“I seldom wind up where I wanted to go,
but almost always end up where I need to be.” – Douglas Adams
I have always been a rabid fan of all things adult, obsessing over toy line debuts the way tech geeks salivate over smartphones and imacs. I’d been stealing my parent’s Adam and Eve mailers for years in my youth, pouring over the pages not for illicit thrills and the occasional nipple, but to study the lines and features of the sex toys that filled the pages. California Exotics, Doc Johnson, Pipedreams, Topco – I dreamed of working for the companies I read about on the underside of packages on my all-too-rare visits to the sex store.
When, in my mid 20s, I got sick of being trapped like an exotic animal in the confines of a cubicle, I knew something had to change. I kicked off my flats, rolled off my stockings, switched out the biz casual for jeans and tees and marched into the heart of the adult industry with a pen behind my ear. I read and wrote voraciously, kicked ass at jeopardy, and loved sex toys – the move to join the ranks of the sex toy society was the easiest one I ever made and I’ve never looked back.
I’ve learned a few things the hard way – namely that even the nicest-looking proverbial ship does not necessarily have a competant captain at the helm – but that same adversity made me a handful of amazing friends too, so I suppose it all worked out. I’ve gotten the chance to meet some amazing industry powerhouses – Jamye Waxman, Audacia Ray, Rachel Kramer Bussell, Joanna Angel…too many to count, really! A little later, teaming with Vera from ForYourNymphomation opened many more business doors and made me a bonafide booth bunny, tossing my “convention virginity” out the window. I’ve flown out to Las Vegas for the AVN show with her twice – and those trips were only the second time I’ve crossed a time zone in my life!
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My Convention Pedigrees:
- AVN Show, Las Vegas NV - 2008, 2009
- Exxxotica NY, New Brunswick NJ – 2007, 2008, 2009
- Floating World, Edison NJ – 2009
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Fast forward a couple of years, and here we are! I’ve emerged from the cubicle like a smutty butterfly. I have shelves full of sex toy catalogs, a wonderful twitter crew, a freelance copy writing site, a box of manufacturer’s business cards, an inbox full of press releases, and of course -
…a desk full of dildos.