Latest news with #AmandaCalabrese
Entrepreneur
5 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
How 2 Stanford Grads Turned an Idea Into a WNBA Partnership
Amanda Calabrese and Greta Meyer turned a college project into Sequel, the first spiral tampon, now backed by a WNBA partnership with the Indiana Fever. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. The tampon hasn't changed much since it was invented over 80 years ago by a male doctor named Earle Haas. That might suggest the design was flawless — but ask the people who use them, and you'll hear a different story. "Period products are unreliable in critical moments," says athlete and entrepreneur Amanda Calabrese. "For athletes, that could be sporting moments, but for a mom, it could be dropping your kids off at school, or running through the airport." Instead of accepting the status quo, Calabrese and her Stanford classmate and fellow athlete, Greta Meyer, set out to rethink the product entirely. In 2019, they created Sequel, the world's first spiral tampon, engineered by and for people who actually use it. Related: How This Tampon Company Overcame Investor Knowledge Gaps and Raised $11.2 Million Engineering meets experience The idea for Sequel wasn't born out of a desire to make money — it was about solving a real problem. Calabrese and Meyer met at Stanford, where they both majored in mechanical engineering. But their connection ran deeper than academics. Both were high-level athletes: Meyer played Division I lacrosse for Stanford, while Calabrese is a six-time national champion in lifesaving, which is a whole other story. "I've competed around the world wearing nothing but a star-spangled Team USA bikini, sometimes for 10-hour events on the beach," Calabrese says. "You're running, sweating, constantly going from wet to dry, and then add your period on top of that." Meyer had similar frustrations during her time on the lacrosse team. She and her teammates, often wearing white home skirts, frequently struggled with unreliable period products. "In the locker room, they were always talking about how they could improve the experience," Calabrese recalls. One day in a shared entrepreneurship class, Meyer approached Calabrese with an idea: why not build a better period product? "She pointed out that we were both engineering students and athletes, and that this would be perfect for our Entrepreneurship project," Calabrese says. "I was immediately on board." Calabrese and Meyer were so committed to the idea that they expanded it into their senior capstone. At Stanford, capstones require a working proof of concept. So the duo went above and beyond, raising $50,000 in grant funding to continue the project after graduation and prove its potential beyond the classroom. While most college grads spent that first post-grad summer relaxing or traveling, Calabrese and Meyer traded in pool parties for manufacturing plant tours. "We spent that summer refining our idea and learning through Stanford's accelerator, StartX," Calabrese says. "We knew we'd need funding to kick off R&D, so we focused on crafting our pitch, and not long after COVID, we closed a $1 million pre-seed round to get things off the ground." Related: WNBA Legend Lisa Leslie on Building Legacy Beyond the Game From the lockeroom to the lab Starting with a clear problem gave the co-founders direction, but there were more questions to be answered before they could start developing solutions. "Now we had to ask: Why aren't these products doing their job?" Calabrese asks. "And what exactly is the job they're supposed to do?" After conferring with countless female athletes, they determined that the primary issue was what the industry calls "bypass leakage." Upon deeper reflection, the duo realized this issue was the byproduct of a design flaw. "Tampons have vertical channels that go top to bottom on the outside of the product," Calabrese explains. "This effectively funnels the fluid away from the absorbent core and down the side of the product." Recognizing the mechanical inefficiency of this outdated design, the pair came up with the concept for Sequel's masthead product: the spiral tampon. By introducing a spiral into the tampon's construction, they created a horizontal flow path alongside the existing vertical channels. This design increases surface area, promotes even absorption and helps prevent premature leaks by disrupting the downward flow. "We spent years testing the fluid mechanics behind the design," Calabrese says. "I even have a video from our dorm room where we were illustrating those concepts." Eventually, they started hand-pressing prototypes. "Greta was in a full cleanroom suit, manually applying heat and pressure to create and test each one," Calabrese recalls. The capstone goes courtside Since then, Sequel has flourished, becoming the first tampon partnership in the history of the NCAA by sponsoring Stanford athletics. They've worked with Athletes Unlimited, USL and Unrivaled. Now, the company is taking its next big step, partnering with one of the WNBA's premier teams, the Indiana Fever. The founders reached out to Fever star Lexie Hull, who attended Stanford herself, and left with an NCAA national championship and a bachelor's AND master's in management science and engineering to show for it. "Lexie remembered hearing about us as an example in one of her entrepreneurship classes," Calabrese shares. "We reached out to her to be our first WNBA ambassador, and she was so excited." The partnership offers clear financial upside for Sequel, but for Calabrese, the intangibles matter even more. "These athletes are role models," she says. "Thousands of little girls across the country look up to players on the Fever and see themselves in these athletes." She notes that the first period product someone uses is often the one they stick with for life. "Getting to work with real-life superheroes like Lexie Hull means everything to the young audience we want to reach," Calabrese says. "But beyond that, we're normalizing conversations around tampons and period care, ultimately aiming for them to be seen as essential game day gear, just like soccer cleats." After six years of research, testing, development, and navigating FDA commercial standards, Sequel is beginning to make waves in an industry that hasn't evolved in decades. "We believe Sequel can dramatically improve the experience of athletes and fans everywhere," Calabrese says. "From little girls playing softball to the moms cheering them on, everyone deserves better." With its spiral design and athlete-driven mission, Sequel isn't just redesigning a product. It's redefining the conversation around period care.
