In honour of Black History Month, we are highlighting inspiring and transformational black-owned businesses in Toronto.
Meet Antuanette of Pleasure Peaks, an organization that was founded to help women better understand their own intimacy and sexual health through the use of cannabis.
“Women deserve so much more when it comes to clinical research including natural alternatives that are out there. Today, women sexual health is the least studied area in the human body and the least funded - we are here to change that. Sexual health is still health and should be taken seriously.”
Read below for our interview with her:
Tell us about the Pleasure Peaks journey and what led you to start it?
When I first started working as a holistic nutritionist, it was eye opening how many people would come in with pain every single day. I realized that a lot of products, therapies and services that are recommended for us can actually be more harmful to our bodies than we realize.
This led me to discover alternative therapies for a broad set of ailments using cannabis (such as endometriosis, menstrual pain, dyspareunia, to name a few). My research inspired me to move on from holistic nutrition and start Pleasure Peaks. For me, it’s about raising awareness on natural alternatives for sexual health and showing women that pleasure is their birthright. I show women and men that cannabis is a clear frontrunner in positively impacting their sexual health experiences.
You’re working in two industries which might have a stigma for some people. How have you found the stigma has changed over the years – both for cannabis and sex?
The stigma towards both is still very prevalent but has changed a lot over the years. That’s why I’m here to de-stigmatize cannabis and sex as a whole, especially when it comes to women of colour. My goal is to normalize what sex is about. I’m here to tell you that it’s okay to play with lingerie and sex toys and empower people to take charge of their sex lives for the better.
I’ve been in the cannabis industry for over 8 years now and I find the best way to normalize cannabis is through education. There’s been a lot more exposure to cannabis over the last couple years. I’ve been on the cover of Forbes and spoken about Cannabis on national television, which might not have happened even a few years ago.
When I was growing up, there was this “Mad Refer” campaign and systematically we have been programmed to not enjoy weed for generations. For some people it’s about re-learning what the cannabis plant is and why it can be helpful to our overall wellbeing. Thankfully there continues to be opportunities to educate people on what cannabis really is and I will continue to do my part in spreading this education.
We’d love to hear some of your favourite cannabis products are for the bedroom, just in time for Valentine’s Day!
The sexual health revolution has changed a lot over the years! CBD, cannabis and sex are actually somewhat of an overly saturated market today. I always recommend topicals if they have safe ingredients for the vagina. There’s really something for anything and everyone!
CBD lubricants are amazing for pain during intercourse or to explore yourself sexually with some solo play. For chronic pain, there’s deeper penetrating products like suppositories. For stress or just to feel sexy in your own body, bath salts are incredible. For performance anxiety, vaping or smoking a hybrid or indica can have a cerebral effect on your body and make you feel more at ease.
My advice is to try and work with strains that are familiar to you. Some of my personal favourites for the bedroom are Super Silver Haze and Pink Kush. I also recommend keeping a strain journal so that you can learn what works best for you, for different alignments that you might have.
What’s next for Pleasure Peaks and you?
We are working on so many exciting things at the moment. We have couples retreats that we’re running in Hawaii and Jamaica. We have The Pleasure Talks podcast available on Spotify. This is a platform for our community to share their own cannabis and sexual related stories.We have a private Facebook group for sexual assault survivors where we bring in different sex health educators and therapists to speak with our community. We’re also working on some sexy toys and lingerie lines which are available in the US and Canada shortly (we can’t wait!).
To learn more about Antuanette and follow along her journey visit:
