Today we’d like to introduce you to Cash Arroyo.
Hi Cash, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
SleepyCys actually started because I kept getting what I was told were yeast infections.
At the time, I was pretty ignorant about feminine health, not because I didn’t care, but because it was something nobody really talked about. I didn’t know who to ask questions to, and I trusted what my doctor was telling me. I kept getting prescribed medication for yeast infections, but the problem kept coming back.
Then one night, I was talking to a girlfriend who mentioned that she had BV. I honestly had no idea what she was talking about. She said it almost like I should have known what BV was, so I went home, Googled it, and had one of those moments where everything suddenly clicked. I realized that what I had been dealing with sounded a lot more like BV than the recurring yeast infections I had been told I had.
My friend was dealing with many of the same frustrations, so I told her, “I’m going to make you something.” I started experimenting with making suppositories for her, then made some for myself. I started talking about what I was learning online, and people began asking me if they could get some too.
So I started making them in my kitchen.
At first, there was no grand business plan. I was literally making these because I had found something I wanted to share with other women who were dealing with the same uncomfortable, embarrassing, and often very private conversations I had been having. Eventually, someone told me, “You should actually sell these.” I thought about it, took the idea seriously, and that little kitchen experiment became SleepyCys in 2020.
What blows my mind is where it went from there. Something I made for a girlfriend and myself in my kitchen eventually became a real business that has shipped products across the country and internationally, with customers who come back and order again.
And honestly, the biggest thing I’ve taken from the entire journey is that the problem was never that these conversations were too personal to have. It was that we weren’t having them enough.
Women deal with these things. We have questions. We have symptoms. We deserve to understand our bodies and feel comfortable talking about our intimate health without shame. That’s really what SleepyCys became for me: taking a conversation that had always felt taboo and making it feel normal.
It started with a problem I was personally experiencing, a conversation with a friend, and a kitchen. I had no idea at the time that it would turn into a business, a community, and a journey that would completely change how I saw myself as an entrepreneur.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it has absolutely not been a smooth road. Honestly, it took me a while to even agree to do this interview because I felt like I was drowning. I didn’t feel like it would be right to sit here and do an interview about my business when I was one foot in and one foot out. Not because I wanted out, but because somewhere along the way, I lost track of everything. I lost track of the business, the vision, and honestly, my WHY.
SleepyCys has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. Building a business from the ground up means learning things you never thought you would have to learn, making mistakes, figuring out manufacturing, products, branding, fulfillment, finances, marketing, customer service, and trying to keep everything moving while also dealing with life outside of the business. There have been times when I felt completely overwhelmed and questioned whether I was even capable of doing this.
I started SleepyCys in 2020 because I wanted to make feminine hygiene feel normal. I wanted women to be able to talk about their bodies, vaginal health, periods, and intimate care without feeling embarrassed or ashamed. That WHY was always at the center of what I was building, but somewhere along the way, the business became so much bigger than the reason I started it. I got caught up in everything I had to do and lost sight of why I was doing it.
Coming back to that realization has been difficult, but it has also been necessary. I realized I should do this interview because, honestly, I’m the person who should be interviewed. Not because I have everything figured out, but because I’m authentic in my walk. I’m not going to sit here and pretend entrepreneurship has been easy or that I have some perfect success story.
Right now, I’m still fighting to find my way back. Even while I’m drowning, I’m learning how to breathe again.
And I think there is something powerful about being honest about that. If I can keep going when I feel like I have nothing left, learn from what I’ve been through, find my WHY again, and rebuild something I almost lost myself in, I know other people can do it too.
That is ultimately what I want SleepyCys to represent. Not perfection. Not having it all together. But being willing to keep going, keep learning, and keep fighting for something you believe in. If I can do it, I know someone else can too, and I want to be their voice.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
SleepyCys is a feminine hygiene and intimate wellness brand that I created with one simple mission: making feminine hygiene feel normal.
