Sex & Drive: Meet the Music-loving Women Behind Rock ‘n’ Roll Sex Toys.

Text by Jenelle Janci. Images by Michael Bucher.

A lack of gothic and rock ‘n’ roll-themed sex toys became a golden business opportunity for two Philadelphia women.

Lauren, of South Philadelphia, and Kali, of Center City, launched their webstore RocknRollSexToys.com in January (both women asked that their last names not be used because creepy people might try to track them down).

Combining their love of music with an unusual industry, Lauren says she and Kali wanted to offer products with a bit more character.

“There are a lot of generic products,” says Lauren, who also works as a manager at Creep Records in Northern Liberties. “There’s not a lot of rock ’n’ roll products or fun products. We just saw an opportunity for us to create something in the market.”

Rock ‘n’ roll seems to lend itself to the sex toy business – RNRST carries drummer Phil Varone’s line of toys, including a VIP pass that doubles as a vibrator and the “Rock Hard Nipple Clamp.”

“Rock ‘n’ roll is pretty much sex driven,” Lauren says. “That’s why parents are so afraid of it.”

The women say starting a business in a risqué industry hasn’t been without its trials. Two years of paperwork and planning preceded the website’s launch, and both women say they’ve experienced drawbacks from the negative stigma associated with being women in the sex toy business.

“It’s difficult,” Lauren says. “Not everyone wants to be involved in this sort of industry.”

“Yeah, ‘cause they automatically think you’re just going to, like, have dicks everywhere all the time,” Kali adds.

However, Lauren says running the business – born from a conversation over coffee at Grindcore House – is undoubtedly fun.

“I’m really excited to do this for my life,” Lauren says. “Our business meetings are talking about fun, new vibrators, so it’s awesome.”

Kali says the site’s most popular products are its discreet vibrators – ‘pocket rockets’ surreptitiously posing as lipstick, mascara or other purse essentials. She says products marketed toward couples looking to spice things up are popular too.

Aside from toys, RNRST also offers a wide selection of adult films, including television parodies like aptly named “Game of Bones.”

The website currently offers only outside brands but Lauren and Kali are working on RNRST’s first line of original products. RNRST will also launch a blog promoting a healthy sex life in the coming weeks.

Lauren and Kali say making the site inclusive was a priority.

“It is hard to try to make men feel comfortable shopping on the site,” Lauren says. “I feel like people think it’s just for women, and it’s not. It’s for everybody. Everybody’s looking at these sites at the end of the day.”

“Whether they want to say it or not,” Kali adds.

RNRST also provides discretion for its customers. Only the company’s initials show up on bank statements and as the return address on packages. Lauren and Kali also took this into consideration when choosing the company’s logo. Rather than an in-your-face display of sex, they chose the double entendre of a mohawk-rocking beaver.

Both women balance running the business with full-time jobs. With no employees other than themselves, Lauren and Kali fit in RNRST tasks around their already busy schedules.

“We have late hours,” Lauren says. “So it’s meeting after that and working all night and working in the morning. So you‘ve got to love it. You’ve got to want to do it, you know?”

Despite the workload, the business partners agree that RNRST is the perfect way to combine two passions.

“The reason that we’re angling it toward rock ‘n’ roll is because that’s what we love more than anything,” Lauren says. “So, we want to keep that involved in our lives in whatever way we can and this is the way we can.”