebody walked past my store because the foot traffic had slowed down.
Speaker B:It was a nightmare.
Speaker B:I mean, it was the greatest learning lesson.
Speaker B:It was the biggest debt I had ever accumulated.
Speaker B:But even through all of that, I knew I wanted to do it again.
Speaker B:I want to get back out there again.
Speaker A:Take me from this debacle of a candy store to what you're doing now and then we can start talking about this startup.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:I mean, throughout after the candy store, you pick yourself up.
Speaker B:You, you know, I went back to a job and that's what I always did.
Speaker B:Like anytime I started a business and if it didn't work out, or if it did work out and I just got unmotivated after I started it, I was like, up, back to work.
Speaker B:So I would go back into sales because I knew that's where I thrived.
Speaker B:And I would just make a lot of money and then go back into entrepreneurships.
Speaker B:And when I say sales, I mean, I went and got every license.
Speaker B:Oh, insurance license.
Speaker B:I can make money.
Speaker B:Okay, cool.
Speaker B:I'll get an insurance license.
Speaker B:Okay, cool.
Speaker B:Auto, pup, umbrella.
Speaker B:You know, like, oh, I could do that.
Speaker B:Watercraft.
Speaker B:Oh, cool.
Speaker B:I'll get that license too.
Speaker B:Oh, now we can make money selling life insurance and supplemental policies.
Speaker B:Oh, great.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker B:I went and did that.
Speaker B:Like, I went and did all this salesy stuff, but it made me money to start the next insurance venture.
Speaker B:I mean, the next business venture.
Speaker B:But I think I got tired of that because I think I got tired of.
Speaker B:I always tell people, like, chase purpose, not paper.
Speaker B:And I think I had to learn that lesson because if you, if you're just chasing money, you're gonna.
Speaker B:It's not gonna last.
Speaker B:It's not sustainable.
Speaker B:But if you find a business that you could find your purpose and then, you know, you could and you can make money and, you know, that's where it's at.
Speaker B:So that's how I got to the panties.
Speaker A:Let's talk about panties then.
Speaker A:Did that transition really nicely.
Speaker A:You just, you just launched the word panties into the podcast.
Speaker B:Panties.
Speaker B:Let's go.
Speaker B:Let's go.
Speaker A:So let's go through this in the logical way.
Speaker A:So you identified a serious and widespread problem women have and that you had.
Speaker A:So you had a very personal connection to, which is one.
Speaker A:You know, it's rare, but it's one of the best ways to have an extreme amount of passion for what it is that you're the problem you're going to solve because you have that problem.
Speaker A:And it.
Speaker A:But it turns out, as you explained to me in a previous conversation, that there's not just one problem that women have relative to a need for extra panties.
Speaker A:Always on them.
Speaker A:There's a lot of reasons.
Speaker A:Maybe you could list the reasons why.
Speaker B:Are you uncomfortable to list them?
Speaker A:No, no, no, I'm not uncomfortable.
Speaker A:I'm uncomfortable.
Speaker A:Speaking for you, though.
Speaker B:Oh, fair.
Speaker B:So you're right.
Speaker B:There are a load of reasons why a woman could need a spare pair.
Speaker B:And it goes beyond just, you know, crotch sweat, just needing to freshen up.
Speaker B:So that's one reason.
Speaker B:Incontinence, another reason.
Speaker B:Chronic bv.
Speaker B:Another reason.
Speaker B:I mean, you bleed.
Speaker B:Excessive bleeding, another reason.
Speaker B:I mean, there's just so many medic.
Speaker B:New medication or medical procedures that don't allow you to control your bowel movements.
Speaker B:Another reason.
Speaker B:And all these reasons a woman may not want to wear a diaper.
Speaker B:She just might want to freshen up her underwear throughout the day.
Speaker B:And then that's where pocket panty kind of fills that gap.
Speaker A:There was another, there was another reason you told me that you didn't list just now, which is the one nighter.
Speaker B:Well, Jothy Jaffi after Dark we can talk about if you meet someone, I mean, and a lot of women can speak to this like you meet someone, guy, girl, whoever, and you, it's your first time, you might think you might want to spend the night, you might not.
Speaker B:You want to be able to carry a spare pair in your bag that's, you know, that's not at the bottom of your bag with the balled up pieces of lint and gum in your purse.
