Rotten Mango Podcast – Episode Summary

Podcast: Rotten Mango
Host: Stephanie Soo
Episode: Self-Help Guru Creates Wellness Company For Women To Receive “Orgasm Massages” By Trained Men
Date: February 2, 2026

Main Theme

This episode delves into the rise and fall of OneTaste—a Silicon Valley-based “wellness” company founded by Nicole Daedone that promoted so-called “orgasmic meditation” (OM). Host Stephanie Soo explores how OneTaste blended self-help, sexual wellness, and alleged cult tactics, attracting everyone from tech moguls to trauma survivors, all under the guise of female empowerment and healing. The episode tracks the origin, marketing, and controversial practices of the organization, as well as Daedone's personal journey and eventual criminal fallout.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction—Setting the Stage

• Stephanie opens with a true-crime-style vignette featuring tech millionaire Rhys Jones, setting the tone for the episode’s blend of dark humor and in-depth crime storytelling.
  • [02:11] “Something really crazy is about to happen to Rhys Jones. Soon in court it's going to be revealed that Rhys Jones likes to be leashed up...”
• Details a bizarre, elaborate OM-themed birthday “kidnapping” as an introduction to the world of OneTaste.

2. Trigger Warning and Sensitivity

• [07:25] Strong trigger warnings are issued: “This case is really heavy in regards to CSA, SA... previous SA victims... queer community... pressured into intimate relations... Please take care of yourself.”

3. Pop Culture Roots & Celebrity Endorsements

• The influence of self-help culture, referencing Tim Ferriss’s 4-Hour Workweek and his subsequent involvement in normalizing OneTaste in the public eye (“...he just gets involved and makes it a bit more public, mainstream.” [10:39]).
• Well-known personalities (Tony Robbins, Khloe Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow) promoted OM and Daedone’s book, giving OneTaste legitimacy.
  • [12:24] “Tony Robbins… recommends the founder of OneTaste’s new book to all of his friends…”

4. The OM Practice—How It Worked

Public Demonstrations

• Describes a surreal scene: Nicole Daedone lying naked, legs spread, in front of a small audience while a fully clothed male “stroker” manually stimulates her as a demonstration.
  • [17:48] “He leans over and just starts with his hand manually rubbing Nicole Daedone down there... She’s whimpering, smiling, crying, moaning, giggling…”

Large-Scale Conferences

• Recaps OM training sessions for up to 1400 people, detailing the clinical framing and safety mechanisms (e.g., “red cards” for comfort).
  • [25:44] “She is to unclothe from the bottom downward… And she is about to experience an OM for the very first time in her life… 1400 people who paid anywhere between $200 to $400…”

Impact on Participants

• Some found the practice exhilarating and transformative; others described post-conference “hangovers” or compared the group dynamic to cult ritual.

Clinical Language & Boundaries

• OM was heavily branded as therapeutic, meditative practice rather than sexual (“It’s not sexual, it’s therapy. It’s meditation.” [19:33])
• Emphasis on neutral language during the practice (“the color is very coral,” avoiding judgmental descriptors [29:27]).

5. Recruitment, Upselling, and Cult Dynamics

Layered Payment System

• Entry-level events at $10, escalating to courses costing up to $60,000, with participants sometimes accruing $100,000 in debt.
  • [61:09] “Then you sign up for the master coaching program. That's $60,000.”
  • [61:15] “There are victims who are like $100,000 in debt.”

Target Demographics and Manipulation

• Client base included tech-affluent men, vulnerable young women (often SA survivors), and older women seeking pleasure.
  • [56:09] “A group of large group of guys… who have not touched a woman… almost rather than a pickup lesson, they go to this course.”
  • [57:01] “A lot of these young women seem to come from… more vulnerable backgrounds… Nicole convinces them that she is the path and the light.”

Psychological Techniques

• Hot seat exercises extracted participants’ deepest insecurities/desires for later sales targeting ([58:08])
• Participants were showered with attention, creating emotional highs and an easy segue into upselling.

Questionable Ethics and Cult Accusations

• Shared housing, communal lifestyle, and strict hierarchy—elements typical of cults.
  • [38:10] “They even have communal living buildings… They call it the warehouse. That's where they eat, breathe, sleep, OneTaste.”

