Latest / The Kink Consultant / Great Sex Start with a Good Conversation with Dr. Tara
Transcript
- 0:08It's the King Consultant podcast where we're turning up the heat
- 0:11on all things kink and dating, relationships and pop culture.
- 0:14So close the door, plug in your headphones, and let's get down
- 0:17to it. Hey everyone, welcome to this
- 0:24week's episode of The King Consultant.
- 0:26I am delighted to be joined by Doctor Tara who.
- 0:28I had the pleasure of being on her podcast Love Bites earlier
- 0:32this year, and now I am honored to have her on mine.
- 0:35Welcome, Tara. Hello, so excited to be here The
- 0:39King Consultant. I'm so excited to have you on.
- 0:42I had a ton of fun recording with you.
- 0:45I'm not just saying it. I think I told you this.
- 0:46It was one of my highlights of my year.
- 0:48Oh, I love that. Yeah.
- 0:50That episode was so brilliant and it's doing so well.
- 0:53Lots of people find it really helpful and everyone's watching.
- 0:57There's a lot of views on YouTube, so definitely want the
- 1:00listeners here to go watch it because Amanda, the King
- 1:03consultant, she has dropped so many gems.
- 1:05Oh. Thank you.
- 1:06I know we threw some real stuff on that episode, right?
- 1:10Yeah. Like yeah, we went everywhere
- 1:12from diaper to pee to poop everywhere.
- 1:15Yeah, all things king. But that's the thing, like
- 1:18normalizing these things and helping people feel less
- 1:21shameful is so important. And I think that's like the
- 1:24Lord's work and you're doing important things.
- 1:27And I'm just so excited to be able to come on your podcast as
- 1:30well. You are equally doing important
- 1:32things at a very high level, front and center stage.
- 1:36Today we're going to talk about the book that you just released
- 1:39this year, your work as a professor, and even some TV work
- 1:42you've done over the past few years.
- 1:44Lots of interesting things going on.
- 1:46So it's really, thank you so much for saying that.
- 1:48It means a lot coming from you of.
- 1:50Course, yeah, I notice like all the things that you do.
- 1:53Oh, you're so sweet. So, Doctor Tara, you are a
- 1:57tenured professor of relational sexual communication.
- 2:00What are you teaching? What falls under that?
- 2:03Yeah, that's so funny. Actually my textbook is right
- 2:06here, the one that we use in the university.
- 2:08Oh my God. Sexual communication research in
- 2:11action and I co-author you can see my long last name.
- 2:13I co-authored it with two other professors and it's now being
- 2:17used in various universities in the United States.
- 2:20But basically the class that I teach at Cal State Fullerton
- 2:23encompasses sex from early age till sex when you're aging.
- 2:29So you know from the beginning of sexuality.
- 2:31We teach anatomy and terminology of everything, and then we go
- 2:35into your sexual debut, which is when you lose your virginity.
- 2:39But we don't use that term anymore because it has a
- 2:41negative connotation. You're not really losing
- 2:44anything, you're gaining. So we call it sexual debut.
- 2:47We. Love that this is the.
- 2:49First like. Hearing that.
- 2:50Yeah. So in technology, when we teach
- 2:52it in the university, we call it sexual debut.
- 2:55When was your sexual debut the first time you had sex?
- 2:58So we teach that concept research around it and up until
- 3:02dating and being in a relationship and sexual
- 3:05communication in that go into micro and macro communication
- 3:09and sexual communication and aging for women, there will be
- 3:12like perimenopausal time, menopausal time, like what's
- 3:15happening in the body. How do you communicate these
- 3:17things? And also men experiencing
- 3:19erectile dysfunction basically from the start of life to the
- 3:22end of life and the sex and relational things that happens
- 3:24in between. Oh my God, thank God this
- 3:26exists. I know, yeah, it's a very
- 3:28popular class, but I'm surprised not every university offers it.
- 3:33I am. I'm both surprised and not
- 3:34surprised because no, right, it's forward thinking, but
- 3:37there's not one person who's going to listen to this and
- 3:40think, oh, that's not necessary. That's extremely important
- 3:43information. It's like the guidebook to life
- 3:45that you're not getting. Exactly.
- 3:46It's like I want someone to teach me this class and how to
- 3:49do taxes. Yes, real shit, you know.
- 3:52I know I would say I was a naturally good person when it
- 3:55came to sex and sexuality. I had a very open minded mother
- 3:58who was very openly communicated.
- 4:01I was so lucky. Do you know she was on my
- 4:02podcast earlier this year? That's how lucky I am.
- 4:06She did a great job but taxes money.
- 4:09I have 0 comfort with anything to do with that.
- 4:13You're right. That's why I have a tax
- 4:15consultant. But that's the thing, the
- 4:17hardest things to talk about in life is sex and money.
- 4:20And you're really? Master one, the other one is
- 4:23still there that you have to master.
- 4:24Isn't it really funny? And you're shamed in both
- 4:27instances if you're not good with money, if you're not good
- 4:29at sex, if you don't walk that line perfectly.
- 4:32Especially on the sex side, there is a lot of societal shame
- 4:35in the work we do trying to peel away.
- 4:37That's why we're always censored.
- 4:39Oh my God, I was thinking about that.
