The Sexual Health Alliance had an incredibly interesting and engaging weekend learning from a range of professionals in the sexuality field, including Dr. David J. Ley, Dr. Justin Lehmiller, Dr. Chris Donaghue, Suki Dunham, Alyssa Ljubcich, Shakun Sethi, Soum Rakshit, Athena Gayle, Dr. Donna Jennings and Jacques Gerard. Whether you're a clinician, educator, erotic writer, or working in the sex tech industry, this conference included truly useful tips and insights for everyone and anyone interested in the business of sexuality. Our students learned how to build and maintain an audience through email marketing and social media, as well as how to navigate the risks associated with being a clinician on social media or testifying as an expert witness on sexuality.
We are also very excited to announce our Business of Sexuality speciality certification coming out later this year! Whether you're launching your first or fifth sexuality business, get on the waiting list now for access to our specially curated course to help your sexuality business grow and thrive.
Day 1: Saturday, August 12th
The first speaker of Saturday was Dr. Justin Lehmiller known for his Sex and Psychology podcast. Dr Lehmiller talked about his journey to podcasting as well as the pros and cons of podcasting as a medium through which to deliver sexuality education. Podcasts are a relatively new and expanding form of media and can therefore be a great opportunity to engage large audiences. Especially for those wanting to pursue sexuality education, podcasts grant you the listener's attention for an extended period of time which can give you access to a unique type of outreach. Dr Lehmiller also highlighted how podcasting could allow you to establish yourself as an expert in certain areas and, from there, grow your niche and brand within the sex education space. Meanwhile, podcasts are nearly impossible to edit once posted, which means what you say into the mic is associated with you forever, for better or for worse. Dr. Lehmiller also shared a personal anecdote about reclaiming your own voice through podcasting, both in regard to what you have to say and how you speak. Speculating about the future growth of audio and the monetization opportunities associated with it, Dr. Lehmiller encouraged our students to advance sex education in a way they feel is important and supports their business.
Next, Dr. Chris Donaghue spoke about being a sexuality professional in the media. His main message was to look out for the sustainability of your career since many media outlets want to sensationalize and thereby often misrepresent those in the sexuality field. His main tips on how to survive media and avoid getting misquoted or undermined was to know your scope and stick to it. There will be things you can't speak on, and in those cases, it may be best to give other experts the space to do so instead. Similarly, when you get misunderstood or misrepresented (purposely or accidentally), you need to pick your battles: you cannot win all the time. In relation to growing one's influence in any sexuality business, Dr. Donaghue encouraged our students to be innovative and translate knowledge from other fields into the sexuality space.
After lunch, Suki Dunham, the CEO of OhMiBod and pioneer of the music-driven vibrator, introduced us to the evolution of sex toys and tech. Through her personal pathway through the tech industry, Dunham discussed the growth of sex tech and the importance of retailers staying on top of intimacy trends. For instance, today, proximity is no longer required for intimacy in the same way it was a generation ago. Obtaining financing in the sex tech industry was something Dunham highlighted as a key hurdle on her path through the industry. She also shared some personal anecdotes on navigating her work in the industry and personal relationships and said that working in this industry could change how certain people perceive you. From all her career across the tech industry, Dunham encouraged our students to reflect on what they can bring to their business but also what they are missing and, from this, to reach out to their networks for help. Finally, we speculated about the future of sex tech and discussed exciting developments such as skin-temperature toys and self-lubricating material.
Alyssa Ljubcich—who was a contestant on the Netflix reality show The Circle—highlighted some great tips for boosting your social media presence. She encouraged our students to understand the motivation for their business and to use this to build content. The importance of digestible and cohesive content is incredibly important in order to keep short attention spans engaged. Ljuncich passed on some content creation tips directly from Meta, such as posting a short video with a lot of text so that viewers watch the video multiple times while reading and boost engagement, or the 3x3 hashtag rule: 3 hashtags for what the video relates to, 3 for the problem/solution, and 3 for the audience. A key takeaway for anyone branding themselves on social media seems to be playing the algorithm, and the key tip on this was to be consistent with posting: whether this means daily or biweekly, consistency is key. As a sex educator on social media, Alyssa also expressed her frustrations with censorship and shadow-banning, which many of our students could relate to.
Finally, Dr. David Ley presented on the legal and ethical risks of being a clinician on social media. He introduced the contemporary debates around whether clinicians should be allowed on social media at all and how certain arguments in this debate call for a restriction on the freedom of speech. Things you post on social media remain there and can be held against you later—as a clinician, and it is absolutely important to reflect Meanwhile, what those in this occupation post on their private platforms should not interfere with how their profession is perceived by the public. Dr. Ley also emphasized how the experiences of clinicians on social media vary between genders and that women tend to be more vigorously critiqued.
Day 2: Sunday, August 13th
The second day started off with Shakun Sethi and her company TickleCharge—developed by Tickle.Life a payment partner for “high-risk merchants' such as those in sexuality businesses. Having struggled with finding a bank that would allow her to open a business account for her sexuality business and lost a year's worth of work because of this, Sethi offers her customers this alternative payment solution. Many of our students were eager about this payment partner, telling us their personal anecdotes about being banned from mainstream payment platforms such as Venmo and Paypal because of their product being sex-related. Sethi also talked about censorship more generally and shared, like many other presenters, that it can be difficult to get your product out there, especially with social media censorship. Reliable payment alternatives free of censorship have the potential to make a great impact on a range of entrepreneurs in the sexuality field and beyond.