Speaker B:And so the pocket panty just offers individually wrapped.
Speaker B:I should have had one with me right now so I could kind of show this individually wrapped panty, you know, or for that option.
Speaker A:But you ought to have a spare toothbrush and condom too.
Speaker B:You definitely should.
Speaker B:And it's so funny, when I first started, I used to give out like they called influencer packs and I would put everything you needed for there.
Speaker B:So it would be a lip balm, a hair bonnet, a pocket panty, a toothbrush.
Speaker B:Like all this stuff you needed is the girl in the go bag.
Speaker B:So definitely.
Speaker A:But seriously, I think the pivot that's really interesting to me about this is when you started to discover there were all these medical reasons why this was so needed and that opened up the size of the market to become ginormous.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:I tell people all the time, like, listen to your customers.
Speaker B:Like consumer and customer feedback is like the cheat code to growth of your business.
Speaker B:When I started it, it was simplistic and it was for that exact reason.
Speaker B:I tell the story all the time.
Speaker B:It's for the overnight bag.
Speaker B:It was for me and my girlfriend's going to happy hour and wanting to.
Speaker B:Not if I go home, I'm not going to come back out.
Speaker B:You know, just freshen up.
Speaker B:But after we did that episode of Shark Tank and we got those emails back from women just telling us all the health issues or all the reasons that a pocket panty could come in and handy for them.
Speaker B:It was just like a no brainer, like why wouldn't I address these needs?
Speaker A:Hi, the podcast you are listening to is a companion to my recent book tech startup Toolkit how to Launch Strong and Exit Big.
Speaker A:This is the book I wish I'd had as I was founding and running eight startups over 35 years.
Speaker A:I tell the unvarnished truth about what went right and especially about what went wrong.
Speaker A:You could get it from all the usual booksellers.
Speaker A:I hope you like it.
Speaker A:It's a true labor of love.
Speaker A:Now back to the show.
Speaker A:Wait a minute.
Speaker A:You went kind of quickly over Shark Tank.
Speaker A:Why don't you please tell us what.
Speaker B:That was, like, amazing.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:God, like, oh, that was just.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:It was life changing.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:And listen.
Speaker B:And I didn't even get a deal.
Speaker B:But it's okay, because once you don't get a deal, people still find you and say, hey, do you still need capital?
Speaker B:Do you still need capital?
Speaker B:And my vc Minerva Verse is by far, like, God bless them.
Speaker B:They are the best.
Speaker B:They are so supportive.
Speaker B:Like, I landed right where I was supposed to, but Shark Tank overall, as an experience was.
Speaker B:Was the best.
Speaker A:So they were nice.
Speaker A:All of them were.
Speaker B:I mean, I.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:I can't sing their praises enough.
Speaker B:From the.
Speaker B:From the beginning, they allowed me.
Speaker B:They just said, like, what do you want to do?
Speaker B:Like, we want you to write your pitch.
Speaker B:And when you hear other people, they say, like, oh, they gave me a pitch to say, like, they totally let me write my pitch.
Speaker B:They added one line.
Speaker B:That was not.
Speaker B:That was not my pitch.
Speaker B:But it was funny.
Speaker B:Like, has Aunt Flow ever left a Picasso in your panties?
Speaker B:Which is very jarring.
Speaker B:Kind of like, whoa.
Speaker B:But it got the attention.
Speaker B:But other than that, I got to write my pitch.
Speaker B:And it's so funny because I applied for Shark Tank.
Speaker B:I applied for Shark Tank maybe five months after I had launched.
Speaker B:I had no business applying for Shark Tank.
Speaker B:And I went through the process almost to the very end.
Speaker B:And then they said, you know, unfortunately, we're not going to pick you for the season.
Speaker B:But they kept on saying, be proud you made it this far.
Speaker B:You just launched.
Speaker B:And I was proud, but I was bummed.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But then a couple months after that, they were like, hey, you didn't make it for season 14.
Speaker B:How about season 15?
Speaker B:And I was like, hell, yeah.
Speaker B:And after that, it just went.
Speaker B:It went and went fast.
Speaker B:And here it is.
Speaker A:How are you marketing and distributing these pocket panties?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:So I went back to addressing the need again, listening to the feedback.
