Katie Diasti: [00:00:00] We thought we had six months of inventory of our tampons, like ready to go in stock. We sold through it in three weeks.

Hala Taha: Oh my God.

Katie Diasti: And it was wild. We actually had an over 3,000 person wait list to get our next batch of tampons. Like, talk about thinking it was funny to like pre-order pads. We were like, "Now we have a wait list for tampons?

Like, this is wild."

Hala Taha: Oh my God. My guest is Katie Diasti, founder and CEO of Viv. Katie turned a college class project into a period care brand generating more than $3 million in revenue this year.

Katie Diasti: This year we'll do about, like, 3 to 4 million. We've grown 3X year over year for the past several years now.

Wow. Across the board we still have, like, an over 70% margin across SKUs. Oh,

Hala Taha: wow.

Katie Diasti: And I think that's essential as a brand, and it's almost like a death wish to not have high enough margins- Mm-hmm ... because- So you did your first product run at $3,500. How did you get your first customer? Before our product even arrived, I brought samples and empty [00:01:00] boxes, and I sold pre-orders of pads that hadn't even existed yet.

Recently we just closed our seed round of 2 million, and now we're profitable. We had all this traction. And how has starting on Amazon actually helped you then enter retail? I think Amazon is, like, a requirement for being in retail doors successfully. Mm. I think it's very risky and actually bad practice to try to launch in retail doors without-

Hala Taha: What's up, my young and profiting family?

I'm coming to you from Amazon's annual seller conference in Seattle, where I'm sitting down with entrepreneurs who are building and scaling businesses in Amazon's store. This episode is part of our Amazon seller three-part miniseries on how we profit, our weekly format where real entrepreneurs share real numbers, real margins, and the real story of how their businesses actually works.

My guest is Katie Diasti, founder and CEO of Viv. And today we're breaking down how she built a [00:02:00] physical product business with very little capital, and how selling in Amazon's store is helping Viv grow more efficiently with a lean team. Let's get into it. Katie, welcome to How We Profit.

Katie Diasti: Thanks. Excited to be here.

Hala Taha: I am so looking forward to this conversation. You are just so inspiring. It's so cool to me that you started this as a school project in college and turned it into a real company that's selling on Amazon. To kick us off, what is Viv? What do you exactly sell?

Katie Diasti: So Viv is a better for you, better for the planet period care brand.

We really think of Viv as that cool big sister that you need in your life to help guide you through all of your menstruating years.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. But

Katie Diasti: also that fun new pop in the aisle that this category has needed for a really long time.

Hala Taha: Yeah. So basically, it's period products, and so you're selling tampons, and what are all the different products you're selling?

Katie Diasti: Yes. Yeah, so we make pads that are biodegradable and bamboo-based. We make 100% organic cotton tampons, and we have a new [00:03:00] technology. It's the safest tampon on the market. And then we make menstrual cups and discs that are all easier to use.

Hala Taha: Mm. It's so important what you're doing because for so many years we were sticking up crazy things.

Yeah. Like with tampons and, and like organic tampons, it's organic cotton. I feel like that's very important for women's health. Why was that so important to you, like innovating- Yeah ... in this space?

Katie Diasti: I was always really interested in like hygiene brands- Mm-hmm ... and how a lot of beauty and wellness and hygiene brands spoke to women.

And I felt like it was in a lens of like thriving off our insecurities, and I've always been very passionate about women's health. I have a lot of people in the medical field in my family, and was like just trying to reduce plastic waste in my own life, and seeing so many fun things in like the food and beverage aisle, and I was so cautious of like what I was consuming.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm.

Katie Diasti: But realized in like one of the most sensitive, absorbent parts of my body, like I just didn't care [00:04:00] or know about what products I was using. Mm. Um, and so when I was going down the period aisle, I would always feel like so anxious and awkward and would try to get out of there so fast. Yeah. And so I wanted to really rewrite that narrative for, for young people, but for everyone.

Mm-hmm. And to make like having a period a more fun experience than what we've known for so long. Um, and learning that like traditional period care has the same toxins you'd find in Roundup weed killer. It contains-

Hala Taha: Oh my God ...

Katie Diasti: so much plastic waste. Like a regular pad can take 800 years to break down. Oh my gosh.

And n- we didn't know that.

Hala Taha: Yeah. It's bad for you, and it's bad for the environment.

Katie Diasti: Yes, exactly.

Hala Taha: Take us back to Boston College- Mm-hmm ... when you first thought of this idea. You were doing like a college project, an entrepreneurship class or something like that.

Katie Diasti: Yes.

Hala Taha: Tell us about that.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. It was a classic like entrepreneurship class.

I did not know anything really about entrepreneurship at the time. I had a full-time corporate job, like ready to go, s- offer signed in fall of [00:05:00] my senior year because- I was in an undergrad business school, and I thought that's what you had to do, 'cause I saw all of my peers around me doing that, and I was like, "Oh my God.

Crap, I gotta get a job-" Mm ... 'cause everyone has a job so early. Yeah. And just signed the first job offer I had. And then I was in this class, and it was very much find a problem and come up with a solution for it. Mm-hmm. Um, and I was, you know, branding, marketing student in the business school. I loved- studying brands and how they could, like, start to be the voice of people when, like, other things in our world were not.

And I was also volunteering, um, several nights a week at a women's shelter in the Boston area, and one of my many roles there was passing out pads and tampons to women that came in. And so I was very passionate around, like, menstrual equity, who had access to period care, and, like, what that does to our lives, and, like, how that can help women, like, thrive and go to school and, like, do so many things- Mm-hmm

um, which was so important to, like, me and my, my story. Um, and so I was like, okay, a problem, all these- learning about all the issues with period care, the toxins, the plastic waste, and that [00:06:00] everything was hideous, and I wanted to hide it under my bathroom sink.

Hala Taha: Mm.

Katie Diasti: I just thought, what a fun idea for a class project.

