Company Spotlight — Viv For Your V

Funding: Bootstrapped

Viv is a direct-to-consumer earth-friendly period care brand. Viv products are plastic-free, toxin-free, and made with an innovative core material of bamboo fiber. By using a more sustainable crop of bamboo, rather than cotton or organic cotton, Viv saves a lot of water, land, and CO2 emissions.

1 typical pad = 4 plastic bags. Viv contains no plastic. Switch to viv and save 48 plastic bags per period. Made of organic bamboo fiber, corn fiber, and a plant-based alternative to plastic.

What problem is your startup solving?

There is a lot of plastic used in period care products. 1 menstrual pad is equivalent to about 4 plastic bags. Our pads are 95% biodegradable! Most menstrual pads contain as much plastic as 4 plastic bags and have nasty chemicals in them (the same chemicals found in weed killer). Our products contain no plastic & healthy ingredients. Bamboo (our core material) also uses ¼ the amount of water and less land than cotton uses. Viv for your V was created to bring sustainable and clean products to the hands of those that bleed. It’s about time we have menstrual care that is good for your body & our planet.

What is the company’s mission and vision?

To revolutionize the period care experience for menstruators and giving greater access to sustainable products. Our goal is to build an educational brand that empowers all womxn to live healthier and more sustainable lives. We are dedicated to offering safe and eco-friendly menstrual products delivered straight to your door. We aim to remove all stigmas and shame in talking about our V’s! Period should no longer be a dirty word.

Where do you see the company in the near term and long term?

We are working to build a strong online community of menstruators while innovating in the period care space further.

VC, Angel or Bootstrap? And why?

Currently bootstrapping, more to come!

Which one thing do you wish you’d done differently?

Acknowledge earlier that everything won’t be perfect but it will always improve.

When you’re considering partnering with another person or business, what factors are deal-breakers for you?

If they don’t use inclusive language and are unwilling to start using inclusive language when discussing menstruators, that tends to be a deal breaker.

How do you keep your employees (or team members) keen and motivated?

Having goals & a mission we are all passionate about. We are a very small team so I encourage constantly learning and will always share webinars or documents to help each other grow as people too.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other women entrepreneurs just starting out?

Just start, get in front of customers, & learn from them. You don’t need to wait till you have enough experience or enough funding. Starting is often the hardest part so overcoming that initial mental battle is so crucial.

Katie Diasti is the Founder & CEO of Viv for your V, a new earth-friendly period care brand. Katie comes from an Egyptian-American family, grew up in Tampa, Florida and went on to study Marketing & Managing Social Impact at Boston College. She graduated in 2019, starting Viv at BC in a class project her senior year to pursue her dream of building a mission-driven social impact brand.