Things Nobody Teaches Women About Their Bodies

Welcome to the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We're your host, Erika Radis and Marie Lifschultz, a realtor and lender here in San Antonio. But most importantly, we're working moms just like you.

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Now on to today's episode. Grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let's get started.

Welcome to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We are here with our guest Desiree Hernandez of Adam and Eve and I'm going to turn it over to her to share all the exciting things about her work.

Hi, thank you for having me on the podcast. First time ever. I'm a little nervous. Oh, don't be.

We don't mind.

So I've been with Adam and Eve for about 15 years. I am now the regional manager for all the San Antonio locations. Oh, so I do manage quite big of a team, but we're really big on education and health and comfort. So that's a little bit about me.

Well, Desiree, can you, for those who might not know what Adam and Eve is, can you explain what the stores are?

Of course. So I like to call it an adult lingerie boutique.

Okay.

So we do have a vast variety of lingerie, but we also have spicy products. Women, men, couples, all genders.

All the things. All the things, all the fun stuff.

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

Fun and casual.

Yes. Oh, good. And how do you— how did you get involved in this industry?

I started off working at a shop pretty much straight out of high school, and I really enjoyed the experience that I had with a customer connecting with their partner, with their self-esteem.

Yeah.

And Adam and Eve came about about 15 years ago in San Antonio.. And I went and applied because lingerie, okay, so lingerie, spicy products, a little bit of both. The shop that I was at didn't have that. And then I really fell in love with the passion and the confidence it would give people. Yeah. So I decided to stay in the industry. I've worked my way up. And again, I just really enjoy seeing people connect.

Yeah, I think a lot of people get nervous. I know if it's something that you don't know what it is, you don't you have a different idea of what the shop might be like. So can you maybe do a little like, hey, when you walk in, this is, this is what your experience would be like? Yeah.

So when you first walk into any Adam and Eve, you're going to see our lingerie. We also have dancewear for the entertainers. We have shoes. More of our spicy products are going to be in the back area. We are extremely well-lit, clean, organized. We train our staff on sexual health and education. The comfort of the individual. People come in expecting it to be awkward, and instead we make it so comfortable they're ready to come back, bring their family members, bring their friends, um, hire us for events, whatever, whatever it may be.

Yeah, I guess because sometimes, I mean, like, if you've never experienced, you don't know what to think, and you just see what you, you imagine what you maybe seen a movie, you know, like it's, it's dark and dingy and it's all in the corner and it's scary.

Yeah, very well lit, very well lit. Um, we have We have really, really good staff. Ask us anything, we're open to questions. We train our staff really, really well to listen to the customer's needs. So we're not just going to sell you something that's trendy. We're going to offer you a recommendation based on your needs.

Yeah, no, I think that's super important.

It is. I think sometimes it can be a little nerve-wracking when you need to talk, and maybe as you get older, things change. Yeah, you know, and you might need some help or need some support. And who do you, who do you ask? Or what do you, you know, where do you find that stuff? You don't, you know.

Yeah. I mean, that was gonna be kind of my next train of thought was like, obviously some of this stuff you can buy just like on Amazon and that kind of thing, but your customers I'm sure are getting like obviously a different experience.

That's exactly what it is. The difference between us and online is you're gonna get real people, real conversations, real recommendations, and yeah. You're not going to, you're going to be able to touch and feel the product. We do put on gloves, open packages. We have lotions and potion samples that you're able to touch and feel and taste. And speaking of, you said as you get older, you do need a little bit of help. We have products specifically geared towards women going through menopause.

That's a big thing.

Different hormonal changes. So we definitely can offer products for those reasons as well.

Well, like our, like our networking group, we have obviously most of them are mothers. After, after you have a baby, things do change.

Yeah.

You know, your hormones are all wacky and you need some support to reconnect maybe with your, your partner. And sometimes those questions don't go well with a doctor. Like, what do you— are they just say, oh, you're fine, just you'll get over it?

Yeah. That's always the experience. It's like, hey, this thing's going on. And the doctor's like, that's normal. And it's like, but it's terrible.

So after I had Aaron, I had questions and I had an older doctor. He was a lot older. I think he did the postpartum checkup with me when I was born. So that's good. It was a little while. And he's just like, oh, you'll be fine. Just let it. It is what it is. I'm like, well, it doesn't have to be uncomfortable. It doesn't have to be painful. Like, what do I do?

Yeah.

You know? And then I didn't think to go to find a shop or someone to talk to about that. They can help educate you if you've never maybe used products, what to do next or how to, you know, to make it better.

