“It hasn’t sunken in yet. It’s still so surreal. I’m honored and a bit dumb founded.”
Autumn: SouthEast Person of Leather 2015
Autumn first encountered kink seven years ago. After a few staggered years of awkwardness the incorrigible brat officially entered the kink scene at large four years ago. The sassy little darling hasn’t looked back since.
Autumn co-hosted demos and play parties for a little over two years. The undeniably adorable switch has also attended conventions and been a demo dolly as well. Autumn continues to strive to learn as much as possible about the kink community and Leather. This was Autumn’s first competition. The endearingly naïve troublemaker will represent the SouthEast and show what a great amount of diversity SELF has to offer. ^.^
Stuff it gender specific pronouns!
2018 Update: Hi folks!
So, you want to know what I’ve been up to, eh? Well, all you had to do was ask! Since my title year, I have done A LOT of traveling. I have had the privilege of working with multiple vendors, traveling this gorgeous country, and selling all manner of wonderfully perverse and lovely things to you degenerate kinksters. :P
While I was on that crazy trek I got to present classes, judge contests, volunteer, meet some pretty incredible people, indulge in new things, have some wild adventures, and learn a lot about myself! I will be the first person to say that the experiences I had during those times were definitely some of the best moments of my life thus far. After traveling over almost 500,000 miles since I became a titleholder in 2015, I made the decision to take a step back and take some time for myself.
So, I only plan to attend a few events this year, but don’t you worry! I will keep presenting, judging, vending, volunteering, and being an active part of the Leather community. I just also need to take some time to spend with my amazing fur babies, my chosen family, and with myself. I’m going to ramp my travels back up within the next year or two. Until then, I look forward to seeing you all when I’m out and about. As always, I love and adore each and every one of you, I ALWAYS want you to come up and speak to me, and I hope that you and yours are doing well until we meet again. <3
In Love and Leather--Your 2015 SEPoL,
Autumn
Some of her accomplishments:
a. She traveled over 24,500 miles
b. She raised over $8,000
c. She attended 21 events
d. She volunteered over 200 hours
e. She gave 47 presentations
Calendar of Events
August 13-16 Rocky Mtn Rebellion Salt Lake City, Utah
September 17-20 Florida Power Exchange Clearwater, Florida (with Friday)
October 2-4 Behind Closed Doors Tuscon, Arizona
October 16-18 Beyond Vanilla Dallas, TX
October 31 RSVP Louisiana(with title family)
January 2016- SW Leather Conference (Tentative)
February 2016- Sin in the City Las Vegas, Nevada International Title Competition
March 2016- Frolicon Atlanta, Ga Easter Weekend
May 2016- Trademark
June 2016 -SELF 21
Speech Video 2015
June 2016 Column
I keep thinking about my title year. I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to say about it. So, I began to think about the past.
When I first came to SELF I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Everyone was so friendly, so open, so welcoming, so glamourous, and just plain wonderful. I learned so much in the classes, and I had a blast at the parties. I really thought I was getting the feel for it all. Then, I got to the contest. It was like a whole other world had opened up in front of me.
The first contest I remember watching was at that SELF. I remember a few things so clearly that it still seems like they only happened yesterday. I remember Flossie was bold, beautiful, and glamorous. The way she held herself on stage was awe inspiring. River was humble, racy, and proud. The speech he delivered gave me chills. I remember Optimus as dashing, daring, and utterly exquisite. His fantasy made me realize there was a world full of puppies. I remember Sparkles. (I believe she goes by Armadillo these days, possibly, but I remember it being something different then.) I remember her smile, quiet confidence, and her beautiful boots. They all left me feeling like I’d just witnessed something rare. A true, wonderful, amazing, and eye opening experience. These people were leaders. These people were able to put all of themselves out on the stage to be judged not just by the panel, but by their entire region. It was truly a sight to see.
I was so painfully shy then that if you had told me then where I’d be now—I never would have believed you. Yet, here I sit, at home surrounded by love. I just got off the phone with one of my judges whom I’ve grown close too. I think about all the places I’ve been over the past year, all the beautiful souls I’ve met, and all of the earth shattering and mind blowing experiences that have occurred. It just seems so surreal. I am accepted. I am loved. I got to have the opportunity of a lifetime and I got represent the South East as a title holder. I got to become one of the people I so admired years ago.
What I’ve realized in reflecting upon it all is that it all leads back to that contest. Seeing those people give their all made me give my all. I had the courage to seek out a mentor after that contest. I had the courage to eventually network, travel, learn, and do all of the incredible things that I had only ever dreamed of. That contest changed my life, and it’s only just now that I realized it. As strange as it is for me to say-- SELF is where I found my family, but I never imagined that it would also be where I ended up finding myself. For that, I am forever and eternally grateful.
March 2016 Column
“Be who you needed when you were younger.”