6. OneTaste Philosophy & Nicole Daedone's Persona

• Daedone’s background as a “wannabe Buddhist”—pivot from monastic ambitions after experiencing OM.
  • [65:11] “She decides, I’m gonna go out on a one week binge…”
• Repetitious themes of “feminine power,” “hunger,” tied to sexual expression (“Women need to be horn dogs…that’s your greatest energy” [52:03])
• Flirted with both feminist empowerment and pandering to male clientele (“...she is a walking contrast contradiction…That’s her appeal.” [64:01])

7. Male Participation and 'What's in it for Men?'

• OM framed as healing for all, though business pivoted toward meeting men’s desires as customer base shifted.
• Male testimonials: found relationships improved, energy increased, or that they were finally “turned on.”
  • [63:35] “My girlfriend is so much more turned on…so different to have intimate relations with a woman who is truly, fully turned on all the time.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [11:54] Stephanie on Tim Ferriss's quest to help a woman orgasm:
  Stephanie: "I've never won the Powerball lottery, but I felt like I just had."
• [19:33] Stephanie’s summary of OM sales pitch:
  Stephanie: "It's not sexual, it's therapy. It's meditation. OM is OM. Orgasmic meditation."
• [23:18] Stephanie reads Nicole Daedone's reframe:
  Stephanie: "When self-pleasuring as a woman, you're trying to reach the goal. But it's about the journey… I think a climax is... a crotch sneeze."
• [34:38] Testimonial about OM’s appeal despite vulnerability:
  Joanna Van Vleck: "If there weren't such incredible benefits, I would not lay down and have a man stroke my genitals… Om is fuel… like eating breakfast."
• [36:53] Business speaker’s awkward confession at OM conference:
  Robbie Richman: "I went into the room with this girl and I had this desire to just rip her limbs off…It felt like religion." (Audience growing uncomfortable.)
• [41:02] Stephanie lampoons Daedone’s flowery prose:
  Stephanie: "She wrote that in her book… Said no 12 year old fucking ever."
• [57:24] Stephanie unpacks the manipulation of vulnerable women:
  Stephanie: "Nicole convinces them that she is the path and the light. And these young women end up becoming the biggest commodity of OneTaste."
• [61:15] On the cult-like financial entrapment:
  Stephanie: "There are victims who are like $100,000 in debt. And they are considered employees of OneTaste. But they don't learn how to be an employee of OneTaste for free. They're in debt."
• [63:36] Stephanie notes Daedone’s pandering to men:
  Stephanie: "This is straight up tailoring to the guy… because every sane minded woman listening is like, that's actually like on the bottom of the list."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–02:10 – Cold open: Rhys Jones’ story and OneTaste introduction
• 07:25 – Host delivers content warning
• 10:39–13:22 – Tim Ferriss’s connection brings OneTaste to mainstream, celebrity endorsements
• 17:27–19:33 – Public OM demonstration—Daedone as subject, group experience described
• 25:38–26:51 – Large conference “nests,” OM mass practice, clinical framing
• 31:15–33:54 – Participants’ post-session reactions and testimonials
• 34:04–34:36 – Stroker training/OneTaste’s upsell path
• 36:53–38:10 – Uncomfortable moments and cult-like communal living
• 52:03–53:46 – Daedone’s philosophy on feminine power; business pivots to men
• 56:09–57:45 – Breakdown of OneTaste demographics and manipulation
• 58:08–61:15 – Exploitive sales funnel, emotional targeting, and escalating upsell
• 63:35–64:01 – Men’s testimonials, Daedone’s contradictory messaging

Overall Tone & Style

Stephanie Soo delivers the episode with her trademark balance of irreverent humor, dark curiosity, and empathy for victims. The language is direct, sometimes explicit, with frequent asides reflecting skepticism and disbelief at the subject's absurdities and manipulations. Despite the sensitive material, the pacing is engaging, and the storytelling vivid and unflinching.

For Next Time / Part 2 Teaser

The episode closes with a preview of deeper allegations against Daedone and OneTaste—how trauma survivors were allegedly pressured to relive their assaults as part of OM “healing”—with a warning of even heavier content to come.

End of Part 1 summary