These days, working 40 years at the same company is almost unheard of — but this year, Ken Lassiter celebrates that milestone with adult retail industry pioneer Adam & Eve.
Lassiter’s four-decade career began with what was initially supposed to be a temporary job while he figured out his next steps.
There’s a lot of camaraderie, great benefits, acknowledgement for service and excellence, all of which are part of the reasons I’ve stayed here.
“I was attending North Carolina State University in 1983 and I didn’t adapt well to college life,” he says. “I came from the country and going to school in a big city, where I majored in engineering, it didn’t fit me well. I decided to leave and came back home.”
Upon returning, Lassiter was urged to get a job by his father, who happened to know someone at Adam & Eve.
“We all knew where the place was and would drive by, point and say, ‘That’s the dildo factory!’ Lassiter recalls. “It ended up that the guy we knew told me, ‘We need you in the warehouse. Come down and you can get a job pretty quickly.’ I applied for the position of stock clerk, got it, and was making $4.06 an hour. I was thrilled!
“The original plan was to work a little bit, then go back to school,” he explains. “But what I really liked was working, so I thought I would work part-time, go back to school, then get a degree in electrical engineering tech. In the meantime, I was getting more responsibility at my job, getting more hours, then doing more things including inventory and buying. There was an opening in purchasing and they came to me and asked, ‘Would you like to have this job?’ It was full-time, and since I had just gotten married, I needed the money, insurance, things like that, so I took the job and moved to purchasing.”
As it turned out, Lassiter had landed in a key spot.
“Purchasing was pretty much everything for the company,” he shares. “At that point, A&E had a small purchasing department that bought regular merchandise and a separate group that did the ‘free gift’ buying, something that we’ve always been known for and continue to do to this day.”
Back then, Lassiter’s introduction to purchasing was very different from today’s digital inventory and online ordering.
“We had to literally pull each item to see what we needed, write the order by hand and then fax the orders to the companies, which seems kind of crazy today,” he says. “That’s how we did things because there wasn’t internet yet. Buying was done over the phone and there was a lot of magazine buying. This was before video, then Betamax, and even though they were expensive, they were in demand. Then VHS came out and that’s when things really exploded as the price came down, with DVD soon following. Video drove the revenue back then.”
The increasing business at PHE meant that marketing also began to expand, Lassiter says, since the catalog was growing and purchasing was tied to merchandise marketing. While working in marketing, Lassiter learned a lot from his colleagues.
“I had great mentors: Skip Loy, the director of merchandising, and Mary Gaines, the manager of the catalog and marketing,” he says. “At that point, we started importing merchandise, and we were still an all-print catalog. Afterwards, around 1995, we quickly became an internet marketplace and one of the first companies selling adult products online. The focus was then marketing and buying, with the team bringing in new products and working with creative teams as well.”
As the internet became more ubiquitous, it became part of Adam & Eve’s marketing strategy. Soon Lassiter became responsible for the company’s ecommerce merchandising.
“The print catalog was still driving the market but web buying increased over time,” he says. “Around 2011, I wanted to get on the internet team. I knew it was the future of the company. Around 2017, they moved the buying group to the internet marketing department and that’s when I started buying as well. Men’s products, specifically, and I am still doing that.”
Over his 40 years with Adam & Eve, Lassiter has seen trends come and go, and numerous changes in the pleasure biz. As some of the most significant, Lassiter cites pleasure products selling at mainstream stores, the “Fifty Shades of Grey” craze and the proliferation of rechargeable products.
“The quality of materials has changed, and product compliances have definitely been impacted by consumers,” he says. “Younger consumers are concerned about products being body-safe, their impact on the environment, etc., and you see that starting to be work into product development today.”
Lassiter can’t help but mention the government’s 1986 raid on Adam & Eve, when the warehouse and offices were invaded by 37 members of the U.S. Postal Service, local sheriffs and others, accusing the company of selling products across state lines through its mail order business. Adam & Eve founder Phil Harvey, who passed away at 83 in 2021, ceaselessly defended his company and, after an eight-year battle against the government, he successfully won the right to sell adult products through the mail.
