Entrepreneurial Chic
Discreet Carrying Cases For Lady Products
We have clear memories of friends in high school slipping tampons up the wrist of their long sleeves before high-tailing it to the bathroom. For that matter, we have those same memories at every office job we’ve ever had.
This always presented problems:
1. For some reason, bringing your entire pocketbook to the bathroom when you weren’t leaving school or the building for the day – simply isn’t done.
2. You risked the humiliation of it slipping out of your sleeve, onto the ground, and then (gasp!!) a boy (or a bullying girl) might see it.
3. What do you do when it’s a warm day and you’re wearing a sundress or a cami or a French-T?
Given that we never wear long sleeves (3/4 is as long as we go), we are a perfect candidate for these very cute new products from Suzanne’s Discreet Chic Accessories. They offer very stylish carrying cases for your lady things (aka: sanitary protection, feminine products).
BeansTalk is also very supportive of women entrepreneurs, a category in which owner/designer Suzanne Gabos fits quite nicely.
Gabos sat down for a intimate interview with BeansTalk to discuss these sweet carrying cases and to give us the dish on how she got started in the business.
BeansTalk: Tell us about your background, leading up to how you came up with the idea for Suzanne’s Discreet Chic Accessories?
Suzanne Gabos: I’d been thinking at length about going back to work after being a stay-at-home mom for 15 years. I yearned to be back in the working environment, utilizing my business skills, acquired from a number of years of experience on Wall Street, without having to work in a structured corporate environment again.
I wanted a career that would be fun and innovative this time around, and that would utilize my creative skills with fashion and style.
I always struggled with the issue of carrying my tampons and other feminine products in a chic and fashionable way, without letting anyone know what I was carrying. Typically, a woman carries her tampons by hand to the restroom or loosely in her purse mixed in with other items.
Also, I found that my tampons and pads were often scattered about in my glove compartment and car console! While these were very convenient places to house my tampons in an emergency, eventually I found that the tampons would become damaged and found that they were dirty.
It was my “ah-ha” moment for myself and I eventually went into this business because I saw a need for it. I identified certain needs that were not being offered in the market place for women’s traditional feminine accessories.
BeansTalk: What kind of products existed already, if any?
Suzanne Gabos: My research of tampon cases or feminine product travel cases disclosed quite a variety of generic travel cases that could be used to hold one or two tampons, but they did not offer secure compartments specifically designed for feminine products.
They were not as functional as I wanted them to be. They didn’t hold anything else such as maxi pads, mini pads for an overnight stay, pre-packaged hygiene wipes, that are very popular these days, or other cosmetic items. I wasn’t able to take these cases out for an entire day without refilling them or for an overnight stay.
Currently, cases on the market resemble tin cans, plastic dental cases and small cloth containers, but nothing that is appealing or attractive that can be carried as a stand- alone accessory or tucked inside of a larger purse on any given day.
I wanted something that I can take out of my purse that was fashionable looking, discreet and chic and would hold everything that I needed to tend to while in the restroom.
BeansTalk: What was your goal regarding the creation and design of the line?
Suzanne Gabos: My goal was very specific in that I wanted to design a chic accessory (or is it a necessity?) that provided a “secured and sanitary environment” for a woman to carry her feminine products, which included tampons, wipes, maxi and mini pads and possibly other small items. I wanted it to be versatile enough so that if they wanted to store cash, or a driver’s license, or lip-gloss inside of it, they are able to do this. You can also carry an additional pair of underwear in the event of an unexpected emergency, which can prevent an embarrassing situation.
What I like most about the products we’ve designed, in addition to being highly functional, is how great they look! Our bags are manufactured with pigskin, snakeskin leathers, crocodile embossed leathers and some fun faux leathers and a range of textures and colors that mirror the current fashion trends.
