Grooby’s Kristel Penn to Speak at Catalyst Con Los Angeles this Sunday

Los Angeles, CA - Grooby’s Marketing and Editorial Director Kristel Penn will be presenting at Catalyst Con in Los Angeles this Sunday at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel. The workshop, Porn Tasting 101: Consumption for the Curious, will be co-presented with Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Traci Medeiros-Bagan.

“Traci and I are both passionate about destigmatizing porn and its consumption,” said Kristel Penn. “It’s a place that overlaps both of our fields: the adult industry and mental health. We’ve been doing various incarnations of this specific topic for the last two years, and we’re excited about its inclusion in Catalyst Con’s lineup.”

Penn and Medeiros-Bagan will be co-presenting through their company, Meld x Mend. To learn more about the group wellness practice, visit MeldxMend.com.

Porn Tasting 101: Consumption for the Curious is a 70-minute workshop on destigmatizing porn consumption and creating a framework for shame-free viewing. Attendees will also watch an excerpt from Lilith Luxe’s award-winning documentary series, Real Fucking Doc, featuring the cast of Real Fucking Girls 2 and its director Mona Wales. There will also be a free giveaway to win a copy of Grooby’s Real Fucking Girls and Real Fucking Girls 2, plus prizes from Bad Dragon.

A full description of the workshop can be found below:

Porn Tasting 101: Consumption for the Curious

Watching porn is often a solo activity reserved for a dark room with the door closed. We immediately clear our browser histories afterward, but why?  

Together Marriage and Family Therapist Traci Medeiros-Bagan and adult industry veteran Kristel Penn offer a unique framework for viewing and enjoying porn.  Like developing a nose for fine wine, they believe that a little practice and knowledge can help create a decadent menu of shame-free desire designed specifically for you!

To begin, we’ll cleanse our palates of shame, stigma, and misinformed beliefs around the adult industry.  We’ll whet our appetites for knowledge with an excerpt from Lilith Luxe’s award-winning documentary series, Real Fucking Doc, featuring the cast of “Real Fucking Girls” and its director Mona Wales. Luxe’s piece highlights the voices of the performers and producers and discusses their dedication to the creation of high-quality ethical porn, porn’s place in culture, and its ability to inform it. At the end of this beginner’s tasting course, you’ll learn a bit about the adult industry, what varieties of porn might be a good fit for you and why, and how to feel good as a conscious consumer.

So, cum one, cum all! This is for educators, providers, and anyone who wants to learn ways to create an open and shame-free dialogue (with others or yourself) around porn.

Penn and Medeiros-Bagan will be speaking on Sunday from 11:30am-12:40 pm in the Scottsdale room at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel. For more information on Catalyst Con, visit CatalystCon.com.

Kristel Penn is the longtime Marketing and Editorial Director at Grooby. She also owns and operates boutique PR and marketing company, Ikigai Marketing. For more information, visit Grooby.com and IkigaiMarketing.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Kristel_Penn.

Traci Medeiros-Bagan is an LGBTQ, kink, and sex worker affirming Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LFMT) based in Southern California. She has been recently featured in publications such as Ynot Cam, Go Magazine, and Autostraddle. Visit her official website at CompassionateRevolt.com. She can also be found on Twitter at @CompassionateR1.

Aubrey Kate Takes the Lead in Transsensual’s 'TS Nurses'

Multi-award winning trans performer and Transformation Magazine’s latest cover model, Aubrey Kate, stars in Transsensual’s newest release, TS Nurses, written and directed by Dana Vespoli.

Los Angeles, CA - Multi-award winning performer Aubrey Kate stars in Transsensual’s latest release, TS Nurses, written and directed by Dana Vespoli. Look for Kate pictured front-and-center on the cover as the nurse you’ve always wanted when this title hits shelves on May 17, 2017.

“I’m happy to add ‘nurse’ to my long-list of porno occupations,” joked Aubrey Kate. “Now I can tell people, I’m not a real nurse, but I do fuck as one on DVD!”

TS Nurses stars Aubrey Kate, Isabella Sorrenti, Tori Mayes, Chanel Santini, D. Arclyte, Gabriel Dalassandro, Jonah Marx, and Chad Diamond. It will be available for purchase at MileHighOnline.com.