Like, let me build a period care brand that has all the things I've ever dreamed of- Yeah ... in one. And then I became so obsessed with it. I was doing extensive research. I would go to my old marketing research professors and, like, build out surveys with all the tools we had on a campus. I would host, like, period market research parties in my dorm.

And we'd-

Hala Taha: Mm. Period parties.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. They were literal period parties. And would have my friends, like, talk in a circle about all the things they hated about their products- Mm ... and, like, really became an expert on period care and, like, what people wanted. And I gave my final, and I, I... My professor was incredible.

She brought in all these entrepreneurs from the Boston area that I looked up to, and they gave us all this feedback. And I was, like, writing down all the notes, even though I should've been done, like, off senior spring, like, whatever. And I was like, "I'm not done with this." Like, there was something in me that was like, "I need to keep doing this in [00:07:00] some way," and here we are many, many years later.

Hala Taha: So you never took that job?

Katie Diasti: I re- nope. I reneged my offer before I even got there. Amazing. Um, pushed my start date back, like, four times and was like, "No, I'm all in."

Hala Taha: So we were talking offline that you're Egyptian.

Katie Diasti: Yes.

Hala Taha: How did your family take the news that you're like, "I'm star-" Uh, like, out of all, it's, like, bad enough that you're not becoming a doctor, right?

Right.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. My brother's a doctor, too.

Hala Taha: Yeah. All my siblings are do- I know how it is. But then you're like, "I'm gonna start a period care brand," and they're probably like, "Ugh," like, there's a word in Arabic, clasp, which means, like-

Katie Diasti: Yeah ... "That's embarrassing" Yes, and it was horrible about it. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I think that's, that's one of the things that fueled me is, like, I was taught that they were like, "This isn't something you talk about."

Mm-hmm. "It's shameful." And I was like, "Wait, no, it's not." And it's so interesting. I'm, I'm first gen, like my, my, I'm the first one born in the US of my family. And you know, growing up it was like, "Okay, what stable career path are you gonna have?" Because we just risked so much- Mm-hmm ... to, like, come to this co- op- country and, like, give opportunity for [00:08:00] you.

Yeah. And it's been so fascinating because my mom's a veterinarian. She raised me as a single mom for most of my life, and my grandma, um, helped raise us, too, and my grandma was actually not allowed to go to school just because she was a girl in, like, her little village in Egypt. Oh, man. Their whole thing is like education- Mm-hmm

is freedom. And- Yep ... if you can help educate people and you get educated, you can, like, do anything in life, right? Mm-hmm. And so that's always been, like, something so instilled in me. But then they saw how hard I was working, and- My mom was like, "You know what? I couldn't do stuff like that. Like, I didn't have the privilege to, like try to start a company- Mm

because it was so risky." Um, and she was like, "But I'm giving you that privilege to do it." I love that. "So go live the dream I couldn't," right? Mm-hmm. And it's like they're my biggest cheerleaders ever. It's like my- That's so good ... they're the best.

Hala Taha: Something that's so inspiring to me about your story is, is how little startup capital you actually had.

I think you started the business with, like $3,500 or $5,000- Yes ... or [00:09:00] something like that. Yeah. Talk to us about the first bit of money that you got, what you did with it, and how you made it work.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. So a few days after I graduated from Boston College, I jumped into an accelerator program, and we got $5,000 to build a company, which, you know, that...

This was 2019, so today it's... You can't really do a lot with 5K- Yeah ... um, especially in a product-based business. But

Hala Taha: in 2019, that was not that long ago.

Katie Diasti: Yeah, yeah, it really wasn't. And I was like, "Okay, what can I do with literally nothing?" And I think it really built in me a lot of, like discipline-

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm

Katie Diasti: and really understanding all of my numbers, knowing where every cent goes in our business- Mm-hmm ... and, like truly understanding what it was like to have to build a profitable company. Yes. Um, and I think in entrepreneurship you have to be really comfortable with, like not following the rules- Mm-hmm ... and not following the status quo, and that was because I had to, right?

Like, I didn't have the money to just, like, "Okay, that's the price. Here you go." It was [00:10:00] having to get so creative, and- Mm ... I would be negotiating with manufacturers as, like a recent college grad that knew nothing- ... about building a CPG brand. And s- they're like, "Okay, our minimum quantity is a million units per absorbency of tampon."

And I was like, "Well, how about you give me a few hundred and I try it out?" And we just had to get so creative, and, um, I think that made us better- Mm-hmm ... as a business, of how scrappy we were. And it also led us to content and building community first. Mm. I went to every event, pop-up, market, farmers market show in the Boston area that had the word, like women, brand, anything like that in the title.

So I was like, "Okay, a potential customer is there, and they can learn about my story, and they can learn about Viv and then find Viv one day- Mm ... and hopefully stores," which now we're in. And I took that, like scrappy grassroots approach, um, when first starting.

Hala Taha: [00:11:00] Yeah, that's so smart. It's like basically when you are constrained, it actually makes you think more creatively.

Yeah. And I know a lot of founders, like I interview founders all the time. I find that people who get investment before they have sales, they have this, like inflated sense, and they end up spending a lot. They end up hiring more than they need to hire, or not killing products fast enough, or not being scrappy like you- Ah

like in terms of, like negotiating because it's like they have the money so they don't negotiate as much. So I think that was probably something that really- helped you early on. Yeah. I'd love for you to tell us this story. Uh, get, like, really concrete with it. Your first product run, how much it was supposed to cost- Mm

and how you got away with doing it for so little.

Katie Diasti: So the first product we ever launched was our pads, and that was something that was really important to me because I was, like, a go-to pad user for so much of my life, and I hated the ones that existed.

Hala Taha: Mm.

Katie Diasti: And that was, like, my main mission, was, like, find a better pad.

