Spring into Summer 🌷

The Flora team is currently in recovery mode after a very long and very busy May. We have so many updates, pivots, and next steps that we are excited to share. Let’s get into it!

Content Approval

We have recently gotten all of our course content nurse-approved and are pending pediatrician approval! We’re so excited to be working with medical professionals to start building a catalogue of credible information for girls! Here are a sneak peak of some of the topics we demystify for girls and explain in digestible writing—>

1. Can I Exercise & Swim on My Period?

2. How to be Confident When My Body Is Changing?

3. What to put in your emergency 1st period kit!

4. What’s Normal & When to See a Doctor.

Our goal is to have these micro-courses posted on our website come end of June.

New Booklets!

This month, we brainstormed how to get our content into girls' hands faster. The result? Our new puberty education booklets!

They cover the most common topics girls told us were confusing when they were going through puberty. These booklets are not only a marketing tool but a core part of our distribution strategy with schools, nonprofits, and healthcare groups. This is essential as we want to build trust with parents before the app launches.

Our first version received great feedback, and we’re already working on improvements for the next edition. One exciting update: a school district has agreed to pilot them this fall! This partnership will help us reach over 100 girls and their families in a rural part of MN that hasn’t updated their curriculum in decades.

Know a school or group that wants to improve puberty education? Let us know!

Competitions

This past weekend, we competed in the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge and made it to the top 6 teams out of 30, representing 7 countries! Holy cow were there some incredible companies there. We left this competition feeling empowered by the changemakers in the room. The future is bright!

We were so excited to pitch in the final round and are proud to have received $3,000 in non-dilutive funding. We’ve already mapped out our use of funds and can’t wait to put this support to work!

We're so grateful for the opportunity to share Flora’s mission with an even broader audience! We’ve been actively seeking out tough feedback, and the judges delivered exactly what we needed to keep growing.

We’re also thrilled to announce we made it to the semifinals of MN Cup! This brings not just the possibility of more funding, but amazing mentorship and networking opportunities. We’ve entered the Education & Training track alongside some fantastic companies. Stay tuned!

Global Interviews

While Flora's initial launch is focused on the U.S., the need for accessible puberty education is truly global. To learn more, we interviewed four individuals from different countries about their experiences.

Spoiler alert: the stories were strikingly similar. Shame, confusion, and anxiety were common themes. It’s disheartening, but it fuels our motivation to move even faster. One day, we hope Flora can support every girl’s journey, no matter where she lives.

Development Team Updates

We have started the development process! Our development team has been great to work with so far. They are energized about our mission and are thoughtfully crafting our AI chatbot, Diana.

We will hopefully have a working prototype by July and will be able to test with families soon.

There are 2 things we are actively looking for: a CTO to join our team, and beta testers for our app. If anyone pops into your mind or you want to learn more, please email us!

What’s Around the Corner

It’s Gemini season, which means your favorite co-founders are THRIVING and officially 23! (Okay, Justina’s a few days away, but close enough.)

One year post-grad and this chapter has already taught us so much. Being young entrepreneurs comes with highs and lows. On the bright side, we’ve received so much encouragement and support from our incredible network. On the tougher side, we’ve sometimes struggled to be taken seriously, or had people be almost too nice.

Never thought we’d say this, but: please critique us! We don’t have the budget to make big mistakes, so honest feedback is one of the most valuable things you can give us.

This year hasn’t looked anything like we expected and we can’t wait to see where we’ll be next. Hopefully, it’s empowering even more girls. Maybe in two years... Forbes 30 Under 30? 🤞

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for the next one.

xx,

Justina & Payton