The ooia story
The Female Empowerment Company ooia as a passion project by two friends
We, Kristine and Kati, have known each other for a decade and have experienced a lot together. For years, we exchanged ideas about motherhood and womanhood, work, work-life balance, and existential questions. In doing so, the desire grew to make a positive societal impact. As leaders and mentors, we have already supported many women – now we want to focus our work on female empowerment and sustainability.
Furthermore, it bothers us that the German job market offers few challenging leadership roles with flexible working hours. We are both mothers of a total of five children under nine years old and want to pursue jobs as challenging as those of our husbands and friends – while also being present for our children as they grow up.
Ooia Period Underwear - From Idea to Innovation
We had long played with the idea of building something of our own that would do good – independent of corporate guidelines. During a dinner, we discovered period underwear from the USA: an innovative product that gives women new freedoms and replaces disposable products. Excited by the experiences of other users, we wanted to create something similar for Europe. We started researching, tested products from abroad, and quickly became sure: we can do this better! Together with befriended scientists, textile experts, and product developers, we developed initial ideas, interviewed gynecologists, collected material samples throughout Europe, and conducted focus groups to understand the needs of women*. In June 2018, we finally held the first prototype of ooia period underwear in our hands – by August, we had quit our previous jobs and founded ooshi GmbH.
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Proud to tackle the 2nd taboo - the ooia Moms Nursing Bra
As founders of a female empowerment company, we knew that we would develop innovative products for women* in many areas.
We, Kati and Kristine, are mothers ourselves, breastfed our five children and learned how stigmatized this topic is.
It is important to us to work with you as a community to remove the taboo surrounding breastfeeding.
Your breasts, your baby, your life.
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Not just period underwear: ooia Female Bodywear
In 2022, we developed our first ooia everyday collection: underwear for everyday wear that can replace panty liners. This was followed by our ooia period beachwear. Today, we offer over 200 different products from a wide range of categories, designed to support and empower women* in their daily lives. These include our Feel Dry Top, which prevents sweat stains, the Shape Short as ooia's first shapewear, and the all-you-need Bra - an underwire-free and seamless bra for even more comfort and support.
Discover all productsMeet the Ooia founders
Hi, it's me, Kati
I'm Kati, I live in and love Berlin, and besides ooia, I spend most of my time with my three Little Ernsts and my husband.
I was always quite restless and have lived in seven different countries. But since the birth of our first daughter six years ago, we've firmly rooted ourselves in Berlin. The longing to travel has remained, and every year we spend several months abroad. In 2019, for example, we moved to Sydney for two months – and worked from there. Planning and making these stays possible is certainly our biggest hobby. Otherwise, we enjoy being by the water, in the Brandenburg countryside, or trying new ice cream flavors together in Berlin's ice cream parlors.
I myself appreciate good strong coffee and am finally reading more books again, currently preferring non-fiction books about the female body and female empowerment.
My personal development has always been very important to me. After studying in Münster, I worked as a management consultant and stayed with the same employer for the last 12 years. Now, the desire grew within me to take charge of shaping my professional life myself, and also to increasingly make a societal contribution through my work. And that's how ooia came about.
Hi, it's me, Kristine
I am Kristine and I live in Berlin with my wonderful husband and my two wild daughters.
I love our garden and enjoy spending as much time as possible in nature. My heart soars when I do yoga in our garden in the morning and the old trees rustle above my head. In addition to ooia, I am interested in the topic of mindfulness, especially meditation and yoga. Basically, I try to live mindfully.
When my hectic life as a business mom allows it, I love reading (my all-time favorite is “The Remains of the Day” by Ishiguro) and am interested in art and culture.
After many years in management positions at Zalando, I am infinitely grateful to be able to build my own business where I can live and work according to my values. My goal is to build a sustainable company that leaves a positive impact on the world and at the same time views all the people who work with and for us as a whole and not just as "service providers" or "employees".
Hi, we're the ooia Team
ooia is growing and we are happy that we now have a great team that supports us! We work as independently of time and location as possible - but we are always very happy when we see each other in the beloved ooia office in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg. We are a medium-sized company with 20+ employees and are always looking for new colleagues - take a look at the jobs section , maybe we will get to know each other in person soon.
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