I was studying all these fibers. And we [00:12:00] realized, like, bamboo is a really great fiber. Mm. It, like, reduces a lot of agro waste. It grows fast naturally, but it's also softer and more absorbent, so it makes so much sense for something like a pad.

Hala Taha: Yeah.

Katie Diasti: And I was going to all these different manufacturing partners, and they were like, "Okay, if you want a custom, um, label or branding on your pad, that's gonna be another higher MOQ."

Mm. "If you want boxes, that's another higher..." And then I was like, what if I bought Like, bulk product and, like, bound boxes and had them packed myself so I can control the MOQ. What's an MOQ? So an MOQ is a minimum order quantity, and the MOQs in our category are really, really high. They're used to working with bigger players.

It could be hundreds of thousands to a million units, like per- Mm ... type of absorbency in our space. And so we knew we had to get really creative, and we were able to do so with our first run being $3,500. And I thought that was a crazy amount

Hala Taha: of money. So you just got, like, the pads, and then you were, like- Yes

packing up pads in boxes

Katie Diasti: to [00:13:00] start. Yes. I had, like, 25 case boxes arrive at my apartment, um, and wa- it was a little walk-up in Boston. My cousin came over and helped me carry them all up the stairs, and I got all these boxes, and we hand-packed them into boxes, and that was our first ever product that we sold.

And I, I shipped every product out of my little apartment for, like, the first six months.

Hala Taha: Incredible story.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: So talk to me about where you went from there. So you did your first product run at $3,500. How did you get your first customer?

Katie Diasti: I went to these farmers markets in Boston to, like, try to meet everyone, and before our product even arrived, I brought samples and empty boxes and had this sign that we, like, made at Staples that said, like, sustainable period care, which at the time no one had ever heard of.

Mm. Like, that was not a thing that was talked about. It's becoming a

Hala Taha: thing now.

Katie Diasti: Yes. Now the category is exploding, which is ov- overdue and really exciting, and we're definitely seeing that, like, momentum. But in 2019, it [00:14:00] just, like, wasn't a conversation that was happening yet.

Hala Taha: Mm-mm.

Katie Diasti: Um, and some people would stop me, like, "Huh, this is interesting."

And I sold pre-orders of pads that hadn't even existed yet, and I was selling, like, hundreds of pre-orders, and that was something that was actually, like, a metric point for me to renege my job offer- Hmm ... was if I can sell, like, X amount of pre-orders, then I'll feel comfortable not going to that job. Mm.

And, um, we, like, surpassed that within, like, couple days of launching those pre-orders. So

Hala Taha: cool. So cool. Who knew that you could get pre-orders for pads?

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: For the crazy. Like, any business idea that you have that actually is solving a problem is something that's achievable, and I feel like- Yeah ... a lot of people wouldn't necessarily go that route in terms of, like, pre-orders for pads.

Yeah. But you really were getting scrappy to make sure that this would be successful.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: So where are you distributing now? Like, walk us through your journey of, like, where you started- Yeah ... where you're going.

Katie Diasti: Yeah, things look quite a bit different now. N- now we have warehouses and 3PLs, not me [00:15:00] packing in my apartment.

Um, we are sold in 2,000 retail doors across the US. We have, um, we're sold on Amazon and our website- Mm-hmm ... direct to consumer. Um, so a very omni-channel brand. We also are sold in, like, we're available in universities, gyms, um, and have an interesting, like, B2B side of our business. But- Um, yeah, now our distribution is, like, very omni-channel.

Hala Taha: Oh my gosh. Um, you started on Amazon first, though.

Katie Diasti: Started on Amazon first. Yeah.

Hala Taha: Which is such a great case study for Amazon in terms of, like, building a brand- Yeah ... and really helping you launch that. So what made Amazon the right place for you to launch?

Katie Diasti: We realized that people were going to Amazon, one, to buy things, and that's where people go to buy things, and then two, we couldn't fulfill at the rate with just, you know, a scrappy startup team that we wanted to.

And in this category, like you need your products really fast, and you want the product fast, 'cause people aren't always planning [00:16:00] ahead- Mm-hmm ... for a period. It's like, "Oh, I have this right now." And so we knew that was gonna be an unlock for us, of like how fast can we get it into a customer's hands, which Amazon, Amazon does exceptionally well.

It gets people their products quickly.

Hala Taha: Yeah. How has Amazon helped you save money and resources through Amazon Fulfillment, which I feel like you're teasing right now?

Katie Diasti: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, being available FBA, one, it's, you know, the team capacity and the way we hire, and the way we allocate resources can be on what we do best, which is creating content, building a brand- Mm

building community, marketing, and we can leave the fulfillment and packing of orders to Amazon's team. Mm. And that has been so great for a lean team- Mm-hmm ... like ours that can like really prioritize our, what we do best.

Hala Taha: What are your biggest categories? Like, what is your bestsellers?

Katie Diasti: It's so cool, because it's actually quite different across channels- Mm

um, for us, which we love. Our cup and discs have had a [00:17:00] lot of success on Amazon.

Hala Taha: Mm.

Katie Diasti: Our product is so differentiated. Like, it has a pull tab so it's easier to take out. It has a dark color, and it's competitive on price at the same time. And so it's been really great, um, for Amazon. Yeah. 'Cause when you stock us up next to all of our legacy competitors, it's a no-brainer to pick ours.

Hala Taha: It kind of makes sense, because pads and tampons, you might want to... Like, you get them at, like, when you're going grocery shopping. Mm-hmm. It's something you need every month, right? Yes. So, you're getting it when you're like, "Oh, I'm like, you know, I should probably pick this up." Whereas the cups are more of like a longer term thing.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: How do you see that like kind of break down, in terms of, you know, products and what you're trying to push? If, if one is repeat every month, that's obviously a lot more revenue than-

Katie Diasti: Mm ...

Hala Taha: one purchase with a cup.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. It's so interesting, 'cause it is more of like you're learning a lot about a cup or disc before you make that purchase decision.

