Caryn Thompson

This week’s radical is Caryn Thompson, who owns an intimate wellness store in Boise, Idaho. As a 65-year-old woman, she’s broken into this male-dominated space as an independent businesswoman, asserting space for herself. Through this field, she’s become a sex and health educator by accident who creates safe spaces for everyone – especially women – to get their intimate questions answered without any judgment or shame. Throughout our conversation, Caron shares how she ended up in this space, how she’s developed her products, and why this line of work brings her joy. She explains the importance of the use of language inside her shop, ensuring that it is inclusive, sensitive, and comfortable to anyone who may feel awkward inside the store. She also shares about her journey to beating breast cancer and developing a formula to help the healing process for other chemotherapy patients. Some Questions I Ask: What do you do for work? (1:00)Where did you grow up? (16:03)What are vegan condoms made with? (26:37)What products do you sell that are particularly popular? (29:16)Do you ever give workshops? (36:28)Where can people find you and your work? (58:14)In This Episode, You Will Learn: How Caryn started her first condom shop. (2:06)How Caryn connected with gynecologists to support their patients’ intimate wellness needs.  (11:23) Why Caryn, at 50 years old, decided to leave her day job and focus purely on running her store. (21:47)How Caryn facilitates a safe space for women inside her store. (29:55)Why Caryn takes her language into careful consideration when talking about the products in her store. (38:59)How Caryn developed a product to help patients going through radiation therapy while fighting cancer. (50:17) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.