Lola's Alex Friedman: 'Nobody is talking about these categories because there's so much stigma'

Before Alex Friedman decided to dive into the world of feminine hygiene and sexual wellness, she was a businesswoman and a mom with a problem to solve. Everywhere she looked, people were talking about ingredients -- in food, in beauty products and even in diapers. But when she looked at the side of the box of tampons she had been using all of her life, the possible ingredients included a list of words she didn't recognize, and that scared her. She reached out to her friend and future business partner, Jordana Kier, and they decided that something needed to be done. "We were horrified," said Friedman. "So we decided to start a business to bring ingredients transparency to the tampon industry. Over the course of 3 years in business, what we learned was that every life stage is the same, from your first period, to when you start having sex, to thinking about fertility, to pregnancy, postpartum, menopause and beyond.It's all stigma, no ingredients transparency, and not enough conversation." On this week's episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast, beauty editor Priya Rao sits down with Lola co-founder and co-CEO, Alex Friedman, to talk candidly about sexual wellness and feminine hygiene products, the importance of ingredients transparency and how education has played a vital role in building the brand.