Redefining Women's Health: Mo Carrier on Innovating the Condom Industry and Breaking Stigmas in Sexual Wellness

In this episode of the Badass Women in Business podcast, Aggie and Cristy sit down with Mo Carrier, co-founder of MyBliss®, to discuss the journey behind building a sexual wellness brand dedicated to women's health. Mo opens up about her personal experiences with birth control and how it led her to start MyBliss®, a company focused on developing condoms that prioritize women’s comfort and vaginal health. She shares the challenges of breaking into the market, particularly as a young female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry.

From facing sexism while raising capital to dealing with personal hardships such as miscarriages, Mo’s story is a testament to perseverance and the power of creating solutions that matter. She talks about the innovative design of MyBliss® Ultra-Thin Condoms, which have been recognized by Cosmopolitan as the Best Condom of 2024, and the importance of breaking down stigmas surrounding women's sexual health. Mo also shares her insights on the value of having a clear vision, staying grounded, and building relationships that support your entrepreneurial journey.

Takeaways:

• Women’s health products should be designed with women's bodies in mind.
• Breaking into male-dominated industries requires resilience and clear vision.
• Entrepreneurship comes with personal sacrifices, but perseverance can pay off.
• Stigmas around sexual health can be addressed through thoughtful product design and messaging.
• Asking for help and building a supportive network is essential for success.
• Staying focused on your core product can set a strong foundation for growth.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction and Welcome
00:35 - Inspiration Behind MyBliss®: Filling a Gap in Women’s Health
10:20 - Breaking Barriers: Challenges as a Female Entrepreneur in Sexual Wellness
15:12 - Personal Struggles: Miscarriages and Staying Resilient in Business
20:47 - Innovating the Condom Industry: Vaginal Health and Design
28:09 - Navigating Stigma: Repositioning Sexual Wellness Products for Women
33:17 - The Power of Relationships: Asking for Help and Building a Network
37:25 - Looking Ahead: Growing MyBliss® and Future Products
42:50 - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

New episodes of Badass Women in Business are released every Tuesday. Tune in for more candid conversations with fearless leaders.

Find MyBliss® online:
Instagram

---

Subscribe and Review
If you loved this episode, drop us a review, share it with a badass woman in your life, and subscribe to Badass Women in Business wherever you get your podcasts.

Stay badass. Stay bold. Build it your way.

Keep up with more content from Aggie and Cristy here:

• Facebook: Empowered Women Leaders  
• Instagram: @badass_women_in_business
• LinkedIn: ProveHer - Badass Women in Business
• Website: Badasswomeninbusinesspodcast.com
• Athena: athenaac.com

Transcript

We interviewed probably close to 100 female entrepreneurs to really understand where their struggles and challenges were, what was taking up the most time, and giving them the biggest headache. And we knew that from there, we could start to see the path unravel. Of course, we leveraged AI, and so we took all of the data that we got through those interviews and we fed it into AI to have it analyze the patterns. And that's when we started seeing the same things coming up over and over again, and so that's when we decided to start creating a group coaching program that specifically leveraged AI and automation to help people with those main challenges they were having in their businesses.

Aggie: Welcome back to Badass Women in Business Podcast. We are excited to have our guests here today. We've actually got a duo. We have got Lauren and Lauren. We've got Lauren Shaw and Lauren Capwell, who are the founders of the Clarity Playbooks. Ladies, welcome to our podcast, and tell our guests who you are.

Lauren Shaw: Thank you so much for having us. I'll kick us off, Lauren. So my name is Lauren Shaw, and man, my journey began very early into the world of entrepreneurship. When I was a little girl, I was always selling jewelry on the beach. A little bit later in life after college, I got into the world of hula hooping. And I actually became a professional hula hoop dancer and had this spark of an idea to create a hula hoop that displayed words and images around it. I found an engineer, which is a theme of mine throughout my entrepreneurial journey, and yeah, I invented the world's first programmable LED hula hoop. And yeah, I went on to build pretty much a 'hoop empire,' which is kind of a crazy thing, but that is my journey. I was selling LED circus equipment in over 40 countries around the world, and I scaled it to a seven-figure business. After about 12 years, I got pretty burnt out and decided to go into online business because—well, you'll probably hear this several times during this podcast—Lauren and I’s core value number one is freedom. And so I wanted to build a life with more freedom for myself. So I actually started doing sales for two eight-figure business coaches, so I could learn the ins and outs of online business and marketing and sales. And then, while I was on that journey, I met the other Lauren. So I'll let you share a bit about yourself, Lauren.

