Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sky Wind. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sky , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
One of the reasons I made my products and services was to give people the opportunity to express themselves genuinely without feeling judged. As a result I was invited by a colleague, who is a sex therapist and educator to be a guest vendor in their entourage at an annual adult SCI FI convention. As a young company that launched during COVID we had done most of our sales interactions online with little in person engagement. So to be given the opportunity to have face to face contact and feedback from potential customers who knew nothing about us was an exciting new prospect. Even more so when I was asked to host a game night during the beginning of the conference.
As a virtual no name on the schedule I had low expectations about how many people would show up. In fact when I looked at the schedule I was competing with the opening ceremony and a rave in the same time slot. Fifteen minutes before my first ever Hedonism and Debauchery game night at a public event I walk in the room thinking to myself if 5-10 people show it would be a good night. I could get some data on how total strangers outside of my preliminary demographic respond to our game. There was a stage already set up in the room and what seemed like hundreds of empty chairs facing forward lecture style. I walked in and sat on the third row quietly collecting myself as I felt the butterflies swelling in my stomach. I don’t have a fear of public speaking but this was a do or die moment that would set the tone for the success of my business. Closing my eyes I rest my forehead on the back of the chair in front of me. Time goes by like an instant when I hear the sultry voice of my colleague Marla Stewart gently touching my shoulder saying “Hey Sky are you ready?” I opened my eyes taking a deep break replying “Yeah I think so.” She says “Alright, at the top of the hour I’m going to introduce you to the room then let you take over and do your thing.”
Looking around eight or nine people had staggered into the room sitting randomly in empty seats. When the clock struck Eleven Marla started her hello. By the time she was done introducing me another thirty or so had walked in taking their seats. I was honestly shocked walking up to the stage to take the microphone. By the time it was in my hand the spirit of a rockstar had taken over my body. As I introduced myself and began telling everyone the rules I made a split decision to have the entire room reorganize their chairs to form a big circle with a single table in the center of the room. This process took like 3 minutes but by the time we were done another thirty or so people had made their way into our group completely filling the room wall to wall.
The rest of our time went so quickly before we knew it our time was up and we were being kicked out an hour later for going over time. Only half the room had the chance to pull cards but everyone got the opportunity to play and participate. The overall response was amazing so much so the director approached me about doing another game night that weekend. It was so validating to get so much positive feedback from all the guests who attended.
Sky , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Skyler Whitehead and my artist moniker is Sky Wind. I’m a multimedia expert with a background in photography, broadcast and television production. Starting my career in college I’ve shot all kinds of content from womb to tomb. Two of my loves are art nudes and scenic landscapes celebrating the timelessness of the body and nature. Over the course of my career I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with people from all walks of life telling stories for several networks. Through my journey, one of the things that became an apparent problem was that nobody is comfortable with their bodies or the conversation around genuine sexual connection.
Our society sells sex in everything and plays up being sexy in all aspects in life. But, the idea of how to really connect with ourselves and others, really seems to be lost in a society bent on dividing and making us feel unworthy of love or adoration. So instead of complaining or being a silent advocate I began authoring different projects to help further the conversation in ways that connect with peoples lifestyles. We at Hedonism & Debauchery have a variety of products and services including an adult card game that centers conversations around consent and desire; workshops around embodiment, yoga and arts; photo shoot options; lifestyle apparel including clothing, bags, yoga mats, curtains, and pillows; custom content for education and entertainment. It sounds like a lot but in actuality it has been an evolutionary process getting here. Everything is connected through my love of storytelling through still photography and how it is able to shift the way we see and interact with the world around us. What sets us apart is the voice behind our work is geared towards togetherness. It’s not for one gender, race or background of people. Our goal is to leave the world better than we found it, giving more people freedom of self expression. I’m most proud of the fact that we have been a part of changing people’s lives all over the world. Giving people the opportunity to feel normal having the conversations they want to have or to safely try an experience they felt unobtainable is rewarding. Seeing how we can and have positively affected consent culture, sex education, de-stigmatization of the natural body and designing conceptual art has really been a dream come true.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
In 2018 I was invited to speak on a panel at the Book Expo in New York at the Javits Center discussing the topic of diversity in media. At the time I was still working full time in television just starting my journey authoring projects on my own. In preparation for the event I requisitioned a local printer to make a single copy of my two full color 12×12 hardback photography art books. The books barely got done in time as it was a rush for the printer and not without a few mistakes. With no time to make changes I hopped on a plane to New York in hopes of finding a publisher and or a literary agent to sign me while there.
Our panel got a wonderful reception and afterwards I spent the rest of my time going around to speak with as many publishers as I could. The response to me and the books were overwhelmingly frustrating. While most of the people I spoke with liked the photography and concepts of the books, the unanimous observation was they would be too expensive for any publisher to want to produce. “The paper is too nice. The book size is too big. As an author I’m in too many genres. Or I only rep this one genre.” was what I heard over and over.
From that I learned a few things. The first was understanding how the industry worked. As an artist I had created something that I knew existed for other photographers but I hadn’t really taken the time to understand how the literary world worked outside of wanting to produce a book. The second was realizing if you have a unique vision for something there are going to be moments when you hit a brick wall. Knowing when to stop and revisit a project at the right time can be crucial to long term success. The third would be taking the lesson learned with the first projects i.e. the books and applying it to the next project which for me was the Hedonism & Debauchery card game.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
For me referrals were a great way to build my reputation as a newcomer into the sexual wellness industry. I was fortunate enough to have contacts who were former clients that had shot with me. When I began speaking at events about my experiences they validated and supplemented my information with their own personal testimonies. This became a crucial way of building reports with other professionals in the industry. It allowed me to be in the loop for opportunities I otherwise would not have known about along with getting the chance to connect with my predecessors in the space as peers who were curious about what I was doing and eager to help once they got the chance to see I was as genuine as the referral that came about me. It is extremely important to be consistent with whom/what you are presenting because the word will get out about you. Each interaction is an opportunity to prove someone right or wrong about what they’ve heard about you and your business.
Contact Info:
- Website: respectfulplay.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hedonism_and_debauchery/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HDebaucherygame
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/79168054/admin/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HDebaucherygame
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCckHxXIQfayKqrf2VpM3lgQ/featured
- Yelp: https://biz.yelp.com/biz_info/UYyTCsLAgnn6HMzgGmU-Bw
- Other: https://linktr.ee/hedonismanddebauchery
Image Credits
@hedonismanddebauchery @whirlwindarts @ashopcalledtribe @gifted_handz420 @tiarabreecosplay @barrfoxx