Aubrey Kate is one of the most well-known TS performers in the industry. In 2017, she was the first TS performer to sweep at all three major adult award shows, picking up the AVN Trans Performer of the Year, XBIZ Trans Performer of the Year, and the TEA Best Hardcore Performer. Additionally, she won the AVN Fan Choice Trans Performer of the Year and AVN Trans Cam Performer of the Year.

Media inquiries can be directed to kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

Visit OfficialAubreyKate.com to keep up to date on Aubrey’s latest shoots, exclusive behind the scenes content, and more. Fans can also follow on Twitter @AubreyKatexxx.

Siouxsie Q Heads to the Stage to Appear in Her One-Act Musical “Fish Girl”

Scheduled for a special one night engagement at the MOments Playhouse in Los Angeles, the multi-talented Siouxsie Q brings her original one-act musical, Fish Girl, to the stage with her collaborator (and co-star), Sean Andries.

Los Angeles, CA - Multi-talented writer, activist, and adult performer Siouxsie Q will perform her original one-act musical, Fish Girl, this Friday as part of a special one night engagement at the MOments Playhouse in Los Angeles, CA. The play is a culmination of a five year long-distance collaboration between creators Siouxsie Q and Sean Andries and originally premiered at the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2013.

"When we were given the opportunity to bring the story of Fish Girl to LA, we jumped at the chance,” said Siouxsie Q. “This play is my heart and we are excited to bring it to a select private audience for one night only. There will be key collaborators in the audience, along with a talk back, as we hope to lay the groundwork for another run in the near future. Sean and I have both changed and grown since the play's inception, and we are excited to discover how that will affect the show.”

A fairy tale exploring themes of sex work through the lens of fantasy, Fish Girl weaves together the tale of a love struck tourist (Sean Andries) who falls into the deep end when he meets the "girl" of his dreams (Siouxsie Q).  She’s half fish, half girl, half real, half dream, half in this world, half out--a fish and a bird can fall in love, but where can they build their nest?

Fish Girl includes original songs written and performed by Siouxsie Q, as well as shadow play, physical comedy, antique slide projections, and high drama. It provides an entertaining and heartfelt look into the hopes, dreams, and fears of sex worker and the one who loves her.  Doors open at 7:30 pm, with the show starting at 8 pm. The event is free and open to the public. View the official Facebook Event Page here.

MOments Playhouse is located at 665 N. Heliotrope Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90004.

Siouxsie got her start in the business dancing at the unionized, worker-owned, Lusty Lady Theater in San Francisco, and has worked as a performer in adult films since 2010, garnering multiple AVN Award Nominations and a Feminist Porn Award. She has served as the Director of Policy and Industry Relations for the Free Speech Coalition, the adult industry’s trade association, since May of last year. She is also a playwright, singer/songwriter, journalist, and creator of The Whorecast, her hit podcast showcasing the diverse voices of the adult industry. She has lectured extensively on sex and sex work, and is regularly quoted and featured in the mainstream media, including CNN, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Wired, Alternet, Buzzfeed, and Fusion. Her debut book, Truth, Justice, and the American Whore, was published in 2016 through 3L Media to rave reviews.

Follow her on Twitter @SiouxsieQJames or visit her official website at TheWhoreCast.com.

Media inquiries can be directed to kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

Gangbang as Catharsis: The Reclaiming of Siouxsie Q in "The Red Bride"

After taking a brief hiatus from shooting to focus on advocacy work, namely the #NoProp60 campaign in California, Siouxsie Q returns to adult performing with a groundbreaking scene directed by Madeline Marlowe for Kink’s HardcoreGangbang.com, which also stars Will Havoc, Tommy Pistol, Jon Jon, Small Hands, and Mark Wood.

Los Angeles, CA - Writer, activist, and adult performer Siouxsie Q celebrated her return to performing with a groundbreaking gangbang scene titled, The Red Bride, written by Q, and directed by Madeline Marlowe for Kink’s HardcoreGangBang.com. The piece was a collaboration between the two adult industry activists and incorporates many aspects of Siouxsie’s personal life. The scene is also the first shot by Marlowe beyond the walls of the Armory, marking a significant, new chapter for both.

