How did Madeline Dorian find her way into the intimate wellness industry?
Madeline Dorian's entry into the intimate wellness industry was a family affair. Her mother opened an adult toy store when Dorian was around 13 years old, giving her an early, formative exposure to the world of sexual wellness. At 19, she began working at the store in an official capacity — and it was there that she discovered her genuine passion: the customers, the conversations, and the entrepreneurial energy behind the business.
That early immersion laid the foundation for a career spanning over 13 years across retail, product development, manufacturing, wholesale, education, and event creation. The store Dorian grew up around eventually became Wicked Wanda's, the community-focused pleasure shop and educational space she now co-runs alongside her mother — the same woman who started it all.
The path wasn't a pivot or a career change — it was a gradual, organic immersion that began at home and deepened into a full professional identity rooted in education, accessibility, and removing shame from conversations about sex and pleasure.
"I started working in the store in an official capacity and I just fell in love. I fell in love with the customers, the conversations, and then the whole entrepreneurship side as well."
— Madeline Dorian, Cliterally Obsessed
About Madeline Dorian
Madeline Dorian brings over 13 years of hands-on experience in the intimate wellness industry — a career that began not in a classroom, but in her mother's shop, where she grew up surrounded by the realities of retail, customer relationships, and the taboos people bring through the door. That lived familiarity gives her perspective that purely academic training cannot replicate.
Her work spans the full breadth of the industry: retail, product development, manufacturing, wholesale, education, and event creation. She holds academic roots in sexuality studies from Concordia University, and has received hands-on training from leading brands — experience she has applied in consultations with everyone from curious individuals to healthcare professionals seeking to better support their clients.
Today, Dorian co-runs Wicked Wanda's alongside her mother, the woman who originally opened the store. Under their shared leadership, Wicked Wanda's functions not only as a pleasure shop but as an educational space and platform for community connection — hosting workshops priced from $15 to $100 and regular support groups. Her approach is practical, inclusive, and unapologetically anti-shame.