- 4:41Yeah, censorship is insane and even though I do get good
- 4:45exposure and people always ask me how do you do that, I still
- 4:48get censored. There are videos that get
- 4:51deleted. I just put out so much that
- 4:53maybe people don't notice. Yeah, but I play the volume game
- 4:57when I make sex positive content because I know that 1/3 of that
- 5:01will be deleted. Wow, that's how censored you all
- 5:03that's. Yeah, I'm super censored.
- 5:05People just don't notice because I do put out a lot.
- 5:07Of you put out a ton of content, you're doing really well on the
- 5:10quantity, game and quality. I love social media because it's
- 5:14such a quick way to feel good about sexuality, and if I can be
- 5:18that reminder for people through like a 32nd video, I'm down for.
- 5:22It Oh my God, you're renewing my love for social media a little
- 5:24bit because I'm in a love hate situation with it at the moment.
- 5:27You're right, it just because we're shadow band at times
- 5:30doesn't mean it's not being helpful and not fun.
- 5:32It is. If it positively effects 5
- 5:36people that day, I'm good. Damn heavy but true and need to
- 5:40get back out there. Yes.
- 5:42So your work spans basically all of sexuality?
- 5:45The university course, it's geared towards communication,
- 5:48each of those step in life and what happens in your sex life,
- 5:52what is the communication function in it?
- 5:55So it's like geared towards communication at every step of
- 5:58your sexual and relational life. And I think my work also
- 6:02surrounds that because I wouldn't say I'm an expert on
- 6:05all things sex. Obviously there's so many things
- 6:07I don't know a lot of king stuff I don't know, Tantra, tantric
- 6:11sex, I don't know much about it at all.
- 6:13And then there's the whole world of fetish and BDSM.
- 6:16All of those things I don't know much about.
- 6:18But when it comes to sexual communication and the social
- 6:22scientific research in how to have a great sex life, what
- 6:26aspects to think of when it comes to taking care of your
- 6:29sexual Wellness. How do you make sure that you
- 6:31feel sexually satisfied in a really relationship?
- 6:34I have all those tools, just not particularly with the king or
- 6:38the deep topics of those things. But on my podcast, I love
- 6:41talking to people like you and other experts that are more
- 6:45specific on things. I recently had a cock holding
- 6:48couple on my show talking specifically about their cock
- 6:51holding journey, and I always find that so fascinating because
- 6:54I only know about it through my academic lens.
- 6:57Yeah, people who actually do it have so much more knowledge.
- 7:01Oh, it is an actual fact. When you do it, you go.
- 7:04But even for me, I know I call myself the kink consultant, but
- 7:07it's impossible to know every kink fetish and understand it
- 7:11thoroughly. It's through talking to people.
- 7:12And I do the same thing on this podcast.
- 7:14I invite people who live a very specific lifestyle or have a
- 7:17very specific fetish to talk about it more openly.
- 7:19Anyone who is listening needs to check out Doctor Tara's podcast,
- 7:23Love Bites. That's luv Bites, as opposed to
- 7:26how you probably imagined it being spelled because you have
- 7:29such interesting guests. And my favorite thing is you go
- 7:32there with every question. If a question pops into your
- 7:34mind, it's getting asked. And yeah, the questions we all
- 7:37want to know. Yeah, my brand is say what the
- 7:40fuck ever. Yes, OK, but that's perfect
- 7:43because you are the sexual communication guru.
- 7:45Yeah. And that's the thing, my opinion
- 7:48on this is if you're coming from a place of curiosity and you
- 7:51have an open line of communication, that's the best
- 7:53foundation. Yeah.
- 7:55Would you agree with that? Like I'm speaking to the expert
- 7:57now. Totally.
- 7:58Yeah, everybody knows how important communication is, but
- 8:02in every relation, relationship and every personal development,
- 8:05there's a lot of prerequisites. Speaking like a professor, there
- 8:09are a lot of prerequisites. In order to be a competent
- 8:14communicator, if you're dating someone, that relationship,
- 8:17First off, needs to be safe. There needs to be emotional
- 8:20intimacy. There needs to be the feeling of
- 8:23safety that whatever you say is not going to be poorly perceived
- 8:26or judged. There needs to be consistency.
- 8:28You need to be able to trust your partner that this is a
- 8:31consistent partner. There are so many things that
- 8:33need to happen in the relationship with someone you're
- 8:36dating in order for you to be a good communicator.
- 8:39Yes. Yeah, these things are needed as
- 8:41well. It's easy for experts or gurus
- 8:43out there to say you gotta communicate more.
- 8:45I think everybody knows that. But here's the thing, Every
- 8:48relationship needs these prerequisites, and that's why
- 8:50you have to also work on these things simultaneously.
- 8:53If you don't have emotional safety and closeness in the
- 8:56relationship and trust that you won't be judged, then you're not
- 8:59gonna say anything. I get it.
