She started a subscription-based organic tampon service

Life Story: After completing degrees in psychology and law at SFU and Cardiff University in Wales, respectively, Taran Ghatrora was in the midst of a master of law degree at UBC, ostensibly on the way to her dream of becoming a human rights lawyer with the United Nations. Imagine being...

Credit: Lindsay Siu

Taran Ghatrora, 26

Co-founder and CEO
BLUME

Life Story: After completing degrees in psychology and law at SFU and Cardiff University in Wales, respectively, Taran Ghatrora was in the midst of a master of law degree at UBC, ostensibly on the way to her dream of becoming a human rights lawyer with the United Nations. Imagine being her mom and dad when she called them to say she was dropping out of school to sell organic tampons. “I feel like they were unwaveringly supportive,” remembers Ghatrora, who grew up in Surrey to parents from India and the U.K. “I knew I had their unconditional love if I failed.”

The Bottom Line: That hasn’t happened: the business that Ghatrora started in 2014 with her sister, Bunny, and friend Jessica Bilmer was selected by Hootsuite’s The Next Big Thing accelerator. Recently rebranded to Blume from Ellebox, it has sold more than 200,000 organic tampons and pads through online subscriptions, good for an annual recurring revenue of $360,000. Blume has four full-time staff and customers in every province. Ghatrora says she and her partners hope to raise awareness of self-care in addition to growing the company. “We really want to expand the educational aspect of our business in a relatable, authentic way through women’s stories, not just clinical information.”

My favourite books are…
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss.

My favourite musicians are…
Frank Ocean, SZA and J Cole.

My favourite podcasts are…
How I Built This and The Joe Rogan Experience.

A little-known fact about me is…
I used to have a company decorating cakes and used to teach classes on cake decorating at Michaels [Stores Inc.].

#30under30