“My team and I are film nerds at heart; anytime I am able to collaborate with performers on a narrative, the films that I make are more fun to create, and we always have lots of laughs and genuine passion on set. It all makes for a better film,” said director Madeline Marlowe. “In the end, we all feel like we really accomplished an amazing feat. And we did! People say folks fast forward through the story, yet I get so much fan mail from those who are interested in the narratives I present. To be honest, I wouldn't know how to make a sex film without detail, nuance, narrative and hoopla!”

“This is my first big shoot back after slaying the Prop. 60 dragon,” stated Siouxsie Q. “I love making porn, but I chose to focus all my attention towards politics for most of last year to ensure that we all could continue making it in the future without fear of state incentivized harassment.”

The Red Bride is directed by Madeline Marlowe and stars Siouxsie Q with Will Havoc, Tommy Pistol, Jon Jon, Small Hands, and Mark Wood. The collaboration was a cathartic experience for both Siouxsie and Marlowe, drawing from themes in Siouxsie’s life, their shared values of “whore power and femme supremacy,” and even using Siouxsie’s own wedding dress in the scene.

Marlowe added, “I make it a point to reach out to the women who will be enduring this whirlwind of controlled sexual chaos. Many of them have fantasies of takedowns, abductions, rough sex with multiple men, and being destroyed. They come to me because of my approach to this very brutal hardcore sex scene. After all, it is very hard to put together a gangbang in the real world that is safe and with people who know what they are doing; my sets allow this luxury. The women can feel safe to let go and know I am here in the end to catch them and bask in all their post-gang bang glory.”

Siouxsie’s wanted her return to the screen to be deliberate, serving as a significant marking point in both her professional and personal life. “Now that I am doing policy and advocacy 40+ hours a week with the Free Speech Coalition, I only have time and bandwidth to make a certain number of movies a year, so choosing projects where I get to have more creative involvement as I did with The Red Bride are very interesting to me,” she explained. “I had a great time working on the script for Grooby’s Real Fucking Girls directed by Mona Wales, and I've already begun work on the sequel.”

Madeline added, “Siouxsie came to me with an idea that was not only totally original, intriguing, taboo and sexy but she also wanted to bring a part of her personal life into the story as a way to heal. I was immediately on board. I don't think the public often sees or hears about the way porn can heal a person. Sometimes it heals the sex workers doing the work and sometimes it heals the observers. We are all human and sex--yes, sometimes very intense hardcore sex--can heal a broken heart, or serve as a symbol, a piece of art, a spell breaker or a reminder that we are all sexual beings and there is no shame in that.

“In Siouxsie's case it was her identity as a whore and almost losing that identity, but together through creating this art piece, we were able to bring her to a space that was not only sexy to watch, and definitely A+ jerk off material, but you watched a woman rise from the ashes more beautiful than ever before and that last orgasm of her writhing on the floor in her red-dyed wedding dress, disheveled and unabashedly taking what she wanted, well I can't think of anything more beautiful to witness.”

Siouxsie got her start in the business dancing at the unionized, worker-owned, Lusty Lady Theater in San Francisco, and has worked as a performer in adult films since 2010, garnering multiple AVN Award Nominations and a Feminist Porn Award. She has served as the Director of Policy and Industry Relations for the Free Speech Coalition, the adult industry’s trade association, since May of last year. She is also a playwright, singer/songwriter, journalist, and creator of The Whorecast, her hit podcast showcasing the diverse voices of the adult industry. She has lectured extensively on sex and sex work, and is regularly quoted and featured in the mainstream media, including CNN, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Wired, Alternet, Buzzfeed, and Fusion. Her debut book, Truth, Justice, and the American Whore, was published in 2016 through 3L Media to rave reviews.

Follow her on Twitter @SiouxsieQJames or visit her official website at TheWhoreCast.com.

Media inquiries can be directed to kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

ABOUT IKIGAI MARKETING + PR

Ikigai Marketing + PR is owned and managed by award-winning adult industry veteran, Kristel Penn. She is currently the Marketing and Editorial Director at Grooby, the newly appointed Editor at Transformation Magazine, and sits on the Board of Directors for non-profit organization TAIF (Trans Adult Industry Foundation).

