Many small businesses are inspired by necessity or a gap spotted in the market, and that was definitely the case with Lunapads. In the '90s Lunapads co-founder and creative director Madeleine Shaw became allergic to tampons. She didn't want to use disposable pads so she put her background in fashion to a new use and created reusable, washable menstrual pads. What Madeleine didn't expect when she started using her creations was that “my attitude towards my period went from okay to awesome.” And thus Lunapads was born.
In 1999 Madeleine met Suzanne Siemens at a work-related event and by the end of 2000 they were business partners. Suzanne, Lunapads' co-founder and CEO, has a complimentary skill set to Madeleine's that has allowed the business to continue to grow and evolve. As they put it “it was a little bit of peanut butter and chocolate colliding!”
