Only two women could have the experience and courage to face a market surrounded by taboos. Not only talking about menstruation, but betting and investing money in a new business in this segment, in mid-2010, seemed crazy.
“The funny thing is that when we placed the first order with the factories, they said ‘Guys, I think you’re a little crazy, don’t you want help?’. They thought our stock was too big and that we would never be able to sell all of it. But in 3 weeks it really sold out”, recall Emilly Ewell and Maria Eduarda Camargo, founders of Pantys, in an interview with the podcast .
Pantys’ challenge was not just to develop technology or build a brand, it was also to open up space in a market surrounded by silence and cultural resistance. With their own capital, when no one believed, they created a new consumer category. Today, Pantys produces around 80 thousand pieces per month and expands the portfolio for women’s health, fashion and well-being.
“It was a very taboo market. It was either going to be very successful or it could be a disaster”, said Maria Eduarda.
The perception emerged during initial research with consumers. The pain was clear, but little discussed. Issues such as discomfort, leaks, allergies and environmental impact appeared frequently, even without consolidated solutions.
“We did a lot of research and saw that 90% of people were dissatisfied and open to trying something new,” said one of the founders in an interview for the podcast From Zero to Topwhich tells stories of successful entrepreneurs.
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Market education as a strategy
The idea gained traction by combining personal pain with behavioral reading. And the proposal was simple and direct: create a product that replaced disposable pads and not just complemented existing consumption.
A relevant part of the work was building dialogue and breaking down cultural barriers.
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“We had all kinds of reactions: people who thought it was incredible and people full of doubts, asking if it was hygienic or if it worked. Even the negative reactions helped us. If there are people with doubts, how do we use this to launch our brand and really demystify this market a little by showing that there are new options, that they will be even more hygienic, more comfortable and more functional than we could imagine”, says Eduarda.
With the product validated and the communication matured, Pantys began to structure a new segment within female consumption. From the taboo, they created a new category of consumption.
“All of this only served to strengthen us in some way. As I came from the pharmaceutical world. All leadership is male. Even in the large healthcare industries. You see few women in senior positions and that makes perfect sense to me as to why the big brands hadn’t created this yet”, concludes Emilly.
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A differentiator of Pantys, according to the founders, is that the brand was born on the digital channel and always very close to customers. “It’s not just lingerie. It’s health, comfort, sustainability and well-being. We were born as a startup, testing everything. If it worked, we scaled it. This mentality continues today”, say Emilly and Maria Eduarda.
To find out more details about Pantys’ trajectory, see the full episode on . The program is available in its podcast version on the main streaming platforms such as , , , and
About From Zero to Top
The Do Zero ao Topo podcast is a production of InfoMoney and brings, every week, the stories of prominent women and men in the Brazilian market to tell their story, sharing the biggest challenges faced along the way and the main strategies used in building the business.
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