That quote has stuck with me since I began my title year. Every time things got hard, every time I got scared, and every time I wondered why I ran for a title—I remembered those words. I would find the courage, strength, determination, and will to keep going when I really just wanted to hole up in my room and hide from the world. You see, I’m an introvert. I’m at my happiest when I’m curled up in my papasan reading and petting my cats.
As you can imagine, going out to events, talking to people, and putting myself out there has been really difficult for me. I do it because I feel like what I want to say needs to be heard. I devoted over a year of my life to preparing for International. I wanted to bring the title home to the South East. When I didn’t do that—I had to take a really hard look at myself. I knew I would stay in the community regardless, but I had no idea what direction to take.
I still don’t, but I will keep on going. I’ll continue to teach, I’ll continue to advise, I’ll continue to learn, and most importantly I’ll continue being an active part of the community. I’ll see you all as I continue on my adventures in Leather. I hope that you all will continue to coexist, love, learn, and be the amazing people I’ve come to know and love as family.
In Love and Leather,
Autumn
Jan 2016 Column
I can’t believe it has been six months since I received the title of South East Person of Leather. It’s still so surreal to me. As I write this, I’m sitting in a room in Columbia, SC about six hours away from my home. Writing this while I’m traveling has made me think about just how amazing these past months have been. I keep thinking about all of the places I’ve gotten to travel too, all of the incredible people I’ve met, and all of the wonderful and awe inspiring moments I’ve been a part of and gotten to witness. None of these things would have happened, in the way and in the time that they did, if it weren’t for this title. I still can’t believe that I get to travel as often, and as much, as I do. It absolutely warms my soul.
I cherish these memories, and I love how I’ve grown, and helped others to grow, from them. I know that I’m better for having experienced them, and hopefully I’ve helped others too. These reflections are what keep running through my mind when I think about the upcoming convention in Las Vegas. I’ll be going in February to Sin in the City. Sin is the host convention for the International Person of Leather title. All of these wondrous moments that have occurred through all of my travels, all of the earth shattering ways that I’ve had my eyes opened, all of the ways in which I’ve learned so much from so many different people—these are things I’m taking to Sin with me.
The Leather community, and all it encompasses, is such a joy and an absolute thrill to be a part of. I am proud and so completely honored to be able to go and represent the South East. I hope to be able to make you all proud. So, wish me luck, lovelies. I’ll do my very best, and we’ll see what happens in February. Thank you so much for all of your support. I couldn’t do any of this without all of you and your incredible love and support. I can never thank you all enough, but I always want you all to know just how very much it means to me. <3 I love you all. Thank you so much for everything.
In Leather and Love,
Autumn
Oct 2015 Column
It’s been a few months since I received my title. In that time, I have traveled quite a bit. At least, it has been a lot of travel for me. During those wacky adventures, I have had the fortunate opportunity to meet quite a few people. While all of these places were different and all of the communities I visited were just as varied, the people I met all shared a few characteristics; they were kind, generous, open, and informative.
Before, I won my title I really didn’t have a lot of faith in people. I thought that everyone was solely out for themselves, and that there were very few exceptions to that general rule. Over the course the past couple of months, the wonderful people I’ve met have proved me wrong time and time again. I’ve never been more happy to be so absolutely wrong. The end result of all of this, for lack of a better word, love, is that I’ve changed.
I’m kinder. I’ve become more open and more generous. I’m doing my best to learn all that I can about Leather and all that it encompasses so that I can be informative as well. While this isn’t huge, or monumental, it changed my life. It fundamentally changed me. It gave me the ability to have faith in people again. That is a gift I’ll never be able to put a price on or repay. I can’t even begin to try to explain just how precious that is.
So, to any and all of you wonderful souls that took the time to talk to me, from the bottom of my former jaded little heart, thank you. No, really—THANK YOU. You’ve helped make me a better person. You’ve helped make me a happier person. I adore you all. I am so incredibly lucky to be able to do this. You all truly have, and continue to, inspire and motivate me. I’ll never be able to thank you folks enough, but I’ll never stop trying. I love you, my lovelies. Truly, thank you again.
In Service, Awe, and Admiration,
Autumn
July 2015 Column
My First Contest
I’m supposed to write about my experiences from SELF this year. I don’t think I can do that without giving you all a little bit of back story, first. So, please forgive me if I wax poetic. This is a little bit about how I became who I am.
I’ve never been very brave. I’ve always hid in the shadows. I stayed there for a very long time because that is where I felt safe. I wanted more. I wanted to be noticed. I wanted to figure myself out. I wanted to be around like minded people. I just couldn’t make myself do it. That is where my chosen family came in. They pushed me to work hard, to study, to find myself, and to be who I really was. In fact, one of those individuals I’ve known since I was in the seventh grade.
