real life

How two ordinary women created a vibrator

A little while ago I was contacted by Lisa Hughes who wanted to tell me – and you – about the cute little vibrator she and her friend had created. She sent me a photo of herself and her friend and business partner Kristine and I was intrigued.

I asked Lisa to write a guest post about how two regular women became sex toy moguls and here it is……

Our story began 10 years ago, when we met as new mothers in our local park. Our friendship was cut short when I moved to the UK and we lost contact with each other. For the next 6 years Kristine was busy bringing up two young daughters and working part time as a flight attendant with Qantas. I was 17000km away, raising my two young daughters and studying health and fitness. After 6 years living abroad, as a family we decided to return to Australia.

One morning at the local gym, Kristine and I spotted each other across the treadmills. We rekindled our friendship and started keeping fit together, that’s where our lives were about to change.

One day while out on a run, we got chatting about all sorts as women do, from what to cook for dinner, our children, being married, when the conversation turned to vibrators.

We were having a laugh about some of the crazy looking designs, the packaging and how they all seemed to be marketed to men. We couldn’t think of a vibrator that was designed by women for women. By the end of the run, our plan was complete – we would create a vibrator that was discreet, stylish and most importantly worked! We wanted to make it available to women in a fun, uplifting and empowering environment. We would call it Be Be, be beautiful, be you!

Imagine our husbands’ reactions when we told them of our grand plan! Both men thought we were joking at first and had a laugh. However, once they realised we were serious, they were totally supportive of our vision. When friends found out we had started a business together, to say they were a little surprised is an understatement.

One of our friends, Kylie said she thought it all sounded a bit risqué at first; this wasn’t a normal business for normal mums! Although she did say “knowing Kris and Lisa, I knew it would be stylish and tasteful and I soon started to think differently about it”.

Then there were our parents to tell. “Hi Mum and Dad, just calling to say I have finally found my purpose in life. Yes, that’s right, I want to design vibrators! “. Once we explained our vision, all visions of medieval weapons of torture and back street adult shops disappeared and we found an incredible amount support from friends and family. Don’t you just love the Aussie can do attitude?

So where do you start when designing a vibrator? There are no “Dummies Guides” on this subject, so we started with the internet. We uncovered many sites that opened our eyes to another world and interesting facts about the history of vibrators and women’s sensuality dating back to the 1800’s! Then we did what women do best, talk to other women! After finding out what women really want and armed with more than a years worth of research, we were ready for action.

We started interviewing industrial designers to help create the Be Be. I must say Kris and I were rather apprehensive when we had the meetings, after all, how do you write a project brief for a vibrator! We could not even look at each other for fear that we would burst out laughing when the word vibrator was mentioned. So we chose to call it an intimate massager and to laugh about it on the way home in the car.

With an award winning designer on board and a support team who shared our vision, it was time for designing, refining and testing. It was an all consuming exercise taking up every moment we had. My husband would joke “do you really have to bring your work home with you”.

Once word got out that testers were required we weren’t short of volunteers! After extensive testing and many prototypes our feedback confirmed we had got the vibrations right (very important) and better still the design was a beautiful object, perfect for use on your own or with a partner.

After nearly 2 years we were ready to go public and launched in February this year. We are humbled that so many women have thanked us for creating the Be Be and making this an accessible and acceptable product for their sensual wellbeing. Our brand Love Being Woman and the Be Be comes from our mission, making women feel great about themselves, so they can give the best of themselves to others.

 

Lisa and Kris have three Be Be vibrators to give away to MM readers. Simply email them your details here

And if you want to check out the Be Be….you can visit their website here.

and they will pick three emails at random and send you your discreet little friend.

I’m not sure what to suggest for comments – would obviously love to hear any vibrator stories. Anyone? Anyone?

Failing that – what’s been your experience starting a business or trying to?