Forbes
03-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Sequel Tampon Inks Partnership With Indiana Fever Before WNBA All-Star
Sequel Tampons ink partnership with WNBA's Indiana Fever that now includes being featured in every ... More bathroom in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Fever and Indiana Pacers. Sequel tampon founders Amanda Calabrese (COO) and Greta Meyer (CEO) set out to change the game in women's healthcare and feminine products, particularly, in a design and market that had been largely untouched for more than 80 years. Thus, it is no surprise that an innovative company that has exploded onto the market and transformed a much needed product would pair and partner with the WNBA's Indiana Fever. The Fever, known globally for their young star in former Iowa player, NCAA record holder, and 2024 No. 1 WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark, also completely transformed the franchise in this off-season. The Fever moved former general manager Lin Dunn to a senior advisor role and named Amber Cox as COO and GM. Cox wasted no time hiring head coach Stephanie White from the Connecticut Sun and then added an onslaught of veteran league talent (i.e., DeWanna Bonner, Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, Natasha Howard) to surround Clark, former 2023 No. 1 pick Aaliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Lexie Hull. These calculated risks seemed to be paying off for the Fever despite battling injuries so far this season, as the team just won the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup 74-59. The Fever defeated last year's winners and the current top of the WNBA standings the Minnesota Lynx, even without Clark on the floor. MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JULY 1: The Indiana Fever players and coaches pose for a photo with the ... More 2025 Commissioners Cup trophy after the game against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center on July 1, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by) It was no surprise that when Sequel announced their partnership with the WNBA's most watched team that it generated a new level of buzz for the company. In the partnership which includes working with Sequel ambassador Hull, Sequel will be featured in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Fever and the NBA's Indiana Pacers. According to Calabrese this was an exciting move meant to show all women the superiority of their product. She said, 'A huge component of this partnership is that we're going to be available in all of the fan bathrooms in Gainebridge Fieldhouse, so not just the best athletes but the best fans. A huge part of this is showing our future customers that if this product works for your role models who are pushing it to the limit and testing this product in very critical moments, it will work for you in whatever you need to accomplish.' In addition to being featured in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Sequel has a spotlight game on July 13th against the Dallas Wings, a much anticipated match-up between Clark and this year's No. 1 overall draft selection in UConn's Paige Bueckers. This was intentionally chosen as it is held a week before the All-Star game which is hosted by Indianapolis and Gainbridge Fieldhouse this year. Calabrese said the game will include, 'We have a bunch of really cool branded surprises throughout the game, but it's also an amazing opportunity for us to sample with Fever fans that are going to be able to try us out in the bathroom. They're going to be able to participate in some fun game moments, but then when they're leaving the stadium, they'll get some Sequel tampons to take home with them.' Sequel Journey from Inception to Signing with the Fever Sequel Tampons co-founders Amanda Calabrese and Greta Meyer pose for a picture together. Sequel co-founders Calabrese and Meyer met at Stanford where they both used their Engineering degrees and former athlete experiences to locate a gap in the market that needed to be addressed. Calabrese said, 'Seven out of 10 women report not trusting their tampon, and so we wanted to understand why. There's a lot of discussion around discomfort and dryness, but also leakage. We determined that the issues were because of the shape and construction of tampons and Sequel was really born out of working on a more fluid, mechanically efficient design for a tampon to help with even absorption, thereby combating dryness, and helping prevent premature leaks so that you can actually use the tampon to its full capacity.' Sequel spent several years working to patent their product which now holds 11 patents in the US and received FDA approval in 2023. Calabrese said co-founder and CEO Meyer was instrumental in this stage, 'It was years of patience with research and development and having an incredible engineering team led by my co-founder Greta Meyer. She was able to find some of the best tampon engineers in the world as well as advisors that work in everything from the testing that we would need to do for FDA clearance, all the way through to at scale manufacturing. And a lot of patience went into that, building out the technology, our patent portfolio, and all of the things that really make this product incredible.' From the design and patent stage, the company raised over $8 million with venture capitalist to be able to manufacture and scale the product where Calabrese credited the vision of their earliest investors to see the value of women's sports and women athletes as potential partners and influencers for the brand, 'They opened doors for us from day one and believing in us when people thought that women's sports was a niche.' Sequel then landed a partnership in 2023 with Albaad, the leading manufacturer of personal hygiene products. Sequel continued to grow and now uses its online store where customers can buy packages of tampons directly or enroll in a subscription based service and the power of social media to market and sell their tampons. Particularly, the co-founders have found profound success on TikTok, 'We're available on TikTok shop where we see a ton of traction. Product discovery is amazing on TikTok shop because it's an amazing chance for us to get to tell new customers our story in a really fun way,' stated Calabrese. TiktTok traction has been high with over a hundred thousand views on a video once a week and one video as high as four and a half million