“That was the most impactful thing to happen to our company,” Lassiter says. “It was a tumultuous time, and it invigorated our company to fight for our freedom and we won that challenge. It changed everything for us. What Phil did helped the industry as a whole and his inspiration is one reason I’ve been here so many years.”
Fortunately for the company, the explosion in video brought in revenue to help make up for the big hit the company took fighting the government.
Today Adam & Eve has over 300 employees, but Lassiter says tightknit bonds are still formed.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie, great benefits, acknowledgement for service and excellence, all of which are part of the reasons I’ve stayed here,” he says. “A lot is because of the people! There are folks who have been here 25, 30, 50 years. People come here and they stay.”
Lassiter’s hobbies include playing guitar and singing, which gets him out of the house once or twice a month. His 30-year-old son got married in 2019 and recently bought his first house, close to Lassiter and his wife of 20 years. In June, Lassiter will celebrate his 60th birthday with a much-deserved break, vacationing in St. Thomas for a week with his family.
Industry colleagues shared congratulatory messages for Lassiter with XBIZ.
“I’ve known Ken as a buyer and friend for about 15 years and he’s always been a great supporter of my brands,” Evolved Novelties Executive Sales Director Steve Sav said. “He has a deep understanding of the adult market and can always spot trends and opportunities. I can’t believe he’s been at PHE for 40 years! Can you imagine everything he’s experienced in our market over the years? Knowing how to change and pivot to meet new customer demands makes him an exceptional merchant.”
Sportsheets CEO Julie Stewart, who has known Lassiter for three decades, said, “His personality and professionalism have never wavered. Always courteous and straightforward, always helpful and skillful and always with that terrific smile. Congratulations, Ken, on this magnificent milestone.”
Susan Colvin, founder and CEO of CalExotics, said, “I met Ken Lassiter over 30 years ago at CPLC with our dear friend Mary Gates. During our first meeting, I could tell that Ken would be a great ally in business. When I started CalExotics, Ken and the team at Adam & Eve were major supporters. With his keen business sense and forward-thinking mindset, Ken has been a huge part of the successful partnership between Adam & Eve and CalExotics, and I am forever grateful for that. Ken does an amazing job — and on top of that, he is a great person and friend. I wish him many more years of success. Happy anniversary!”
XR Brands CEO Rebecca Weinberg said, “Ken Lassiter is hands-down one of the sweetest people I know in this industry. He must have started at A&E as a very young boy to have worked there for 40 years! He’s got to have the ultimate fountain of youth in his backyard! I first met Ken in the early 2000s when I worked for Topco Sales in the product development department. Topco had the Adam & Eve license at the time, which allowed us to work together closely with him creating new items for their brand. Ken has a keen buying mind, which has always allowed him to make smart buying decisions throughout his tenure. We’ve had some fun times together over all these years. The most memorable would be Ken jumping up and shouting, ‘That’s my ball’ at a show in Vegas. I’d give more details but you just had to be there! Cheers to 40 years. Here’s to 40 more!”
Nasstoys President Elliot Schwartz said, “Ken and I go way back and the words that come to mind to describe him are “integrity,” “honesty” and “intelligence.” He’s one of the nicest guys in the business, and congratulations for being one of the ‘old timers!’”
Global Novelties founder and CEO Autumn O’Bryan added, “I’ve been very fortunate to work closely with Ken through the years, and consider him a dear friend. Ken and I first met in 2005 when Ken was in charge of product development at Adam & Eve and I was the executive director of product development at Topco Sales. Together, we successfully developed and grew the Adam & Eve brand. Fast-forward to 2023 and we’ve come full circle, working together again to do the same. Enough can’t be said about what an achievement it is for an employee to continue to go to work every day for the past 40 years at the same company, and to continue to work tirelessly to contribute to its growth and success. You’re a rock star, Ken! Congratulations!”