Lauren Capwell: Yeah, so I took a pretty traditional approach when I first started out. I went to school for mechanical engineering, got my degree, and started working in aerospace, designing, building, and launching rockets. So I've always had this appreciation and love of cutting-edge technology and really being on the forefront of what's new and exciting and what humans are creating. So I did that for 11 years, and it was an incredible career. It was during the 2020 time period when we all had a lot of extra time on our hands, and I started learning about AI and machine learning. So I went and did online courses through Stanford. I got super interested in it because I had started doing more programming work for my job, and I fell in love. I knew this was going to be a technology that would completely change the world. Fast forward just a little over two years later when ChatGPT hit the scene, and suddenly there was this user interface where you didn’t have to be an engineer in order to use AI, and I just knew that this was an incredible opportunity, and it was going to change the face of business forever. So we decided to go all in on AI because we knew that our skills were very complementary, and we saw this immense opportunity to support business owners and entrepreneurs in how to leverage AI and automation in their businesses to save time, make a bigger impact, and create more freedom in their lives, which is something we’re incredibly passionate about. And so we have literally been pouring blood, sweat, and tears into creating these systems and AI tools to help make it as easy as possible for entrepreneurs to weave it into what they do in their businesses and their lives.

Aggie: Fantastic story. Congrats to both of you for incredible careers. I mean, who knew hula hooping could be a ginormous business? Before we get into what you're currently building, I’m very passionate about one thing when it comes to business ownership, and that’s partnerships. Not only do you share a name, but you also share this business together. So I’d love to hear how that came about. How did you decide, hey, we’re going to get into business together? And how did you set the expectations and the rules of engagement between the two of you? Because I know that Cristy and I spend a lot of time talking about that.

Lauren Shaw: So it started with many long walks on the beach (laughs) and just conversations exploring what we wanted our lives to look like. So that’s really kind of how it began. And, you know, this was at the tail end of COVID, so there was an era of wanting to create freedom. We both really wanted to travel, and we wanted to build something on our own terms. It just so happened that we were already best friends, like we knew we could spend a lot of time together and that we had such complementary skills with my business, sales, and marketing background, and Lauren’s engineering mind. She’s just incredibly smart and talented. Yeah, we explored what it could look like, and there came a point where we just decided to take the leap. I think within a month after making the decision, we both—our leases on our places, we were living in Los Angeles at the time, were both over, we were both feeling burnt out in our current careers—so there was this big opportunity, and we decided to take that risk together and to count on each other. We had a lot of long conversations about what it would look like. But of course, you can’t always plan ahead for everything. And not only that, but then we decided to throw into the mix, let’s travel the world together while we build this business. So we met in Bali, started with our market research, and started with what we had learned from other online business coaches and our own experience, and we got to weave AI into the mix, which made everything move a lot faster for us. Within our first six months of officially starting our business, we surpassed the six-figure mark, which allowed us to continue. So we thought we’d be gone for like three months. It’s now 18 months, and we’re still traveling, and we’ve had an evolution of our business, which we’ll talk more about, I’m sure. But yeah, it’s not always easy. Of course, there are challenges, and there’s just a lot of communication between the two of us. We’ve grown not only as business partners, but we’ve grown as friends and as humans because we’ve committed to showing up for each other every single day.

Cristy: First of all, congrats on continuing to travel the world 18 months later and counting. That is huge, and it’s really cool to see that you guys were able to create success in such a short period of time, which is always market validation, right? You’re validated by the product that you have. For people that have two totally different skill sets, do you think that is something that lends to the power as well as the alignment in your partnership? And not to try to bring in any negativity, but if you guys had a similar skill set, how do you think that would have changed or made your partnership different?

Lauren Capwell: I think that by us having different skill sets, we just fall so naturally into different roles. I’m a lot happier doing the tech stuff and the backend and building. I was actually thinking of this analogy the other day. It’s kind of like I’m the one building the ship, and Lauren is the one who steers it.

Lauren Shaw: It’s a good analogy. I like that. Yeah.

Lauren Capwell: So I think that for me, it allows me to spend time doing what I really enjoy doing all day every day. And I know that what Lauren is incredibly good at is meeting entrepreneurs, connecting, and really that human element. So I think it’s a big benefit, and I think that if we were to have a very overlapping skill set, I could possibly see that causing more issues when you have two people who both have really strong opinions or ideas and are experts in the same thing. That’s my aerospace journey in a nutshell—when you have a room full of experts trying to get everybody to agree. So yeah, I think it’s super helpful that we have our very unique skill sets, and it just means we have fewer skill gaps on the team.

Cristy: So shifting to what you ladies are building right now, when you went to Bali and started doing all that market research, which by the way, Aggie and I totally need to go to Bali to market research for our podcast (laughs), what was the vision at that point in time? Like what did you want to accomplish, and what did you want your business to be?