Mm. And Amazon's a great platform for that, because you can educate so much right on that product page- Mm-hmm ... and see reviews, and see videos. And it [00:18:00] can be something where they can like learn and compare. While tampons and pads, it, you know, might take someone more to switch to a different product. Mm. But once you have...

We use a lot of subscribe and save deals, and that- Yeah ... really creates a lot more loyalty. It creates convenience for our c- shopper, and also brings that repeat revenue in, which-

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm ...

Katie Diasti: is always great for a business. Um, so it's been- And I think both, but we honestly view period care more like a skincare routine.

Mm-hmm. And we have noticed that our cup and disc shoppers are still gonna need a tampon or pad once in a while, or all the time, right? Like, people are really mixing and matching to fit every cycle feels a little bit different. Every day of the cycle feels a little bit different. And we also see people, like, the first postpartum period back versus, like, needing to go to a swim meet versus a long day of meetings.

Mm. It's, you're changing it up. So- We find that when people might learn about our cup first, then they come back and will subscribe to tampons.

Hala Taha: [00:19:00] Yeah. Let's talk about education. Let's talk first about education on Amazon. I know that Amazon has this, like, A-Plus content feature-

Katie Diasti: Yeah ...

Hala Taha: and you can get really descriptive.

Katie Diasti: Mm-hmm.

Hala Taha: Um, help us understand how you're educating people on Amazon. Like, what are the best tactics that you're using?

Katie Diasti: We really like leaning into our UGC videos and seeing what's performing well on our socials- Mm ... and then bringing that into our A-Plus content onto Amazon. And so a lot of our most viral content is simply how to use a tampon, what is a menstrual cup, how do you clean a f- menstrual cup.

Like, these very product educational, but also, like, health ed educational videos. And I think a lot of it has been our tone in videos and our approach. We wanna feel like we're, like, reaching for your hand through the screen and holding- Mm-hmm ... your hand through this process, 'cause it can always be intimidating trying something that's new in this space.

And so we get that, and we wanna make our product line and our brand feel as approachable as possible. And so getting to have that human element on a platform [00:20:00] like A- Amazon is-

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm ...

Katie Diasti: really helping us win over that customer. Yeah. And we get to tell our story, right? Like, on our brand page, it's a picture of me and my founding team, like, sitting on a couch, holding our first sign.

Mm. And, like, we show you the journey and, like, who was really behind this- Yeah ... um, to show, like, the care that goes into creating the products.

Hala Taha: Yeah. And then in terms of social media, that's been huge for you. Yeah. I'd love to spend some time there. What platforms are you focused on right now, and what has been your strategy for social?

Katie Diasti: Yeah. Our, social's been amazing for us. I think it's been helpful that, like, we are our target customer, and that we get-

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm ... what we wanna see. Yeah, you are literally your target customer.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. And it's, and I'm really thankful for that because I wasn't afraid to, like, hop on TikTok and, like, use Instagram in a way that brands weren't in the early days.

And we were on TikTok before TikTok Shop existed. Like, we would see these, a video go viral of the cup and see those sales translate to Amazon.

Hala Taha: Mm.

Katie Diasti: [00:21:00] And we were like, "Okay, this is really interesting that, like, having off-platform, off-Amazon content can really help drive Amazon sales." Mm-hmm. And, um, we were then like, "Let's keep utilizing this," right?

Like, it doesn't, it's so native to us to just, like, pick up the camera and film a video and tell our story. And so we started doing that, but then we would get so many young people in our comment section, particularly on YouTube and TikTok were, like, two platforms that we had a, a lot of dialogue on. Mm.

Supporting each other in the comment section, which I feel like is a key sign that you have a community, right? Mm-hmm. It's like it's not only the brand talking to customer, it's the people talking to each other.

Hala Taha: Yeah.

Katie Diasti: And we're really seeing that, especially on, like, how to use a tampon videos, what it's like to get your first period, and we had so many teens asking follow-up questions in the comment section, and we would just reply to those in video format and be like, "I'm here to help you."

Mm. "And I wish I had something like this [00:22:00] when I was their age, and so let's build it."

Hala Taha: So basically you're getting feedback from the conversations in the comments in terms of what content you're gonna put out next based on everybody's questions. Mm-hmm. Did you get feedback on the products you needed to launch and, and just information about- Yeah

how you should innovate your products?

Katie Diasti: We did. We got... That's actually how quite a few of our SKUs were created, were based on the comment section on our social media, um, especially around our cup and disc products because it was so new to so many people online at the time. And so many people were like, "I'm a beginner.

This is my first cup ever." Like, "I'm brand new. This video's really helpful." And we were like, wow, we are becoming, like, the beginner cup- Mm-hmm ... because it's easier to take out. It's a less intimidating. Mm. And so we actually created a whole s- um, two SKUs, the cup starter kit and the disc starter kit that has, like, a wash because we got so many questions- Mm

on how to clean the cup.

Hala Taha: Yeah.

Katie Diasti: We have a storage pouch 'cause, like, can you take it with you? And then we made this, like, [00:23:00] extensive booklet how-to guide that feels like you're texting your friend that answers, like, all of our pro tips for using a cup. Like-

Hala Taha: Mm ...

Katie Diasti: how, where we like to remove the cup, and we have a whole, like, how-to video page that feels like you're FaceTiming a friend- Mm-hmm

when you're using it for the first time.

Hala Taha: And it's really cool because basically, like we just mentioned, how often are people buying cups that don't use them?

Katie Diasti: Maybe once a year.

Hala Taha: And so the wash, at least they're buying something from you all the time, right? Yeah. So it gives you, like, some recurring revenue in that way.

Katie Diasti: And that was something that was really helpful- From like the Amazon's data as well, is we were able to see that so many people were buying like a basic non-PH disruptive soap to go with the cup, and they were buying a storage kit or a pouch to put it in. And they were kind of like trying to DIY what the cup starter kit is.