With nearly a decade of experience in marketing, brand strategy, and content creation in both mainstream and adult, she is the official publicist of triple threat AVN/XBIZ/TEA winner, Aubrey Kate, and performer, writer, and activist, Siouxsie Q.

Visit IkigaiMarketing.com for more information. Follow her on Twitter @Kristel_Penn and @IkigaiMarketing.

Aubrey Kate Slated as Transformation #101’s Cover Model and Centerspread

Los Angeles, CA  - Multi-award winning TS performer Aubrey Kate graces the cover and center spread of Transformation Magazine’s current issue #101 released earlier this week. This is her first magazine cover since winning at all three major adult award shows this past year. This Kate’s second time being featured as the magazine’s highly coveted cover model.

“Wow, where do I even begin? I wasn't expecting to win, let alone received accolades from all three major adult award shows this year,” said Aubrey Kate. “I am so happy to be on the cover because my biggest dream was to be in Playboy. What really makes me smile is modeling.  Acting is fun, but I’ve always had dreams of being a full-time model.”

“Who else but Aubrey Kate to be the cover model on the issue of Transformation? For us, this was a no-brainer,” said Steven Grooby.  “She's won all the awards (including being the cover girl on the multi-award winning 'Real Fucking Girls'), she's amazing on camera, a stunning model, and the most professional performer I've ever worked on a trans production with. She's a star and she's a true cover model.”

Transformation #101, which marks Grooby’s first issue since handling its editorial content, features triple threat Aubrey Kate on the cover, as well as an in-depth personal interview of Kate by Steven Grooby, and a stunning spread and photo feature spread shot by Isabel Dresler.

Purchase your copy of Transformation Magazine at CenturianOnline.com.

Aubrey Kate is one of the most well-known TS performers in the industry. In 2017, she was the first TS performer to sweep at all three major adult award shows, picking up the AVN Trans Performer of the Year, XBIZ Trans Performer of the Year, and the TEA Best Hardcore Performer. Additionally, she won the AVN Fan Choice Trans Performer of the Year and AVN Trans Cam Performer of the Year. She also appears in the multi-award winning movie, Real Fucking Girls, directed by Mona Wales.

Media inquiries can be directed to kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

Visit OfficialAubreyKate.com to keep up to date on Aubrey’s latest shoots, exclusive behind the scenes content, and more. Fans can also follow on Twitter @AubreyKatexxx. 

credit: Isabel Dresler

Siouxsie Q Signs with Ikigai Marketing + PR

Los Angeles, CA - Performer, writer, and activist, Siouxsie Q, signed with Ikigai Marketing + PR, bringing on Kristel Penn as her official publicist.

“Kristel gets me in a way that is rare,” said Siouxsie Q. “My career is a multi-faceted constellation of advocacy, politics, creativity, and sex--I don’t fit into boxes well. I’m excited to work with someone who has no desire to put me into one. Working with Kristel does, in fact, feel like getting sprinkled with pixie dust and taught how to fly. I feel so grateful for her hard work and belief in me.”

“I have so much admiration for Siouxsie and what she’s built for herself from the ground up,” added Kristel Penn. “She’s a force to be reckoned with because she’s demonstrated that her versatility extends beyond her on-screen presence. While we were deep in the trenches fighting Prop 60 here in California, Siouxsie was on the front lines as an advocate for our industry. She pours her heart and soul in everything she does and that kind of talent and authenticity is rare. It’s an honor she’s chosen me to accompany her on the adventure ahead.”  

Siouxsie got her start in the business dancing at the unionized, worker-owned, Lusty Lady Theater in San Francisco, and has worked as a performer in adult films since 2010, garnering multiple AVN Award Nominations and a Feminist Porn Award. She has served as the Director of Policy and Industry Relations for the Free Speech Coalition, the adult industry’s trade association, since May of last year. She is also a playwright, singer/songwriter, weekly columnist for SF Weekly, and creator of The Whorecast, her hit podcast showcasing the diverse voices of the adult industry. She has lectured extensively on sex and sex work, and is regularly quoted and featured in the mainstream media, including CNN, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Wired, Alternet, Buzzfeed, and Fusion. Her debut book, Truth, Justice, and the American Whore, was published in 2016 through 3L Media to rave reviews.

