Maya Gwynn
With KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn with Black Perspectives IE, a show where we learn about the amazing things members of the Black community are doing in the Inland Empire. My guest today is Ashlee Turner, Founder and CEO of The Pocket Panty, and The Pocket Panty Project Incorporated. Thank you for being here today.
Ashlee Turner
Thank you for having me.
Maya Gwynn
So let's start at the beginning. Where did the inspiration for The Pocket Panty come from?
Ashlee Turner
I love to tell this story, to be honest with you, because it started off, I always say, like, in the most cheekiest of ways. Me and my girlfriends wanted an option to go from work to happy hour, or you meet somebody you like them, you don't want to take a whole overnight bag. Wanted a quick little option. It was like, Okay, I just want to stuff some panties in my purse. I don't want the lint and the gum from the bottom of my purse to get in the panties. That's how simplistic it was. It was, I have an unexpected menstrual cycle. How can I keep a spare pair in my office drawer, in my glove compartment? And then from there, we did an episode of Shark Tank, yep, and we got the viewer feedback of women telling us of real life situations where the spare pair of underwear could keep them confident and dignified in these sticky situations. And we knew then that we had to do more with this small platform we were given outside of talking about just the sneaky link bag. Like, let me tell you that does exist. And you know, but there's also women who are battling chronic BV. There's women who are battling other health issues outside of incontinence, where they can't hold on to their bowels. There's women, you know, you just need to freshen up because crotch sweat is a thing. So there's so much more we could do. And then we decided to pivot and go there.
Maya Gwynn
How has The Pocket Panty navigated the challenges of marketing a product in a space where discussions around women's intimate health are still considered taboo? I'm sure even the name Pocket Panty, right? People have looked at you like, what?
Ashlee Turner
Right and they say everything - they're like, a pocket pantry? Like, no, you do not see an R in there. Okay? But I think that's, I think the way to navigate something is to first deal with it directly and head on. Yeah? So I don't say stuff like chronic BV or crotch sweat for shock value. I say it because that's what it is. You call a thing, a thing, yeah? And once we address what it is, then that can better allow us to address the need or meet the need of the education part around it. So being direct about it allows for people to feel safe about it. I've talked in rooms like yesterday, it was so many men in that room, and they were able to say, oh my gosh, like, I'm a dad of three girls. And you know, this is common conversation in my house, but you know, men that I hang out with don't really discuss this. And what I would encourage, or really ask men to think about is, is that this may not directly affect you, yeah, but there is a woman within one degree of you, whether it be your sister, your mother, your daughter, your aunt, your niece, that deals with this on a regular basis, so let's be more supportive and normalize the conversation, and then that way we can just kind of deal with it more effectively.
Maya Gwynn
Definitely. And on your website, you announced The Pocket Panty Project. Can you tell us more about that initiative?
Ashlee Turner
This is, like, my favorite thing right now. I love The Pocket Panty, but The Pocket Panty Project is just my heart's work. It's my purpose work. I mean, The Pocket Panty Project just came out of, again, just out of a necessity. So if after Shark Tank, I got that viewer feedback, in May of 2024 I read an article that spoke about a spike of young girls getting their menstrual cycle as early as the age of nine. And that was, again, it was like a memory unlocked, because I remember being in elementary school. I remember young girls tying their sweater around their waist, you know that whole thing. And I always tell this story.
Maya Gwynn
Even being ashamed to even ask anybody else.
Ashlee Turner
And I tell people all the time, like, I congratulate, I commend states like California for taking the initiative to offer free menstrual products to young girls, but if you go to the nurse's office, you are temporarily relieved, because she gives you a pad, but then she gives you that pad to put on your soiled underwear? And then you're gonna send that student back in the classroom and expect her to focus on the teacher's teaching. You're gonna expect her to now have a relationship or be able to socialize with her classmates, her peers at lunchtime, and she's now worried about if she's gonna eventually bleed through or eventually smell through her clothes. That is not fair. And so with The Pocket Panty Project, it was like, Okay, again, we got the small platform. Y'all like, how can we advocate for young women? Because I don't have a daughter, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a responsibility to make it better for the next generation of young women and empower and inspire them to make it better for the next you know, it's a domino effect. And so the The Pocket Panty Project has gone into so many different directions, because we advocate for young girls in school to have access to a spare pair of underwear when they need it. Because panty poverty is a real thing. We advocate for homeless, unhoused women and young girls to have underwear, because, again, it's a real thing. There are people in the military that need access, and this is just a small, small, simple solution to empower and ensure that women are confident and dignified. So I want to shout out the school districts that have already partnered with us. The Pocket Panty Project, we have this initiative, and it's called Pocket Talks. And it is a program where we are going into prison systems. Like my mom is very dramatic. She's very ceremonial. You met Cynthia before? You know, when I got my menstrual cycle, my mom came to my school with white flowers, she took me to the store. We went down the aisle, she explained to me everything. And some people's parents or moms count on the school for the education. Some people's parents just give them a box of pads, whatever. But we can pretty much assume that if your mother is incarcerated, you're not having this menstrual talk, right? And so 85% of women who are incarcerated have adolescent children. And so what we are doing is we're taking a group of young girls to a prison, we've partnered with Planned Parenthood, and we are facilitating the conversation between a mother and her daughter to welcome her daughter into womanhood, to have this menstrual awareness talk. And so again, The Pocket Panty Project is bae right now - we are literally out here advocating and making change.
Maya Gwynn
Congratulations, that's amazing. So we're gonna move into our rapid fire portion. So just the first thing that comes to your mind, there are no wrong answers. Okay, if your work had a theme song, what would it be?
Ashlee Turner
Who Run the World, girls!
Maya Gwynn
And if you had to teach a master class, to give a TED Talk and a random skill that you had, it could be silly to serious. What would it be?
Ashlee Turner
Oh, I love this. There's an intersection of business and faith. And I would talk about that, because when people ask me, like, how do I do business? Girl, this is nothing but God, like I have mastered quieting down my surroundings and just waiting to hear from Him. If God gives you vision, He'll give you provision, and the rest is just working its way out.
Maya Gwynn
Amen to that. And what is your favorite IE restaurant, or a landmark that reminds you of the Inland Empire?
Ashlee Turner
Oh, dope. Actually went to a family friend’s restaurant out here in the IE. It's called The State.
Maya Gwynn
And how can people keep up with your work and support you?
Ashlee Turner
Awesome. Thank you. I would love for you guys to please sign up for my newsletter. Okay, and then, of course, always given us a follow on The Pocket Panty Project on Instagram or The Pocket Panty Project on TikTok, and then just again, finding us on our website, the pocket panty.com
Maya Gwynn
All right, and people can sign up for your newsletter on your website?
Ashlee Turner
Yes.
Maya Gwynn
Okay, awesome. Thank you so much for being here today, Ashlee.
Ashlee Turner
Thank you for having me. That was fun, that was easy breezy. Thank you.
Maya Gwynn
Ashlee Turner is Founder and CEO of The Pocket Panty and The Pocket Panty Project Incorporated. Support for this segment comes from the Black Equity Fund at IECF, advancing racial equity and supporting long term investments in black led organizations and Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Join us again next week for Black Perspectives IE. For KVCR Public Media, I'm Maya Gwynn, thank you.