He was a year behind me. We met because we were both in the school band. We hit it off because we were both geeks. Which, at that particular school, was a bit of a rarity. We ended up transferring to a different school around the same time when the bullies got to be too much. We would take turns picking each other up. He, more than I, made a point of being exactly who he was. We ended up in theater, band, and guard together all because he pushed me to do it. He made it okay for me to be different. He was one of the few people who got me through high school.
When I got to college, things were easier. I wasn’t in a tiny conservative town anymore. I could freely admit to liking female identified individuals. I could wear funky clothes. I could openly discuss and debate any number of issues. It was like a brand new world for me. He was still around. We still picked each other up when life knocked us down. However, we ended up living in different places. We didn’t talk as much as we got a little older. Last year, we reconnected in May because he had moved back for a short period of time, and he was about to move away to Florida with his partner. When we saw each other we caught up. We laughed. We danced. We sang. We drank. Then, he took me to the side. He always did that when he had something he thought I needed to hear. He told me just how proud he was of me. He loved that I had lost some weight, that I was taking care of myself, that I had found a good partner, and that I was well on my way to getting my degree. However, he told me I had to dig deeper. He knew what I was too afraid to confront at that point. He knew that I was gender fluid. He tried to confront me about it. I was hurt, angry, upset, and I ended up leaving the bar without saying goodbye. A month went by and he got engaged. We chatted one other time via Facebook. Then, towards the end of June, he had a brain aneurysm. He died on July 1, 2014.
At his funeral, I saw so many people who were disgusted by him. People who were there just to support his biological family. They were so afraid of going near him just because he was gay. I can’t even tell you how many times that I heard people mumble under their breath about hell, and then turn around and give the family fake platitudes. It made me sick. I hated them for it, but that anger fueled me. I made him, and myself, a promise. I was finally going to be myself. I was going to stop hiding. I was going to tell people what I thought. I was never going to hide in the shadows again.
So, I came out as gender fluid even though I was terrified of losing everyone around me. I stopped lying to myself about my weight, and I got serious about getting healthy. I stopped daydreaming about going out for a title, and I started working on running for one. Even though I was terrified and even though I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry every time I came off the stage--I did it. Not only did I compete, I actually won. I became the first South East Person of Leather. I couldn’t have done it without my friend pushing me to always be myself, and I will be forever grateful to him for that. However, he wasn’t the only person to have a hand in helping to shape me.
There are several other people who were involved in helping me win this title. I owe a great debt of thanks to the SELF board for putting SELF together. Without their endless hours of love and devotion there wouldn’t be a convention for anyone to go. I’d also like to thank my judges. Learning about them, striving for excellence, and having them push me as hard as possible to see if I was worthy of holding a title absolutely changed my life. To thank them for making me see that I am strong enough to hold this title will never be enough. Nevertheless, those inspiring individuals have my thanks. I’d also like to thank my incredible partner, who helped me learn metal work and also helped me design my portable spanking bench. This amazing man has also found a way to deal with, and handle, my own special brand of crazy. For that, I can never thank him enough. (I love you, Kermit. : P) I owe my sanity to my den crew. You have my gratitude and my respect. I don’t know how you put up with me and my nerves during the contest. I HAVE to thank the entire title class of 2015 along with all of the handlers. You all were unbelievably kind, generous, loving, caring, and wonderful. I am honored to be one of you, and I cannot thank you all enough for the mutual support and respect. You all are without a doubt some of the best people I have ever encountered. I can never fully express my gratitude to the incredible Luna. Without the beauty, style, and grace of this woman I would never have gotten through the competition. I must also thank my very best friend. We are always there for each other, and the Thursday that SELF started she ended up having to go through emergency surgery. I called to tell her I was on my way to the hospital, and she yelled at me. She knew how hard I had worked, and she made me go to SELF to compete. She will forever have my love, admiration, trust, and endless thanks. I love you Lace Face. The last individual I’d like to thank is my mentor. This powerhouse of a woman is without the wisest, kindest, most intelligent, caring, informed, endearing, wonderful, and supportive person I’ve ever encountered. Without this woman I would never have been able to fully explore who I am, start my leather journey, or even be a fraction of the person I am today. A thank you will never be enough. A life time of thanks will never be enough. I am, however, eternally grateful. (You’re amazing, ma’am.) The very last, but certainly not the least, is all of you. Thank you for your encouragement, support, and advice. It was invaluable. I adore all of you, and I honestly could not have continued to keep getting back on that stage without it.
I learned a lot about myself running for a title this year. I found strength, courage, conviction, and wisdom that I didn’t know I had. I could not have done it without everyone mentioned. I wouldn’t be who I am without everyone I mentioned. You all have my limitless love and gratitude. To repay that kindness—I promise to give my all to represent the South East Region to the very best of my ability. After all, you folks picked me as your South East Person of Leather. I’m going to do my level best to make you all proud.