Lauren Shaw: So one of the eight-figure business coaches that I worked for was Sunny Lenarduzzi, who teaches entrepreneurs and skill leaders how to create scalable online courses. So I knew her model inside and out after working for her for several years, and I saw how to scale a business to eight figures from the inside, what that looked like, and she’s also someone that I really admired as a leader and as an entrepreneur. So we started by using her methodology, which was to do deep market research, and we interviewed probably close to 100 female entrepreneurs to really understand where their struggles and challenges were, what was taking up the most time, and giving them the most headache. We knew that from there, we could start to see the path unravel. Of course, we leveraged AI, and we took all of the data that we got through those interviews and fed it into AI to have it analyze the patterns. And that’s when we started seeing the same things coming up over and over again. So that’s when we decided to start creating a group coaching program that specifically leveraged AI and automation to help people with those main challenges they were having in their businesses.

Cristy: First of all, you're speaking my language because one thing that you said, I just want to make sure that everybody hears it clearly because that's something that I repeat very often to the entrepreneurs that I work with. Zero to $250K is the easiest path that you'll have in your business, and then after $250K, it gets really tricky. And you validated that because it is so true that anybody who builds a business gets stuck at that $250K mark, and it's all about that foundation. Thank you for saying it. Lauren, you have the floor.

Lauren Capwell: Yeah, what I was going to say is the next part of our journey really came around the third live cohort we had for our program. At that point, we had the prompts and systems so dialed in that I realized this could be automated. They could input a few details, and the prompts would run automatically in the background, delivering results in minutes rather than clients manually copying and pasting. We talked to one of our mentors and asked if people wanted to do it manually to learn the prompts, or if they just wanted it done for them. I’ll never forget her answer: “They just want it done for them.” So, I took one of the processes, built it into a tool, and tested it with a networking group we were part of. People loved it, and that was the spark for our new idea. We realized we could turn everything we’ve been doing into automated tools, cutting down tasks that used to take months or years to just minutes.

Aggie: I love that it seems like you both got to this new iteration pretty quickly, understanding where your joy is and the market gaps. Can you dive a bit deeper into the product and how it’s speeding up entrepreneurs’ abilities? Has your ideal client changed from when you first started?

Lauren Shaw: Yes, our first tool, which is part of a set of five we're building, is called the Client Clarity Playbook. It’s really the foundation—getting super clear on your ideal client. The better you know and understand your ideal client, the better your business will do, period. We condensed it down to three questions on a simple web form: your job title, your ideal client, and your specialty. In about 10 minutes, you get a link to a custom 35-page report that goes deep into your ideal client profile, understanding their pain points, desired results, and their tipping point when they’re most ready to invest in your services. And all of that is in the voice of your ideal client, telling you exactly what they need and how they want to receive it. The playbook condenses all that data into one paragraph, the clarity statement. That statement can be used with AI to ask questions and get AI’s help in generating content, improving copy, or addressing any business challenges. We also sell the playbook individually and offer it as a license for other businesses to use in their services.

Cristy: First of all, have you used this on yourself to validate the technology that you’ve built? Second, AI is still in early adoption, especially among women business owners. There’s still a trust factor with people either not knowing how to use it and getting poor content, or others doing a bit better after educating themselves, but still barely scratching the surface. Could you speak on that?

Lauren Capwell: Yes, definitely. The intention when we were designing these tools was that you don’t need to know how to use AI to use them. You just need to know your job title, a brief description of your ideal client, and your specialties, and the prompts run automatically in the background. One other big thing people miss is that different AI chatbots have different voices. ChatGPT is more academic, while Claude is more human and relaxed. Gemini (formerly Bard) is great at writing benefits-driven bullet points. Choosing the right chatbot and being specific in your prompts is key to getting good results.

Lauren Shaw: To your first question, oh yes, we’ve tested it on ourselves about 50 times (laughs). We’ve tested it on other companies we’ve worked for as well, in close to 100 different industries. What’s amazing is that it works across the board. We initially built it for service-based providers, but it’s worked well for product owners too. We had around 100 beta testers, and we had a 98.7% accuracy rate on our feedback survey.

Aggie: It’s all about the data you give it, right? That’s amazing that you’ve validated it with so many industries. Let’s switch gears a little bit. You both value freedom and have been traveling for 18 months now. How do you manage your work-life balance while traveling, for those aspiring to do the same?

Lauren Capwell: When we first started traveling, we were changing locations every weekend. We’d work Monday through Friday, then switch Airbnbs on Saturday. That pace got tiring, so we started slowing down and staying in one city for a month or two. For example, we stayed in Cusco for two and a half months. It helps you settle in and focus more. And at the end of the day, you walk outside, and you’re in this amazing new place.

