We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sophie McGrath. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sophie below.

Sophie , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I didn’t set out to join the s*x industry. At the time, I was running a thriving PR agency (still am) with incredible clients and a career I genuinely loved. I’m ambitious to a fault—always chasing ideas, building things, doing too much on purpose just to keep my brain occupied.

I started paying closer attention to what was being offered in the s*xual wellness aisle—and what wasn’t. The branding felt awkward or generic. The ingredients? Questionable at best. And nearly everything seemed to be made for someone else. Mostly, for men. The more I looked into it, the more I realised how deeply true that was: most lubricants are designed for performance, not comfort. Speed, not sensitivity. They were made to solve a “problem,” not honour a body. And absolutely none of them had the vaginal microbiome in mind.

Like so many women, I’d spent years thinking carefully about what I put on my skin, in my body—yet never really questioned what I was using inside it. Until I did. And what I found was a chemical soup of disruptors, irritants, and cheap filler ingredients that didn’t reflect my values, my body, or my standards.

That’s where Bed Intentions was born. Not just out of frustration—but from a place of fierce curiosity and real care. I wanted to create products that didn’t just “get the job done,” but actually supported people—made them feel more confident, more comfortable, more themselves. Every ingredient had to be safe. Every detail intentional. Every product designed with pleasure and safety in mind.

Our first release was a natural, prebiotic water-based lubricant—the world’s first certified microbiome-friendly lube. That was important to me. Not as a marketing hook, but as a signal: this product takes your body seriously.

But Bed Intentions was never just about a lube. From day one, I saw it as a cultural intervention. A chance to reframe the way we talk about s*x, intimacy, touch, care, and consent. Not with shame or stigma, not with pastel clichés or performative feminism—but with intelligence, irreverence, and an unwavering respect for the complexity of our bodies and experiences.

What got me most excited wasn’t just the product—it was the possibility. The opportunity to create something that looked beautiful, worked beautifully, and opened the door to smarter, more generous conversations.

Because when you strip away the awkwardness, the outdated packaging, the shame—you’re left with something deeply human. The desire to connect. To feel. To be seen, supported, and turned on—in all the ways that matter.

At its core, Bed Intentions exists to make space for nuance, for pleasure, for agency.

Sophie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Sophie McGrath, founder of Sophie McGrath PR and Bed Intentions. I work across two very different spaces: public relations and s*xual wellness.

I’ve had my company for over a decade, partnering with some of the most exciting brands in the world—from global icons like the Australian Open and Liquid Death to cult-favourite startups, creative agencies, fashion brands, wellness disruptors, and everything in between. I specialise in high-impact campaigns, media strategy, and reputation management—especially in moments that really matter. Whether it’s a launch, a crisis, or a bold creative idea that needs the right eyes (and headlines), I work with founders, CMOs, and in-house teams to shape narratives that stick.

What sets my PR work apart is equal parts strategy and instinct. I’m across the cultural context, I understand media (intimately). I also run a global model—working with clients in Australia, the UK, and the US—so I understand what it means to grow a brand across different markets and cultural landscapes. I’ve built a network of the best people across strategy, content, design, partnerships, and crisis comms, and I genuinely love helping brands get clear on who they are and how they show up.

As for The Department of Bed Intentions, I realised just how outdated, awkward, and underwhelming the s*xual wellness space still was. I started asking questions. Why were so many lubricants designed for men? Why were we still using mystery chemicals in products meant for the most sensitive part of the body?

So I created what I couldn’t find: Bed Intentions—a science-backed, design-led s*x brand.

We launched with a natural water-based lubricant—the world’s first certified microbiome-friendly lube—because it felt like the most urgent and overlooked category. Since then, we’ve grown a community that’s deeply curious, open, and tired of being underserved by brands. Our approach is intentional, intelligent, and a little irreverent. We care about education, design, ingredients, and pleasure—equally.

At the heart of both businesses—PR and product—is storytelling. Whether I’m helping a founder prepare for media or launching a s*x brand from scratch, the goal is the same: to communicate with clarity, integrity, and impact. To challenge assumptions. And to create work that doesn’t just exist—but resonates.

What I’m most proud of is building two businesses that feel radically true to who I am. I’ve always had a restless brain and a bias toward doing things differently, and I hope that shows up in every project I touch—whether it’s a pitch, a campaign, or a lube.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

For me, real resilience is quiet. It’s showing up, every single day, even when everything feels like too much.

Right now, I’m living that in real time. Between running Sophie McGrath PR and Bed Intentions, resilience isn’t a buzzword—it’s a daily practice. At Bed, we’re running lean. On the PR side, winning new clients is harder than it’s ever been. Each week is a balancing act—between cash flow, creativity, and confidence.

Every day brings its own challenges: hard conversations, fast pivots, and moments where I feel totally out of my depth. There’s a constant tension between how fast I want to go, and what’s actually possible with the resources I have right now.

And still—I show up. I keep going. That, to me, is what resilience really looks like: not shiny or cinematic, but steady. Messy, honest, deeply human.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I wouldn’t say I pivoted on purpose—at least not in the way people usually frame career changes. At the time, I was running a thriving PR agency, working with clients I adored, doing work I genuinely loved. But like so many others, the chaos of 2020 forced me to stop. To slow down. And to finally tune into the parts of myself I’d been too busy to hear.

In March 2020, I went from managing twelve active clients and a calendar full of events to just four. During that short window between lockdowns—when things felt like they might be returning to “normal”—I signed three new clients, only to have them all cancel or pause within the same week. Eventually, I was left with one. It was jarring. Disorienting. And, strangely, a little bit freeing.

Five months earlier, I’d been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and told, quite plainly, to slow down or risk things getting worse. So for the first time in over five years, I took real time off work. It wasn’t easy. It took months to quiet the guilt, to feel okay doing less. But in that stillness, something unexpected surfaced: perspective.

We were all living life in slow motion. And in that quiet, I started to see things more clearly—the pressure I no longer needed to carry, the parts of my work that didn’t light me up anymore, and the ideas I’d been quietly holding onto, waiting for space to grow.

That’s when Bed Intentions began to take shape.

Now, I get to run two businesses that fuel me in completely different ways. One helps brands shape their voice. The other is about using mine.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: pivoting doesn’t always mean abandoning what you’ve built. Sometimes it just means expanding—evolving into something more honest, more aligned, more you. And for me, that’s the kind of work I want to keep doing. Grounded. Intentional. Human.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bedintentions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bedintentionsdept/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-mcgrath-06005957/

Image Credits

Daniel Herrmann-Zoll