We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Drew Jarvis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Drew below.
Drew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Back in 2019, my business partner, Cindy Belardo, and I were introduced to one another through a product engineering firm. Coincidentally, we learned that we were both working toward the same goal: creating a better alternative to traditional period care products. We decided to join forces and build the groundwork for the Sunny + Applicator, the first menstrual cup that inserts like a tampon.
I initially had the idea for this concept when I learned about menstrual cups during my senior year of high school. After experiencing difficulties using products that were currently available in the market, I entered into a business idea pitch competition and ended up winning $25,000. At the same time, Cindy was simultaneously working on a similar concept inspired by her period care research in India.
After we met, we realized that we could take our ideas further by working together. We formed our company, Menstrual Mates, in 2019 and rebranded to Sunny in January of 2022. Over those first two years, we won multiple pitch competitions including Elevate Ventures and Latinx Launchpad!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
The Sunny Cup + Applicator is unique because it’s the first menstrual cup that inserts like a tampon. Many menstruators are looking for alternatives to tampons and other traditional period care products, but for some, menstrual cups can be difficult to insert. We solved this problem with our applicator!
Our company is passionate about sustainability, inclusion, and destigmatizing periods. We aim to create open and inclusive conversations about menstruation by using gender-neutral language that affirms all people who menstruate, including members of the trans and nonbinary community.
Additionally, we’re passionate about doing our part to end period poverty. We donate 20% of proceeds from our End Period Poverty merch to menstruators in need through our non-profit partner, Period.org.
How did you build your audience on social media?
In 2021, as we were working on the Sunny Cup + Applicator, we saw $1,775 in book and merchandise sales trickle in. In April of 2022, however, a TikTok video explaining how to use our product went viral and we began accepting preorders. This one video drove over $130,000 in sales over the course of only 5 days! We couldn’t believe how quickly our brand blew up. Seeing this type of interest really validated our product and gave us the financial backing we needed to move the manufacturing process forward.
When you’re building your social media presence, remember that it’s all about authentically connecting with your audience. We didn’t expect to see such massive growth happen so quickly, but if you’re out there doing something good for the world, people will start to notice!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Recently, due to manufacturing and supply chain delays, we had to push back our anticipated timeline for shipping preorders to our customers. This was difficult for us because we value our customers and always want to deliver on our promises. Naturally, we were worried that people would be upset. Although this was an emotionally challenging time for us, we communicated openly and honestly, and we couldn’t have asked for a more positive response!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sunnyperiod.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunnyperiod/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnyperiod