Boston may be a liberal city when it comes to politics, but in
many things, the city is culturally conservative, especially when it comes to
bringing sexuality out in the open, even more so in 1992. That, however, would
not stop Kim Airs.
In an article by Claire Gordon entitled “Kim
Airs: From Harvard University To Sex Toy Entrepreneur” for AOL, Airs
discusses her career transformation from an assistant to a Harvard University
administrator to opening a sex shop in Boston.
Married young, Airs says “her sexual curiosity made her
husband uncomfortable.” After that marriage ended, Airs eventually started
dating a disc jockey she calls, “Smut Hound,” who “"totally supported
everything I wanted to do and learn about sex."
Never having used a sex toy until she was 30, Airs curiosity
about sex and her acquired knowledge made her a kind of “in-house” expert to
the Harvard administrative staff. Airs says, “…co-workers would ask her to help
them pick out their first vibrators, or suggest a porn movie to watch with
their boyfriends.”
Good small business ideas can be found anywhere if you keep
an open mind, your ears open and have vision and imagination. That is exactly
what Airs did. In the article “Kim
Airs: From Harvard University To Sex Toy Entrepreneur” outlines out Kim
came up with her idea;
“Then one day in 1992, she had a conversation with a woman
running a G-spot workshop, who had struggled to find a space willing to host
her in Boston. "We could really use a women's sex toy store in
Boston," Airs remembers her saying. And like so many entrepreneurs, she
spotted the opportunity. "I could do that," Airs thought. "The
clouds burst open and the lightbulb went off.”
Kim Airs did not just let the idea sit in her mind, however,
she took action to bring her idea to reality.
In spite of plenty of people telling her it would never work
in Boston, Airs persisted, raising $14,000 from a co-worker and opening her “Women’s
Boutique” with little fanfare. According to the article;
“Airs rented a 225-square-foot, second-floor former
insurance agent's office in Brookline, a few miles from Harvard. She tried to
be low-key and didn't advertise, while working part-time at Harvard in the
morning to keep her benefits. The only way you'd know her store existed was
through word-of-mouth and her subtle outside signage: "Grand Opening: A
Woman's Boutique.
The first year, Airs grossed $50,000; by 2004, she had $1.6
million in revenue, a 1,000-square-foot store at street level, and a dozen
employees.” Airs takes pride in what she accomplished, saying “I can't tell you
how many people had said, 'Boston, that's so conservative. It'll never fly there.'”
In 2006, Airs sold the business and moved to Los Angeles.
Today, Kim Airs is a sex consultant, “writing reviews, speaking about sex toys,
consulting for sex toy companies and advising doctors on how to treat
conditions like vaginismus (a tensing of the vagina that makes penetration
painful) and erectile dysfunction.”
Kim Airs has turned her passion for sexual curiosity and
fulfillment into her profitable passion and a life purpose, “to help people
have better, happier, and more fulfilled sexual lives.” You can find Kim Airs
website at http://grandopening.com.
As for all the naysayers that told her she was crazy in
trying to turn her passion into a profitable passion, Kim lives by this motto; “I
care what you think about, but I don't care what you think about me.”
She also has a tattoo which says, “I don't sleep, I dream.”
For more on finding your passion, profitable passion and
purpose in life, see Don’t
Seek Success – Be Happi.
Be Great!
MB
