Women-owned business creates diverse, sustainable feminine hygiene products

Everyone is unique. Period.

As more people adopt environmentally sustainable lifestyles, many are looking for ways to have a zero waste period.

Aisle has a solution.

Suzanne is a Co-founder and CEO of Aisle, a Vancouver-based company that makes reusable, diverse menstrual pads and products. She takes pride in offering sustainable products made from recycled materials.

Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) supports Aisle, as it expands operations, improves manufacturing efficiency and explores export opportunities.

Aisle receives support from the Women’s Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES). Announced in Budget 2018, WES advances gender equality and women’s empowerment by supporting women entrepreneurs.

By addressing women’s economic empowerment through programs such as WES, Canada could double the number of majority women-owned businesses by 2025 and add $150 billion in GDP by 2026.

Transcript: “Women-owned business creates diverse, sustainable feminine hygiene products | Aisle”

(Text on screen: aisle EST. 1993)

(The camera switches back and forth between panning shelves of products and Suzanne Siemens speaking)

(SUZANNE SIEMENS, CO-FOUNDER and CEO OF AISLE) The more close we can get to our customer and understanding their needs, the better we can update our products to make sure that they are the most innovative and sustainable as possible.

My name is Suzanne Siemens and I am the co-founder and CEO of Aisle. Aisle was established in 1993 and is the new brand name for Lunapads, which is a company that makes reusable menstrual pads that are replacements for disposable pads and tampons.

It’s important that there are reusable menstrual products available to people because everyone has a unique period and they may need more absorption, they may need more comfort, they may need something that is free of chemicals. And more importantly, a lot of people really are conscious of having a zero waste period.

We are really proud of using the most sustainable textiles available, including sourcing things like recycled polyester, organic cotton or textiles that are much more environmentally friendly. And that’s really a long term goal of ours, is to make sure that all the textiles we’re using are the most sustainable.

(The camera switches between Suzanne Siemens and scenes of work in the company office.)

(SUZANNE SIEMENS)

The funding from WES has come at a really great time for our business. We used the funding to hire two new employees. We upgraded some of our machinery and equipment. So we’re really excited to be launching a whole new line of products that customers have never seen before and being able to really pride ourselves on sharing a story around how the products were made and what materials and textiles are included in it.

We also offer products that are much more diverse in terms of inclusion of who wears them and how they wear them. So we have products that are good for people who want to have a more fluid expression of their gender or size, and so that’s really important to us too.

(The camera switches between Suzanne Siemens and models sporting the company’s products.)

 (Western Economic Diversification Canada wordmark)

(Canada wordmark)