One night in 1995, Beau Thompson brought a lady home, with hopes of seeing some action before the night was over.
However, as things in the bedroom began to heat up, he encountered the bane of every sexual encounter — he was taking too long to put a condom on.
“I was trying to be responsible, trying to get one of these rascals on,” Thompson said.
With the lights out, he couldn’t see the condom and couldn’t tell which side was which.
“I just thought to myself, ‘There’s gotta be a better way,’” he said.
Thompson, a UF architecture alumnus, is the inventor of Sensis Condoms with QuikStrips, a new condom with two polyethylene tabs rolled into it that allows the user to roll the condom on with ease. The two strips peel away, like a Band-Aid.
Thompson, 44, said he has always had a mindset conducive to innovation.
He’s been adept with his hands since his youth. Whether it was building a tree house or taking apart and reconfiguring his bike, he had an architect’s heart.
His passion for building got him through the architecture program at UF, where he said he was surrounded by intense academic competition that motivated him to succeed.
After graduating in 1988, Thompson started his architecture company, Beau’Sart Company.
It was after that night in ’95 that he resolved to improve the design of one the oldest forms of contraception, a task that proved no small feat.
As he paid the bills through Beau’Sart, he struggled to develop any kind of innovation when, as he was taking out the trash one day, he had an epiphany.
As he pulled the straps of the garbage bag to tie a knot, it dawned on him: Why can’t a condom have pull-away straps?
Six months later, he had a design, but no sure way of mass production. After another six months, a prototype for the manufacturing machine was finished.
Pouring his earnings into his invention, he wouldn’t even let hunger stand in his way. He had to resort to hunting on a friend’s ranch to put food on the table.
For Thompson, a diet of venison, pork and turkey had to suffice.
After years of perseverance, his new machine and condom was met with interest by Grove Medical LLC, where the product now has a home and a way to reach markets.
Together with CPA and fellow UF graduate Josh Glick, 37, Thompson is marketing his invention and looking to make a lasting impact on the industry.
“All condoms should have this,” said Glick, a Fisher School of Accounting alumus and a firm believer in the potential of Sensis.
He notes the health factors that make the condom revolutionary, like the prevention of flipping condoms after contact with the partner, which could lead to the unintended spread of disease.
“It just a way to make safe sex safer,” Thompson said.
