Katie Diasti started her environmentally friendly period care brand, Viv for your V, out of a desire to serve women by offering them better alternatives to traditional period products.
“I would love to serve women and menstruators for the rest of my life—that sounds awesome, that hypes me up, that excites me,” Diasti said.
Diasti, BC ’19, started her brand as a senior at Boston College. On Monday, she spoke in a Shea Center Talk, providing advice to students on turning their business ideas into a reality.
Diasti said she hopes to create a sustainable brand of period products that can support customers throughout their whole life, not just in times of need.
“How can we support our customers during that entire month and then their entire year and their entire life,” Diasti said. “What we are thinking about now is how to support people throughout different aspects of their cycle.”
Diasti also emphasized the importance of educating her customers about the plight of women who do not have access to personal hygiene products.
“The power of using education and growing an audience through a for-profit company can also be positive and super impactful if you’re doing it very intentionally,” Diasti said.
The mission of Viv for your V could not be pursued without a passionate team, according to Diasti. A supportive team, she said, is crucial for any company.
“[Also] building a team that’s equally passionate as you are about what you’re doing and what you’re building and understands the overall problem,” said Diasti. “It’s our goal as a for-profit company to understand that certain menstruators don’t have access to these products.”
Diasti said she started her journey in an entrepreneurial marketing class in the fall semester of 2018. Viv for your V evolved from her final project for the course.
“I went back to my old marketing research professors when I was building our surveys and asked them to review it, and they loved it,” Diasti said. “They were super pumped to help out. All the staff on campus want to help you.”
Diasti attributes some of her initial success to the Start@Shea’s Accelerator, which introduced her to mentors and helped her idea bloom.
“A few weeks after graduating, I jumped right into the [Start@Shea Accelerator], and that was really a transformative time for Viv itself,” Diasti said. “During that time, I met with a lot of awesome mentors, and they really inspired me to actually pursue Viv post-grad.”
Fran Hodgens, CSOM ’24, attended Diasti’s talk and said he was inspired by her success. Hodgens highlighted Diasti’s dedication to her mission and the joy she finds in her work.
“I think that the thing that stuck out to me is that Katie [Diasti] found something that she was passionate about,” Hodgens said.
Hodgens also said he was impressed with the support that Diasti received from BC faculty and the Shea Center.
“They were so willing to help, so that really stuck with me,” Hodgens said. “Even beyond BC, we’ll still all have access to the people who helped us along the way.”
Featured Image by Ben Schultz / For The Heights
