WIA
WIA Profile: April Hoopes
When you do what you love, they say, you’ll never work a day in your life — and when your job involves educating the masses about sex toys, it’s hard not to love what you do. As director of sales for pleasure brand Edonista, April Hoopes would surely agree.
WIA Profile: Siouxsie Q.
Siouxsie Q has long been a committed artist and organizer. This dual path has garnered her significant recognition for both her creative works and her advocacy. Yet one thing that stands clear in Q’s story is that her motivation transcends mere acclaim.
WIA Profile: Brittany Vela
Nearly 15 years ago, at age 19, Brittany Vela applied for her first adult boutique job, as a sales associate for Sara’s Secret in Texas. Vela instantly fell in love with her work, the environment, and the people around her.
WIA Profile: Danae Mucino
For a long time, Danae Mucino wasn’t sure about what she wanted to do. With one bachelor’s degree in management and human relations, plus another in marketing and event planning, she found herself working in a variety of fields, including travel, immigration and fashion.
WIA Profile: Kim Patterson
Who ever dreamed that a chilly northern town, off the beaten path and far from North America’s most trendy cities, would turn out to be the ideal birthplace for an adult business? Kim Patterson did, 20 years ago, back when she was an aspiring retail owner with the simple ambition of running her own store.
WIA: Sana Gaziani
Sana Gaziani has always been industrious. She worked in retail for over 20 years, first as a teenager selling chocolates door-to-door and then in multiple part-time jobs at grocery stores. She worked at cosmetics company Lush to put herself through college, where she studied to become a law clerk.
WIA Profile: Sarah Konkel
Lingerie marketing and sales requires a special touch. In the case of Florida-based lingerie brand Oh La La Cheri, that also means a woman’s touch — namely, that of Key Account Manager Sarah Konkel.
WIA Profile: Allie Awesome
Once upon a time, Allie Awesome was a budding theater scholar. After earning her bachelor’s degree in the thespian arts, she spent a year or so working as a stripper before starting grad school. Exploring this decidedly more erotic kind of stage introduced her to the sex workers’ rights movement, which led her to focus her graduate studies on sex work in performance.
WIA Profile: Tracy Leone
Just under a decade ago, the adult industry — especially the DVD sector — was still blatantly a man’s world, but that didn’t stop Tracy Leone from daring to break ground with her own style of business savvy and candy-sweet approach to customer service.
WIA Profile: Caroline Karolinko
When Caroline Karolinko joined Segpay in 2018, she did not know a lot about the adult industry. After graduating from the University of Florida with a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, she worked with autistic youth and others with behavioral disorders.
WIA Profile: Claudia Sousa
When it comes to selling sexual wellness, Claudia Sousa has a little trick up her sleeve: Keep customers laughing, and they’ll open their minds — and buy more sex toys.
WIA Profile: Eva Garcia
Throughout her career, even before she became chief communications officer for Erika Lust and her acclaimed brands such as Lust Cinema, XConfessions and Else Cinema, Eva Garcia always felt drawn to projects that positively impact society and the environment.
WIA Profile: Stacey Monroe
The pleasure industry’s focus on sex toys — especially given their increasing mainstream popularity — often overshadows the lingerie sector. Here, all consumers need to bring sensual fantasies to life is a human body and a little imagination.
WIA Profile: Lea Lexis
Lea Lexis was an elite gymnast for 10 years in her home country of Romania. Her parents encouraged her to pursue the sport at an early age, perhaps sensing that it would help channel her restless nature, which to this day drives her to seek outlets for her high level of energy.
WIA Profile: Celine Menting
Paris may be known as the City of Love, but Celine Menting felt that the south of France left much to be desired in the romance department. In response to her region’s lack of inclusive adult brick-and-mortars, Menting founded and currently manages retail pleasure shop La Clef des Charmes.
WIA Profile: Brett Rossi
In 2019, after almost a decade of performing for adult studios, Brett Rossi attended UCLA to earn her paramedic license. After working as an EMT during the pandemic, however, she quickly realized the career was not for her.
WIA Profile: Stephanie Keating
From We-Vibe to WOW Tech to Lovehoney Group, there have been plenty of big changes behind the scenes at the home of brands like Womanizer, Fifty Shades of Grey and pjur, but at least one thing has remained the same: Sales and Marketing Director Stephanie Keating.
WIA Profile: Sarah C.
After graduating from high school, Sarah C. attended college for a year before realizing she wanted to pursue a more adventurous path. Joining the army as military police taught her the value of discipline and teamwork, while instilling in her a strong work ethic that she still carries with her today.
WIA Profile: Kim Marks
Loaded buzzwords like “eco-friendly” and “inclusive” aren't just marketing fodder to Kim Marks. As founder and CEO of the small Oregon-based retail chain As You Like It, Marks lives her ethos in every business step she takes.
WIA Profile: Shelly H.
Shelly began to feel a little stagnant and started seeking growth opportunities. That was when she started looking into the film industry. Fast-forwarding to now, she has joined one of the fastest growing studio networks in the adult space: Model Media.