We do. Again, our, our team goes through a lot of, lot of, lot of training. Me especially. Um, I'm constantly having to keep up and there's There's a lot of things that go into detail with it, like ingredients, chemical balance reactions, and things like that. So I am very educated on all those things as well. And one thing with our team is if they don't have an answer, they're not going to just tell you anything. They're going to find the answer or go to the right person that they know is well-educated in that certain aspect.

Yeah, that's good. That, that makes sense.

Yeah, definitely.

Do you find that you guys get referrals and things from doctors when people are having issues, if they need products that are in your place?

We have from OBs. Yeah. And we also have from, I think they're called urologists?

Uh-huh, yes.

For the male?

Yes.

Yes, so we've also gotten referrals that way as well because we have products for those types of things. Sometimes people, especially going through like chemotherapy, cancer and things like that. They need a little bit of help with certain products and we definitely have those as well.

That's good.

Well, it is like I said, a lot of times having those conversations are difficult.

Yeah.

So, you know, it's private and it's scary. So having a resource that if you don't have some, I mean, somebody go in and talk to you and, you know, they can advise you like, hey, I have allergies, would this product work well?

Yeah.

You know, and if, you know, if you're not uncomfortable, but—

And to me, that's actually the fun part of my job is to listen, hear different scenarios, and find a solution for it.

Yeah.

So that, that makes me more knowledgeable, I feel like. So that's one of the fun parts of my job.

Yeah. Do you find that people are more timid when they first come in?

Yes.

Extremely timid.

Yeah.

Some people, yes. I just had a lady yesterday and she was very scared. And then by the end she was like, oh, you made me feel so happy. I'm going to bring my sister.

Oh, good.

So, yeah. Yeah, they do. They open up once they walk in and see, like, like you said, it's not dark, it's not dingy, um, we're super friendly.

And yeah, yeah, I feel like, because like what you said, like you see sort of these types of stores sometimes like in the media or whatever, and they look sketch as hell. And so people are like, what am I gonna get? And so to get into a place that like actually looks nice or like fancy is like probably way better. Yeah.

Well, I mean, like, I, I wanna, I wanna say, um, my family and I, we love to watch Friends. We watch it on repeat. Like we just watch it. And there's an episode of them them in a, like, a video shop, but the, the, the special stuff, or the, you know, the, the things, is in a back corner.

Adult content.

The adult content is behind a closed, you know, a little dark space with the, with the, you know, a curtain up, and you don't see what's behind it. And they make it seem like it's all bad. I'm like, well, no, I mean, it's something that it shouldn't be that way, but that's how a lot of us might picture that.

Yeah, no, nope. And there are those sketchy places in town. Oh, I'm sure we're definitely not one of them. Well, Adam and Eve is one of the top brands in the whole industry. You know, they started with the catalog, then the online presence, and now we have all the brick-and-mortar stores.

Is it a national company?

It's a franchise.

Oh, okay.

So it is a franchise, but it, it's very welcoming, very fun too. We can be either risqué or we can be conservative, whatever you like us to be. The way we explain our products too, we use certain terminology.

Sure.

So yeah.

And I know there's like some other stores here in town that do like classes and things. Do you guys do that kind of stuff as well?

We do. We have a website, so it's adamandevesanantonio.com and you'll be able to see any events that we have going on, any promotions. We do a lot of promotions.

Okay.

We have a really awesome rewards club as well. So every time the customer shops, they earn 10% towards their next purchase.

Yeah.

And those rewards never expire.

Oh, good.

So that alone, um, there's not any shops around town that offer that, but we do a lot of events and we have 3 locations.

Okay.

Events are at all different locations all the time.

Oh, cool.

Well, I mean, I think that too. I mean, I think if someone is curious or having— going to an event would be a good way to start, you know, going out to one and kind of seeing what it's like. And because you have other people there.

Sure.

You know. If you don't know what you're looking for, just kind of, you know, have the experience.

And with, um, you know, different holidays coming up like Christmas, Valentine's, different things, um, there'll be definitely events that we will be having. Yeah, for the locations. We've also done private in-store events, and we're open to that. All you got to do is ask us and we can set that up for you. I've had some groups of women in San Antonio reach out to me, and we have open one of our locations just for them.

Oh cool, that is cool. I didn't know y'all could do that.

We can, yeah. I can, I can do anything. Yeah, just ask me and we'll make it happen.

That might be fun, like bachelorette stuff.

Yeah, that's exactly what it is. We've had like women's groups, um, bachelorette parties, um, girls night out. Yeah, um, different— a ton of different things.

