\n Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. <\/p>\n
The tampon hasn’t changed much since it was invented over 80 years ago by a male doctor named Earle Haas. That might suggest the design was flawless \u2014 but ask the people who use them, and you’ll hear a different story.<\/p>\n
“Period products are unreliable in critical moments,” says athlete and entrepreneur Amanda Calabrese. “For athletes, that could be sporting moments, but for a mom, it could be dropping your kids off at school, or running through the airport.”<\/p>\n
Instead of accepting the status quo<\/a>, Calabrese and her Stanford classmate and fellow athlete, Greta Meyer, set out to rethink the product entirely. In 2019, they created Sequel, the world’s first spiral tampon, engineered by and for people who actually use it.<\/p>\n Related: How This Tampon Company Overcame Investor Knowledge Gaps and Raised $11.2 Million<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Engineering meets experience<\/p>\n The idea for Sequel wasn’t born out of a desire to make money \u2014 it was about solving a real problem.<\/a> Calabrese and Meyer met at Stanford, where they both majored in mechanical engineering. But their connection ran deeper than academics. Both were high-level athletes: Meyer played Division I lacrosse for Stanford, while Calabrese is a six-time national champion in lifesaving, which is a whole other story.<\/p>\n “I’ve competed around the world wearing nothing but a star-spangled Team USA bikini, sometimes for 10-hour events on the beach,” Calabrese says. “You’re running, sweating, constantly going from wet to dry, and then add your period on top of that.”<\/p>\n Meyer had similar frustrations during her time on the lacrosse team. She and her teammates, often wearing white home skirts, frequently struggled with unreliable period products.<\/p>\n “In the locker room, they were always talking about how they could improve the experience,” Calabrese recalls.<\/p>\n One day in a shared entrepreneurship class, Meyer approached Calabrese with an idea: why not build a better period product?<\/p>\n “She pointed out that we were both engineering students and athletes, and that this would be perfect for our Entrepreneurship project,” Calabrese says. “I was immediately on board.”<\/p>\n Calabrese and Meyer were so committed to the idea that they expanded it into their senior capstone. At Stanford, capstones require a working proof of concept. So the duo went above and beyond, raising $50,000 in grant funding to continue the project after graduation and prove its potential beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n While most college grads spent that first post-grad summer relaxing or traveling, Calabrese and Meyer traded in pool parties for manufacturing plant tours.<\/p>\n “We spent that summer refining our idea and learning through Stanford’s accelerator, StartX,” Calabrese says. “We knew we’d need funding to kick off R&D, so we focused on crafting our pitch, and not long after COVID, we closed a $1 million pre-seed round to get things off the ground.”<\/p>\n Related: WNBA Legend Lisa Leslie on Building Legacy Beyond the Game<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n From the lockeroom to the lab<\/p>\n