Ep. 30: International's Women's Day Special: From robotics to plastic-free periods with Saathi Pads Founder & CEO, Kristin Kagetsu
When my guest Kristin Kagetsu left her previous job, she made a wish list for what her next role should include:
Product Development / Mechanical Engineering
Social enterprise in India
Opportunity to learn and grow
Sustainable development
Women’s empowerment
What’s incredible is that Kristin created this role by launching a new social enterprise that also provides similarly meaningful work opportunities for others. Kristin left her steady job in the US and moved to Ahmedabad in Gujarat to address the gaps in both access and sustainability of sanitary pads for women. Hear how she used her MIT-training to design an innovative, zero-waste solution to the environmental and health issues women face in rural India (turning banana fibres that would be discarded into chemical and plastic-free sanitary pads).
Thrilled to bring you this inspiring conversation in honor of International Women’s Day March 8! Kristin joined me on the line from Oslo, and the connection wasn’t great, but I couldn’t bear not to share this conversation. I hope she will join me again when we have better audio quality, but do listen to and share this one in the meantime!
As always, you can hear the full episode below, on your favorite podcast app, or on iTunes and please do subscribe, so you don’t miss an episode!
Saathi Biodegradable Pads
SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 30:
Saathi Pads are chemical-free and biodegradable - they’re currently available in India directly from Saathi or here
@saathipads on instagram
More on Kristin from the Cartier Women’s Initiative
BOOKS and other things we discussed:
Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough & Michael Braungart - an important read for anyone creating new products!
Follow us on Instagram for more on Kristin and everything we mentioned in this episode!
Special thanks to Aman Moroney @ Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!