- 9:00I won't say anything either. I know the fear of judgment is
- 9:03huge, one of the biggest deterrence from people being
- 9:06more open. Do you have any recommendations
- 9:09on how people can establish better safety in their
- 9:12relationship? I would safety, I would say read
- 9:15my book How do you like it? A guide for getting what you
- 9:17want in bed. Here's the thing, establishing
- 9:20emotional safety is one of the most important things in a
- 9:23relationship. But at the same time, you have
- 9:24to have some more information and knowledge on how to be in a
- 9:28relationship. And that's why gaining more
- 9:30information through listening to podcasts, reading articles,
- 9:33reading a book, How Do You Like it or any other book out there
- 9:36that's written by credible sources, all of these things
- 9:39helps you feel more confident. And the more confident you feel
- 9:42because you have the language, you have the knowledge, the more
- 9:44confident you feel, the more likely you're going to be able
- 9:46to communicate the needs for emotional safety and to express
- 9:50yourself in ways that provide safety to your partner.
- 9:53You have to have more information.
- 9:55I think people were thrown into romantic relationships when
- 9:58we're 15. We're like, yeah, the hormones
- 10:01are running and we're horny and we just want to date.
- 10:03Like, we want to get together. Yeah.
- 10:05But nobody has ever been taught anything related to how to be in
- 10:09a romantic relationship, what to say, how to show up.
- 10:13What does your partner need from you?
- 10:14You don't know. And that's why I wrote this
- 10:16book. It covers everything in the more
- 10:18foundational way. It's not in depth about
- 10:21anything, but it covers everything in a more
- 10:23foundational way. If you're curious about what am
- 10:25I missing in a romantic relationship or if I'm dating,
- 10:28when you read my book, you'll understand all the different
- 10:30aspects of the things that you need and how to do them.
- 10:33It's just not digging deep into anything.
- 10:35For example, I talk about how to practice light BDSM at home and
- 10:39what BDSM stands, for example, but I don't talk about the deep
- 10:42experiences of them because that's not what the book is
- 10:44about. The book is a foundational book
- 10:46that surveys all topics in sex and relationships.
- 10:49I love that because people need to start with the foundations,
- 10:52even in the work I do. I mean a lot of people.
- 10:54And it's like, oh, you're struggling with some of even the
- 10:57basic communication about sex in the 1st place.
- 11:00And I do view BDSM and you can do it at a beginner level, but
- 11:04you need that foundation of communication.
- 11:07So it's super important to have that.
- 11:08OK, but. Talking about emotional safety,
- 11:11I think the most important thing that you can do for your partner
- 11:14is whenever they express something, don't give any sort
- 11:18of hint of judgment. No judgment whatsoever.
- 11:21Let's say your partner is voicing a concern.
- 11:23I just don't feel that much In Sync with you.
- 11:25I feel a bit disconnected with you for the last few days.
- 11:28Instead of being defensive, like why?
- 11:30Why would you think that? Instead of saying that go, I
- 11:33hear you, I'm here with you and let's make you feel better.
- 11:36What can we do to make you feel better?
- 11:37That's all you need to do. People need to understand that
- 11:41you're in this together. It's teamwork, it's group
- 11:43project. And instead of defending like,
- 11:46why, what's wrong? What did I do?
- 11:47It's not about you. They don't feel good.
- 11:49Just say I'm sorry you're not feeling good.
- 11:51I'm here with you, I'm listening to you.
- 11:53What can we do? That's all you have to do and
- 11:55that's providing emotional safety.
- 11:56Overtime, that type of response, the openness and the
- 12:00understanding and the empathy, it creates a lot of emotional
- 12:02safety. And I think we can all do that
- 12:04better. Amen.
- 12:05To that, it's what we all want. We just want to be heard and
- 12:08accepted. Yeah, men and women, no one to
- 12:12go into fix it mode immediately. It's being held in a space where
- 12:16you're able to share. Emotions it's natural to view
- 12:20this as something that women need, but men need it to
- 12:22absolutely probably need it more because they were raised by
- 12:26parents or guardian that told them to men up.
- 12:29Don't show your emotions, don't cry, don't be a Sissy.
- 12:33It's just so much negative emotional reaction feedback for
- 12:37men so that men just couldn't show emotions in a healthy way
- 12:41for a long time. But now I know that there's a
- 12:43lot more podcasts and books and people talking about how men
- 12:47should show more emotions and it's healthy and emotional
- 12:50intelligence is really important.
- 12:51Giving them space too. Sometimes my husband will talk
- 12:54about something that he's concerned about and he will cry
- 12:56instead of saying things like, oh, don't cry because even if
- 12:59you mean well, yeah, if your words are don't cry.
- 13:03Why? Why?
- 13:03What's wrong? What's wrong with crying?
- 13:05There's nothing wrong with crying.
- 13:06Crying is great. It's an emotional expression.
- 13:08So even things like that, it gives negative subliminal
- 13:12messages to your male partner that they shouldn't be doing
- 13:16this and that this is perceived negatively.
- 13:17So even if you mean well and say, oh, no, don't cry.
- 13:20It's bad. It's bad.
- 13:23Like, it's bad communication. When you actually want to do is
- 13:26I'm here, babe, try it out. Talk to me.
- 13:29And what can I help? How can I help?
- 13:30What can I do? Yeah.
- 13:32Hey Kingsters, if you and your partner want to deepen your DS
- 13:35dynamic and feel supported every step of the way, I'm hosting an
- 13:38Intimate Couples Retreat in Las Vegas, March 19th through 23rd,
- 13:422026. You'll stay in a luxury home
- 13:45with private bedrooms, kick things off with a welcome
- 13:47dinner, and spend the weekend reconnecting, exploring, and
- 13:50having fun. My Dom and I will be there the
- 13:52entire time, guiding you through the experience, whether you're
- 13:55stepping into the Dom role, the sub role, or still figuring out
- 13:58your dynamic together. It's application only and spots
- 14:01are limited, so head to amandadames.com/couples Dash
- 14:05retreat to join the wait list and apply.
- 14:08Yeah, OK. I'm letting that land because I
- 14:10will admit to it, sometimes defensiveness is my first thing
- 14:13because I'm like, it's my fault. I need to fix it.
- 14:15Yeah. And that's an important part of
- 14:17it. You hear something, you feel a
- 14:19certain way, take a deep breath and just remind yourself this
- 14:21isn't all about me. Even if it's a little bit about
- 14:24you, it's not. Yeah.
- 14:25You got to make space for that other person's emotions.
- 14:28I love hearing this from you. I've literally having a moment
- 14:30right now. I'm so lucky I get to talk to
- 14:32all of these interesting people on the podcast.
- 14:34I love that. I think gratitude is really
- 14:36important too in a relationship. What you just said, that's the
- 14:39feeling of gratitude. I try to feel that consciously
- 14:42every day Now I get to be with Amanda the King consultant for
- 14:45the next hour. I'm so grateful.
- 14:47And in a relationship to when you look at your partner or
- 14:50someone you're just starting to date, you look at them.
- 14:52You want to feel grateful if you look at them and you feel
- 14:55annoyed or if you feel tense, or if you feel like, oh, not again,
- 15:00that's time to reevaluate if that's a good relationship for
- 15:03you or if you need to have a big conversation to change that.
- 15:06Because when you look at your partner, you should feel
- 15:09grateful. Oh.
- 15:09Damn, that's heavy stuff because you're basically saying these
- 15:13are the moments that if you're not feeling that you need to
- 15:15look at the whole relationship. Yeah, I've had clients that say
- 15:19sometimes my husband walks in the room and my body literally
- 15:22tenses up. I'm like whoa, that is not good.
- 15:25I definitely felt that way about my ex fiance.
- 15:28Sometimes I'd be like, it's the weekend over so we can just go
- 15:31back to work and it was your. Fiance too, it's so hard.
- 15:34Sometimes when you're in it to know how unhappy you are until
- 15:37you're out of it. Because we're almost programmed
- 15:39to think it's normal. As long as society says it's
- 15:42normal, 10%. You bought the house.
- 15:44You're engaged. This is what your life is
- 15:46supposed to be. Yeah, you're successful 100%
- 15:50that. It's like, oh, you've done it
- 15:51and it doesn't matter. If it doesn't feel good, then
- 15:53it's just you not appreciating what you have as opposed to
- 15:55thinking maybe this isn't what I wanted in the 1st place, you
- 15:58know? Exactly.
- 15:59I'm currently on my second husband.
- 16:01We love second. Husband, thank you.
- 16:03Thank you. The first one was a trial.
- 16:05But when I was married to my first husband, he was a
- 16:09wonderful man. We were not compatible.
- 16:11And sometimes when I come home, I'll feel a little pit in my
- 16:15stomach. It's nothing against him per SE,
- 16:18because he's a great person. We're just not compatible.
- 16:21But then I try really hard to be in it.
- 16:23So we were together three years, but after a year and a half,
- 16:25there were so many signs. And I talk about this thoroughly
- 16:28in my book because in the book I also use myself as an example
- 16:31because I've made so many mistakes.
- 16:33So it's like a good example on the struggles that people go
- 16:36through because I have gone through them.
- 16:38And then how to come out on the other side.
- 16:39But I felt like I was always walking on egg shells a bit
- 16:42because I will say something and then he'll be a bit defensive
- 16:45because he probably feels my body is disconnecting from him.
- 16:49And people are scared when you love your partner so much but
- 16:53they are disconnecting from you. You just try to do anything and
- 16:56sometimes it comes off as toxic. I think he felt me disconnected,
- 17:00so he was trying really hard and it's obviously not working.
- 17:03And at the end of the day, we had to end the relationship and
- 17:07got a divorce. And that was like one of the
- 17:08hardest things I've ever done in my whole life.
- 17:11I cried every day for two weeks. I felt so much shame because
- 17:15where I'm from, I'm originally from Thailand.
- 17:18Where are you from? Are you from Vegas?
- 17:19No, I'm. From Pennsylvania, but I grew up
- 17:21in Ireland with my mom and my mom's Irish.
- 17:24I grew up in Ireland from the age of 11 to 24, moved to New
- 17:27York for over 10 years and then just moved to Vegas two years
- 17:30ago. In different places?
- 17:34Yeah, different places. And then culture.
- 17:36My dad's from Iran, my mom's from Ireland, so I was first
- 17:39generation American. But a lot of different cultural
- 17:41things around ideals and relationships and what you're
- 17:44supposed to want. Oh.
- 17:45Yeah, both Irish and Iranian don't get a divorce.
- 17:48Yeah, no, 100% even. Yeah, divorced in Ireland.
- 17:51Until recently it was extremely difficult for me going.
- 17:54Through that and also being a professor that teaches about
- 17:58healthy sexual community relationship satisfaction.