Speaker B: he beginning of the summer of: Speaker B:There's a spike in young girls getting their menstrual cycles as early as the age of nine.
Speaker B:Memory unlocked.
Speaker B:Like, I remember being in school and watching the young girls tying sweaters around their waist, going to the nurse's office, you know, they might have a pad, they might not.
Speaker B:If they did, you know, like, why are we sending young girls back into the classroom?
Speaker B:You're giving them a pad, but then you're giving them a pad to put on soiled underwear and what that feels like, you know, for a young girl, you're now worried, you can't even focus on your class, class studies, because you're now worried about if you're going to eventually seep through your pants or worse, smell through your pants, you know, and why aren't we addressing that need?
Speaker B:So I think I just kind of really pivoted, like, okay, let's take care of young girls.
Speaker B:Because the other option of either keeping them out of the classroom and making them sit in the nurse's office for the day, so now they've missed a day of education.
Speaker B:Or you could send them back to the classroom.
Speaker B:Now they're not focusing on their education because they're worried about these other things.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Or the worst thing to do is giving them a wad of paper towels and having them wrap the gusset of their underwear in paper towel, which is what I had to do.
Speaker B:And women my age, women still do do when they don't have an option to swap out their underwear.
Speaker B:So distributing.
Speaker B:I went straight to school districts and you have to be a disruptor, but you can't be so much of a disruption where they're like, girl, go.
Speaker B:But just enough where you can get their attention, but you make them move.
Speaker B:So you go to school district meetings.
Speaker B:You don't stop there because the school district, the school board is one thing, but you need to get in front of the parents.
Speaker B:So then you go to the parent teacher student meetings and you start there.
Speaker B:And so that's where I'm at.
Speaker B:I'm marketing to schools right now.
Speaker B:I'm going to schools and it's working.
Speaker A:So you're, you're Right now you must be local.
Speaker A:You're in the LA area.
Speaker B:I'm in LA County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County.
Speaker B:I'm growing and I'm going to take up the state of California.
Speaker B:And then I'm going to Nevada.
Speaker B:And then I'm just going to keep going.
Speaker B:It's like it's no stopping me now.
Speaker A:Well, good, because I mean, you got to get all the way across the country before you're going to benefit.
Speaker A:Where I live in Boston.
Speaker B:Oh, we're going to.
Speaker B:Well, just because you said that, now I got to come to Boston.
Speaker B:I'm not going to even make you wait.
Speaker B:I'm going to come.
Speaker B:And I mean, we're, we have.
Speaker B:Literally, we're working on so many different avenues right now because, yes, let me be clear.
Speaker B:The sneaky link bag, the overnight bag, still a thing.
Speaker B:And we need to take care of those women, too, right?
Speaker B:Girl athletes who are playing sports who create a large amount of sweat and bacteria because they don't have access.
Speaker B:Basketball players, volleyball players.
Speaker B:We have a division that's working on college athletes and college access and education, right?
Speaker B:Unhoused people, we're working with that.
Speaker B:We have somebody working on unhoused people.
Speaker B:There's so many different demographics of women that can benefit from panties and menstrual education.
Speaker B:If we teach a woman how to take care of herself, how she shows up in the world is.
Speaker B:It's, it's.
Speaker B:It's limitless.
Speaker B:And that's what we're trying to do.
Speaker A:I have a daughter, but she's 40.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker A:And every one of my grandkids.
Speaker A:Five.
Speaker A:Every one of the five is a boy.
Speaker A:So we do have women in that group, my extended family, who are older.
Speaker A:And all I know is every time we go anywhere, they scout out, where's the nearest bathroom?
Speaker A:How far are we driving?
Speaker B:And listen, don't, don't.
Speaker B:Now, now, we got the mani panty coming out, too.
Speaker B:So don't you worry.
Speaker B:We're going to cover your boys.
Speaker B:But all jokes aside, like, as we've been talking to school districts more, they're asking, what about for kids?
Speaker B:Like, younger kids?
Speaker B:Because I would say our pocket panty covers a good fourth grade and up.
Speaker B:But we are, we are actually addressing undergarment.
Speaker B:Like, my first priority is panty poverty or undergarment insecurity.
Speaker B:I mean, it, it affects chronic absenteeism.
