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.
Holiday Products is home to one of the industry's best-kept secrets, including Angela Blackmon, the company's senior sales executive.
The one code I have lived by that has worked for me is: if you make a mistake with a customer, own it and try your best to correct it and make it right.
With over two decades of distribution experience, Blackmon knows the business of sex toys from all angles. The definition of an industry veteran, Blackmon has crafted a career in adult retail and an abundant life that grew out of a minimum-wage administrative gig with an adult distributor in Michigan back in 1998.
Now, Blackmon is a treasured part of the Holiday Products team in Los Angeles, where she admits with a laugh that most of her previous Midwestern customers have loyally followed her.
Blackmon's successes have mostly slid under the radar until now. Perhaps it's due to Blackmon's humble nature. She's always willing to bounce back from mistakes, and is unafraid to admit that she never lets her high career status inflate her ego. Thankfully, a welcomed hint from Blackmon's Holiday Products co-worker, marketing and sales executive Molly Romeo, shined a worthy light on a woman well worth her 15 minutes of press fame.
What's a 22-year career with scarcely a single press mention? It's a travesty in our book, and that's why Holiday Products' Angela Blackmon is our long-overdue Women in Adult honoree for the final month of 2020.
XBIZ: What an unpredictable and wild year it's been! What are your thoughts on the state of the industry at the moment, and how has your career fared this year?
Angela Blackmon: Personally, it has been mentally trying! Professionally, I have had the pleasure of enjoying one of the best business years of my entire career. I am very excited about 2020 and looking so forward to 2021. I guess while some of us in this industry are staying at home and getting bored, it was not necessarily all bad for us. The adult industry has come through some trying times that I thought would fold us, but it did not. This is certainly the biggest, most trying year of most of our lives, yet we persevere. Although we must acknowledge those who did not make it through this year, and those suffering around us with all that is going on in our world, I am so very thankful that we in the adult industry have managed to stay above water in business; and most of us with our loved ones healthy and still strong. Let us be grateful.
XBIZ: Colleagues tell us you're a true industry vet! How long have you graced the pleasure space with your presence?
Blackmon: I have been in the adult industry for over 22 years. I initially interviewed and was hired by Ken Sahn, the sales and general manager [at another adult distribution company] at the time. I had no desire to sell this product. I just wanted to make my little minimum wage and go home. I originally thought the industry would only be a pit-stop for me. But here I am, 22 years later at the very top of my career with no inkling of leaving. I will retire from this industry. I have met some of my best friends here and have experienced so much greatness. I literally grew up in this industry and it has taught me most of what I know about business today.
XBIZ: What was it like to interview for your first gig? What convinced you to take the job and stick it out for as long as you did?
Blackmon: My first venture in this industry was when I interviewed for what I thought was a regular assistant position. My background was administrative assistant for an accounting company. So, when I saw the ad for a sales assistant, I was thinking this is going to be a walk in the park for me. Imagine my shock and surprise when I interviewed, and they plop the biggest adult catalog right down in front of me! I begin to thumb through it and looked up at Ken like he was a crazy man for showing me what I thought was such filth! What made me stay after what I saw in that catalog is beyond me. But I am so thankful that I did not walk away because I was uncomfortable at first. Once I wrapped my brain around what my position would look like and understood the true professionalism that this industry does possess, and what the product really is, it was truly one of the best decisions I have made in my life, along with moving to California to work for Holiday Products. I have walked in spaces and been in places through this industry that I would have never seen sitting back in cold Michigan. I am forever grateful for this opportunity.
XBIZ: Now that you're well into your career with Holiday, what do you love most about working for this company?
Blackmon: I think I work for one of the greatest bosses ever! Ken Sahn has been a pivotal part of my growth throughout my career. I have worked for him the entire time I have been in the industry. He has coached me, trained me, mentored me, and put me in my place. When I asked him for a job at Holiday, I had no idea my career would reach the milestones it has. I have grown so much working for Holiday Products. I thought the 12 years I had in the industry before I got here told my story. But no, Holiday Products has taught me to never let your head get too big; always stay humble and through hard work, you can accomplish anything. Kenny would probably say it has been his pleasure to work for me (his words). But it has truly been a great ride with him and this company. I do not say enough how honored I am to work for such an awesome group of people. From the owner Moe Levy all the way to the person sweeping the floors, we are truly a cohesive unit —family — and I would not trade these guys for the world.
XBIZ: Over the years, what ethics or standards have come to define your customer relationships?
Blackmon: I would say the one code I have lived by that has worked for me is: if you make a mistake with a customer, own it and try your best to correct it and make it right. Ultimately, we are our customers’ partners in business. And I take that position very seriously. I remember the first day I started my new venture at Holiday Products. I had a fax machine full of orders the very first day. We laughed that so many people followed me from Michigan all the way to California. I think it is because I have never been afraid to say, “I screwed up, let me correct that.” Customer support and service is everything in this industry. I have always gone above and beyond to make sure the customer is always happy. Do I always hit the mark? No! I do fall short in some folks' eyes. My name and my word are all I have. If I stay true to that, my customers and some that were not my customers initially, appreciate me for that.
XBIZ: Give us some insight from your 22 years on the frontlines of pleasure product business. How much has changed over the years?
Blackmon: When I started in September of 1998, this industry was far different. There was a code that customers and reps lived by. It was a code of respect and loyalty. I remember calling accounts back in 2000 and asking them if I could send them a catalog and possibly work with them, and 50 percent of the time, the store would say, “No, I already have a distributor. Now you could possibly lose a customer for a nickel difference in pricing. Currently the lines are very blurry. Some distributors compete directly to our stores. Manufacturers can compete directly with distributors. Many manufacturers and distributors have a presence on Amazon and eBay. Brick-and-mortar stores are being squeezed by online sales. It was not that long ago that Amazon and eBay even existed. In other words, everyone pretty much stayed in their respective lanes. That’s not always the case in today’s business. On a positive note, we are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were with the chemicals, functionality, technology and being conscious of what we are putting in and on our bodies. Compared to the product offerings we had when I started? It is like a different world!
XBIZ: What's up next for you and your career with Holiday in this crazy, pandemic-driven world?
Blackmon: Next for me is to continue to grow and evolve and be here for many more years to come. I had a massive personal loss in June of this year. I lost Gracie Obadele, one of the dearest people in my entire life and who happened to also share my adult industry journey. That has brought me to a place of being more present than I ever have been before. Although in this year of COVID everything around us seems so bleak, we must always rise above it and be grateful. My mentor taught me that! I am excited about 2021 and all it has to offer. Good and bad. I will embrace it and give my all. I do not have a crystal ball to know my obstacles for the New Year, but I am here for whatever it brings. Excited, full of life and moving forward, come what may. Thank you to the adult industry for your continued support over my beautiful career, and thank you to XBIZ for the acknowledgment of Women in Adult. I am so honored that I was chosen to express my love for this industry.