- 18:02But yet here I am in a failed marriage.
- 18:04Huge shame. I worked really hard to overcome
- 18:07all of that but now I am so grateful that I've gone through
- 18:10divorce because now I can relate to millions of people literally
- 18:14divorce rate is 50%. So I can relate to millions of
- 18:17people that have gone through it and are now like Oh my God, how
- 18:19do I feel more confident in dating?
- 18:21How do I communicate about sex now after I divorce?
- 18:24Like I talk about all of that in my book.
- 18:25If you have never gone through divorce, you have no idea the
- 18:28complexity of feelings. When you go through divorce
- 18:31because you feel hate, you feel angry, You also feel sad.
- 18:34You also feel a little bit pathetic.
- 18:36You also feel really happy and liberated and free, but you also
- 18:40then feel sad again and depressed, and then you also
- 18:42feel really excited. It's a crazy time right after
- 18:45you get a divorce. I would say three to six months.
- 18:47It's like a really crazy time mentally.
- 18:49So I eloped. When I was 20 and have my own
- 18:51divorce story from that. But it's my God.
- 18:54I'm gonna tell you what's different.
- 18:55We broke up. I say this because we didn't
- 18:58align on the king side. He would completely vanilla and
- 19:01I wasn't a great guy. No issue with him, but I was a
- 19:03lot younger. I was so young and I'm grateful
- 19:06I was so young. But I think that as an adult, my
- 19:08ex fiance, they had been dating for seven years before we broke
- 19:11up and I'm actually really grateful.
- 19:13We didn't do a big wedding or any type of wedding in front of
- 19:15people and then have to get the government involved.
- 19:18It was enough to sell our house together.
- 19:19I cannot even imagine the extra work of actual divorce paperwork
- 19:23and lawyers. We didn't need lawyers to sell a
- 19:24house, we just sold it. There's so many added layers, I
- 19:27think from the outside of what a divorce must be like.
- 19:30And then, yeah, I can relate. Just going through a breakup and
- 19:33being the king consultant and it's like, oh, we're supposed to
- 19:36listen to you for advice. There's a lot of in that.
- 19:39Exactly. Yeah.
- 19:40And now with my husband, I literally use all of the tools
- 19:44that I had but did not use with my first husband.
- 19:47When we first met, I told him the hardest two things to talk
- 19:51about, money and sex. I immediately had the question
- 19:53of #1 The way I grew up in Thailand is my dad is a provider
- 19:58and he takes care of the family, and that's what I'm looking for.
- 20:01So I first I'll talk about money and how that works if you're
- 20:04dating me and if we're getting married.
- 20:05I love this. Only dating a.
- 20:07Provider #2 sex. I'm naturally a non monogamous
- 20:10person so I want to practice ethical non monogamy and
- 20:14whatever it looks like for us. We can talk about the boundaries
- 20:17or what we want to explore, but I will never be monogamous.
- 20:21I am a non monogamous person, maybe polyamorous.
- 20:24It depends on who I'm with, but basically that's the relational
- 20:27and sexual structure that I'm interested.
- 20:29So I put that out there. The hardest things, sex and
- 20:32money, this is my stance. And here we are six years later.
- 20:35He loves me for who I am. He actually really loved that.
- 20:38I communicated all of that on the first date because he's
- 20:40like, OK, now I know what you're about, what you stand for.
- 20:44I know what I stand for. I can step up to that place.
- 20:47Yeah. Yeah.
- 20:48Happy ever since. Did you tell?
- 20:50Other people you were dating on the first date or did you see
- 20:52something in him where you were like, this is someone I want to
- 20:54be with, so I'm going to be open with him?
- 20:57I saw something. OK, that.
- 20:58Makes a lot. Yeah, he is very open minded.
- 21:01He used to be a dentist and he quitted completely to pursue
- 21:04art. He's now an oil painter and I've
- 21:06seen. From your Instagram that
- 21:08sometimes you share when you go to an opening.
- 21:10He has beautiful art. Thank you.
- 21:12You both are quite. Creative then yeah, some people
- 21:15might not think social media is creative.
- 21:16I think it's very creative. I love your content there, but
- 21:19it's very creative. It needs a lot of creativity to
- 21:22be interesting and engaging. Engaging.
- 21:25So much great energy, which I know you're bringing here to the
- 21:27podcast today, and I can only imagine.
- 21:28Were you energized every step of the way with writing the book?
- 21:32I want to understand the process.
- 21:33What made you decide? I have enough knowledge now I'm
- 21:36writing the book. I think there were. 3 signs for
- 21:38me OK, one was I started having a lot of fans and followers on
- 21:43social media that I just thought like I should create like a sex
- 21:46Bible, something that has everything that I know on a
- 21:50nutshell, right? A foundational way, not too
- 21:52deep, but has everything in it for my fans and followers so
- 21:55that they have this one book that they can like always go to
- 21:58and refer to. So that was the first sign of my
- 22:00social media blowing up. And I just feel like it's a good
- 22:03group of people to have this with them.
- 22:05The second one is I started having literary agents reaching
- 22:08out to me and say, hey, do you have an agent yet?
- 22:10We want to represent you. And I had to interview a few of
- 22:13them because obviously not all of them give me a good deal.