And we're like, wait, we can do this. Yeah. We can help them, and make sure it's like the safest, best product. Mm-hmm. And so we launched a wash to go with the cup. Mm-hmm. And that's been doing great on Amazon. And

Hala Taha: I'm [00:24:00] sure you can do bundle offers and

Katie Diasti: stuff like that. Exactly.

Hala Taha: Yeah.

Katie Diasti: The whole experience.

Hala Taha: So Amazon has Seller Assistant, which gives you data analytics, and I know that you use that.

We do. So what information have you gained from Amazon to make different decisions for your business?

Katie Diasti: One of my favorite things about the Seller Assistant tools is that you can really figure out your profitability per SKU, and like really understand what SKUs need more support, which ones need more marketing and education, which ones we can double down on in terms of budget and keywords.

Mm-hmm. And it makes it much smarter of like how you're actually spending your ad dollars.

Hala Taha: Mm.

Katie Diasti: Um, which has been incredibly helpful for us. Our cup and disc SKUs are, are higher margin, and they have a, they're very profitable. Um, but we'll see higher, you know, movement velocities of tampons and pads. Mm. And so it's like, okay, how can we increase trial?

How can we bundle things together in ways that shoppers already are doing? Mm-hmm. And so that's been a really great way to use it. Um, and even in the fundraising process when I was pitching investors, we [00:25:00] would get these really nuanced questions about our Amazon shopper, around like our subscribers, and I was able to put a lot of those into Seller Assistant and send them back the answer, and-

Hala Taha: Oh, amazing

visualize all that. There you go.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: How helpful.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: So Katie, let's go back to social for a minute, because I know that you've gone viral quite a bit. You've got a huge following right now, and you had a post one time early on that got two million views, and then you got so much demand that you actually couldn't fulfill.

You weren't ready for that demand. Mm-hmm. Tell us about that story, and the pros and cons of going viral.

Katie Diasti: Yes. Every, I think every brand founder or brand wants to go viral. That's the goal, especially when you're putting out so much content, and then when it really happens, it's like- Oh, crap.

Hala Taha: What do we do?

Katie Diasti: True chaos. Um, and you know, it's, there were so many positives that came out of that, but also so many, like, negatives, and it really tested us operationally. So this is around the summer of [00:26:00] 2024, and a lot of new studies were coming out around arsenic and lead found in a lot of traditional period care.

And we were realizing that every other brand was like crickets to respond, and one of the pros, I think, of being a emerging brand is that you can be really nimble and respond quickly- Mm. Mm-hmm ... to things, especially trends and new education that comes out. And so we used that to our advantage. It was, like, a Saturday morning, I'm writing a statement, I'm pulling all of our test reports, I'm pulling all of our heavy metal testing, and we created an Instagram post and put it out and sent an email to all of our community because our, you know, customer support, our DMs were filled with, like, "Is this gonna kill me?

Is this gonna give me, like- Mm ... is this stuff lead?" And we were like, "Well, we need to educate people on how Viv is different." Yeah. And because of that response, we had so many creators, doctors, news writers, like, all talking about Viv as that safe alternative.

Hala Taha: Amazing.

Katie Diasti: Yeah, and it was so much so that when you would Google, like, [00:27:00] safest period care of 2024, it was Viv is the safest period care.

Hala Taha: Amazing.

Katie Diasti: And that led to so much new search volume. We thought we had six months of inventory of our tampons, like, ready to go in stock. We'd sold through it in three weeks.

Hala Taha: Oh my God.

Katie Diasti: And it was wild. We actually had an over 3,000 person wait list to get our next batch of tampons. Like, talk about thinking it was funny to, like, pre-order pads.

We were like, "Now we have a wait list for tampons?" Like, this is wild.

Hala Taha: Oh my God.

Katie Diasti: And it, the thing that we could lean on was our relationships with our manufacturing partners, which, like, being one of the smaller players in the space, like, you feel like you don't have much power, but that's why, like, years of building those connections will then come into hand, uh, come handy, 'cause usually it's, you know, six to nine monthly times.

Mm-hmm. And we were able to turn that around in, like, two to three months instead, which felt like a lifetime- Yeah ... when you're in it. At

Hala Taha: least people had a wait... There was no, there was not [00:28:00] really any alternative, so it's like you were able- Yeah ... to do a wait list, which is super cool.

Katie Diasti: Yes. Yeah. Yeah, we knew exactly how- To like keep our community engaged, and like kept education up- Mm-hmm

and kept informing people of like, "Here's when it's gonna be back." And-

Hala Taha: Yeah ...

Katie Diasti: and actually used it as like a news story. Like, we were like, "Oh my gosh," like w- also, like with all of the writers that were talking about our, our products, we went back and we were like, "Look at the demand we have-

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm ...

Katie Diasti: for a product that's out of stock," and created a new news cycle out of it.

And I think that's something we've learned is like the news is going to move really fast. As a brand, you need to put what you think's important and recreate that news cycle over and over again to get your story across, because it's like one second on a scroll for a consumer.

Hala Taha: That's so smart. And how did you get the publications to like pick up that new news story?

Was it just things you put on social, or did you reach out to them and like, "Hey, follow up on this"?

Katie Diasti: Both. I think it's so important to like build relationships with the [00:29:00] writers that like talk t- to you once when the very beginning- Mm ... first ever launch. And it's like don't like have one conversation with someone and be like, "Sayonara."

Like, I'm always following them on Instagram and making sure that they know about our latest products. Mm, that's so smart. And like engage with people. Like, I think relationship building is s- like a lost art in business- Mm-hmm ... today that- Yeah ... still needs to happen.

Hala Taha: So people go viral all the time, and that doesn't necessarily translate into sales.

Yeah. So what were your like best hacks of getting people to actually go to Amazon and purchase?

