As you’ve guessed in the title, Julie is a woman with many talents: she studied chemical engineering, co-founded a super-leak resistant + (very) sexy underwear company and she is not even 25. (i’m totally jealous right now!) Cherry on the cake, she is a super sweet girl who has no taboo talking about periods. Curious? Check her business Sexy Period out or tweet her @jsygiel.
Sexy Period or how to feel sexy 365 days. (no kidding !)
So Julie, tell us more, what is Sexy Period exactly ?
Sexy Period underwear is made from leak resistant fabric, so women can wear them as backup and never worry about period spills.
The fabric has three thin layers: the inner two layers are absorbent and wicking, while the outer layer is leak resistant. There’s no plastic layer, so it’s breathable and comfy. They are super soft and in addition to all the functionality, they’re super cute.
We figure it’s bad enough having your period, and wearing granny panties only makes it worse! When you put on a pair of Sexy Period undies in the morning, I guarantee they will brighten your day.
How the idea of creating a “super-leak-resistant + absorbent + so-sexy panty” came to you in the first place ?
I was a junior undergraduate at Brown University in 2008 and took an entrepreneurship class. There were three girls in our business plan team and we started talking about ideas for the plan. We realized that every woman has occasional period spills, but no one ever talks about it!
How people reacted when you first talked about the project ?
Our professor was surprised that period spills are even a problem, so he encouraged us to do research on the issue. We talked to all our female friends, and even posted surveys on the back of all the female bathroom stall doors in classroom buildings at Brown.
At first some of our friends were reluctant to talk about it, but once we started the conversation many women asked if we could actually make a leak resistant underwear that wouldn’t look like a diaper. We came back to our professor with the statistic that 60% of women experience menstrual spills at least once every month, which we felt was a huge market for our product.
What was the biggest struggle you encountered while building up Sexy Period ?
The most difficult part of starting the company was figuring out how the product would be constructed. We personally sewed over 200 test pairs and sent them out to female volunteers to test during a “worst case scenario” spill to determine the type of fabric, seams, thread, and elastic that worked best. Our testers were brave souls in the name of research!
It’s amazing how complicated such a small garment can be to produce (the only big sewing project I had undertaken previously was designing and sewing my high school prom dress). No suppliers previously made non-absorbent elastic or non-absorbent thread suitable for our garment, so we had to talk them into developing the items specifically for our line.
The first two locations that sewed our prototypes gave up after four months because they couldn’t deal with the stretch lace and three layers in our garment, so we were lucky to later find a small lingerie factory that is now producing our products.
What are the values Sexy Period strives for ?
We strive to empower women by creating functional garments and starting a public conversation about menstruation. Simply bringing up the topic of periods often causes men (and sometimes women) to blush and start backing away from me….seriously! Of course being on your period isn’t always fun, but I think the more we talk about periods in public, the more they will become less of a hindrance to women and more of a celebration of fertility.
Time to get to know Julie…
Because we are very curious here at the Story of Us, we would love to know more about your background…(hope it’s okay !)
What is your age ? 23
In which city are you based? Providence, RI USA
What is your favorite piece of the Sexy Period collection ? Friday Night Fabulous hipster
In which course did you enrolled at uni ? Chemical engineering
What do you like the most and not-so-much about being an entrepreneur ?
I love the independence and I love being involved in every aspect of the business. It’s really exciting to see so many people get involved in the company, like photographers, sewers, writers, interns, etc. The hardest part of being an entrepreneur for me is making the little decisions. Often I stress about little things when, in reality, probably both options I am deciding between are great. Should we go with the retro pouf hairstyle or the braided messy bun for our next runway show??
Are you living the life you’ve always dreamed of ?
Well….I never dreamed that I would be making underwear! But yes, where I am right now is a perfect fit for me as I have always been a feminist and fashionista at heart.
Do you have any advices to give us about starting a web-based company?
I think design is underrated. It is important to present your content on an aesthetically appealing webpage otherwise people don’t take it seriously. You girls have done a great job creating the design foundation for The Story Of Us, so keep it up! (Ohh that’s so sweet, thanks Julie!)
We have a bunch of other questions to ask but we know you are a busy girl, so we will let you free for this time.
Big things for Sexy Period… stay tuned !
At the moment, where can we buy Sexy Period undies ?
Sexy Period is for sale at www.sexyperiod.com and we are happy to ship worldwide. We are also carried in select boutiques in the US and Canada, listed here: http://sexyperiod.com/store/where-to-buy/
Is there any event where we can meet the Sexy Period crew ? (upcoming shows, parties, HQ, your house ?)
Our next runway show is at the Warwick Museum of Art in Warwick, Rhode Island on October 15th at 6pm. The event is called Artists Closet and will showcase fashion and art from emerging designers.
Any exciting stuff coming your way this year ? Or next year ?
We are releasing a thong version of Friday Night Fabulous very soon, so head over to www.sexyperiod.com to sign up for our newsletter if you’d like to be the first to hear when it is released! (Go go go guys!!)
What are your hopes and wishes for Sexy Period ?
I hope that we can grow to add many lines of functional garments for women to solve various undergarment issues! We have lots of ideas in the works, so definitely head over to www.sexyperiod.com to try a pair of our initial line and give us feedback on our initial line. We’re also always open to new ideas, so feel free to contact us at hello@sexyperiod.com if you want to share an idea.
Anything you want to add ?
Congratulations and best of luck to you and Vikki in launching The Story of Us!
Merci encore à Julie !
Hey there! I realize this is somewhat off-topic however I needed to ask. Does building a well-established blog like yours require a lot of work? I’m completely new to writing a blog but I do write in my diary every day. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my own experience and views online. Please let me know if you have any kind of recommendations or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners. Appreciate it!
Hello Patrina! Thanks for dropping by the Story of Us, much appreciated
I don’t think it’s a well established blog yet but i hope it will be one day. I think the key to a good blog, from what i’ve seen, is that you have to write about your own experience, stay true and real. Don’t overload your blog with loads of ads and links as it might get across as you’re just trying to make money and people don’t like that. Share useful content and be consistent in updating your blog, like maybe once a week. Build a relationship with your readers and they will come back. 
If you have any other questions, do not hesitate!