- 22:15Yeah, there's quite a few that are sharks.
- 22:17So be careful guys out there if you want to write a book and
- 22:20want to get a literary agent. But basically found this woman
- 22:23who reached out to me on LinkedIn and she's amazing and
- 22:26she has been a great advocate for me.
- 22:28So then when I started having agents reaching out, I'm like,
- 22:30oh wow, maybe that's a universe, a sign that I should write a
- 22:33book because all these literary agent think I should.
- 22:35And then the third sign was I felt comfortable in my own
- 22:40because I started this book 2 1/2 years ago.
- 22:42Wow. At that point it was after I got
- 22:44tenure at my university and I was at the pinnacle of my
- 22:47academic career. So at that point I had the
- 22:49confidence to write my own book and use my own voice and share
- 22:54my personal experiences. So yeah, the confidence that
- 22:56came from getting tenure and becoming a more the badass
- 22:59professor and then the agents reaching out and then my social
- 23:03media blew up. So I just thought, you know
- 23:04what? There's so many signs.
- 23:05I'm just going to do it. Hey.
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- 23:10know where to start, I've got you.
- 23:12My personal and completely free BDSM checklist helps you and
- 23:16your partner build a tailored yes, no, and maybe list.
- 23:19You'll figure out what sounds interesting, what actually
- 23:21lights you up, where your desires overlap, and where the
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- 23:33amandadames.com/BDSM list or click the link in the show
- 23:39notes. Good for you.
- 23:41Had the literary agents reaching out as well.
- 23:43Yeah, but then. I also don't think people need
- 23:46to wait until an agent reach out to them to write a book.
- 23:48If you have a passion, you can reach out to them.
- 23:51They're always interested in receiving pitches.
- 23:53You're like a. Motivational speaker on top of
- 23:55everything else, again to your energy.
- 23:57I love it. Yeah, I'm.
- 23:59Always like, yes, you can do it. You can.
- 24:01I know. Couples need this.
- 24:03It doesn't matter if you're just starting dating someone or been
- 24:06in a relationship for 20 years, if you're having trouble with
- 24:09some of this basic community around sex and relationships.
- 24:12People not getting what they want in bed, I think is one of
- 24:15the saddest things ever because in a lot of ways, it is one of
- 24:19life's few free pleasures. You meet someone and you're able
- 24:23to have this magical connection, but it's not magical.
- 24:26You talk about it, you explore it, you share what you're
- 24:28looking for, and then you get to a good place.
- 24:31The foundation is important and you're helping people achieve
- 24:33that. I always tell.
- 24:34People, listen. We're humans.
- 24:36We need these three things. Eating, talking.
- 24:38Fucking yes. And in all these things, you
- 24:41need to educate yourself. Eating.
- 24:43If you are not eating well, you're gonna get sick.
- 24:46You're gonna die early. That's just The thing is you got
- 24:49to eat healthy, but you got to learn how to eat healthy.
- 24:51What are some of the things that are healthy for you?
- 24:53There's learning into that. Yeah.
- 24:55Same with talking. I know that there's talking like
- 24:57we're talking now. Why do I need to learn?
- 24:59Like, I learned how to talk since I was 3.
- 25:01But there's a difference between just talking versus effectively
- 25:04talking. Yeah.
- 25:05And I think the book talks about various different topics and
- 25:09various different ways to effectively talk.
- 25:11And then fucking people often say to me, oh, even animals, why
- 25:15do we need to learn anything? It's natural instinct.
- 25:18Sure. I feel sad for your partner.
- 25:20Like who said that? How many people have?
- 25:22Said that to me. Usually men.
- 25:23OK. I feel sad for your partner too.
- 25:25Yeah, usually. Men at networking or dinner
- 25:27parties, I'll sit next to someone.
- 25:29They'll be like, oh, what do you do?
- 25:30And then I talk to them and then they're like, oh, I don't need
- 25:32help in that. More animals, like we have
- 25:34natural instinct. I'm just like I really want to.
- 25:36Talk to their partner. Please bring me your partner so
- 25:38I can verify all of this information.
- 25:40I bet she has. Never come in her life.
- 25:43Anyways, yeah, I think talking and fucking are the things that
- 25:48I love educating people about. And that's what the book is
- 25:51about. It covers many different topics
- 25:54from communicating about frequency, communicating about
- 25:58your preferences, communicating about kings.
- 26:01And then how to bring things up if it's an issue, if your
- 26:04partner has sexual dysfunction, how to bring those things up.
- 26:07Or if you have sexual dysfunction, how to bring it up,
- 26:09how to bring up you of porn, how to bring up you want to start
- 26:13sexting? What do you do if you want to
- 26:15start sexting? There's so many different
- 26:17communication related things in the book that I think if you
- 26:20read the book or listen to it, it's on Audible, Spotify.
- 26:24If you just listen or read the book, you will learn at least 10
- 26:28new little skills to improve your life in general.
- 26:31I want to assign. This to all of my clients is go
- 26:33prerequisite. I know read this because I work
- 26:37a really good. Prerequisite.
- 26:39Yeah, and. Then we'll work together.
- 26:40I love that I see how everything you've mentioned is a common
- 26:44topic that comes up with people in my DMS on social media.
- 26:48People ask these questions so regularly, and I'm so excited
- 26:51that I now get to point to your book directly.
