How Bloomi Built a Sexual Wellness Brand That Landed in Target and CVS

Building a brand in an emerging category takes more than a great product. It requires educating consumers, earning trust, preparing for scale, and proving to retail buyers that your brand belongs on their shelves.

On this episode of Shelf Talks, I sat down with Rebecca Alvarez-Story, founder of Bloomi, to discuss how she transformed her expertise as a sexologist and intimacy consultant into one of the fastest-growing sexual wellness brands in retail. Today, Bloomi products are carried by major retailers including Target and CVS, but that success didn't happen overnight.

Rebecca's journey offers valuable lessons for every product-based founder looking to build a purpose-driven brand, prepare for retail, and create long-term growth.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube using the links at the end of this article.

Why Sexual Wellness Is One of Retail's Fastest-Growing Categories

Sexual wellness has evolved from a niche category into one of the fastest-growing segments across health, beauty, and wellness retail. Consumers are increasingly seeking clean ingredients, transparent brands, inclusive products, and companies that approach intimacy as an important part of overall wellness.

Major retailers such as Target, CVS, Ulta Beauty, and Sephora have expanded their assortments to include products that support sexual wellness and self-care. As consumer demand has grown, so has the opportunity for founders creating innovative products that combine education with effective solutions.

Bloomi entered the market at exactly the right time, offering thoughtfully formulated products backed by education and trust. Rebecca's story demonstrates what it takes to build credibility in an emerging category while preparing for national retail growth.

From Sexologist to Founder

Before launching Bloomi, Rebecca spent years working as a sexologist, intimacy consultant, and advisor to wellness startups. Through that work, she noticed the same frustrations repeatedly surfaced among consumers. People wanted clean, thoughtfully designed intimacy products but struggled to find brands they trusted.

Rather than continuing to help other companies build products, Rebecca decided to build her own.

Bloomi launched in 2018 as a curated marketplace for intimacy products before evolving into its own product line with the introduction of its best-selling arousal oil.

Lesson 1: Solve a Real Consumer Problem

The strongest brands begin by solving an unmet need.

Rebecca didn't invent a new category. She identified a gap in an existing one and created products that reflected what consumers had been asking for all along.

Building a Product-Based Brand from the Ground Up

Like many founders, Rebecca started lean.

She partnered with a fractional product development team, worked with manageable manufacturing minimums, and fulfilled customer orders herself during the early days of the business, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

One of her smartest strategies was thoughtful networking through cold outreach.

She contacted the formulator behind one of her favorite products, explained why she admired her work, and built a relationship that ultimately led to developing Bloomi's hero product.

Rebecca often says that her cold emails never felt cold because she always took the time to build genuine connections first.

Lesson 2: Relationships Open Doors

Whether you're reaching out to formulators, manufacturers, retailers, or potential mentors, authentic relationships often create opportunities that traditional networking cannot.

Preparing for Retail Before Pitching Buyers

Rebecca always had national retail in mind.

Instead of waiting for an opportunity to appear, she prepared her business for it.

Before approaching retailers, she focused on validating demand, improving operations, refining packaging, and ensuring manufacturing could support future growth.

Her retail readiness checklist included:

• Validating product-market fit through direct-to-consumer sales.

• Gathering customer feedback to guide future product development.

• Designing retail-ready packaging with strong shelf appeal.

• Building manufacturing capabilities that could scale.

• Developing a marketing strategy to drive consumers into stores.

By the time she pitched Target, much of the hard work had already been completed.

What Retail Buyers Look for in Emerging Wellness Brands

Launching an innovative product category requires more than a compelling idea.

Retail buyers need confidence that your brand can educate shoppers, generate demand, and perform consistently once it reaches the shelf.

Rebecca positioned Bloomi for success by focusing on:

• Consumer validation.

• Clean, modern packaging.

• Scalable operations.

• Manufacturing readiness.

• Education-based marketing.

• Community building.

Those investments helped establish Bloomi as a trusted brand in a category that was still becoming mainstream.

Landing in Target and CVS

One of Rebecca's biggest milestones came when Bloomi secured placement at Target.

While exciting, rapid retail expansion also introduced new challenges.

She quickly learned the importance of understanding purchase orders, cash flow, retailer expectations, chargebacks, inventory management, and packaging requirements.

Her experience reinforced several important lessons:

• Don't be afraid to negotiate.

• Start with a manageable number of stores whenever possible.

• Understand retail payment terms.

• Plan for chargebacks and operational costs.

• Never rely on a single retailer as your entire business.

Mass retail requires patience, and founders should expect to invest before seeing significant profitability.

Why Education Became Bloomi's Biggest Competitive Advantage

One of Rebecca's greatest strengths wasn't simply developing products.

It was becoming a trusted educator.

Long before Bloomi launched, Rebecca was writing articles, speaking publicly, and helping consumers better understand intimacy and sexual wellness.

That credibility became one of the company's biggest competitive advantages.

Instead of relying primarily on advertising, Bloomi built trust through education.

Consumers purchased products because they already trusted the person behind the brand.

For founders, that's a valuable reminder that expertise can become one of your strongest marketing assets.

Community and Content Drive Long-Term Growth

Rebecca also invested heavily in content marketing and public relations.

She contributed articles to publications like Well+Good and Byrdie while building an engaged online community that viewed Bloomi as an educational resource rather than simply another product company.

This strategy helped the brand earn awareness organically while creating lasting customer relationships.

Community became one of Bloomi's most valuable assets.

Advice for Founders Preparing for Retail

Rebecca shared several lessons every product-based founder should remember before pursuing retail expansion:

• Validate demand through direct-to-consumer sales first.

• Build a community before pitching buyers.

• Find a broker that matches your stage of growth.

• Prepare thoroughly for every buyer meeting.

• Drive your own marketing after launch.

• Continue refining your products based on consumer feedback.

Retail success doesn't come from getting onto the shelf.

It comes from earning the opportunity to stay there.

Key Takeaways for Product-Based Founders

Rebecca Alvarez-Story's journey demonstrates that category leadership doesn't happen overnight.

Whether you're building a sexual wellness brand or entering another emerging retail category, the same principles apply.

Solve a meaningful consumer problem. Build credibility before approaching retailers. Let customer feedback guide your product development. Invest in education as much as marketing. Prepare your operations before rapid growth. Most importantly, continue building your community as your business scales.

Retail buyers aren't simply investing in products.

They're investing in brands that consumers trust.

Want the Full Conversation?

Rebecca shares even more insights on launching a purpose-driven brand, preparing for national retail, building community, and navigating one of retail's fastest-growing wellness categories.

Listen to the full Shelf Talks episode:

Spotify: Listen Here

Apple Podcasts: Listen Here

YouTube: Watch Here

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