Most women have never thought twice about what their period products are actually made of. Susan and Reshmi did, and built an entire business around changing that.

In this episode, I sit down with Susan and Reshmi, co-founders of OVO and 149tech, to discuss innovative approaches in women's health, focusing on clean, sustainable menstrual products and the importance of values-driven business practices. From founding 149 Technologies to launching OVO, they share what it took to build the infrastructure, sourcing relationships, and certifications behind a genuinely different period care product, and the hidden costs associated with certifications and challenges most consumers never see.

In this conversation, we cover:
↳ Susan and Reshmi's backgrounds and the journey to founding 149 Technologies
↳ Building the infrastructure behind women's health innovation
↳ The business model behind OVO and why period care needed a new approach
↳ The real challenges of sourcing, manufacturing, and navigating industry certifications
↳ The hidden costs behind compliance and what "certified" actually requires
↳ Why transparency and education are at the center of lasting cultural change in women's health

Getting to know the people and values behind the brands we bring into our homes changes everything. It's what turns a purchase into an intentional choice — and a label into something you can actually trust.

And if you want to go deeper, check out The Hidden Microplastics Inside Your Home Masterclass, where Susan and Reshmi break down the hormone-disrupting chemicals hiding in conventional period care products, how to spot "clean" claims that still rely on these materials, and exactly what to look for instead. Their segment is one of 8 awareness-driven conversations with founders covering some of the highest-impact sources of microplastic exposure hiding in plain sight in your home, and it's completely free, on-demand, and available the moment you sign up.

Sign up + start watching here now

If you're wondering where to start in your own home, I work with moms one-on-one to create a personalized, low-tox swap plan for their specific home, family, and body's own natural detox pathways. Send me an email with your top 3 concerns, and I'll send you a link to a free 20-minute discovery call.

This is exactly why I'm here: to help you find the everyday products in your home that may be quietly impacting your health, and to introduce you to the brands and founders I personally trust with my own family.

This episode contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you, I only recommend brands I personally trust and use in my own home. This helps support the free content you enjoy on The Live Lightly Podcast, which in turn supports small businesses like OVO. Win, win, win!

Shop OVO + use code LIVELIGHTLY26 for a discount
Sign up for the free masterclass
Work with me, The Low-Tox Reset
Follow along my low-tox living journey @livelightlybyjessica | and for the latest podcast guests @thelivelightlypodcast
Website: www.livelightly.eco

The information shared in this episode is for educational and awareness purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any health-related concerns.

You're paying top dollar for clothing that may be costing your health too — and most of us never thought to ask what our clothes are actually made of until now.

Most conventional clothing, including the premium brands charging top dollar for it, is made from cheap synthetic petroleum-based plastic materials that shed microplastic particles onto your skin and into the air around you every single time you wear them, wash them, or simply move through your day. With infertility rates rising globally, researchers are increasingly pointing to daily microplastic and endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure as a contributing factor, and what we wear every single day is one of the most direct and continuous sources of that exposure. Pajamas included.

In this episode, I sit down with Meli, co-founder of Arms of Andes and Eco Aya — two plastic-free clothing brands built entirely without synthetic materials, rooted in a deep reverence for the earth and the people who live on it. Meli's story starts in Peru, shaped by a childhood rich in cultural values around nature and sustainability, and leads to two brands that prove clothing can perform beautifully without a single synthetic fiber.

In this conversation, we cover:
Meli's childhood and the cultural values that shaped everything she builds
Growing up in Peru and a deep-rooted reverence for the earth and its resources
What your clothing is actually made of, from production to your body
The personal health motivation: microplastic exposure, hormone disruption, and fertility
The journey of building two plastic-free clothing brands and the challenges behind it
Supply chain transparency and how to know if a brand is actually doing what it claims
How alpaca and pima cotton outperform synthetic materials in every way

Getting to know the people and values behind the brands we bring into our homes changes everything. It's what turns a purchase into an intentional choice — and a label into something you can actually trust.

And if you want to go deeper, check out The Hidden Microplastics Inside Your Home Masterclass, free + on demand, where Meli breaks down the many names used for petroleum-based synthetic materials hiding in clothing labels, the multiple ways synthetic clothing exposes your body to microplastics while you wear it, and how to spot the tricky marketing claims that make synthetic clothing appear to be a cleaner choice.

Her segment is one of 8 awareness-driven conversations with founders covering some of the highest-impact sources of microplastic exposure hiding in plain sight in your home — and it's completely free, on-demand, and available the moment you sign up.

Start Watching Now

If you're wondering where to start in your own home, I work with moms one-on-one to create a personalized, low-tox swap plan for their specific home, family, and body's own natural detox pathways. Send me an email with your top 3 concerns, and I'll send you a link to a free 20-minute discovery call.

This episode contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you — I only recommend brands I personally trust and use in my own home. This helps support the free content you enjoy on The Live Lightly Podcast, which in turn supports small businesses like Eco Aya and Arms of Andes. Win, win, win!

Follow along my holistic, low-tox, microplastic-free-ish journey: @livelightlybyjessica | @thelivelightlypodcast
The Live Lightly Podcast Homepage

The information shared in this episode is for educational and awareness purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any health-related concerns.

You've been sleeping in microplastics...did you know that most conventional bedding has quietly replaced natural fibers with synthetic polyester blends, and the brand on the label doesn't always tell you that? Kat Dey, co-founder of ettitude, has spent years doing things differently, and in this conversation she shares exactly why.
ettitude was built on a simple but uncompromising belief: that what surrounds your body for 8 hours every night should be held to the highest possible standard — from the way materials are sourced and processed to the way every product is made. No shortcuts. No greenwashing. No tricky ingredient names designed to obscure what's actually in your bedding.
In this conversation, we cover:
↳ Kat's journey to co-founding a brand that refuses to compromise on what goes into your home
↳ The values, ethics, and non-negotiables at the foundation of ettitude
↳ How conventional bedding quietly replaced natural fibers with synthetic materials most consumers never notice
↳ What full material transparency actually looks like in practice
↳ Why the standard ettitude set for themselves is one the entire industry should be held to

And if you want to go deeper — Kat has a full segment in the Hidden Microplastics Inside Your Home Masterclass where she breaks down the health connection, the hormone-disrupting chemicals hiding in conventional bedding, and exactly what to look for when choosing safer alternatives for your family.
It's completely free, on-demand, and available the moment you sign up.

Get Instant Access to the Microplastic Masterclass

If you're wondering where to start in your own home, I work with moms one-on-one to create a personalized, low-tox swap plan for their specific home, family, and body's own natural detox pathways. Send me an email with your top 3 concerns, and I'll send you a link to a free 20-minute discovery call.

This episode contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you — I only recommend brands I personally trust and use in my own home. This helps support the free content you enjoy on The Live Lightly Podcast, which in turn supports small businesses like ettitude. Win, win, win!

Shop ettitude
Follow along my holistic, low-tox, microplastic-free-ish journey: @livelightlybyjessica | @thelivelightlypodcast
The Live Lightly Podcast Homepage

The information shared in this episode is for educational and awareness purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any health-related concerns.