LOS ANGELES — Grooby is celebrating a pair of 2022 XBIZ Exec Awards nominations, online edition, for creative and editorial director Kristel Penn and company founder and CEO Steven Grooby.
Nominees were selected based on several success factors including leadership, business acumen, community influence and overall career achievement as submitted by members of the adult industry via XBIZ.net.
Voting for the 2022 XBIZ Exec Awards is now open. Industry members may cast their votes here.
Grooby, winner of the 2019 "Progressive Leadership Award," is nominated for "Businessman of the Year."
“I look at the fellow nominees of my friends and peers, and it's indeed an honor to be included alongside them. Thank you for nominating me,” he said. “The timing of this nomination means so much to me as we’re also celebrating our 25th anniversary. We’re looking forward to another 25 years of innovating our genre.”
Penn, the reigning "Community Figure of the Year," also earned "Brand Ambassador of the Year" honors in 2017. She is the executive producer of the Trans Erotica Awards and the founder of the Sad But Rad Club, a mental health and wellness platform.
“The ‘Community Figure of the Year’ Award is a category that holds great personal significance to me,” she said, “Although Grooby is, in many ways, a traditional production company, I’m proud that our company also prioritizes community outreach and support. I feel fortunate I’ve been able to use both Grooby and Sad But Rad Club as platforms to create educational mental health resources for trans performers, in addition to speaking about topics like destigmatizing sex work and advocating for competent care for performers.”
The XBIZ Exec Awards will be presented as part of the annual XBIZ Honors ceremonies, with the online industry edition hosted on Jan. 5 in conjunction with the XBIZ L.A. conference and the retail edition on Jan. 11 during the ANME/XBIZ Show.
Visit Grooby.com and follow Steven Grooby and Kristel Penn on Twitter.
For the complete list of nominees, click here.
