We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Love Atiya a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Love, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

My most meaningful project of 2023 has definitely been my pleasure positive podcast The Love Atiya Experience.

I love my podcast because it’s breaking barriers. I was lucky enough to grow up in a very sex positive household, meaning I was allowed the space to have very transparent conversations with my mom that I wish all young adults were able to have safely with their parents.

Unfortunately a lot of people aren’t able to get the proper education not only about sex but about PLEASURE, communication, intimacy and all things sensuality.

I was homeschooled which helped curb the taboo that takes place in the school system. Instead of being TOLD what I should believe I was allowed to be curious and that curiosity saved me from making a lot of unhealthy choices sexually.

I had the opportunity to learn the truth about sex and pleasure and truly feel like that shaped the way I look at all things pleasure now.

My podcast is a space where I can safely break shame and stigma surrounding all things pleasure by sharing my experiences and authentically talking about the things that I’ve learned through my trials and tribulations of a young adult who is STILL actively finding themselves sexually.

I also love that I can talk about other topics that mean the MOST to me like animal activism, mental health, emotional health, family matters, living abroad and more!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am most known for my animal activism and sex positive content on social media. I call myself “The Pleasure Positive Animal Activist.”

When I was younger I used to say “I can’t wait to be famous so people can care when I talk about how we can help save animals” and Tiktok helped teach me I didn’t have to wait for that “fame” because there were people out there who truly wanted to make a difference in the world, they just needed a way.

My first viral Tiktok video about my animal activism was about animals that were struggling to survive in captivity and there was a call to action that got over a million views, petitions were made and it was a really big deal.

My next viral video was one where I was transparently talking about my experience being a 24 year old virgin and things I wished I’d known before sharing my virginity with a partner.

Both of my viral videos were about two completely different topics but I was able to be myself in both while blending two things I was very passionate about, my sexual journey and animal activism.

Unfortunately censorship is real and Tiktok began to hide a lot of my videos from the public. Either the animal videos were too graphic or the videos about me talking about sex and pleasure for women and people with vulvas were “too vulgar”.

That’s when my podcast THE LOVE ATIYA EXPERIENCE was born and became a safe space for people like me to listen and share experiences and lessons transparently and authentically.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding part of being a creative is the artistic freedom to express myself and connect with like minded people.

Although a lot of my content is censored because of the subject matter, I took that challenge as a way to create a safer space for people like me to be able to speak vulnerably and express things that aren’t talked about enough… like PLEASURE!

I LOVE when I receive a message from someone who is following me, thanking me for speaking on certain things that they were too shamed to speak on. I LOVE when people tell me one of my self pleasure tips helped them love themselves a little more and I LOVE knowing that with every post I am breaking the stigma surrounding certain topics like sex, homeschooling and animal activism.

So the most rewarding aspect is knowing I am making a difference in my community, in many ways.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn has definitely been “if there’s a roadblock it’s not meant to be.”

When my sex education social media posts were getting shadowbanned I was utterly discouraged. I wasn’t getting paid for my content, no one was seeing my content and I felt like I was wasting my time.

I wanted to give up. Why speak if I was going to be actively silenced? Why share education if it was actively going to be hidden?

I am so grateful I didn’t give up and instead of letting the roadblock stop me, I thought smarter.

Instead of relying on other platforms to push me and my creative thoughts, I created my own world, my podcast THE LOVE ATIYA EXPERIENCE.

This is my safe space where I can speak freely, without being silenced, judged, shut down or put into a niché.

Some roadblocks are simply created to redirect you and to find a detour and I am so grateful for the path my roadblocks have set me on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.loveatiya.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveatiya/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/iloveatiya
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iloveatiya/videos
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iloveatiya?lang=en
• Podcast: https://theloveatiyaexperience.buzzsprout.com/

Image Credits
The Lens Goddess Photography MTBlack Photography