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I moved to New York City in my early twenties for a job in sales. I was the youngest person in my office, as well as the only one without a college degree, yet I was outselling all the old Wall Street guys. There were moments where I thought it was my looks that were getting me ahead, but I had the brains too.
I was on a six-figure salary. But, after two years, I gave it all up to launch a podcast about sex.
Growing up in Orlando, Florida I didn't have the best sex education. We were taught the basics—don't get pregnant, Jesus, menstruation. All the hard stuff, the real conversations about sex and the power it can have, came from my mother. I remember the day my mom caught me watching porn in my room. I expected my mom would shout at me and I would be grounded, but the next day we had a long conversation about pleasure, why it is OK for me to explore my own body—and the importance of locking my door.
That conversation was empowering and it taught me that sex should not be shameful.
When I moved to New York at 25, I was living life in the fast lane, making great money in my job in telecommunication sales, all while exploring my sexuality. Tinder was buzzing and, whether it was with a man or a woman, I always had a crazy story to tell my coworkers the next morning.
It dawned on me that I was living a different life to those around me when I told my colleagues about my first BDSM experience. Everyone in the office that day thought I was lying; they couldn't believe little, old Gila from the Corporate Sales department could be doing such things.
A few nights later, I went for cocktails with an old friend from Florida and, after dishing the dirty details of our New York escapades, we realized we had similarly open attitudes to sex. That night, our podcast was born.
At the time, talking about taboo subjects around sex was virtually unheard of within the Black community. The podcast, at its core, is about empowerment. My co-host and I were both Black corporate women who were professionals yet still wanted to discuss our sexual desires, be it kinky or vanilla. We've since interviewed other people on the show, too—such as the woman who allows her boyfriend to sleep with other men, or the shoe salesman who has a foot fetish.
I wanted people to hear about these stories because they are real things happening to real people. I think that is why our podcast has been so successful, drawing in hundreds of thousands of listeners.
With the success of the podcast, we started touring different cities around the U.S. On weekends, I'd be on stage in front of hundreds of people who had paid to see me but, as I still had my sales job, I would be back in the office on a Monday morning. That was one of the weirdest and most humbling experiences of my life.
My workplace still didn't know about the podcast, so I would stroll into the office with my suitcase and pretend I had been visiting my parents for the weekend. They must have thought I really cared about my parents, as this happened so often.
Not long after that came the question all successful creatives face: "how did you know that it is time to quit your 9-5?" The answer for me was easy: it's the moment you can support yourself from your entrepreneurial ventures and when the growth is being stunted by your lack of free time.
People told me I was crazy. Who could turn away a six-figure salary in New York City just to go and talk about a threesome they had last night?
Well, thanks to my decision, I now make my old annual salary in three months. Our podcast was signed under Charlamagne Tha God's Black Effect network, one of the biggest talent agencies in the world.
My life truly changed when Hollywood found out who I was. I was getting DMs from actors, even Emmy winners, about just getting access to my live show. I can remember, for example, Joey (formerly Jill) Solloway buying out a section of our show just to have to themselves.
Since starting the podcast, I have gone on to work in podcast production and opened my own studio, WTFMedia, with my business partner Alexxmedia. I also host a television series about the business of selling sex.
My mom starred in my television series with me. That felt like a full-circle moment as this was the very same woman who taught me never to be ashamed of who I am or what I want.
Gila "WeezyWTF" Shlomi is the co-founder of the podcast WHOREible Decisions, which releases new episodes every Monday. She also hosts the television series Sex Sells on the channel Fuse.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