views. All of this momentum has led to Sequel to create an exclusive partnership with Stanford Athletics, Audi Field in Washington, DC, home to the NWSL's Washington Spirit, DC United, and USL's DC Power, and now the Indiana Fever. Pairing with the Fever and with Sequel ambassador Hull will pay off in dividends claimed Calabrese, 'Our association with one of the most watched and loved professional sports teams in the world is, I just don't have words for what that can mean for a small business, for us.' She continued, 'When you partner with an organization like the Indiana Fever, that is a commitment to go deep with an organization, and a lot of our effort is focused on just making this partnership the most successful collaboration possible. But we are always looking for other opportunities, especially in places where we can impact the female fan experience. Because on the business side of things, women who watch sports, those are women that we know will resonate with our story. They have some connection to sports, moving their bodies, understanding critical moments, and having role models in women's sports.' Follow me for more women's sports content and news on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Forbes
25-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Tampon Startup Sequel Enters The Big League With Indiana Fever Sponsorship
Amanda Calabrese (left) and Greta Meyer (right). courtesy of Sequel Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull knows that in the three years since she went sixth overall in the WNBA draft, most fans have forgotten that she holds both bachelors and masters degrees in engineering. But this background—forged at Stanford University, where she also played ball—was just the beginning of a long-term connection with Stanford-founded tampon startup, Sequel. Hull became an official Sequel ambassador in February, and the partnership is now expanding beyond one-on-one: This week, Sequel was named the first official tampon sponsor for Hull's Indiana Fever. 'I remember seeing the mockup, the very first stage of the Sequel tampon, in one of my design classes,' Hull told Forbes . 'And for whatever reason, it stuck with me.' This new Fever-wide partnership, which Forbes learned about exclusively, will provide all Fever players with Sequel tampons as part of their team-provided equipment. And fans will gain access, too. Branded tampon dispensers, specially made to install around Indianapolis' Gainbridge Fieldhouse, will be available in all women's restrooms stocked with complimentary Sequel products. 'The fans of women's sports are what's driving the future growth of women's sports,' said Sequel's Amanda Calabrese. 'Teams and organizations recognize how important it is today to invest in their female fans.' For Calabrese and her cofounder Greta Meyer—also Stanford engineering alumnae and competitive athletes themselves, one in lifesaving and one in lacrosse—supporting athletes is exactly what Sequel was designed to do. Their reimagined, spiral-shape tampon for better absorption and less leakage was first created in 2019, and the startup landed the cofounders a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Manufacturing & Industry list in 2023. The company has $8 million in funding—but the Fever partnership stands to launch the brand to new heights. 'From day one we wanted to work with female athletes because we've always believed that they were going to be the future of influencer marketing,' Calabrese said. It was a prescient business strategy, as women's sports have broken record after record in recent years: 54 million unique viewers tuned into WNBA games last year and the 2024 NCAA Women's National Championship broke records for the most-viewed college basketball game ever on ESPN platforms (men's or women's), with 19 million viewers. The Fever are one of the hottest teams within this landscape; Forbes estimates Indiana led the WNBA in revenue and attendance (even outpacing attendance for the Pacers, its NBA counterpart) and is worth $320 million. 'It's an incredibly smart business decision to invest in women's sports,' Indiana Fever COO Amber Cox said. 'The [value of the league] is only going up, so it's exciting to work alongside brands who are fully invested and want to find creative ways to grow together.' Noted Calabrese: 'This isn't just 'Sequel partners with the Indiana Fever.' This is everything we've learned, everything we've believed to be true about female athletes, women's sports, building credibility for a very intimate product. All of that is coming to fruition in this partnership.' While Sequel products are available directly to consumers (DTC) on its website and in fitness studios like NYC barre class Physique 57, the brand has focused primarily on more creative methods of growth: Last summer, it popped up at the Paris Olympics with Athleta and last October it partnered with Athletes Unlimited, a pro sports network launched in 2020. The Fever are a natural extension of that partnership approach to increase brand awareness, Calabrese said. Lexie Hull was drafted to the Fever in 2022. courtesy of the Indiana Fever 'It's just crazy to see the growth,' said Hull. 'Now, college players are so excited about the potential of playing in the WNBA… It is becoming more and more lucrative, and a real career path for women.' Hull, for her part, counts more than half a million fans on her social media platforms—an audience that has helped her strike brand deals like the one she has with Sequel. In addition to Sequel tampons being available during all home games, the startup is also celebrating the launch of the partnership with a designated game on July 13th—between the Indiana Fever and the Dallas Wings. (Those who watch women's basketball will know this is set to be one of the most-watched games yet as Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark takes on this year's top-select, Paige Bueckers.) At the game, LED boards across the stadium will showcase the campaign's slogan: 'Your favorite athlete's favorite tampon.' Working with brands she believes in, founded by women she respects, is a privilege Hull acknowledges: 'Women drive so much of purchases, and I think being able to influence those purchases provides a lot of power to the influencers doing so,' Hull said. 'Being able to have a hand in those decisions and those conversations is really special… This partnership is just going to be really full circle.'