- 26:53And yeah. Information.
- 26:54In here, well, your very first. Chapter talks about what is your
- 26:58sexual profile and it is a sex personality test so once you
- 27:03take the test in the book it will tell you what your acronyms
- 27:06are. Mine is DKFA, dynamic, kinky,
- 27:12flexible, animalistic and that is how I describe myself as a
- 27:16lover on my preferences in bed. Even if you just read or listen
- 27:19to the first chapter, you already learned so much about
- 27:22who you are sexually and have the terminology, the language to
- 27:26talk to your partner about your preferences based on this test.
- 27:30That's why reading. Also is so important, so many
- 27:32people just need the language to your point on talking, we just
- 27:35need the words to be able to communicate how we're feeling
- 27:38and I know that sounds easy. Oh, we're taught to talk from
- 27:41the age of three, but until you can populate a menu of what you
- 27:44want or what you're looking for. Really hard to do without the
- 27:47language, you're right. And you know, even me recently
- 27:50learned that I am into kitchen table Poly.
- 27:53When I teach about this class, I don't necessarily go in depth
- 27:57about polyamory. I talk about what polyamory is,
- 28:00how it's positioned within overall ENM, but I don't go in
- 28:04depth about the 30 different kinds of polyamory.
- 28:07Then I learned for myself, because we have been not
- 28:10monogamous since the start, but we mainly go to sex parties and
- 28:14stuff. It's been more recently that we
- 28:16started dating other people in a romantic relationship.
- 28:19So we have transitioned into just general em to Polly.
- 28:22Yeah. And now that we're Polly, I had
- 28:25to learn the different types of Polly because I'm like, OK, what
- 28:27type of Polly am I? And then I learned that's what I
- 28:30want. I want kitchen table Polly.
- 28:32I want all of us to hang out and be together.
- 28:34And my husband is dating a woman and she's cool.
- 28:37And we met before we follow each other on Instagram.
- 28:40She came to our house for dinner.
- 28:42It's cool. I like kitchen table Polly.
- 28:44But that's the thing. This is my case in point.
- 28:46I didn't even know that word. I don't even know that that's
- 28:49what I want. But now I know I can't stop
- 28:51saying it. I keep love it.
- 28:52That's what I'm into. Kitchen table Polly.
- 28:54See you bring this. Energy to everything.
- 28:56I yeah, how excited you are. And you're like, this is who I
- 28:59am and I'm so excited. Because people are like, oh, so
- 29:02how does it work? I'm like, we're just kitchen
- 29:04table, babe. And are you?
- 29:05Dating anyone seriously right now?
- 29:07Yeah, I'm. Also dating someone in the UK so
- 29:10I see him when I'm in the UK and I'm spend most of my time in the
- 29:14US with my husband. I don't date anyone right now in
- 29:17the US so I separate it that way.
- 29:19UK, US but they know about each other and hopefully they can
- 29:23hang out one day. But since he's abroad it's hard.
- 29:25But the person that my husband's dating is in LA, so it's easier
- 29:28for all of us to hang out easier in that.
- 29:30Way. OK, there's so much.
- 29:32Love in it. I love it.
- 29:33I really love the expansiveness of it.
- 29:35Oh, I love that and. Expansiveness is a great word.
- 29:38It is just like a growing app, your kitchen table group at
- 29:41least one person for now. Let's talk about the UK because
- 29:44at first people are like, how does that work?
- 29:46But you have been spending a little more time in the UK over
- 29:49the last few years, right? Whole much time.
- 29:51It's been about four to five months in a year in the UK
- 29:54because. You film a show called Celebs Go
- 29:58Dating Yeah, I. Am the sex expert and one of the
- 30:01hosts of the TV show called Celebs Go Dating and it's a huge
- 30:06show. There has already been 14
- 30:09seasons and it's just got renewed so I'm going back next
- 30:12year for season 15. But I basically have done three
- 30:15seasons. They added me as a third host
- 30:18and sex expert on the show for the last three seasons.
- 30:21So I have done season 1213 and 14.
- 30:24Man, it's been so much fun. The premise of the show is we
- 30:28usually have about 6 to 8 celebrities per season and we
- 30:32work with them through consulting and therapy.
- 30:34We basically coach them and then send them out on dates and a lot
- 30:38of times they find it successful and they find their partner.
- 30:41Why are they? Struggling with dating, what do
- 30:43you find? Like everybody.
- 30:44Else yeah, expectations, the communication.
- 30:47They're not good at communicating.
- 30:49Even though they're celebrities and they're in the limelight, a
- 30:52lot of them actually struggle with self esteem.
- 30:54They can come off very confident, but they actually
- 30:57struggle internally. And some of them don't know what
- 30:59they want really, because they're maybe younger and they
- 31:01have just been on reality TV or movies or TV shows and they'd
- 31:05randomly date a bunch of different people and they just
- 31:07didn't have directions or the deep understanding of who they
- 31:10they are. So a lot of it is life coaching.
- 31:13Yeah, I could. See that I'm on one lately about
- 31:15how society tells us we want one thing and it's so hard for us to
- 31:18look inside and think, what am I actually drawn to?
- 31:21And yeah. Exactly.
