When Dana Roberts was teaching fifth grade, many of the girls in her class would come talk to her about more than just the day’s lessons.
They’d confide in her when they got their periods at school.
“Half of those girls started their cycles with me. Those girls were grossly unprepared, and their parents were unprepared,” Roberts recalled.
Roberts began giving girls a kit she called a “First Purse” filled with feminine hygiene products.
Now, she and her Atlanta partners have launched RedDrop, a line of period products for school-age girls. The startup is about two years in the making, though Roberts had the idea long ago.
She remembers talking to partner Monica Williams about 10 years ago. At the time, Williams was busy with Pacimals, a pacifier company the former doctor founded. Her daughter was a baby at the time. Williams wasn’t ready to think about her getting her period.
“Monica and I are family friends,” Roberts said. “Monica is an entrepreneur, and she had her own business going. I immediately thought of her. So I went to Monica, and Monica was like ‘No.’ ”
“I was making pacifiers at the time!” Williams said, laughing on a Zoom call.
Fast forward 10 years, and Roberts and Williams have partnered on the line of feminine hygiene products that they hope will take the guesswork out of preparing for a period. They have a third partner, Mike Davis.
Their RedDrop Period Kit features 30 everyday pads, 14 FlowDay pads, 14 FlowNight pads, 12 feminine wipes, a carrying kit and a special gift. The kit costs $29.99 including shipping. Packs of specific-size pads also can be ordered online.
“The everyday pad is super thin” but absorbs as much as two tampons, Williams said. RedDrop’s products are designed to fit middle-school girls.
“There are a zillion pads in the aisles” at stores, Williams said. “You might run across some Always teen pads, but that’s not always a guarantee.”
The average age a girl starts her period is 12, Williams said. Most girls aren’t home when they get their first period, Roberts said. At least before Covid-19, many girls would get their periods for the first time at school.
Roberts said her youngest student to get her first period was 9.
“It was pretty traumatic for all of us,” Roberts said. “She literally thought she was dying. Her mom was sobbing on the phone with me.”
RedDrop also offers a monthly “Puberty Series” subscription that features educational information. Subscribers received a card every other week that comes with a code for a video with in-depth discussion about topics such as getting to know your body, what to expect and how to deal with surprises.
RedDrop is bootstrapping but did go through an online accelerator.
The company for now is based online, but Williams said it hopes to get its products into stores eventually.