Follow her on Twitter @SiouxsieQJames or visit her official website at TheWhoreCast.com.

Media inquiries can be directed to kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

ABOUT IKIGAI MARKETING + PR

Ikigai Marketing + PR is owned and managed by award-winning adult industry veteran, Kristel Penn. She is currently the Marketing and Editorial Director at Grooby, the newly appointed Editor at Transformation Magazine, and sits on the Board of Directors for non-profit organization TAIF (Trans Adult Industry Foundation).

With nearly a decade of experience doing marketing, brand strategy, and content creation in both mainstream and adult, she is the official publicist of triple threat AVN/XBIZ/TEA winner, Aubrey Kate, and performer, writer, and activist, Siouxsie Q.

Visit IkigaiMarketing.com for more information. Follow her on Twitter @Kristel_Penn and @IkigaiMarketing.

Aubrey Kate in Two Innovative Scenes for GroobyVR.com

Los Angeles, CA - Multi-award winner TS star Aubrey Kate stars in “Being Aubrey” and “The Bitch” featured on Grooby’s newest virtual reality site, GroobyVR.com.

“These VR sets were so much fun,” stated Aubrey Kate. “It was right after the TEAs and I was so happy and cheering all my friends that I lost my voice before the shoot!  It was filmed at a huge house and I’m very happy with how everything turned out.  Steven Grooby was so down to earth, professional, and very understanding! Can't wait to make more videos for the site.”

“The Bitch” is a hardcore scene where Aubrey comes home from a long day at work and is irritated the viewer hasn’t done anything around the house while she’s been out. What unfolds is a hot and heavy hardcore scene where Aubrey is in control. “Being Aubrey” is a groundbreaking scene that puts the viewer in the body of Aubrey Kate herself as she is seduced by Will Havoc. The viewer gets the unique opportunity to have sex as Aubrey Kate, which is revolutionary in trans VR porn. Both scenes are available for purchase at GroobyVR.com.

Aubrey Kate is one of the most well-known TS performers in the industry. In 2017, she was the first TS performer to sweep at all three major adult award shows, picking up the AVN Trans Performer of the Year, XBIZ Trans Performer of the Year, and the TEA Best Hardcore Performer. Additionally, she won the AVN Fan Choice Trans Performer of the Year and AVN Trans Cam Performer of the Year.

Media inquiries can be directed to kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

Visit OfficialAubreyKate.com to keep up to date on Aubrey’s latest shoots, exclusive behind the scenes content, and more. Fans can also follow on Twitter @AubreyKatexxx.

TS Pornstar Aubrey Kate Wins Big at the 2017 TEAs; Signs with Kristel Penn’s Ikigai Marketing + PR

credit: Chris King | Reel Seduction

Trans performer Aubrey Kate took home the .XXX sponsored Best Hardcore Performer Award at the 2017 TEAs held this past weekend in Hollywood, CA. The win signifies a sweep for Kate, who also won at both XBIZ and AVN in January 2017. During her acceptance speech at the TEAs, she also thanked her new publicist, Kristel Penn, who launched Ikigai Marketing + PR earlier this year.

Los Angeles, CA - XBIZ and AVN award-winning performer Aubrey Kate won the coveted Best Hardcore Performer Award sponsored by .XXX on Sunday at the 2017 TEAs held at the Avalon in Hollywood, CA. Other projects affiliated with Kate were recognized at the event as well, including Best DVD winner ‘Real Fucking Girls’ directed by Mona Wales from Grooby and Best Scene winner ‘Phoenix Marie’s TS Threesome’  from Kink’s TS Seduction.

“I was so stressed out at the show that I couldn’t think about anything,” said Aubrey Kate. “When they announced my name for Best Hardcore Performer, I was in shock. It only started to settle in while I was on stage. I feel like I accomplished a milestone; I didn’t expect to win at all three award shows. I don’t know if there are other trans performers who have already done the same - but I know this was a big marking point for my career.”

