Erika Jensen | Co-Founder @ The FLEX Company

So I came to tell you guys about this really special gift that I have. A gift where people I've just met tell me everything about their sex life. They jump right into their sexual fantasies or what age they lost their virginity or if you're from the conservative South, you might divulge to me that your first vibrator was purchased illegally in Texas. I'm Erica. I'm not a sex therapist. I'm an entrepreneur who's been selling sex in Silicon Valley for 4 years, and it has totally changed my life. This major shift in my career happened where all of life's major changes happen: the psychic. Nicole knows what I'm talking about. I had gone through a really bad breakup, and I hadn't gone on a date in 2 years. And if I'm being honest, I said no to most other things in life too. This psychic had the audacity to tell me that I was a habitual left swiper. She made me promise that for an entire month, I would swipe right on everyone, and granted they weren't a total creep in the DM, I would also agree to a first date. There's a lot of weird people on Tinder, you guys. But I did it. And by getting into the swing of habitual right-swiping in my dating life, I started saying yes to other parts of my life too. And hence how even though I thought taking a job at a vibrator company would ruin my career in consumer marketing, I did it anyway. I entered the adult industry in probably the most softcore way you can. E-commerce. I didn't have to worry about being on camera. Tech conventions were more applicable than the Adult Film Star Awards, and a blazer was encouraged over a G-string. My first day at Jimmy Jane, my boss, the super handsome CEO with a ton of success in Silicon Valley looks straight into my eyes and says the word "clitoris." And later, "anal beads." And eventually, "cock ring." I sat there feeling like I was going to cry/die laughing/get fired. How sex toy companies don't have more HR problems, by the way, is still the biggest unanswered question in my life. Later that day, I jump into an Uber to head home, and I'm literally praying that this 60-year-old man does not ask what type of building this is. He did. For fear I would have to tell a stranger I work at a sex toy company, which I did. The conversation went exactly like this. This is such an interesting building. What type of building is this? Uh, work office? Oh yeah, what type of work do you do? I, uh, sell stuff online. Oh yeah, my nephew sells stuff on Craigslist. It's so interesting. What type of stuff do you sell? Vibrators! I sell vibrators, okay? But I got the hang of it. I started telling everyone that I worked at a vibrator company. It was like this super awesome party trick where instead of the typical, "So, where are you from?" I would just tell them about my job and they would start telling me about that one-night stand or how our Form 2 vibrator was so much better than their boyfriend. I made deeper connections faster with more people talking about sex than I had in my entire life. Before I knew it, I was running around town sharing stories about that trip to the dildo factory or how that super new, super professional photo on LinkedIn was actually shot in a porn studio. That said, it wasn't all orgasmic. There were times it was awkward and super painful. I remember being in an airport waiting for my flight, sitting on the fetish page of our website frantically fixing a loading issue, when suddenly I realized the people around me were whispering and just kind of backing away. And then there was the time that a friend called to tell me that my former boss, a woman who I loved and looked up to as a mentor, was telling my former colleagues that I quit to go do porn. I was heartbroken, and pre-sex toy me would have stopped talking about my job publicly, but post-sex toy me was like, "Fuck you, lady. I am the only woman working at this company, and I'm doing it with morals and respect." And morals and respect are incredibly important. As you can imagine, the adult category is heavily dominated by men who sleep with their wives' friends, the girls they hire for their videos, their employees, basically any woman ever, right? Right away, I had to set boundaries. I politely declined dinner invitations, I never drank at work events, I refused to go to adult conventions, and I straight up walked out of meetings that didn't align with my values. For example, when Bruce Jenner first came out as Caitlyn, I sat on the phone with the creative team as they proposed a blow-up doll with highly offensive copy on the box. I hung up on them and took the next day off. I'm probably known— I'm definitely known as the most boring person in the adult category, but I sleep just fine. Speaking of sleeping, hawking vibes led me to my first threesome. The people I met through working at Jimmy Jane was an unexpected benefit. My friend called me one day and said, "I met this girl, she's doing this other vagina thing. You guys would be perfect for each other." Lauren Schulte was just starting The Flexx Company and was looking for a partner with a background in e-commerce and experience selling taboo goods. I just happened to have both. I joined the company as a co-founder along with our third partner, Pampan. For the record, we've never had sex. But if I'm being totally honest, they have. Because they're engaged. Our first product, Flex, is a new period product that replaces tampons, pads, and menstrual cups. It's wearable up to 12 hours, it's not linked to TSS, and it actually helps to relieve cramping. If that's not enough for you, you can also wear it for mess-free period sex. Because if there's anything sexier than sex It's period sex, am I right? That's what investors thought too when they gave us $4 million in venture capital to continue growing our business into what it is today. A multi-million dollar consumer brand leading innovation in feminine care by women for women. And so even though I've moved from selling vibrators to period products, the sex that I'm selling is not that different, because masturbation and menstruation are actually quite similar. Masturbation is this incredibly awkward thing that everyone does and no one talks about, where the entire time you're praying that your roommate doesn't hear, or worse, walk in on you. The same is true with menstruation. Menstruation is equally awkward, everyone does it, no one talks about it, and the entire time you're praying that your coworker doesn't see you shoving a tampon up up your sleeve when you walk to the bathroom to change it. Or worse, walk in on you. Both come down to a total lack of education. So now, instead of answering customer inquiries about what size Kegel will fit, or to quote Eminem, what a woman's clitoris is, I spend my time talking to anyone and everyone about the female anatomy, how women's health deserves to be in the hands of women, why period sex is safe and enjoyable, and how if a man offers you a job and a vibrator in public at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, it might be worth saying yes to.