What is the Industry Talking About

CYBERSPACE—Inspired in part by the anti-racist movement that gained momentum in the U.S. and elsewhere this past summer, Fun Factory will be hosting a two-part online workshop discussing radical sex positivity in mid-February. It will be hosted by Ericka Hart (she/they), a Black queer activist, writer and award-winning sex educator.

The workshop is free for people within the sex and pleasure industries. The topics to be discussed include how white people can approach customers of color more thoughtfully, how they can support coworkers of color, what consent means in the workplace, and how justice movements are connected to the movement for sex positivity.

Each month, industry news media organization XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry's most influential female executives.

Although often underrated, the home party sector of the adult retail industry continues to thrive decades after it followed in the footsteps of other iconic home party companies like Mary Kay and Tupperware. Tamara Payton Bell launched her own home party company in 1999, and has since expanded her role to become a mentor to the members of the Home Pleasure Party Plan Association, which she founded more than a decade ago. 

LOS ANGELES — Last Thursday, XBIZ hosted an 11-person panel to address issues of racism and tokenization spanning the entire pleasure products and retail space. Titled “Race in Adult: An Open Conversation,” the panel spoke to major elephant-in-the-room topics that have long been swept under the rug, like a lack of black voices and staffing in sex toy manufacturing and sales representation and the gross tokenization of black, Latin and other people of color in product copy writing and marketing.

Moderated by Sunny Megatron, sexuality educator and host of the “American Sex” podcast, the panel included prominent people of color who encompassed a variety of careers in the sexual wellness space.

CHATSWORTH, Calif.—During AVN’s Adult Entertainment Expo, panelists advised aspiring sex toy inventors about the pros and cons of bringing a new product to the market. The panel, called “I invented the best adult product! Now what should I do?” featured sex toy development industry pros with combined decades of experience in the field. 

The panel was moderated by Kim Airs, who owned a brick-and-mortar shop and now owns an online store, and herself invented products unique to her customers. Panelists included Scott Watkins, VP of Sales & Marketing for Doc Johnson; Rob Phaneuf, Vice President of Product Development at Pipedream Products; Ted Leger and Larry Lentz, owners of lube maker HelmetGrease.com; and Maureen Pollack, inventor of the WaterSlyde (“the aquatic stimulator”), a bestselling sex toy for women designed to make bathtime much more fun.

Industry professionals abound toast Eldorado.

“Ever since I started HPPPA (The Home Pleasure Party Plan Association) Eldorado has been my favorite distributor. It’s their innovation and their attention to detail that really sets them apart from the rest. An example of that is their drop-shipping program which, I feel, is the best in the industry. They are a wonderful example of a distributor who cares about the buyer and the consumer equally.”
— Tamara Payton Bell, CEO and founder of HPPPA

Michael Cox might just be the luckiest guy of 2020, at least career-wise. While we’re sure his year was far from perfect, both in and outside the office, Cox still managed to maintain an aspect of his job that we could all use a little more of these days: fun.

Michael Cox is Fun Factory’s director of sales, where he heads up the German-based company’s U.S. arm. Cox is passionate about his role in the business, which he says is infectious when you work for a company that truly cares.

“Dirk and Michael worked hard over the course of 25 years to instill an inclusive, caring culture where everyone has a voice. Fred has done an excellent job to make sure that same culture is alive in our U.S. office as well,” says Cox of the company’s founders and current CEO, Frederic Walme. “It feels like we are a family, all with one common mission in mind.”