Rise and shine, pleasure seekers!
This morning we’re waking up with Polly Rodriguez, the CEO and Co-Founder of Unbound, one of the most influential sexual wellness brands of the last decade. After a cancer diagnosis at 21 triggered early menopause, Polly went searching for a vibrator and found herself in a dingy shop by the St. Louis airport — an experience that ultimately sparked her mission to make pleasure products mainstream.
A decade later, Polly and co-founder Sarah Jayne Kinney built Unbound into a category-defining company known for elevated design, body-safe materials, accessible pricing, and a radically inclusive ethos. With more than 50 products sold at Ulta, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Revolve, and beyond, The New York Times hailed Unbound as “the ideological center of the tech-savvy, female-led women’s sexuality movement.” Let’s dive in…
What’s your earliest memory of pleasure—sexual or otherwise?
When I was a little kid, my mom made the most delicious homemade cinnamon bread for the holidays. One Thanksgiving, my little sister and I just couldn't resist - we seized the freshly baked loaf and hid under the dining room table as the guests arrived. We were smart enough to only tear off the very end of the loaf and scoop out the deliciously plump gooey cinnamon bread, returning it seemingly untouched for dinner. When my mom went to cut it open for guests, we feigned our shock, only for the dinner party to erupt in laughter. My mom? Not so much.
Right now, what’s turning you on—culturally, creatively, or sexually?
I have to be honest and say it's really hard for me to be turned on by much right now given the state of our political reality both in the U.S. and globally, especially with the ongoing genocide in Gaza. With that said, what does turn me on is activism, I'm turned on by those who are speaking out and making time in our already insanely over-pressured and overpacked lives to push back on the oppression we are all feeling on a daily basis. Fighting the fascism that we are witnessing is maybe the only thing that is hot to me right now. If you have "moderate" or "non-political" in your dating profile I am swiping left immediately. But if you are out there protesting, activating, and getting engaged with your community then I am getting engaged with you!
Do you have a ritual, tool, or practice that helps you connect to your own pleasure?
It sounds obvious, but it's always been journaling for me. I've kept a diary since I was eight years old and it always helps me acknowledge my emotions, which doesn't come naturally. Running a business often requires me to prioritize the feelings and needs of others first and it can be easy for me to ignore my own. Taking time to journal at least once a week allows me to check in with myself.
What do you wish people talked about more openly when it comes to sex & pleasure?
That no one has it all figured out and that's the whole point — vulnerability is the entire fucking point of all of it. I'm almost 40 and I'm single again for the first time in a long time and because I own a vibrator business, I go on these dates and almost every single time, I am sitting across the table from someone who expects me to have all the answers and be some sexual savant who is swinging from the rafters with an apartment that looks like a kink jungle gym (which like, obviously would be awesome but I don't the money for that kind of space in New York City). Ultimately, we're all just curious bodies trying to explore as best we can. Sexually, we get bored, we get curious, we harbor trauma, and we're all scared to say whatever it is out loud because rejection hurts. But it doesn't hurt as much as going your whole life wondering, "what if?"
So my advice would be to lead with emotional intelligence, kindness, openness, curiosity, and see where it takes you. I think most people are sexually curious, we're all just maybe a little too afraid of being judged.
If we peeked at your “pleasure playlist,” what’s on it?
Every single product we make at Unbound Babes.
What’s one myth or misconception about pleasure you’d love to debunk?
You cannot get addicted to your vibrator, no matter what you see on Sex and the City.
What’s one lesson you’ve learned on your pleasure journey that you’d want others to know?
That no matter what has happened to you in this life, you are still deserving of pleasure and love. I went through menopause at 21 and for a very long time, I often felt as though I wasn't deserving of those things because my body failed me or that it was broken or less-than. Consciously, I know that's not true, but the thought still lurks there in the back of my mind, and on my hard days, or after a really terrible date, or when I sit there and wonder why I'm still single all these years later, it can be easy to tell myself that it's because I am broken or unlovable — and that's just total bullshit. We are all deserving of pleasure and love, no matter how different our bodies and life experiences might be.
✨ Polly Rodriguez’s Plug (in her own, fabulous words)
If you're going to gift a vibrator this holiday season, while I am of course biased, I cannot recommend Flick enough. It is a gorgeous, geometric-shaped, 5 speed vibrator ring that took us over two years to develop. I have yet to wear mine out and not be stopped by a stranger commenting on it. The best part is, it's up to you to decide whether or not to disclose that it's also a vibrator (which I personally think is an added fun dynamic at play in wearing it... say while you are out at a bar having a glass of wine and reading your favorite book and a cutie asks you about it?). However, a couple of things to note: Flick fits ring sizes 4-11 because each one comes with 4 interchangeable bands (inclusivity in sizing is very important to us) but due to the literal physical limitations in the size of the motor that you can feasibly use and wear inside a ring, it is not the strongest motor in the world of vibrators (if that's what you're in the market for, you're looking for a wand, honey!). But it's a beautiful piece that is effective at arousal and pleasure and climax - we're all just different in our level of sensitivity and so I like to disclose the varying motor strengths and types (Flick = a bit more buzzy, Ollie = rumbly as hell) that so people can find the right product for them. OKAY! That was WAY too long!!! But #KnowledgeIsPower!!!
And here are some pictures...ain't she grand?
