Annemarie Quill.

Connie Richards is at a girls' lunch in the Mount. It's Saturday, a long weekend and over a few gin cocktails, the girls start discussing their latest ‘must-have' purchases, sharing tips on great finds.

Thirty-eight-year-old Connie, who lives in Mount Maunganui, is passionate about supporting local businesses.

She herself is a business owner, running the popular Elizabeth Cafe and Larder in Tauranga's CBD.

Connie can't wait to spill the beans on her latest accessory - it's cute, pink, perfect size, multi-functional, 'so chic, luxurious but a great price - and it's a local business too”.

Connie Richards.

She's not talking handbags or lipsticks. Her latest find is the ‘Missy Mini' - a sex toy she purchased from a new Bay of Plenty based business called Girls Get Off.

'It is definitely the best one I have had. Others I found just did one job, whereas this you can use in different ways - definitely up to its promises of mind-blowing.”

The girls want all the details.

'It's cute - looks like a little microphone, when I get it out I feel like I could sing into it,' laughs Connie to her friends.

Connie, who has been single for eight years, with 'a few short and unsatisfying encounters” in between, is candid on the topic of self-pleasure.

'Well I've been single for a while. Some of the girls have even bought me sex toys as presents.”

Despite her openness, she has never visited one of Tauranga's ‘adult stores' to buy equipment, nor has she been to parties where they are sold.

'Adult stores are intimidating for many women. That whole ‘behind the red curtain' thing makes it sleazy or tacky when we shouldn't have to feel like we are doing something secretive or bad. As for parties - I have been to a few Tupperware ones but no one was selling sex toys - it might have made them more interesting.”

While Connie and her girlfriends regularly talk about their sex lives - whether it be about partners, dates, tips or toys - she recognises that it is still a taboo topic for some.

'It could be a generational thing. My father might be shocked, but my mother would think it's great that women can be open about exploring their sexuality. I've even talked to my customers about my latest toy - recently to a table which included a 90 year old woman, and she was keen to hear all about it.”

The movement to bringing female focused pleasure more out in the open is growing globally with things like ethical porn, more female porn directors and Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP releasing their first vibrators recently.

There have been female masturbation scenes on screen in the likes of Bridgerton and Netflix's Sex Education where Aimee masturbates for the first time, and Girls, where, in the middle of a party, the character Marnie goes into the restroom to masturbate against a wall.

As Connie notes, in New Zealand, there are limited places to discover the latest gadgets.

In response two Tauranga women, Viv Conway, 25, and Jo Cummins, 36 recently launched a new sex toy business called Girls Get Off.

The two women - who are both single - describe themselves as being in the wellness industry rather than the sex industry, with the vibrators with names like Missy Mini presented as a self-care product, all lollipop pink in luxury packaging. There's even ear plugs in boxes.

Viv and Jo - whose email addresses are ‘jellylegs', view sex toys not as a total replacement for sexual intimacy with others, but as the 'topping on a delicious icecream'.

The idea for Girls Get Off came about during NZ lockdown when Viv and Jo, while having a socially distanced pink gin in a driveway discussed how no matter where you buy your sex toys, it feels seedy and man focused.

'Sex toy parties are outdated and still make it a hidden topic rather than something totally normal. We thought about how easily people can joke about or accept guys getting off but don't talk about it when it comes to women.” says Viv.

Viv and Jo said that the global pandemic got them thinking - like a lot of women - about sex.

'Lockdowns across the world have put female pleasure into the spotlight more as it forced a lot of people to sit with their own selves. It has opened up a lot more conversations about mental health, wellness and the impact of loneliness.”

Even when not restricted single women might not want to go on dating apps like Tinder.

'And of course sex toys are not just for singles.”

The girls' business goal is to fill the gap in the market for a 'non-seedy, tasteful, female-focused sex toy brand”.

Both women are already no strangers to business. Mum of two Jo is the founder of Hello and Cookie which delivers gifts of biscuits with personalised greetings. Viv is co-founder of digital marketing company, Ace The Gram. The duo decided to launch Girls Get Off on social media to 'get the ball rolling”.

'Very soon it started taking off. It has been great fun to start conversations and normalise female pleasure. We quickly found that so many women felt the same way as us.

'We have had females thanking us for making it normal, or saying they'd never bought a toy for themselves. We have had men buying for their partners.”

It is not just the women of Mount Maunganui that are walking around with a post-orgasmic glow. Sales have been from all over New Zealand and the girls have already had offers of investment.

Viv shares it has not all been plain sailing.

'While mostly positive there have also been strong reactions. Some people giggle. Or are initially shocked then curious. What's great is we are getting people talking.”

Some amusing incidents occurred getting the business off the ground. During the testing process Viv accidentally had a sample sent to her parents' address.

'They found it and sent her a video saying she had a ‘suspicious package' waiting for me at home that ‘felt like a bent sausage'.

Then Viv's different testers were stolen at one stage when her house was burgled.

'Despite me being all for openness, it was an awkward story to tell the police what had been in my bedside drawer - not one but a whole pack of vibrators! I will never forget watching the policeman studiously dusting my vibrator drawer for fingerprints!'

Terri Ewart, a Somatic Sexuality Educator based in Pyes Pa, Tauranga says it is encouraging that conversations about female pleasure are being started.

'New Zealand tends to be a bit behind the times but it is changing with content on our screens - although scenes in Bridgerton where a woman reaches orgasm in seconds are not a realistic representation for most women.”

Eight five per cent of Terri's clients are women - many come with issues of shame or anxiety around sexuality, often because of the taboos perpetuated in society. Clients include women who have never been able to reach orgasm.

One woman in her 60s did not know where to find out about sex toys and had been using an electric toothbrush.

Terri encourages clients to explore their bodies and thinks that the concept of pleasure should be part of education,

'As a society we don't value sexual pleasure - young people are taught about the physical aspects of sex, about STIs and protection but not enough about issues like consent and pleasure.”

As well as creating a booming business, Viv and Jo say it has been fulfilling to be part of this movement that is challenging perceptions of female pleasure.

'Our message to women is - it is not only you who does it, and that it's not only okay, it is fun, healthy and good for you.”

They are already planning to expand the business with more products and are thinking big.

'Our dream is that New Zealand women can feel comfortable to add something to their bathroom cabinet as essential as their lip balm and that ‘‘me time' is a healthy part of women's wellness habits. Masturnation! Then world domination.”