- 31:22And I haven't had a celebrity on that show that wanted to be in a
- 31:26non monogamous or Poly relationship.
- 31:28I hope that next season we get to have that representation.
- 31:32Yeah, because so far the show has been quite traditional,
- 31:35although we have really good representation of people of
- 31:37different ages. Like we have people that are 22
- 31:40and people that are like 65 and then we also have trans people,
- 31:44we have LGBTQ. We have all those
- 31:46representation, but we don't have relational structure
- 31:49representation. Everyone so far on the show
- 31:52wanted monogamous relationship. So hopefully in the next season
- 31:56or the future we have some sort of representation for non
- 31:59monogamy or Poly I really. Hope so.
- 32:02I'm so glad you said that too, because it's worth celebrating
- 32:05all of the other diversity that exists in the show.
- 32:07Yeah, I think this speaks to that.
- 32:09A monogamous relationship is still held up as the ideal
- 32:12people discount. It too, whenever I say like, Oh
- 32:15yeah, I'm married. They're like, Oh my God,
- 32:17congratulations. And then I'm like, Oh yeah, but
- 32:19I'm also dating other people. They're like, oh, do you not
- 32:21love your husband? Are you guys struggling?
- 32:23I'm like, girl, no, if you're struggling, you should not open
- 32:26your relationship. It's only the healthiest couples
- 32:29can open their relationship. I believe that.
- 32:31Because it's gonna fall apart otherwise Totally.
- 32:34Yeah, it's a lot of work. You have to be.
- 32:35Great. A+ on the communication and
- 32:38ability like and emotional safety for it to work.
- 32:41Yeah. Yeah, it's true.
- 32:43I feel so safe with my husband. I know for a fact that he's got
- 32:47my back and he loves me unconditionally and I love him
- 32:50unconditional. I'm always here for him.
- 32:52If he needs me I drop everything and come back.
- 32:53Last year I was in the UK filming and he had a pop up
- 32:57store at the Westfield Century City Mall in Beverly Hills and
- 33:00early on I asked him do you want me to come back to?
- 33:03And he's like, no, it's OK, The flight is so far, it's just an
- 33:06opening is fine. But I knew he wanted me to be
- 33:08there because he was a bit uncertain, a bit nervous.
- 33:11Of course he wanted me to be there.
- 33:12So I flew back for one day to go to that opening to be his rock,
- 33:17and then flew back the next day to go directly onto set and
- 33:19film. That's how committed I am.
- 33:22And if people dare say we're not committed because we're non
- 33:25monogamous, you need to shut the fuck up.
- 33:27A. 100% also it's just angers me that people feel that they can
- 33:32even have an opinion on your relationship.
- 33:34They're not in your relationship exactly that people will.
- 33:37Always have an opinion, which is fine.
- 33:39Freedom of speech, whatever. At the end of the day, I am here
- 33:43to be an example of a healthy relationship.
- 33:45And whenever you're ready to receive this guidance,
- 33:49information and inspiration, I'm here, babe.
- 33:52Yeah. Do you?
- 33:52Touch on it in the book Polyamory, Yeah.
- 33:55I talked about polyamory and statistics around it and how to
- 33:59successfully have the early conversation.
- 34:02I did not talk in depth about it because it's not a book about
- 34:04Poly. Yeah.
- 34:06There are so. Many good books.
- 34:07I think one of them is called Open Secure or something Poly
- 34:11secure. Yeah, Poly.
- 34:12Yeah. Yeah, I like that book Poly
- 34:14Secure. And then there's also, what was
- 34:16it, 2 + 1 or something like that?
- 34:18There's quite a few. There are a lot of.
- 34:20I think Poly Secure is probably one of the most popular ones.
- 34:23But yeah, you're right, there is a ton of it.
- 34:25This is like the intro. So yeah, everyone needs to go
- 34:28out and get Doctor Tara's book. How do you like it?
- 34:31A guide for getting what you want in bed.
- 34:33Because that is, yes, that is what we're all about.
- 34:36We want people to be having the sex lives they hoped they would
- 34:40have, all the orgasms, all the intimacy, all of the
- 34:42self-expression. They're looking for the tools.
- 34:45All right, Doctor Tara, thank you so much for coming in.
- 34:48Thank you so much for putting the work into getting this book
- 34:50out into the world. This is such important knowledge
- 34:53for people to have and you've made it so accessible.
- 34:55Thank you. So.
- 34:56Much and thank you for having me.
- 34:58I notice and I know everything that you're doing.
- 35:00I think it's incredible work that you're doing and you're
- 35:02helping D stigmatize something that's there's huge stigma
- 35:06around that. So I'm so grateful to be on this
- 35:08podcast. Thank you for having me talking
- 35:10about the book. How do you like it?
- 35:11And yeah, I highly recommend everyone get this book.
- 35:13It's your sex Bible. You will find a link.
- 35:15In the show notes so that you can go straight and get your
- 35:17copy now. All right.
- 35:19Thanks for coming on, Doctor Tara, of course.
- 35:21Thank you. If you enjoyed this episode,
- 35:25don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with
- 35:27anyone who might find it interesting.
- 35:29And if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to cover in
- 35:32future episodes, feel free to reach out e-mail
- 35:34info@thekingconsultant.com. Until next time, keep on kinking
- 35:39on.