The Honey Pot’s Bea Dixon on why ‘better-for-you is the new conventional’

“I actually think the [vaginal wellness] space is changing for the better. … Better-for-you is the new conventional,” Dixon said, sharing how she thinks things like clean cotton have become table stakes for companies that sell tampons and pads. 

In turn, it’s been an exciting time for companies like The Honey Pot. Last year, the Honey Pot sold a majority stake to Compass Diversified for $380 million. And Dixon joined the Modern Retail Podcast to talk about what’s been going on at The Honey Pot since then. 

Dixon admitted that, initially, talking about the sale was hard because, “We have never been one to talk about how much money we raise or how much money we make.” But now, she said, “I feel great. I feel lucky to have a partner. I feel lucky that we were able to make whole the investors that had been with us since the very beginning.” 

And, being part of a bigger company like Compass Diversified has allowed The Honey Pot to spend more time and resources on bigger projects, like new packaging, which is rolling out in April. “We put several, it felt like hundreds, of iterations in front of people so that we could really dial down to what would be the best version of said new packaging,” Dixon said. In the process, the Honey Pot learned how to more specifically call attention to certain attributes like the types of herbs that go into each product and the benefits of each. 

It points to a bigger evolution that Dixon is seeing in the space — namely, that more brands are “leading with function.”

Here are a few highlights from the conversation, lightly edited for clarity and length. 

What it’s like to sell a stake in your business 
“If I’m honest with you, that moment was hard, because I’ve never been one to talk about how much money we raise or how much money we make — because I don’t want people valuing us based on that, you know? It just feels weird. But I also felt very grateful, because it’s really hard to go through a process. … I got over not talking about [the sale] because I had to do it, because everybody wants to call you and everybody wants to talk about it, right? I think what was hard for me in the beginning is that people thought we had sold all of our business to Compass, right? And that wasn’t the case. We didn’t do anything different than what most businesses do when they want to do a majority stake or a minority sale. … So, in the beginning, it was hard for me because I felt very misunderstood. There were a lot of mixed emotions. But now, I feel great. I feel lucky to have a partner. I feel lucky that we were able to make whole the investors that had been with us since the very beginning.”

The Honey Pot’s priorities right now 
“I think one of our biggest priorities is our team and making sure that we … put a lot of structure in how we’re building the team, how we’re maintaining the team we already had, and how we’re essentially putting in growth levers for how we can all grow within our respective fields or jobs. And so we’re really focused on our team right now. We’re also extremely focused on bringing new humans into the brand and also loving on and continuing to feed the relationships we already had with the customers we’ve had for so long. … Sometimes when you hear about bringing new humans in, it’s almost like, ‘Well what happened to the humans you’ve been serving this whole time?’ And so, we really making sure we’re maintaining those relationships and nurturing those relationships, while also looking to grow new relationships with new humans.”

How the feminine care space has evolved 
“The category is going to continue to evolve with function. And so, one of the ways we’re seeing that show up right now in a really beautiful way is with what’s happening with menopause. … When we first got started, just saying the word ‘vagina’ was like an innovation. … [Menopause] has been this thing that people don’t talk about. But now, I feel like we’re at the point where — this is similar to what vagina was 10 years ago, 12 years ago — we’re at the point where menopause is not a trend, it’s just a way of life. It’s a life stage that is going to happen to all of us humans with vaginas, at some point in our life. … And I think that what’s happening in menopause is really beautiful, because there are a lot of brands that are coming out, and they’re coming out with really innovative ways to reach humans. And so that’s one example of function.”