Yeah. Cool. Do you have advice for somebody who maybe is a little bit more shy, like coming in for the first time or just sort of exploring these types of products?

Just be open. Yeah, be open and honest and just come in knowing that we are a no judgment zone. So there's nothing to be afraid of or shy of. But the more open you are with us on your need, the better product we're going to recommend for you.

It makes sense. But I guess I can understand that if you're shy and it's a comfortable topic, how to express your needs. Yeah, sometimes difficult.

Yes, it would. For those of us that are shy.

And you know what, the store is laid out a way to where if you don't want our help, that's okay too. Everything's easy to navigate.

Yeah.

So you're able to just see, okay, I think I'm comfortable with this. So it's, it's gonna be a little bit easier to shop. Yeah. It's more organized than you would think a store like that would be.

Do you have a lot of couples that go in together?

We have a lot of couples. Yes.

Yeah.

We don't have a particular, uh, demographic. Everybody shops there.

Sure.

But we definitely do see a lot of couples.

Yeah. And do you find that both parts of the couple are usually equally open or is it usually one bringing in the other one?

Both.

Really?

I see both. I see some dragging the others and then some are both in there like, yep. And then a lot of times it's get whatever you want, honey. Oh, so yeah, the fun thing is, you know, when they go in, we have fitting rooms so they're able to try on the lingerie and it just makes it more exciting for them. We have a lot of people shopping for anniversaries, birthday surprises, or people that are going on cruises. Yeah, they want to go. Yeah, they're like, this is our only time away from the kiddos. Um, so we do have a lot of moms, definitely. I'm a mom myself. I have 3 little ones, um, so I know exactly what it's like to navigate, you know, personal life. Yeah, work life, um, social life, and balance all that together. Yes, exactly.

Definitely, for sure.

Well, I mean, I have lots of questions, but I'm not sure how to ask them.

I'm pretty open.

How do I, how do I ask this? Well, I think, like, for me, I, I've been to, uh, I had a group of girls that took me to one, and it was, it was a different experience.

Um, what was your experience like?

Well, it wasn't— it was, it was very large, large place, and I had never been to one, and I was, I was much younger, and I went with some older ladies, and they were very experienced about things and talked about things I had. I'm like, I don't even know what that means.

Yeah.

Um, but I hope, you know, um, so I was a little nervous, but I, I got comfortable with it, you know. Like, at the end of the day, um, the the, they were not helpful, the people who worked at that particular store. So I couldn't ask questions, but I did ask questions of the friends that took me and they had things that they shared. But it would be nice to ask someone, I guess, as someone who's a professional, you know, when you're like, hey, hey, these are my needs. What would you recommend? Because I mean, I mean, if I'm imagining a store, there's lots of things that you could use and you just don't know, you just don't know what would work. And I don't want to just try. Yeah, you know.

Yeah, I think that's what makes us different than other stores, because other stores, they just hire cashiers.

Yeah, yeah, that's what this person—

yeah, we actually hire people and train them, um, to understand the needs for the customer. So you're able to ask those questions and get a good response out of them. Yeah, they're not just gonna say, oh yeah, let me ring you up for this. To me, it's not about making the sale, and I always teach that to the team. We're not You know, here just to make the sale. We wanna make the experience. So, and, and whether you buy something or not, we wanna give you the knowledge that you need.

Yeah. I mean, I imagine that's true of any business really.

Yeah.

You know, you don't want, yes, you could very quickly sell somebody XYZ, but they may not come back. And I know it's better for a business to have repeating customers, you know, than to have to keep making new customers all the time. Yeah. And so it's important in all businesses. And this too, um, you know, to train your staff and make sure that they understand that it's not just about the quick sale.

One, them understanding that it is a, it is a sensitive topic for some, and it might be their first time, and it's, it's, it's— people walk in nervous.

Yeah, you know, it's not just that. There's a lot of people that go through trauma as well.

Yeah, yeah.

So it is, um, it— for that reason alone, it could be extremely sensitive. Um, so we have to really, really understand their tone, like body language, everything. So it is wearing a lot of hats working in this type of industry. It's going to be way different than any other industry.

I hadn't even thought about that. Someone who's gone through something, something in their past that maybe they're trying to get over, and there might be products, um, in the store that could help them be eased into, you know, getting back into being intimate with a partner, you know.

Yeah, that's, that's right. I mean, we see a lot of it, so yeah, yeah.

I mean, like I said, for, for me, I'm 46 now and things have changed, changed from the one I was in my 20s versus now. And like I said, I, um, had questions and had never really thought about utilizing, uh, like an Adam Eve type store to say, hey, these are things that are happening, like what can I do, or what, what, what products you have that can help make my intimate time with my husband much better, you know?