Aubrey Kate swept at all three major adult award shows this year, picking up the XBIZ Trans Performer of the Year, AVN Trans Performer of the Year, AVN Fan Choice Trans Performer of the Year, AVN Trans Cam Performer of the Year, and now TEA Hardcore Performer of the Year. During her TEA acceptance speech, she thanked her new publicist Kristel Penn.

“Kristel’s career in the industry speaks for itself and she’s been a longtime advocate for trans performers,” Kate continued. “I’ve gone to her for advice in the past and I know she looks out for many of us performers, so I knew that signing with her was the next step I wanted to take to further my career.”  

“Aubrey and I have known each other for almost the entire duration of her career and we’ve always worked well together,” added Kristel Penn from Ikigai Marketing + PR. “Funny enough, she actually approached me a couple of months ago wanting to work together, without knowing yet that I was in the process of setting everything up for Ikigai Marketing + PR. The timing of her request was nothing short of being kismet, so it ended up being kind of perfect that she’s my first official client.”

Fans are encouraged to visit OfficialAubreyKate.com to stay up to date on Aubrey Kate’s latest scenes, upcoming events, and more. You can also follow her on Twitter @AubreyKatexxx.

Media inquiries can be directed to kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

ABOUT AUBREY KATE
Aubrey Kate is a multi-award winning performer who has picked up accolades from all three major adult award shows: AVN, XBIZ, and the TEAs. She also starred in the multi-award winning title, REAL FUCKING GIRLS directed by Mona Wales. Visit her official fan site at OfficialAubreyKate.com.

ABOUT IKIGAI MARKETING + PR
Ikigai Marketing + PR is owned and managed by 2017 XBIZ Industry Exec Brand Ambassador of the Year, Kristel Penn. She is currently the Marketing and Editorial Director at Grooby, the current editor at Transformation Magazine, and is on the Board of Directors for non-profit organization TAIF (Trans Adult Industry Foundation).

With nearly a decade of experience doing marketing and copywriting for mainstream and adult, she offers business consultations, PR services, and more. Visit IkigaiMarketing.com for more information.

Grooby's Kristel Penn Launches Ikigai Marketing and PR

Los Angeles, CA - Grooby’s longtime Marketing and Editorial Director, Kristel Penn,  announced the launch of her company, Ikigai Marketing and PR. Along with her continued responsibilities at Grooby, she is now offering separate business consulting services.  

“I’ve been working with Grooby for nearly a decade and I’ve always shared my knowledge and resources with any performer who has asked me for advice,” said Kristel Penn. “In recent years I’ve had performers ask me to guide them in their careers in a more official capacity and I thought this would be the most helpful format.

“The term ‘ikigai’ is a Japanese concept meaning ‘reason for being,’” continued Penn. “I firmly believe that success is the most substantial and sustainable when it aligns with a person’s personal and professional ikigai.”

Ikigai Marketing and PR offers a wide variety of services, but a unique feature is a bundled consultation that includes a 30-minute life coaching session with a sex positive licensed therapist (LMFT) who works extensively with the LGBTQ community followed up with a 1-hour business consultation with Kristel Penn. She also offers business consultations, copywriting and editing, brand building, and other marketing services on a case-by-case basis.

Penn added, “I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all kind of blueprint for success. For this reason, I’m very excited to offer business consultations bundled with a life coaching session. In my experience, it’s helped clients to further clarify their professional and personal goals so we can create a strategy tailored to them.”

Kristel Penn has a B.A. from George Washington University and a Marketing Certificate from Santa Monica College. She has nearly a decade of experiencing in marketing and copywriting for both mainstream and adult media. She is on the Board of Directors for TAIF (Trans Adult Industry Foundation) and has presented educational workshops around the country to help destigmatize the adult industry and the consumption of porn. Most recently, Penn was awarded the 2017 XBIZ Industry Exec Award Brand Ambassador of the Year.  

For more information, visit IkigaiMarketing.com or contact Kristel directly at kristelpenn@ikigaimarketing.com.

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Cross-posted to:  AVN. XBIZ, EMMNetwork, JRL Charts