Speaker B:If young kids, especially socioeconomically disadvantaged kids, don't have underwear, they're not coming to school.
Speaker B:It's just not happening.
Speaker B:It's just one reason to stay home.
Speaker B:And so we're addressing it across the board, including young boys.
Speaker B:We are getting to it.
Speaker B:I mean, it's.
Speaker B:It's something that people don't think about because it's something that we all take for granted.
Speaker B:Like, of course we have panties, but there are demographics of people who just don't have underwear or have a limited amount of underwear.
Speaker B:And with a limited amount of underwear, without having direct access to a washing machine, you know, and dryer, having to pack up everything and go pay at a washer, you're not coming to school.
Speaker B:If you do come to school, if You're a young girl, you do come to school and you're already uncomfortable because you have jeans on with no underwear.
Speaker B:And you have an unexpected menstrual cycle.
Speaker B:And that happens in that one pair of jeans you have.
Speaker B:You're not coming back to school for the rest of the week.
Speaker B:So this is a simple solution that we can do to instill confidence and dignity inside of young girls and have them show up as their full selves.
Speaker B:This is a simple solution that we can do to keep young kids in school.
Speaker B:Like it's a panty, for God's sakes.
Speaker B:Get kids.
Speaker B:It's like a fundamental human right.
Speaker B:I can get like worked up talking about this.
Speaker A:But seriously, like, there's panty rights.
Speaker A:Are they washable or are they designed to be thrown away?
Speaker B:No, they're washable.
Speaker B:You can get 200 washes out of each underwear.
Speaker B:So if you do need to, you know, you can fold it back up, put it back in there for your next emergencies.
Speaker B:We did create the pocket panty period kit, which allows, you know, a young girl to be fully equipped because some young girls were even scared to go to the ask the nurse for, you know, a pad, right?
Speaker B:But if at the beginning of every school year, the school distributes period kits to all their young students.
Speaker B:Which has a pocket panty, it has two pH balance wipes, it has two menstrual pads.
Speaker B:This young student can keep that in her backpack or in her locker.
Speaker B:So whenever she has an emergency, she can go, she has, she is self sufficient enough to take care and remedy her problem herself.
Speaker A:Well, don't they have electronic billboards along the freeways there that you could get advertising on?
Speaker B:They do.
Speaker B:Would you like to sponsor one?
Speaker B:How much those things cost?
Speaker A:So you're doing this full time because it's your passion.
Speaker A:Are you making money?
Speaker B:I am.
Speaker A:Good.
Speaker B:I am.
Speaker B:Oh, God.
Speaker B:Thank God.
Speaker B:I mean, and I'm gonna be honest.
Speaker B:Everything, I'm reinvesting it back right now because I.
Speaker B:There are things that we want to do to continue to grow our business.
Speaker B:I'm looking at making, changing the fabric of my panties.
Speaker B:I always want to keep a woman's body first.
Speaker B:So maybe looking more into sustainable fabrics that are better for the planet and better for a woman's body.
Speaker B:So we're looking into that right now.
Speaker B:So we are doing things to stay ahead of the curve and just again, prioritizing the well being and health of women and taking care of the planet at the same time.
Speaker A:Where are you having them made?
Speaker B:We have them made in China, you.
Speaker A:Know, you're going to have a problem.
Speaker B:Don't.
Speaker B:I don't even want to think about that problem.
Speaker B:We do have a manufacturer in Mexico as well, but.
Speaker A:Right, but he's putting tariffs on everybody.
Speaker B:Yeah, I didn't vote for him.
Speaker B:I'm a part of the 92%.
Speaker B:So that, I mean, I hate that this is happening because it's literally affecting my bottom line.
Speaker A:It's going to affect, I doubt there's anybody I'm going to be talking to that it's not going to affect.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:No, it's concerning.
Speaker B:And what I don't want to do.
Speaker B:One big thing for me is access.
Speaker B:You know, I fight for the access of fresh underwear for young girls, women disenfranchised, marginalized.
Speaker B:Like I want people to have access.
Speaker B:So I don't want to raise my price.
Speaker B:I just want to say this like one thing about access.
Speaker B:My panties have been in private schools for, I want to say since I started, like it was a no brainer for them.
