Tori Dunlap reveals unconventional workplace policies at her $5 million-profit company

Tori Dunlap has built her career around teaching women how financial independence can give them greater control over their lives, and she says that philosophy extends to the way she runs her own company.

The founder of Her First $100K, who saved $100,000 by age 25 before leaving her corporate job, tells People that she deliberately created the kind of workplace she wished she had experienced herself. The company now offers a range of benefits that Dunlap acknowledges are unconventional by traditional corporate standards.

Among the company's policies are paid menstrual leave, four months of paid parental leave, unlimited paid time off and a full week off every quarter, when the entire company shuts down. Her First $100K is also fully remote.

"We built the company we wanted to work for," Dunlap says, explaining that the policies were incorporated from the beginning rather than added later as perks.

For Dunlap, the approach is closely tied to her definition of financial freedom. She describes it as "the ability to leave", whether that means leaving a job that is treating someone poorly, a relationship that is unsafe or simply a life that no longer works for them.

She says she has seen the impact of financial independence among women who have used money to make major changes in their lives, including leaving marriages they no longer felt safe in, paying off debt and pursuing better employment opportunities.

That philosophy also shapes how she views her employees. Dunlap argues that workplaces should recognise that workers have lives, families and physical needs outside their jobs rather than expecting them to prioritise productivity at all times.

"I spend my whole career telling women they deserve more," she tells PEOPLE. "If my own company didn't reflect that, I'd be a hypocrite with a podcast."

The company's policies have attracted significant attention online. Posts about its paid menstrual leave and quarterly shutdowns have collectively generated more than 20 million views, with many commenters expressing surprise that benefits Dunlap considers basic are relatively uncommon in workplaces.

Dunlap says the reaction itself demonstrates how unusual workplace flexibility can still seem. She believes employees should not have to reach the point of burnout before being allowed to rest.

The policies also come with a financial cost, something Dunlap does not shy away from. She reveals that Her First $100K made just over $5 million in profit last year, while still maintaining benefits she says are more generous than those offered by many much larger companies.

Dunlap argues that profitability and a humane workplace are not mutually exclusive.

"The idea that you have to grind your people into dust to make money is the myth I most want to kill," she says. "I've got a whole team and a healthy business that says otherwise."

Dunlap founded Her First $100K in December 2016 after reaching her $100,000 savings goal and leaving corporate employment. What began as a mission to help women improve their finances has since grown into a broader platform encompassing financial education, books, podcasts and social media content.

For Dunlap, the workplace she has built is ultimately another extension of the same message: financial success should create more freedom, not require people to sacrifice their health and personal lives to achieve it.