Katie Diasti: Yeah, I think it's really important for people to know what they're supposed to be looking for, and it's something that's really top of mind right now. We, we just launched a new tampon innovation called Cottonlock-

Hala Taha: Mm

Katie Diasti: and it's the first ever like anti-shed tampon to exist.

Hala Taha: Anti what?

Katie Diasti: Anti-shed tampon.

Hala Taha: Okay.

Katie Diasti: So it's the first tampon that prevents fibers from shedding inside the body.

Hala Taha: Mm.

Katie Diasti: And all other tampons on the market can leave fibers stuck inside the body. And so we're now creating all this content, but we're like, "Okay.

How [00:30:00] do they find from that one... A one video they see, they're like, 'Oh my God. Fiber shed, what?' And then like, 'I need to find a better tampon,' and then they scroll, move on." Like, what are those key things that they heard that when they go search into, "Oh, I gotta buy tampons this month. Like I'm gonna look and see if that like fiber shed option is available."

It's like what are people picking up, and like what are the few words and keywords you're really- Like shouting out there- Mm-hmm ... that they can then find within Amazon.

Hala Taha: That's really smart. So you're making sure that like you're clearly saying Viv, which is easy to remember.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: Right? And you're always saying that you're on Amazon, and you're saying the keyword so people remember.

Are you doing any sort of like links or targeting or paid ads or anything like that to directly drive traffic? We're doing quite a bit more with like attribution links, which has been interesting,

Katie Diasti: especially with follow-up with press. If we have, you know, go into Fall Prime Day or other Prime Day sales, it's like, okay, like we just told you this really cool story about our new innovation and this new patented technology and our fundraise, but here [00:31:00] is a way that like you can make money and we can make money- Mm-hmm

that is also getting our brand out there. And

Hala Taha: you're using like Amazon's affiliate links.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. That's great. That's super smart.

Hala Taha: So speaking of Amazon, what are you learning from Amazon's data in terms of the products? Like, is there the way that people are searching or what they're buying with your product that's influencing your decisions at all?

I love what... This, this sounds so funny. I

Katie Diasti: love like doing keyword analysis and looking through like what led someone to our brand and led to a checkout.

Hala Taha: Hmm.

Katie Diasti: And it does- So it's

Hala Taha: like a user journey basically. Yeah. You're studying the user journey.

Katie Diasti: Yeah, like th- this many people, um, like converted because they were looking for a dark colored menstrual cup.

And it's like, oh, interesting, like the color of our cup-

Hala Taha: Hmm ...

Katie Diasti: was a factor for some shoppers. And then some people were switching because they were looking specifically for a compact applicator that's an organic cotton tampon. It's like they wanted the compact. And it's like it allows us to understand what [00:32:00] key factors of our product people love and care about- Mm-hmm

or what they're remembering to search. Um, and so it's actually developed, you know, more of our product, more of our pack sizes as well is so key on Amazon. It's like, okay, if so many people are always buying two or three boxes at a time, do we need to be increasing our own profitability by creating a pack size that is just equivalent to three boxes?

Hala Taha: Hmm. That's, that's really interesting. So basically like having like a bigger quant- Like once somebody's already sold on the product, they're willing to buy more at a time, 'cause you don't want to be like ordering something off Amazon every month.

Katie Diasti: Mm-hmm.

Hala Taha: Um, but talk to me about Subscribe & Save.

Katie Diasti: Yes.

Hala Taha: What's your tactics there?

Uh, I love Subscribe & Save. I think

Katie Diasti: it's been interesting because previously we didn't have a large, um, promo strategy around Subscribe & Save. We just, you know, threw it on there. We're like, yeah, people subscribe. And then as soon as we started increasing the promotion of that first month, we saw so many more subscribers.

Hmm. And they stay very loyal on Amazon within Subscribe & Save. Um, and so as long as you're like in [00:33:00] stock ready to fulfill, like that's a really loyal shopper- Mm-hmm ... that's really, really high retention. Um, and so it's been- Incredible for our business, but having those coupons attached to it has been key for conversion.

Hala Taha: Hmm. Well, this is How We Profit, so we gotta talk numbers a little bit. Mm-hmm. How big is the business today?

Katie Diasti: Gosh, so we've done over 3 million in revenue. This year we'll do, um, about, like, 3 to 4 million. Um, we've grown 3X year over year for the past several years now.

Hala Taha: Wow. That's incredible. And what are your biggest costs?

Like, what is the most costly part of your business? It's, it's been interesting because I

Katie Diasti: think, you know, naturally we're spending a lot on inventory- Yeah ... 'cause we care a lot about the quality of our product, and we have a lot of, like, safety that we want and testing that we want to see as a brand that we don't wanna, you know, compromise on.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm.

Katie Diasti: Um, freight, shipping, those kinds of things are where costs can really add up- Mm ... and really eat into margins- [00:34:00] Yeah ... as a business. And so something we've had to, like, really learn how to optimize. What's your most profitable product? Our cups and our discs are our most profitable products right now.

Hala Taha: Also, the most expensive though, you were saying.

Katie Diasti: Yes.

Hala Taha: So they're expensive to make, but you can charge more for them.

Katie Diasti: They're pretty. Um, our margins are high, so they're, they're not super expensive to create. Okay. It's a medical-grade silicone, so product-wise. Um, but because it's reusable, and we're seeing, you know, our competitors are charging $40 to $50 for one cup.

We're charging on Amazon $20 for a cup.

Hala Taha: Hmm. So it's still really cost-effective for the user.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. So cost-effective for user, but allows us room for both Amazon margins and ensuring that, you know, we're still profitable with the cost of paid ad, with the cost of selling on the platform and fulfillment, and for when we're in retail doors.

Like, we knew that we were gonna be selling Viv in more places than our direct website.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm.

Katie Diasti: And so we wanted to build in margins that allowed us to win and allowed us to sustain being a business.