I specialize in creating products and conversations around intimate care that people are often too embarrassed to talk about. SleepyCys started with products like boric acid suppositories and has grown into a bigger vision that includes intimate washes, period products, and other feminine wellness products. But for me, it has never just been about selling a product. It’s about creating a brand that makes women feel comfortable talking about their bodies and taking care of themselves.
A huge part of my work has also been education and community. I’ve spent years researching PCOS, vaginal health, hormones, periods, and the things women are often left to figure out on their own. I’ve built a community around those conversations and used my platform to help women feel less alone and more confident advocating for themselves.
One thing that really sets my content apart is that I’m not afraid to say the things other people won’t. Some of my content is intentionally bold, direct, funny, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright shocking because I know that’s what makes people stop scrolling. In a world where everyone is competing for attention, I’ve learned how to create content that can interrupt the doom scroll almost immediately.
But getting someone to stop scrolling is only the beginning. What makes me proud is what happens after that. People sign up, purchase products, ask questions, share their own experiences, or become part of the SleepyCys community because they realize they didn’t just find another brand trying to sell them something. They found a real person who is actually trying to change real problems.
What I’m most proud of is that SleepyCys came from a real problem and a real desire to help. I didn’t start this because I saw a business opportunity and thought, “I could sell this.” I started it because I cared about the conversation and wanted to change the way we talk about feminine hygiene.
What sets me apart is that I’m not trying to present myself as someone who has everything figured out. I’m very transparent about my own journey, the mistakes I’ve made, the things I’ve had to learn, and even the moments where I’ve struggled. I think people connect with that because they know I’m not just talking at them. I’m right there with them.
I’ve had to learn how to formulate products, manufacture, package, market, sell, build a community, handle fulfillment, create content, and run a business, often figuring things out as I went. I’m proud of how much I’ve learned, but I’m even more proud that after everything, I still believe in the WHY behind SleepyCys.
At the end of the day, I want SleepyCys to be more than a feminine hygiene brand. I want it to be a voice for women who have felt embarrassed, dismissed, confused, or alone when it comes to their bodies. I want women to feel like they have a big sister in their corner saying, “Girl, let’s talk about it.”
Because that’s really what I do. I make people stop scrolling, start talking, and realize that their problems are worth talking about and solving.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was definitely a little different. I was adopted at a young age and separated from my biological mother and siblings, and while I had some really good moments growing up, I also experienced trauma that shaped me in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time.
I was a runaway at 16, which probably tells you a lot about the kind of kid I was. I had this feeling from a very young age that I was meant for something bigger than what I was experiencing. I can’t really explain it. I just ALWAYS knew. I knew I was different, I knew I was going to do something with my life, and I had this internal drive that I couldn’t turn off.
Personality-wise, I never shut up. 😂 I was always asking questions, always thinking, always getting myself into something, and I definitely thought I knew everything. I was curious about everything and wanted to figure things out for myself. Looking back, I think that curiosity is still one of the biggest parts of who I am today.
I loved being outside and I absolutely loved animals. I was the kid catching lizards, spiders, and even snakes. 😂 I loved swimming and being adventurous, and I was never really afraid to get my hands dirty or investigate something that caught my attention.
I was also a jack of all trades from an early age. I never felt like I had to fit into one specific box. If I wanted to learn something, I figured it out. If I didn’t know how to do something, I wanted to know how. I think that’s a huge part of why I became an entrepreneur later in life. I’ve always had this mindset of, “Okay, I don’t know how to do this yet, but I’ll figure it out.”
I think the little girl I was and the woman I am now have a lot more in common than I realized. I’m still curious. I’m still loud. I still ask a million questions. I still want to understand how things work. I still believe I’m meant to do something bigger. The difference is that now I understand that feeling a little better.
I don’t think I ever stopped believing in myself. Even when life gave me plenty of reasons to, there was always this little voice in me that said, “There’s more for you.” I’ve carried that feeling my entire life, and honestly, I think that’s what keeps me going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.casharroyo.com