And now you have it. Yeah, it's never too late.

I never thought about going out like talking with someone about like, hey, these are the things, like, what can we do? Or we want to spice things up a little bit more. We want to do more things. Like, what can you all recommend?

We've even had couples come in saying they're going through couples therapy and they recommended them.

Really?

To come into the store. Yeah, buy some lingerie or the little coupon vouchers, lickable massage oils, just things like that.

Oh.

Yeah.

The little feather ticklers, light light things that they have never tried before. Yeah. To open the horizons.

Well, because I mean, you know, like, you know, working moms, we, we work, we go, we work all day, we get the kids ready, we cook dinner, we go to bed, we start again. And it becomes a routine to spice up your relationship. Sometimes you're, you're, when you have especially little ones, I know when the boys were little, my husband and I, Roger and I, the boys came first. I mean, their needs came first. So our time, like, okay, it's 10, I'm going to bed. Like, I'm tired. Yeah.

You have to definitely, when your kids are little, you have to definitely be more conscious of like making sure that you have that time together, I feel like.

Yeah.

But also people that are not couples, they, they have needs too.

Totally.

Yeah.

And yeah, we have that too.

Definitely.

Yes. Yeah.

I didn't think, yeah, I hadn't gone that far, but yes, that definitely, if you don't have a partner or you need it, you know, there's definitely stuff for that.

Yep.

And we do have a lot of people that say like, you know, I'm in here because the dating apps are horrible and I just don't wanna take anybody home.

Yeah.

So, and that's completely understandable.

Yeah. That's so safe. That's a smart thing.

Exactly.

Well, I, you know, I don't know if I could go out dating now because I've heard the horror stories about dating.

No, I never could.

But yeah, definitely if you don't have a partner, Adam and Eve can help.

Yeah. There you go. Well, is there anything else that you wanna share with our, with our listeners now about your stores or what you guys have going on?

So we have 3 locations, one in the medical center area, one down the street from Northstar Mall, and a new one, um, that's a year old on the south side of San Antonio.

Okay.

So we do have tons of promotions. I don't know when this is going to air, but just check out our website, adamandevesanantonio.com.

Okay.

And then you can also find us on TikTok and Instagram.

Okay.

Instagram is @adamandeveSA, the same thing for TikTok. And we usually post like new arrivals, especially for dancewear. We have coupons all the time on there that you can just present to us at the register. We always do like free gifts with purchase. Um, if you guys come and visit and mention Mom, uh, this podcast, we'll give you 30% off your whole purchase.

Oh cool! Well, that's a great deal.

Yeah, visit. Yes.

Yeah, we want everybody to give us a try.

Yeah.

And then we want you to tell us about your experience with us. How, how did it go? What can we do to be better? Yes.

Oh, I love that.

Well, and again, it, it's a, it's a sensitive topic. Well It's, it's a great topic. I have to say, I think it's a wonderful topic, but I do think it's sometimes it's hard for people to, to get kind of past their own nervousness or, you know, or unknown, maybe the unknown to get in and give it an opportunity to see that, hey, it is, it is a comfortable spot to go in. And if, if you have questions or have you gone through things or you're just looking for to have some fun, right? Come and see them.

I agree with that.

Yeah, totally. And then towards the end, I usually will ask like, what is your favorite thing about being, um, in, in the job that you're in?

All the different personalities I get to work with.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Different personalities. Um, like I said, I've been in the industry a very long time, so even the companies that have their sales representative, there's tons of different personalities. Um, that and then just being able to see people be genuinely happy.

Yeah, yeah.

That's, that's the best part.

Oh, I love that.

I guess when you get that part of your life going well, the people are just in good moods.

Of course they are.

You know, you rarely see an angry person, right? In the store. They're usually like nervous or really, really happy.

Yes. Jazzed to be there.

Yeah. You know what I mean? At the end of the day, hopefully every, everything's gonna turn out great. Yes.

Yeah, for sure. Well, Desiree, thank you so much for being on and sharing about your business. This has been great.

Yes.

Thank you so much for having me.

Of course. And I'll just really quickly thank our listeners for tuning in to this week's episode, and we'll catch you guys next time.

See you guys next time.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We hope you loved today's chat and found a little inspiration to take with you into your week. If you have a podcast topic suggestion or a question you'd love for us to cover, definitely send us an email at hello@workingmomsofsanantonio.com. We'd love to hear from you. And until next time, see you in the community.