Images by Marisse Caine.

“Since this virus outbreak, I have been so busy,” Janice tells me as we sit down for a chat in her home. Finding the time for the interview amid this pandemic was not easy—she has been getting plenty of new clients looking for new ways to fill their days.

Before we entered her apartment, I noticed a basket of sex toys sitting on a table next her front door. “This is my catalogue and these are my show products,” she told me. Janice Lee is the brand representative for sex toy company VēDO, handling all of Southeast Asia.

One look at her colourful hair and quirky outfits and you may think she completely fits the part of the emancipated woman working in sexual wellness. But you’d be wrong. According to Janice, the industry is actually led by ex-bankers, ex-IT men, and ex-PR professionals. Most of them stay discreet, having ventured into the sexual wellness industry because it is becoming increasingly lucrative in Asia. Which makes her quite the unicorn in her field.

“Tell me if you find any other sexual retailers who are willing to speak to you like I am,” Janice says, referring to their tendency to stay tight-lipped about their professions.

“They’re doing very well, but it’s run like a business for them. I represent one brand, because it’s the one that fits my value set.”

Janice tells me that she doesn’t work for the money because sales are not very consistent, given Singapore is still a growing market in the sexual wellness field. Instead, she does it because she’s invested in raising awareness about the industry’s values: “If you don’t take care of your own body, who else is going to take care of it?”

If all she wanted was money, she could have stayed in the HR career she was doing well in just a few years ago. Though that said, sexual wellness is expected to become very profitable soon, especially in Asia. Europe and the Americas currently hold the largest chunk of the market, but Asia Pacifc is the fastest growing.