Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lovgun CEO Elizabeth Thomas was in the midst of a career transition. She had recently left a job in the medical operations field and completed a training program led by author, clinical sexologist and AASECT-certified expert sex counselor Dr. Ava Cadell. According to Thomas, she always liked helping her friends work through their relationship problems and offering them advice, so becoming a professional sexpert and certified relationship coach herself seemed like a natural fit.
Thomas is also a lifelong athlete and fitness enthusiast, and had just bought a power massager to help ease her post-workout muscle soreness. Immediately, Thomas says, she was struck by an idea. Thinking of the many friends and clients who’d shared their difficulties in achieving orgasm after having children or beginning menopause, she wondered: “What if you put an attachment on this?” That is, an attachment meant for sexual pleasure.
People have sex, and they work out, so it just makes sense to have a product that can be used for both athletic and erotic massage.
Enter Lovgun — a line of therapeutic power massagers designed primarily for intense, internal erotic stimulation. Inspired by popular power massager brands like Theragun, with interchangeable attachments used externally to target muscle tension, Thomas saw the potential for a new kind of device that could meet what she felt was an urgent need.
“You can get clitoral orgasms from external stimulation like wands and things like that, but I had to take it a step further,” Thomas explains. By adding a dildo attachment to a power massager, she realized, she could create a dual-purpose athletic and erotic massager.
Thomas began developing her idea, sourcing materials from China and working to secure a patent. In the building and testing of the prototype, Thomas found that Lovgun users would experience internal orgasms.
“You could begin by using it for an external massage, and then finish with a dildo attachment,” Thomas said.
The hand-held Lovgun massage gun is powered by a quiet yet powerful rechargeable motor, and is lightweight for on-the-go deep tissue massage and muscle pain relief. Add on one of Lovgun’s interchangeable dildo attachments — like the hot-pink realistic Stud, wolf-shaped Ice Cock or confetti-colored Tempo di Festa, to name a few — and with the press of a button, the device’s 800-3,000 strokes per minute offer deep, powerful internal stimulation. Additional attachment options, like the super-soft and crystal-clear silicone Stallion, blue-and-pink Morning Glow and Over the Rainbow, have a suction-cup base that can be used with or without the power massager. Lovegun also offers a line of colorful glass dildos, like the whimsical carrot-shaped Vitamin D, as well as a broad range of nylon restraints and bondage products.
Since officially launching in 2020, the Lovgun brand has secured both a long-awaited patent and partnerships with popular adult performers Dani Daniels and Cherie DeVille, now co-owners and Lovgun brand ambassadors.
“I’ve tried the product, and it literally curled my toes,” DeVille says. “I’ve used many toys, but this is an orgasmic experience unlike any other I’ve tried.”
DeVille, who worked as a physical therapist prior to her career as an adult performer, brings a unique background and professional experience that aligns with Lovgun’s identity — a brand with a healing mission, offering pleasure products with therapeutic benefits.
In a video review posted to her YouTube channel, Daniels agrees that the Lovgun offers an intense experience.
“It’s instant,” she says with a grin. “It’s great.” Daniels also serves as featured spokesmodel, posing for the brand’s website with Lovgun’s complete range of power massagers and restraint products.
With Daniels’ and DeVille’s endorsements and promotion of the brand on their social media accounts, Thomas says, Lovgun “pretty much sold itself.”
The boost in sales and visibility has also helped land the brand a retail distribution deal after three years as an ecommerce-only company.
“We’re super excited about that,” Thomas shares. “To go into brick-and-mortar stores, to me personally, that’s a big deal, especially after managing retail for so long. It’s really hard to get that done.”
Part of the challenge of marketing Lovgun and landing the product in stores, Thomas explains, was the harmful stigma and misconceptions imposed on the adult industry and creators of sexual pleasure products.
The biggest challenge, she explains, was building a brand that did not come across to consumers and distributors as strictly for self-pleasure. While Lovgun can be certainly used solo, Thomas notes, she created it primarily with couples in mind.
“I thought of relationship-building and bringing people closer together,” says Thomas. “I have several clients and friends who say Lovgun has helped bring their relationship back. It’s helped bring them closer to their partner. Lovgun is out there for relationships, to help couples. Male or female, whatever it may be.”
Thomas, who was raised in the South, says her primary mission with Lovgun is to help couples strengthen not only their sexual bond, but their connection as a family.
“I have those old-school beliefs on certain things,” she says, “and I think that when Mom and Dad are tight, the family can face the world.”
As the brand continues to grow, Thomas aims to leverage Lovgun’s adult star endorsements and social media visibility into additional partnerships with other high-profile adult industry influencers. She hopes this community-based marketing strategy will eventually secure global distribution for the brand, and she’s confident that, as demand for both sex toys and massage guns continues to grow, international licensing could be well within reach.
“People have sex, and they work out, so it just makes sense to have a product that can be used for both athletic and erotic massage,” Thomas says. “After all, everybody needs pleasure, right?”