Speaker B:I'm just now able to crack into public schools and I think it's really sad and unfair because girls in private school don't bleed any different than young girls in public school.
Speaker B:And it's just about, they have access to this option and it's just another thing that keeps the divide separate.
Speaker B:It keeps them ahead and keeps them here.
Speaker B:And it's just, I want to address that.
Speaker B:And so I'm excited about being able to come into public schools now.
Speaker A:That's, it's just, it's just really cool.
Speaker A:Your story is just really cool.
Speaker A:You started being an entrepreneur very young and you, and you, and you told that story about, you know, your mother.
Speaker A:So where, and we, we say this all the time and it's almost always been, been true that people that do startups that, that, that figure out, you know, a thing that needs to be done and no one's doing.
Speaker A:Takes grit to do that.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And, and so where does your, what's your grit story?
Speaker A:Where does it come from when you say that?
Speaker B:It's about to make me emotional.
Speaker B:I'm not going to cry about this because whenever I hear the word grit, I have a brother that always says like, damn, Ashley, you got grit.
Speaker B:And it's such an ugly word to me.
Speaker B:Like it's, the word like itself is like, like, you know, it makes me think that.
Speaker B:But it's beautiful because it's.
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:And, and I know I do.
Speaker B:And the grit, where does it come from?
Speaker B:I would say initially if I wasn't going to go to college like everybody else, like my siblings, I better have made a damn good choice in my career, and it better have paid off, you know, And I think that initial grit was to prove to my parents, see, I didn't have to go the college way, and I still became successful, you know, like.
Speaker B:And that's where that initial grit came from.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:But I don't know.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I'm sorry.
Speaker B:Hold on, let me compose myself.
Speaker B:The grit with the pocket panty is.
Speaker B:It's that there's a need that's bigger than me and, And.
Speaker B:And Morgan, who is.
Speaker B:She's on my board.
Speaker B:Like, she says that all the time because she'll say, you know, we talk about public speaking.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I don't really want to do it.
Speaker B:And she's like, girl, this is.
Speaker B:This ain't about you.
Speaker B:This is bigger than you.
Speaker B:And now that I'm in the mud with it and I see young girls that don't have underwear or don't have access to education or not fully knowing how their body works.
Speaker B:Like, you and I talked about the story with my mom.
Speaker B:I haven't said it today, but, I mean, my mom was one who picked me up from school and took me when I got my period and brought.
Speaker B:And brought me flowers and white flowers and took me to Target and showed me the different.
Speaker B:The different pad products or tampon products and how it worked.
Speaker B:And she explained that to me.
Speaker B:But for a lot of young girls, their parents don't do that.
Speaker B:Their parents might count on the school to do that.
Speaker B:Their parents might count on a box of pads and say, just read that.
Speaker B:You'll figure it out.
Speaker B:Some girls learn from their friends, but that's not really educating and teaching a woman about oneself, you know, and if a woman truly knows about her body, okay, well, my body does this.
Speaker B:That's not right.
Speaker B:I probably need to go to the doctor.
Speaker B:That smell.
Speaker B:That might not be crutch sweat.
Speaker B:That might be something more serious than that.
Speaker B:I need to go to the doctor up this.
Speaker B:You know, if she knows how to do that, she's powerful.
Speaker B:She can navigate.
Speaker B:If you can navigate this, you can navigate the world.
Speaker B:And, like, that's all I want to do.
Speaker B:And that's what my grit now comes from.
Speaker B:Empowering young women, empowering older women.
Speaker B:Just never got the access to education about, this is your body.
Speaker B:Here's fresh underwear.
Speaker B:Let's first get fresh access to fresh underwear, and let's get access to education so you can learn how to take care of yourself and navigate your body.
Speaker A:That was beautiful.
Speaker A:That was well said.
Speaker B:That's the tweet.
Speaker A:Except we don't tweet anymore.
Speaker B:No, we don't.
Speaker A:Ashley, this is, this has been a unique conversation because what you're doing is.
Speaker A:Well, it's really unusual.
Speaker A:It's a, it's a shock at first, you know, the first time you told me about it, but then when you really explained the problem, which you're very articulate at, it's like, no kidding.
Speaker A:It's a no brainer.
Speaker A:And the fact that you're working up through the schools, I think is fantastic.