Hala Taha: Yeah. So, like, [00:35:00] tampons and pads to me is, like, kind of like a commodity. I imagine that it's, like, very low margins, and you've got to do a lot of volume.

So, like, how do you think about the sales for that? Like, what is your strategy?

Katie Diasti: Yeah. It's interesting too, because, you know, we've built... Like, in personal care, they're great margins compared to other categories. Hmm. It's, um, all of our... Across the board, we still have, like, an over 70% margin across SKUs. Oh,

Hala Taha: wow.

Katie Diasti: And, uh, the... I think that's essential as a brand, and it's almost, like, a death wish to not have high enough margins- Mm-hmm ... because it's something where we're like, we know we can, as we scale or potential exits, like, we can become more accessible on price over time. But you can't, like, go up on price- Mm-hmm

after your certain set price. So that's been really key for us.

Hala Taha: Let's talk about funding. So you started off with, like, less than 5,000 bucks.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: At a certain point, you got investors. Was that when you went viral? Is that when you approached investors? Or, like, when did you decide you needed investor money?

Katie Diasti: Yeah. We've had a really interesting approach to funding. I [00:36:00] knew as a first-time founder, as a young woman, and, you know, so m- building in period care, talking to, like, old men investors about period care- Yeah. I was like, "I have a lot stacked against me for raising money in a traditional way-" Mm-hmm

naturally from baseline, right? And I knew I needed to prove that I could get traction-

Hala Taha: Mm ...

Katie Diasti: in some way before pitching a single investor. Um, and it was something I would think I'm, I'm glad I started my company, like, so young and willing. I was a sponge. Like, I just wanted to learn from everyone. And there's a f- you know, the classic saying when you're raising money, like, if you want money, ask for advice, and if you want advice, ask for money.

Mm. And I didn't even realize I was doing it because I genuinely needed the advice. I needed the expertise. And I was seeing all these other brands raising money, and I was like, they haven't even launched yet. Yeah. They're not selling from their apartment. They don't have any sales, yeah. Like they're not taking

Hala Taha: orders.

They haven't gone viral. Yeah.

Katie Diasti: Yeah. And I was like, what do I... I remember talking to a lot of my mentors who have built [00:37:00] brands, who have had really cool exits, have, you know, sold their companies to L'Oréal, and I was like, "What do I need to do to raise money?" And they were like Here's the p- here's what you need to have fixed up, and also when you're ready, I want to be your first angel check.

Oh, amazing. And I realized, like, a lot of the people I was building connections with wanted to be my supporters, 'cause they were seeing me from zero to point two to p- Mm-hmm ... point five. Like, they were seeing the journey. And-

Hala Taha: Yeah ...

Katie Diasti: there's a phrase that, like, you're a point on a graph for an investor, so if you can keep showing them that progress.

Like, I, to some people I was, like, here, but to them I had grown from, like, way up, and I was just constantly seeing this, like, rocket ship, because I was keeping them updated. I was sending update emails for the sake of sending update emails- Mm ... 'cause I was like, I hope someone cares and wants to listen, and that paid dividend.

So whenever we were ready to launch tampons, we knew we needed more capital because of, like, the extensiveness of that SKU, needing more FDA approval. And [00:38:00] that's when I was like, okay, let's raise some money. Um, and we raised initially 500K. We launched the tampon products. We started to scale. We started getting some retail interest.

And as we were getting more retail interest, I was like, oh my gosh, we need more money. And our current investors, the same group of people, were like, "Let's keep going," and continued to reinvest in our company. And we would just use different milestone markers. Like, okay, now we're launching nationwide at Whole Foods.

The same investors are like, "I'm in again." Mm. And would continue to back us. Um, and then recently we just closed our, our seed round of 2 million, and that was a new approach. Because, you know, now we're profitable, we had all this traction, we could show, like, a clear path forward for scale, and we're a really, like, buttoned-up, healthy company to be- Mm-hmm

able to raise money. It's still incredibly-

Hala Taha: You probably weren't, like, that scared of raising that money, 'cause you're like, "I'll be able to make that back no problem given- Yeah ... uh, all the traction."

Katie Diasti: Yeah, and I knew what I was gonna do with it, you know? It's like I knew where I wanted every dollar to go, and how it would get, come back to us-

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm

Katie Diasti: as a business. [00:39:00] And I think if I had had raised, you know, millions of dollars pre-product, pre-launch, probably would've spent a lot of it in the wrong ways. Mm-hmm.

Hala Taha: Yeah.

Katie Diasti: And now I know exactly where we should spend it.

Hala Taha: Yeah, and you've been such a scrappy founder. I think one of your biggest advantages is that, like, you built a community.

You were able to grow a following, go viral. A lot of people start a business and they're like, "Okay, paid ads. I'm gonna pay for an influencer. I'm gonna do..." You, like, built it yourself. Do you feel like that's, like, a huge advantage that you have over other period companies? I always

Katie Diasti: make this, like, joke that, like, if a founder has never touched cardboard, then, like, they're d- really disconnected from their p- their customer, their shopper, their community.

And I think the fact that we've, like, literally packed the box and, like- Mm-hmm ... sent handwritten notes in, like, the first hundreds and hundreds of orders and, like, have felt what it's like to be like, "Oh, my gosh. Interesting. People keep buying two liner boxes," and with this product. Like, when you're doing that, you have such a different sense of your shopper.

[00:40:00] And we did- I did customer support myself for way too long. Like, truly too long, but I learned so much, and I think that is the reason that we're gonna win.

Hala Taha: Yeah. I think the other, like, lesson from your story is how big you are on relationships and follow-up and communication. Like, I love when you were just saying, like, with your investors, you would send them, like, updates even though, like, nobody told you to do that.

And people don't understand, like, how big of a marketing channel, like, email is, like, even an email newsletter, and how top of mind and bigger you seem to people who get your emails. Yeah. So I just think that was super smart, and then what you said about the PR follow-up. So I think that's a big lesson for everybody tuning in.

