Aunt Flow helping bring period products to bathrooms everywhere
Mark Williams, Columbus Dispatch
5 min read
Claire Coder, 26, founder and CEO of Aunt Flow, holds samples of the period products that her company sells and donates. Coder, who started the company in 2016 when she was 18, has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Her goal is to have period products freely available in every public restroom.
It turns out that providing free period products is not just a good idea, but a good business.
Aunt Flow founder and CEO Claire Coder says her Columbus-based startup of providing menstruation products at no cost is growing so quickly that she will add 19 workers in Ohio by end of the 2025. She currently has 16 employees, with about half in Ohio and the rest spread across the country including at hubs in Chicago and Denver.
"I’m more excited about the company than I’ve ever been," said Coder, who started Aunt Flow in 2016 at the age of 18 and is now 26.
As part of the company's expansion, JobsOhio will give the company a $100,000 workforce grant.
In return, the company will invest $600,000 to train new workers for jobs in sales, marketing, operations and administrative positions. The 19 jobs will have an annual payroll of $1.9 million.
Aug 25, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Claire Coder, 26, founder and CEO of Aunt Flow, holds samples of the period products that her company sells and donates. Coder, who started the company in 2016 when she was 18, has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Her goal is to have period products freely available in every public restroom.
It started with a period
Coder was at an event in Columbus at the age of 18 when she unexpectedly started her period.
"I went to the bathroom and there was a coin-operated dispenser − I naturally didn’t have a quarter because who carries coins. As I was making my own tampon out of toilet paper I was thinking toilet paper is offered for free, why aren't period products.’’
Today, 30,000 bathrooms across the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom are served by Aunt Flow products, including every Apple store in North America, 6,300 school bathrooms in Utah and plenty of places in central Ohio such as the Greater Columbus Convention Center, Nationwide Arena, Lower.com Stadium and Progressive Field.
"The Greater Columbus Convention Center has always made sure to provide complimentary menstrual products for our attendees and guests," the convention center said in a statement. "We were intrigued with Aunt Flow because of their mission, the local aspect of them being headquartered in Columbus, and their sustainability efforts within the products."
Aunt Flow products have been well received by guests, the convention center said.
While Coder won't disclose the company's revenue, she says sales have tripled in each of the past few years as people see the products in bathrooms around the country and ask their employer to stock them.
Aug 25, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Claire Coder, 26, founder and CEO of Aunt Flow, holds samples of the period products that her company sells and donates. Coder, who started the company in 2016 when she was 18, has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Her goal is to have period products freely available in every public restroom.
She's a long way from when she went business to business along High Street in the Short North pitching Aunt Flow products.
Now, millions of passengers who go through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, for example, see Aunt Flow products and ask their employers to stock them, Coder said
Coder came up with the company's name by going through every euphemism around menstruation should could think of and those that had trademark availability and social media availability.
"Aunt Flow did, so that became the name," she said.
What's driving Aunt Flow's business?
The increase in Coder's business has been helped by growing recognition that menstruation products are just as important in bathrooms as soap, paper towels and toilet paper − all products that are free, she said.
"Now is the moment," Coder said. "I can’t take all the credit but we’ve definitely been screaming into the ether that accessible period products are critical and important to advance this next generation of menstruators."
The Ohio General Assembly, for example, included $5 million in the new state budget for dispensers and free pads and tampons to students beginning this fall.
The state of Utah now requires period products in all state-owned buildings and New Jersey just passed a law ensuring students in sixth through 12th grade have access to pads and tampons in public school bathrooms starting next school year.
"For decades, people who menstruate have been told not to talk about menstruation, hide a tampon up your sleeve. It's your responsibility," Coder said.
How the business model works
Aunt Flow sells its products to businesses, schools, governments and others focused on three areas: school buildings from grade school through college, office buildings and venues such as stadiums and convention centers.
Customers buy the Aunt Flow dispenser that is stocked with tampons and pads, and then janitors keep them filled just as they do the soap containers, paper towel dispensers and toilet paper holders in bathrooms.
Sample pads and tampons available from Aunt Flow are on display. The company’s goal is to have period products freely available in every public restroom.
The products are free. A push of a button on the dispenser will release a tampon or a pad.
Coder said she spent time with janitors that stock and clean bathrooms to see what kind of dispenser would work best.
She said some companies have tried putting a basket of products out for workers. While that may work for low-traffic bathrooms, it's not so great in high-traffic area where baskets can be knocked to the floor or get wet. Some baskets may even get stolen.
The company was able to develop the dispenser with venture capital money the company raised in 2019. All in all, Aunt Flow has received $17 million in venture capital funding.
The products are made of organic cotton, and Coder says they are far more comfortable than what was has been traditionally available from the dispensers that require a quarter.
The company contracts with manufacturers throughout the world to make the products.
The company doesn't share revenue figures beyond noting its rapid growth, and like most young companies, growth is more of a focus than profit at this point for Aunt Flow.
Aunt Flow also donates one product for every 10 it sells − 5.2 million tampons and pads since 2021 − to those in need.
Free the tampons
Columbus business leader Nancy Kramer started a program in 2013 called Free The Tampons meant to create a national movement to provide freely-accessible menstrual products in every restroom outside of the home.
"She took it and she really ran with it," Kramer said of Coder who she calls "a remarkable young woman."
Kramer, who has mentored Coder, said she gets a request at least once a day from someone wanting to get access to menstrual and Aunt Flow products.
There's not a woman who doesn't have a story about being caught without having what they need, she said.
"Claire has really helped catalyze the vision. ... Her branding, her personality brings a fresh, youthful vibe to it," Kramer said.
Kramer also credits Coder with bringing more openness to the topic.
"The younger generation has less stigma attached to it," Coder said. "The older generations, you just didn't talk about it."