Speaker A:I just wish you could get the word out to more people.
Speaker A:Yeah, I know you're working on it.
Speaker A:Working on it.
Speaker B:Johnny, can I say one more thing that I wanted that's really passionate to me that I want to share with your audience?
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So the Pocket Panty, we have partnered with Planned Parenthood.
Speaker B:I'm so excited.
Speaker B:We have our first event.
Speaker B:It's called Breaking the Cycle.
Speaker B:As I earlier explained, if your mother, depending on how she introduced you into womanhood, she might have done like my mom, very ceremonial.
Speaker B:She might have just thrown you the box.
Speaker B:In either case, your mother is incarcerated.
Speaker B:She's likely not going to be able to have this conversation with you.
Speaker B:85% of women who are incarcerated have adolescent kids.
Speaker B:And so the Pocket Panty has partnered again with Planned Parenthood.
Speaker B:And we are taking a group of young girls into a prison, Chino women's prison at ciw.
Speaker B:And we are taking them the first week of June to have this conversation with their mother so their moms will be able to teach their daughters about menstrual health management.
Speaker B:If the mothers don't know, we are able to educate them as well.
Speaker B:This is all facilitated in a safe environment where the mother can have this conversation and still have this moment to introduce her daughter into womanhood.
Speaker B:So we, again, we are starting with two prisons here in California, and again, we're coming to Boston if we're going some all over.
Speaker B:But if anyone of your audience knows any prisons that might be interested in joining us and leading this conversation, we'd appreciate that as well.
Speaker A:That sounds awesome.
Speaker A:And I, and I hope that the, these, these tariffs don't hurt you too much.
Speaker A:My God, they, they really worry me.
Speaker B:They worry me too.
Speaker B:Like, it's.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's not, it's not fun and it's not cool.
Speaker A:Thank you very much.
Speaker A:This was.
Speaker A:And you're just, you're just doing, you're doing a great job at presenting your your stuff and I hope to be, you know, get a chance to meet you sometimes.
Speaker B:Totally.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:Have a great day.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:Your Toolkit Takeaways Number one Listen to your customers Customer feedback is the ultimate cheat code for business growth.
Speaker A:When Ashley launched Pocket Panty, she thought it was just for overnight bags and freshening up after happy hour.
Speaker A:But after Shark Tank customers revealed medical needs, school applications, and solutions for unhoused populations she hadn't considered, by acting on this feedback, she dramatically expanded her market and social impact.
Speaker A:Remember, your customers will show you opportunities you never imagine if you're willing to listen.
Speaker A:Number two Find purpose beyond profit.
Speaker A:As Ashley discovered, chase purpose, not paper.
Speaker A:When she pursued sales jobs purely for money, she kept returning to entrepreneurship unfulfilled.
Speaker A:With Pocket Panty, she found a mission that creates both profit and meaningful social change.
Speaker A:By addressing fundamental human needs with dignity and respect, she built a sustainable business model while improving lives.
Speaker A:Your startup's lasting success depends upon finding that perfect intersection of profitability and purpose.
Speaker A:Number three learn from failure.
Speaker A:Don't fear it.
Speaker A:Ashley's first major venture, a candy store, cost her $120,000 and months of frustration.
Speaker A:Yet she calls it the greatest learning lesson.
Speaker A:Instead of giving up on entrepreneurship, she used what she learned and kept trying new ideas.
Speaker A:Each setback taught her business fundamentals she couldn't learn any other way.
Speaker A:Remember that failures aren't endpoints, they're stepping stones that prepare you for eventual success if you're willing to keep moving forward.
Speaker A:Number four Solve problems that matter.
Speaker A:The most successful startups solve real, urgent problems.
Speaker A:Pocket Panty addresses issues from chronic health conditions to education access that affect millions of women and girls daily.
Speaker A:By focusing on underserved needs that impact fundamental human dignity, Ashley created something customers actively seek out rather than something she has to convince them to want.
Speaker A:Your startup will gain momentum naturally when it solves problems that genuinely matter to people's lives.
Speaker A:The show notes contain useful resources links.
Speaker A:Please follow and rate us@podchaser.com designingsuccessful startups.
Speaker A:Also, please share and like us on your social media channels.
Speaker A:This is Joffre Rosenberg saying TTFN Tata for now.
