At Ella Paradis, I spend most of my time analyzing which products are selling, keeping my ear to the ground for new product launches, and monitoring the state of the industry as a whole. If you were to ask me, “Gianna, what are your bestsellers?” I would not even need to look at my analytics. I know them like the back of my hand — all of our top-selling items are made to be used by vulva owners. Of our top-sellers, 80 percent are clitoral stimulators for solo or partner use, while 20 percent are specifically made for couples. Products for penis owners rarely ever make it into our list of top-sellers.
As society embraces the connection between sexual wellness and overall health and well-being, we have seen more and more people advocating for closing the orgasm gap, and women taking agency over their climax. Correspondingly, we have seen a plethora of innovative products created for vulva owners. However, when you take a look at these, you will notice that there is a stark difference between who is at the helm of the companies manufacturing and marketing these products, and the end consumer who is using these products.
Every single member of our industry needs to play their part in boosting inclusivity.
Reports estimate that about 40 percent of all U.S. businesses are owned by women. However, in the pleasure products industry, the ratio of women-owned businesses is much, much lower. While brands like Blush Novelties, Lora DiCarlo, Dame, Maude, Unbound, Lioness and MysteryVibe have stormed the market, there is still a large disparity between what percentage of products is being created for vulva owners and who owns the brand manufacturing or marketing the product.
We are guilty of this as well at Ella Paradis; our founders are men. We know we have work to do in this department, and understand why it is more difficult for women-owned businesses to penetrate any vertical.
According to an article in Inc., investment in women-led firms fell to a three-year low, which makes it clear that during this global pandemic, male investors reverted to investing in what they know best — male-led startups. Now, if that is not a step backwards, I do not know what is!
If we take this a step further, Fundera by NerdWallet also estimates that only 9 percent of U.S. businesses are black-owned, and of that 9 percent only 35 percent are owned by black women — meaning only 3.15 percent of businesses in the U.S. are owned by black women. In our industry we see this clear as day. As we at Ella Paradis prepped for Juneteenth, we started to research which brands in the industry were black-owned so we could highlight and promote them. When we reached out to our distributors and brand owners, they informed us that they carried only two black-owned brands out of the thousands of brands included in their portfolios. Yikes!
When I looked deeper, I found some more statistics: 44 percent of black business owners use their own cash to start their ventures. Why? Because 37.9 percent of black business owners say they are “discouraged” from applying for loans, and they receive less business financing, less often, and at higher rates. Just 1 percent of black business owners obtain business loans in their first year, and only 18 percent of black business owners report receiving assistance from loan officers in completing business loan applications. There is absolutely no lack of creative business ideas in our black communities, but if they do not receive funding and support in the same way their white/white-passing counterparts do, how will it ever be an equal playing field?
The point I am trying to get across is that in order to level the playing field, we must not discourage or underestimate women-owned businesses, black-owned businesses, and definitely not black women-owned businesses. To the distributors, brand owners and retailers reading this op-ed, I encourage you to take an audit of your product catalog. How many brands do you carry that are owned by women? How many do you carry that are black-owned? How many are black, female-owned? To the investors reading this, I encourage you to do the same and be welcoming, fair and helpful to black business owners inquiring about business loans. Every single member of our industry needs to play their part in boosting inclusivity because the more diversity we see among business owners, the more diverse and innovative our industry will be.
Once a month I will be picking from a pool of emails sent to me from females of all ethnicities to offer an open session with our CEO and founder. This session can help answer business questions, product development questions or general industry questions to guide potential entrepreneurs in their journey to a profitable business. We encourage these creative-thinking females to email me at gianna@ellaparadis.com and join the conversation.
Gianna Del Monte is the director of marketing and merchandise for online sexual health and wellness retailer Ella Paradis. She has been with the company for two years and has a background in a variety of adult regulated industries such as nicotine, cannabis, vapor and alcohol.
