As a mother of three, Kat Nouri was frustrated with the amount of single-use plastic she used to pack the children's school lunches. She has launched a successful brand called Modern Twist, which sells placemats and baby bibs made of silicone.

So Kat wants to know: Why not use silica gel to make durable food storage bags, which can be used thousands of times instead of one-time use? In 2016, she launched Stasher and quickly convinced retailers that a $11 reusable bag is better for the planet—and ultimately, more cost-effective for large shoppers.

Kat successfully sold the brand to SC Johnson only a few years after the brand was launched, but her short tenure at the helm of Stasher was full of moments of growing pains and anxiety, including accidental scuffles with sharks on the Shark Tank.

This episode of how I built it was produced by Kerry Thompson and edited by Neva Grant. Research help from Claire Murashima. Additional support from Jeff Rogers, Casey Herman, JC Howard, Julia Carney, Elaine Coates, Farrah Safari, Liz Metzger, Harrison Vijay Tsui and Katie Sypher. You can follow us on Twitter @HowIBuiltThis, Instagram @HowIBuiltThisNPR, and email us at hibt@npr.org.