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.
In the dry, unrelenting Arizona heat, a flower blooms vibrantly in a desert. It's a most unlikely place to bear such flora, but when you ask the team at Entrenue, it seems VP of Marketing Lily Wang can't help but come to life wherever she's planted.
I’m mostly inspired by the small clients and small manufacturers who are investing all of their waking hours, finances and energy into their passions, creating and following through on their dreams.
Throughout her entire career journey, Wang was more often behind the scenes driving a company’s success. This multi-talented wine distributor decided to switch gears and sell another type of luxury pleasure product.
We felt it was time that Wang's outstanding contributions were finally brought into the spotlight, and of course her biggest fan couldn't help but chime in for Wang's big moment.
Joe Casella, the CEO of Entrenue, asked to share his gratitude to Wang in a statement drafted just for her recognition by Women in Adult.
“I have had the sincere pleasure of having Lily as my director of sales and marketing for over three years, and I am thrilled to have her on my team,” said Casella. “She is a dedicated team member and has natural leadership abilities and likeability.”
Casella made special note of Wang's intuitive abilities, both with customers and colleagues, which surfaced the moment she set foot in Entrenue's doors. Casella had undoubtedly made the right decision to bring Wang on board.
“I gave her simple direction when she started to ‘increase sales.’ From there, she grew and developed our sales staff, worked closer and got creative with vendors and is a breath of fresh air daily in our office,” he remarked.
As it turns out, Wang was a natural in the pleasure space, and she has since secured a life-long career with one of the industry's most sought-after distributors.
“It is a privilege to be in her presence and a better day when she is around. She is smart, upbeat, thinks outside of the box and is eager to try and learn new things,” gushes Casella. “The results have been sales increases each year while holding true to Entrenue values.”
According to Wang, the feelings are mutual. In beginning her Q&A, she professes a big thanks to Casella for his Entrenue culture and a company foundation that, Wang says, is based on gratitude, kindness and love.
She is thankful to work in an environment that believes in lifting up the entire team with positivity, and though pleasantly surprised at XBIZ's nomination for a WIA column, we don't see anyone more deserving of this month's coveted spot.
XBIZ: What's your backstory, Lily? What sort of jobs built the foundation of your career?
Lily Wang: Originally from Chicago, I loved getting out of state and graduated from the University of Arizona studying business marketing, management information systems (MIS) and music. I always knew I would be in business sales of some sort. My sales and marketing experience started in commercial insurance and employee benefits. I found it to be boring, but I had a great mentor, who in fact led me into my next career path — the wine industry!
I worked for a wine distributorship, which was very similar to the “Entrenue of wines.” (In the alcohol industry, all brands are exclusive to one distributor — thanks, prohibition!) The brands I represented were all small, boutique wineries from different parts of the world. It was amazing to learn the stories of vineyards, chateaus and family winemakers, traditions passed down from multiple generations, how agriculturalists, farmers and winemakers grow unique varietals of grapes from different appellations and terroir, and how wine is processed. What’s amazing is how wine changes every year with different vintages! I managed hundreds of restaurants’ and resorts’ wine lists. I also experienced working for two of my suppliers and a winery directly, similarly to working for one of our supplier-manufacturers.
XBIZ: From alcohol to sex toys — now that's an appropriate career leap! How did you end up trading fancy booze for luxury vibrators?
Wang: Lucky me! Entrenue had a recruiter seeking a director of sales and marketing. The recruiter thought my background of slinging grape juice and managing people for trade shows checked the boxes. I didn’t know what company I was applying for, but after reviewing Entrenue’s award-winning catalogs and meeting the company, I was excited for the potential. And from booze to sex makes sense, right?
XBIZ: How has joining the pleasure industry enriched your life?
Wang: I am grateful to have found this opportunity and to be part of a fun, growing market. I’ve enjoyed building strong relationships with some retail clients, our manufacturing supplier-partners, and the entire staff at Entrenue. I appreciate everyone’s kindness in doing business versus secular industries. After all, we are promoting romance, love and sex.
XBIZ: How have you climbed the career ladder since joining the Entrenue team?
Wang: I joined Entrenue in March 2016 as the company’s director of sales and marketing, managing a team of up to 10 people. My main role is to grow the company and wear many hats along the way, which has been challenging and rewarding.
We switched over from Entrenue’s beautiful 500-page award-winning catalog to a yearly calendar that shares marketing ideas throughout the year, with product suggestions around holiday or monthly awareness campaigns. If you haven't already, I'd recommend calling us to be sure to get your copy of the 2020 “out of this world” calendar!
I enjoy the one-on-one development with clients, suppliers and my team. We focus on how to better serve one another through smart strategies and dedication, all while having fun.
Most recently, I was promoted in May with a new job title, VP of sales and marketing.
XBIZ: How have you grown and developed your on-the-job skills throughout your current career?
Wang: I like to meet new folks and learn something new whenever I can. I’ve learned a lot from retail clients, such as what products and services they need. I’ve learned from our supplier partners how and what their expectations are in representing their brand properly. And I’ve learned a lot about business practices at our many trade shows.
I’m mostly inspired by the small clients and small manufacturers who are investing all of their waking hours, finances and energy into their passions, creating and following through on their dreams. The outcome of our work together is supporting each other and changing love lives.
XBIZ: Give us a peek behind the scenes. How would you describe daily life at the Entrenue office?
Wang: It’s hard work, sometimes crazy, extremely busy, but fun and rewarding, and I love it. We are a lean, efficient team. We have all women in the office plus Joe and a few guys in the warehouse (plus, our warehouse manager is also a boss babe). Every day and every week is different. I get to dabble in dozens of projects: sales presentations to clients, marketing schedules of newsletters, press releases, new product launches, reviewing new brand buying decisions, website efficiency maintenance, trainings to clients and trainings from brands, designs for ads and marketing pieces, trade show travel and more!
XBIZ: Considering our industry's generally humorous take on life, I'm sure you've got a funny story or three tucked away. Could you regale us with one of your favorites?
Wang: I had been with Entrenue for less than six months and learned that Joe’s 10-year anniversary of owning Entrenue was coming up. So my sales and marketing team decided to secretly surprise him at the last International Lingerie Show at the Rio in Las Vegas. We printed a few colored photos of Joe’s head and text bubbles, and asked clients, suppliers and new booth-visiting friends to snap a photo with Joe’s head, haha! Yes, Joe was at the show, but this was all in secrecy behind his back, and we don’t think he suspected a thing. We celebrated with the Chippendales at ILS, too, who were a fun draw and photo opp. When we returned to Phoenix, we celebrated Joe’s 10-year anniversary at the office with this video and cake, of course. Today, Entrenue is celebrating 25 years!
XBIZ: What does the future look like for you, and what are you looking forward to as the year wraps up?
Wang: It’s been an awesome three years and I hope to continue this path in learning more about the business, the industry, and sex education, which I hope to become formally certified in.
Personally, I’d love to plan some stay-cations, as I'm excited to be recently engaged. My fiancé thought it’d be funny to propose on our big busiest day, Valentine’s Day Eve on Feb. 13.