Later, we heard from Soum Rakshit, the Co-Founder & CEO of MysteryVibe. Rakshit has a background in medical engineering and began his presentation by expressing how so many of the medical issues we experience in our lifetimes have adverse effects on our sex lives which we never discuss. To him—and to 43% of women and 62% of men—improved sexual health equates to improved quality of life. Meanwhile, only 5% of women consult a doctor for sexual health-related issues. Rakshit’s MysteryVibe is sexual health made sexy. His toys tackle common medical issues so many of us are likely to face, such as erectile dysfunction or painful sex after childbirth. After years of development, the MysteryVibe product was launched, and the company began to grow, gaining external validation gradually. He encouraged our students that want to enter into business to gain credibility and then capitalize on it. Rakshit emphasized that he often was left having to convince many (especially those in the medical field) that these sex devices could serve a medical purpose as well as a novelty one. As MysteryVibe grows, Rakshit hopes to eventually be able to shift narratives around sexual health—perhaps even at a governmental level—to ensure anyone at any life stage can have a fulfilling sex life.
Athena Gayle offered our attendees an insight into email marketing, which can provide all sorts of businesses with an opportunity to engage with audiences regularly and personally. In relation to sexuality businesses, emails are often exempt from common censorship that exists on, for instance, the Meta Platforms. Gayle informed us of how emails are able to generate traffic to a range of other branches of a business, such as social media, blogs and shops and can offer a high return on investment. The personalized aspect offered by emails was emphasized as particularly useful when done in an intentional manner. Gayle even offered us some fun subject lines such as “cum see the hype” or “we have a confession” and pushed those wanting to use email marketing to evaluate what tone resonates with their audience. A key message from this presentation was to not fear over emailing because the worst thing that can happen is an unsubscription, and the best is lots of great engagement. Athena advised our students to remain authentic and, when possible, to share personal anecdotes that allow the recipients to relate and connect.
After lunch, we were joined by Dr. Donna Jennings and Jacques Gerard, who discussed both their processes when writing erotic fiction and how they came to enter this space. Gerard encouraged us to tap into why we are writing: for our own pleasure or others, or maybe both? Both writers emphasized the importance of storyline and tension, which are significant when writing to arouse. This slowness and the space for the story and characters to develop is as essential to good erotica as a sex scene. Our students were given some advice on platforms such as Amazon, Medium, Radish, and Patreon, where they could monetize their work. Discussing her personal career trajectory, Dr. Jennings also talked about how erotica has so many potential avenues that stem from it, such as education or coaching. Our students were told by both presenters to enjoy the process and not to hold back but to take their writing to a point which feels comfortable and not too personal.
Finally, Dr. David Ley returned to talk about his experience testifying as an expert witness on sexuality and the risks associated with it. Essentially, this role involves educating the judge, jury, and attorneys about human sexuality and the myths around it in order for them to then make an informed ruling. Dr. Ley talked about credentials such as career, publications, teaching and training and warned us that these credentials are likely to be questioned in court, so it may be helpful to gain extra credentials before taking on his role. He also warned us that taking on a disproportionate amount of defence or prosecution cases might also push the judges to suggest that you are biased. Dr. Ley encouraged our participants not to get their egos invested in these cases and to simply provide neutral information and then leave it to the jury. Being at all invested and subjective can push you to consciously or unconsciously withhold certain information. One of the most significant takeaways from this presentation was to stick to what you know and know your scope in order to maintain legitimacy. It is okay to say no to a job if you aren't educated on something or can't defend a theory well.
Moving Forward
There are so many incredible takeaways from all of our lovely speakers this weekend, and still, so much to learn on the topic of sexuality business. Critically, play to your strengths and know your weaknesses and let other people help fill those gaps. The sexuality field is fun, and you should enjoy what you do and delve deep into it head first because new and innovative ideas and content do best. Understand your purpose behind your business or product and let this guide your content and approach. This is still a rough market to be in, as evidenced by censorship guidelines on social media, banking issues, and general public attitudes and taboos that persist around sex. Don’t let this stop you from your passion projects but be aware and be ready to adapt your relationships because of this. Even in this challenging landscape, it is important that we keep acting and educating: if we don’t take the space to do so, others with a very different agenda from ours will do so instead. Times are constantly evolving, and we cannot predict the future of sex toys, sex education, and sex therapy—but we see that those succeeding in this industry are those who are taking leaps and challenging what they know.
A final thank you to all our presenters and attendees from all around the world for such inspiring and lively discussions. These conferences are a success because of you!
If all of this sounds fascinating to you, check out our upcoming events:
Our upcoming in-person event: SHA's Inaugural Sexological Conference
And our annual virtual SAR: The Grinch Stole My Orgasm
And don’t forgot to check out our new Business of Sexuality program!
Written by Ellen Gisto