TASLIM'S 'THERE SH BE ANY AROUN

The Wellington entrepre committed to helping wo

When Taslim Parsons and her parents arrived in the United Kingdom from Uganda as asylum seekers just over 50 years ago, with nothing but a few suitcases between them, not everyone embraced their Indian heritage.

As a young female of colour growing up in North London during the 1970s, Taslim often experienced racism and sexism, which quickly taught the self-proclaimed feminist how to stand up for herself.

Today, the Wellington mum and entrepreneur credits her upbringing for shaping her passion for equality whether that's on the streets, in business or in the bedroom! - and helping her to become the mastermind behind a successful luxury sex-toy brand.

Having launched Share Satisfaction in 2020, Taslim says, "I'm of a generation of women where our parents didn't talk to us a lot about sex and instead it was, 'Don't get pregnant or Aids!' My mum and dad were really liberal for Indian-heritage parents and there was no real stigma around sex, but there was nothing about pleasure.

"Back then, if you derived pleasure from your own body, you were seen as weird or dirty and that's not the case. It can be really damaging."

After working in advertising, telecommunications, media and then launching a nightclub in the UK, Taslim moved to Aotearoa with her investment manager husband Jeremy in 2004.