Hi, I’m Jenn.

I’ve spent more than 20 years working in sexual health, from the bad side of sex to the good.

I started at 19, answering calls on a sexual assault hotline. That work led to a career in victim advocacy, consent education, and sexual violence prevention at a local crisis center, where I worked with survivors of all ages. But I spent most of my time in classrooms and community spaces doing workshops about sexual harassment, consent, and relationships.

After being handed some truly terrible curriculum, I created The Empowerment Project: an original three-day curriculum focused on consent and relationships. Over the course of a decade, I presented this program to more than 10,000 participants.

When I left this work, I began to realize where I’d missed the mark. I’d been teaching people how to ask for consent, but not how to talk about sex. I was validating survivors’ anxiety, fear, and pain, but I wasn’t equipped to help them enjoy sex again. I kept talking with people who were no longer in crisis but also not experiencing joy in their sex lives.

So, I did something about it.

In 2018, I opened WinkWink, an inclusive, “not creepy” sex shop and education space in Bellingham, Washington. Since then, I’ve helped thousands of people—from college students to grandmas—find sex toys, lube, books, and better language for what they want.

I also became a certified sex coach and sexologist, working with individuals and couples to figure out what kind of sex they want to be having—and build the skills, conversations, boundaries, and confidence they need to get there.

I created Uncringe Academy, a community-based sex education program for young people ages 9–17, and Sex After Bad Stuff, a six-week workshop for people who want to find their way back to pleasure after sexual assault, trauma, or bad-but-I-don’t-know-what-to-call-it experiences. That work has become the foundation for my book, also called Sex After Bad Stuff.

Outside the sex shop, I serve as an elected official on the Bellingham Public Schools Board of Directors. Being a sex educator while also serving on the school board has attracted the attention of national right-wing media and made me a target of ideological violence—experiences I’ve since spoken and written about publicly.

Through career changes, community work, and media-fueled vitriol, I’ve stayed committed to one thing: helping people find their way through the bad stuff and into sexual pleasure.

Working around sex isn’t just a salacious job—for me, it’s personal, political, and hopeful.