Lauren Shaw: Yeah, when we slowed down and committed to staying in one place for a month, we were able to do much deeper work. We could show up better for our calls because we weren’t exhausted. Asia was challenging because of the time difference—we were taking market research calls at 3 a.m., and that wasn’t sustainable. So, we shifted to Latin America to get back on a more normal schedule. Sleep and health are important when running a business!

Aggie: Speaking of travel, what’s been your favorite place so far, and where’s next on the map?

Lauren Shaw: Definitely Bali—it’s beautiful, with beaches, mountains, and spirituality everywhere. There’s a big international community there, too. But I also loved Mexico City. It was so artsy, especially during Day of the Dead.

Lauren Capwell: Same! Mexico City surprised me—I usually prefer beaches and mountains, but now it’s my favorite city. Lake Atitlan in Guatemala was another favorite, with three volcanoes on the lake. Cusco was also amazing. We weren’t planning to stay as long as we did, but we just kept extending. And to answer your question, Aggie, we don’t plan far ahead. Three weeks from now, I don’t know where I’ll be! We book one-way tickets and go wherever the wind takes us.

Aggie: I love that! What’s been your greatest challenge in building your business, and what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?

Lauren Shaw: Freedom is our core value, so designing a business that allows us to serve at the highest level while maintaining our freedom has been the biggest challenge. Many people get into business without asking what lifestyle they want to create for themselves. A year or two in, they’re not enjoying it. That’s why we pivoted to licensing—so we could hand off the tools we’ve created and still achieve our dreams. We always come back to our core value when making decisions: Will this decision help us achieve more freedom?

Aggie: That’s such valuable advice. So many people don’t map out their business to fit the lifestyle they want, and they end up working 60-hour weeks. Thanks for sharing that—it’s really powerful.

Lauren Shaw: Yeah, the offer playbook we’re building next is designed to find that perfect match between what the entrepreneur loves, their ideal client, and the lifestyle they want to create.

Aggie: Pricing is a big struggle for many women business owners. Does your playbook help with pricing, and how do you advise clients to match the AI’s recommendations with their confidence in charging that price?

Lauren Capwell: Yes, AI can be shockingly accurate with pricing when given a clear description of the program. You input the clarity statement and describe your offer, and AI will give you a range. It’s been spot on with around 50 clients. Confidence in charging that price is another issue—Lauren Shaw can speak to that.

Lauren Shaw: Yes, AI is good at analyzing pricing based on data, but mindset and limiting beliefs play a big role. Our sales clarity playbook will help with that, analyzing where you struggle most in the sales process and offering advice on overcoming those challenges. I’m excited for the sales playbook because I know sales is a big piece of the puzzle for many entrepreneurs.

Aggie: I can’t wait for that one! As we wrap up, what’s next for Clarity Playbooks? How will you continue to grow and maintain that freedom?

Lauren Shaw: We’re focused on the playbooks right now and licensing them to larger organizations to reach more people faster. We’re also excited about doing more live AI trainings and speaking on more stages. Our goal is to step into thought leadership and help as many people as possible leverage this technology. We believe we have the power and intention to touch a billion lives with our tools.

Aggie: You both would be amazing on stage talking about this! I’d love to see you share your vision with more people.

Cristy: Yes, you’d be incredible at South by Southwest or similar conferences. The work you’re doing is so impactful, and as more women venture into tech, your voices are really important.

Aggie: Before we wrap up, what’s one lesson you’d like to leave with our listeners?

Lauren Shaw: When you have those thoughts of possibility, don’t stay comfortable. Take a small step toward your vision, even if it’s just surrounding yourself with others doing what you aspire to do. Sometimes you’ll take two steps forward and three steps back, but you can achieve what you envision.

Lauren Capwell: The late Bob Proctor said, “Whatever you’re doing with your life, it better be worth trading your life for, because you are trading your life for it.” That message has stuck with me—whatever you do, make sure it’s something you love.

Cristy: Beautifully said. That first step is always the hardest, but everything else is figure-outable.

Aggie: Ladies, how can our listeners connect with you and learn more about Clarity Playbooks?

Lauren Shaw: You can find us at clarityplaybooks.com, and we’re on Instagram @clarityplaybooks. We’re also on Facebook and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you all—we’re launching an AI Clarity Community with free monthly meetups. And we offer a free clarity statement toolkit, where you can create your custom clarity statement in minutes.

Aggie: Wonderful! We’ll link to everything in the show notes. Ladies, it was a pleasure—thank you for sharing your stories with us today!

Lauren Shaw and Lauren Capwell: Thank you so much! We had a blast!