18+ with Educator Andy 

It’s a big anniversary here at Good Vibes—our Education Director, Andy Duran, has been with us for eighteen years! That’s right, his career with us is now old enough to shop at our stores. Many of you have met Andy on the sales floor, where he started out, or at an in-store class or offsite presentation. He’s also responsible for much of the great blog content you read, he trains our Sex Educator Sales Associates, and much more. I asked him a few questions about his history at Good Vibes and his enduring love of sex education—you'll see why we think he’s such a gem! 

Carol Queen: Andy, what were you up to eighteen years ago (18 years!!!) when you decided you wanted to apply for a job at Good Vibes?  

Andy Duran: I was just a young cub back then--20 years old! But I was no stranger to sexual health education. I was a busy queer activist and frequent presenter for my local LGBTQ center’s speakers’ bureau. I often joke about how I had applied to Good Vibes the first time before I was old enough to shop here! Lol I obviously didn’t get it but I knew early on that once old enough, this was where I wanted to be. Back then especially, if you wanted to work in sex education in any way, you went to Good Vibes. Luckily, I tried again when I was 20 and got an interview! 

CQ: You started at the Berkeley store, didn't you? What really struck you about the job, and the place?  

AD: I did! I loved working in the stores, but especially Berkeley. At that time, it was our only East Bay location, and the East Bay culture and customer base was just super familiar to me already as someone born and raised in the East Bay.

CQ: At first customer service was really your sweet spot, right? What was it about helping customers find their perfect toy that you so enjoyed? 

AD: Yeah, customer service is my jam! I just really enjoy supporting folks and providing them with that safe space to get their questions answered. In a way, we’re modeling what a normal, safe, sex positive, non-sexualized, nonjudgmental conversation can look like--in some cases, with their partner or friend group right beside them. Folks are taking away a lot more than just a toy when they leave our stores, for many they are taking away a life-changing experience. 

CQ: And how did that lead you to the Education team?  

AD: I’ve wanted to work on our outreach team since before I even started at Good Vibes.  It’s what initially drew me into the job--having seen the Good Vibes workshops myself at various health conferences. Once I had a few years of both in-store customer service and the off-site presenter experience, I was fueled with ideas and energy around how we could continue to provide quality internal and external education.  

CQ: You're so into education—you even took on the moniker "Educator Andy"--and you do a lot both inside and outside the store, teaching the SESA team in-house, speaking gigs out in the community. What do you most enjoy about both of those contexts?  

AD: Working with folks directly will always be my favorite part of the job, whether that’s with customers on the sales floor, via virtual shopping, or at events and workshops. Some of my favorite memories in life include the conversations and moments shared with customers and community members through Good Vibes, which makes sense, 18 years is a significant part of my life.  

CQ: What are your favorite population/s to educate and do gigs for? What speaks to you about them? 

AD: Aww C, you know my favorite community to work with is seniors! I also really value working with cancer survivors, and folks who’ve experienced sexual trauma. Working with all populations requires a sense of care and compassion, but there’s something incredibly rewarding about supporting communities who find themselves having to re-learn sexuality and how it currently works for them. It’s a privilege to be able to serve people during these sensitive times in their lives and provide the resources that they otherwise wouldn’t know where to access.  

CQ: If you had a magic wand (haha) to wave at the whole sex education system, what kind of spell would you cast to improve it? Or maybe thinking about it a different way, what does good sex ed look like and how commonly do people get it?  

AD: I think we need to have accurate, shame free, inclusive, age appropriate, sexual health and relationship education provided and normalized across the country. While some schools here in the Bay Area are providing great examples of this, there are plenty of schools all over that teach dangerously inaccurate information, or no information at all. What happens then to those different communities? What type of preventable, life changing risk do those populations now have? What happens when students from one location go to college with a student from the other? Sexual health affects us all.  

CQ: What gives you hope right now? I feel like we can all use some sources of hope in these times. 

AD: Most of the hope I have right now comes from those direct experiences. Whenever I start to feel like what I do doesn’t matter, I usually have a customer service experience that reminds me of quite the opposite. Someone who will say they tried so many places or products before but never received the type of service and information they got from us. People who ask us questions that they’ve never asked anyone before and the look on their faces afterwards when they feel seen, heard, and not judged. These are the moments that I’ve been fortunate to witness for the last 18 years; folks feeling hopeful about their own bodies and pleasure. Seeing people leaving feeling proud and full of potential; empowered for what’s next to come. When your job is helping people take their pleasure to new unexplored heights, it’s kinda hard not to carry that same mindset into the work and role itself.  I’m enjoying seeing just how much I can explore and expand within this position.