Katie Diasti: Yeah.

Hala Taha: Help me understand, like- With fulfillment, do you feel like you'd be able to scale in the way that you're scaling right now if you didn't have that capability with Amazon?

Katie Diasti: No. Um, I think having strong fulfillment [00:41:00] partners, and, like, warehousing partners, and operational partners is so, so key in wanting to scale a business.

Which, like, you know, we grew that both internally and within Amazon, right? And it's like now our internal operations team can help use Amazon to scale, and also do so in a cost-effective way so that we can spend more on acquiring a customer than just getting them their product. Hmm. Um, but yeah, I think Amazon Fulfillment, FBA, was so key on, like, reaching a new customer that we wouldn't have had access to before.

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm. And how has starting on Amazon actually helped you then enter retail?

Katie Diasti: It's so interesting. I think Amazon is, like, a requirement for being in retail doors successfully. Hmm. I think it's very risky and actually bad practice to try to launch in retail doors without having a strong enough direct-to-consumer business-

Hala Taha: Absolutely

Katie Diasti: and an online community that's [00:42:00] ready to go shop in stores. Today, retail buyers need you as a brand to bring in all of the customers to that aisle, and you're not only the supplier and the product on shelf, and you're also, like, a media company. Mm-hmm. And you're the ones bringing in traffic to what was probably previously, like, a slow aisle.

Hala Taha: Hmm.

Katie Diasti: And for us, it, it was bringing in a new demographic that they didn't really have in the period aisle, that wasn't spending enough time there. Yeah. It's like how do we get this new demographic to spend more time in the period care section.

Hala Taha: So if you were doing it all over again, you would start on Amazon first.

Katie Diasti: Absolutely. 100%. I would build up my Amazon so much that I could go to any retail buyer and say, "Look at my Amazon number." Mm-hmm. We, we to this day... I was just telling someone this in the conference, and they were asking about Amazon and retail, and we get screenshot data back from some of the biggest retailers in the country, [00:43:00] and saying like, "Hey, this is what we saw for, like, this SKU do.

Like, let's have a conversation." Mm. But it's like, "This is what it's doing on Amazon- Yeah ... so let's talk."

Hala Taha: That's so good. So more than 60% of sales on Amazon is actually from independent sellers. What is something that somebody who's thinking about starting on Amazon might not realize that Amazon does to support their sellers?

Katie Diasti: Yeah. I think people look at Amazon when they're an emerging brand and think, "Oh, that's, like, too big for me." Mm. Like, "That's too scary." Like, "That's too big of a beast to tackle." Where you do have a lot more control over your storefront, and it's only going to lead positives because it's like you're now searchable for the first time-

Hala Taha: Mm

Katie Diasti: in a way that takes so much more capital to get people to your direct website.

Hala Taha: Mm.

Katie Diasti: Like, no one is searching a direct website, right? Yeah. They're going to other platforms to buy things. Um, and so if you want to, like, have [00:44:00] more ease and discoverability, like, being on Amazon does that for you.

Hala Taha: Yeah, I mean, that's, like, such a big marketing rule.

Don't create demand. Channel demand, right? Yeah. So you're getting all the demand from people on Amazon who are already searching for these types of products.

Katie Diasti: Yes. And we had so much support. I think it's been interesting to see, like, how m- you get a rep, and people will, like, talk to you, and, like, people will...

If you have issues, like, you can ask support. Like-

Hala Taha: Mm-hmm ...

Katie Diasti: if you're a solo founder, like, building in silo, like, the thought of that is amazing.

Hala Taha: Yeah. And you're at Amazon Accelerate right now, so you're with all these peers that are doing the same thing as you. Mm. You're probably learning so much from the sessions and from other sellers that

Katie Diasti: are here.

What is, like, the biggest takeaway from the conference so far? Ooh. It's so cool, 'cause I love coming and learning about how other sellers are utilizing more of the tools to save them time, and I'm really big on, like, optimizing our time right now as a team. And there are so many things out there that I'm like, "Wow, we're manually doing that.

Like, why are we doing so?" And talking to [00:45:00] some of my brand friends that are walking around, they're like, "Oh my gosh, yeah, you gotta be using..." Like, this seller says st- like, whole, like, uh, prompt to be able to understand- Mm ... like, all the elements of your business. Um, but having community amongst other founders has been, like, I think a key for success.

Like, you need to be able to keep talk laterally with other people who are in the same boat as you, rather than, like, always thinking that you have to network up.

Hala Taha: Mm. So my final question to you, for our young and profiters out there tuning in who wanna copy you, they wanna build their own consumer brand, they wanna start on Amazon first, what is your best piece of advice to build a scalable, sustainable, profitable business?

Katie Diasti: Mm. One, have your margins zipped up. Mm. Know your numbers- Mm-hmm ... really well. But also, like, build something you actually care about, and that you wake up every day and you're like, "I need this product- Mm ... and this company to exist." 'Cause starting a [00:46:00] company is really hard. If you don't actually care about what you're doing, it's going to be impossible.

Hala Taha: Yeah. I totally agree. Katie, this has been awesome. We learned so much from you. Thank you so much for joining us- Yeah ... on How We Profit. Thanks for having me. And that's how Katie and Viv profit. Katie's story is a reminder that scrappiness can really get a business off the ground, but growth forces you to build differently.

When demand took off, Katie learned how quickly inventory and fulfillment can become bottlenecks. Selling an Amazon store has helped Viv take some of that operational pressure off the team, so Katie can stay focused on building the brand and making smarter decisions about where to grow next. And Viv is part of a much bigger story.

More than 60% of sales in Amazon's store come from independent sellers, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses. Amazon provides sellers with tools and services designed to help entrepreneurs grow. To learn more about how Amazon is helping independent sellers succeed, visit [00:47:00] sellingpartners.aboutamazon.com.

I'm your host, Hala Taha, and I'll see you in the next one.