As head of brand at a sexual wellness company, Samantha Marshall gets a real buzz out of her job.
Because as well as promoting and raising awareness of new products, testing sex toys is an integral part of her role. After leaving a job at a homeware store, the 32-year-old now helps others unlock their pleasure potential.
“I always say I’ve gone from selling beds, to selling what people do in beds,” the Londoner said.
Samantha gravitated towards a career in sexual wellness after gatecrashing a conversation she overheard in a park.
She said: “I was in Brockwell Park and there was a group of girls next to me talking about all of the bad stuff that is involved with being a woman, like period pains.
“They were talking in such an open way, I thought, ‘This is so inspiring, but they’ve not once mentioned pleasure and the cool things about being a woman’. I went up them and said, ‘This is gonna sound really odd, but I heard you talking, can we talk about pleasure and sex?’ I realised there’s such an importance in creating that conversation.”
A career option opened up at Smile Makers – a female driven sexual wellness brand and vibrator manufacturer that puts emphasis on celebrating pleasure and catering to the desires of their customers.
As head of brand, an element of Samantha’s job is that she tests out all of the products including the range of vibrators on offer to ensure customers will be able to have their needs satisfied.
“I have to test them all as I want to make sure that I know what I’m talking about with the products,” she says. “There might be a type of stimulation that isn’t my favourite, but I can get into a headspace of thinking, ‘Okay, but is this delivering what we want to deliver, and is it still a sensual experience? Is it still something that can be pleasurable? And is it piquing my curiosity?’
“In the four years that I’ve been at Smile Makers, I think I’ve had six or seven different favourite vibrators at a time,” the in-house pleasure expert continues.
“I think that just shows how personal sexuality is, how you’re constantly changing. Our bodies can react differently to different types of stimulations. Maybe that’s at a different time of month, or it could be a whole new year, because you’ve gone through something.”
Since taking on her role – which also includes holding seminars about sexual health and wellness, and developing other products such as lubricants – Samantha has found she has formed even closer relationships with her friends.
“When I first told my friends what I do, I started having the most incredible conversations with them,” she reveals.
“And I was like, why has it taken until I’ve started working at a sexual wellness brand for this to happen? It really invigorated me, and I like to make sure that anyone in my life feels comfortable coming to me. My best friend’s sister reached out on Instagram saying, ’I’ve got a friend who is unsure what to buy. Is there any advice you can give?’ These small things make such a difference.”
The eldest of four sisters, Samantha was raised by liberal parents who have supported her career choice. “My mum is proud,” she said. “She works at a Morrison’s supermarket. I know she’s sat in the lunchroom talking about what I do before and I’ve been like, ‘Mum, you need to really clarify that it’s sexual wellness so that people understand,” she says.
Samantha explained that part of her aim through her work is to create a global conversation about sex and pleasure. She has engaged in conversations with older women about menopause, explained the difference between the vulva and vagina with strangers at the pub, and listened intently to friends as they confessed their likes and dislikes in bed – or even if they have never had an orgasm before.
“I often say, if we can all just take one fact, whether it’s about how many nerve endings the clitoris has, or whatever, and pass that on, we will slowly have that domino effect of creating an open conversation,” she says.
She also wants to redefine how a confident sexual wellness expert is represented in the public consciousness.
“My name is Samantha, and Sex and The City had Samantha so everyone jokes, ‘Oh yeah, she just loves sex!’ But to be sex positive doesn’t mean you have to shout, ‘I love having sex!’ from the rooftops.
“It can be as simple as having a comfortable conversation, being curious, and thinking about the language you use around sex, pleasure and intimate wellness.”
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