Erika Jensen, 28

Flex Co., a Venice maker of feminine care products, including its trademarked menstrual discs.

Employees: 15

Financials: Multimillion-dollar run rate.

What led you to start your own business?

Fate. I never dreamed of being an entrepreneur. In fact, I often say that I’m more of a contractor, not an architect. But fate led me to running e-commerce at a vibrator company in San Francisco (not the career path I had hoped for myself), which led me to meeting my co-founder, Lauren Schulte. The first night I met Lauren she told me over Vietnamese food that she suffered from yeast infections caused by tampons and explained that there hadn’t been an innovation in feminine care since the tampon and menstrual cup were brought to market in the 1930s. We realized that this is a problem that 51 percent of the population deals with every second of every day, and the products we use cause infection, discomfort, odor, sometimes death. Why hadn’t someone done something about this? So we did, with Flex.

Where did you get the startup money?

We raised a $4.2 million seed round in 2016, led by Amplify.LA, Y Combinator, and a mix of both VC and angel investors.

What’s been the biggest challenge so far?
The most persistent challenge we face is quite simply the conversations that we have. The category we’re in is highly stigmatized, creating a huge barrier to innovation. Think about when you learned about menstruation. You were probably in school, girls separated from boys, and were told some variation of “Hide your tampon when you walk to the bathroom” and “Don’t talk to boys about your period.” And that’s it. That sentiment of embarrassment and privacy carries on throughout our lives. We have to change the narrative in order to continue driving change, and we hope to do that by fulfilling our mission of creating body-positive and life-changing experiences through the products that we make and the conversations that we spark.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

The most important lesson I’ve learned is when to know what you don’t know. It’s OK to not know what you’re doing but you have to have a growth mind-set. Learning and resilience are essential to sustained accomplishment.

How many hours a day do you put in?

Typically, 10 at the office padded with a couple of hours on either end for e-mails, calls, and/or a shower think.

Would you start another company?

At Flex, we’re working toward creating a world where every woman loves her body. For a multitude of reasons, this has been a personal mission of mine for over 20 years and something that, even beyond Flex, I will continue to devote my energy to. I might give it up for Formula 1 racing, though.

Could you ever work for someone else?

Of course. There are incredible leaders all over the world that I would be honored to work for. I will never be too proud to work for someone else.

What do you do to unwind?

Racing cars, Pilates, scuba diving.

– Diane Haithman