About | Laura Zam

My Story

I believe we all have a right to feel good, physically.

My mother was a Holocaust survivor who lived through two concentration camps (including Auschwitz), two Nazi ghettos, and an infamous death march that started in Poland and ended hundreds of miles away in Germany. Most of her family—including parents and three siblings—were murdered.

When I was born there was great hope placed in my ability to live in a full way, as if this one big life might provide a vehicle for so relatives that lost their own lives. You could say every one of my breaths—from my first at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Hospital to the one I’m currently taking at my Washington, DC desk (actually a chaise cause, you know, pleasure) — is a F*ck You to Hitler.

But I like to flip this fury at The Furor around. Every day I try to honor the gift of life I’ve been given. I take this very seriously. Though I almost always go for a cheap laugh.

My mom after the war

Writer & Wellness Trainer

I never wanted to be a writer. My highest childhood aspiration was to be a check-out girl in the supermarket. But I changed my mind when I discovered That Girl, starring Marlo Thomas. I was going to be a financially unstable, unmarried actress, living in a run-down apartment in Manhattan. That’s exactly the life I created right after getting my B.A. in Theatre from Brooklyn College.

However, a few years later, while walking down the street, a monologue, fully formed, popped in my head.

Short monologues turned into full-length one-person pieces in New York and then...

After spending several years creating theater in Europe, I returned to the U.S. for a Creative Writing Fellowship at Brown University.

After Brown, I spent a decade touring several of my one-person plays around the U.S., including performances at universities, galleries, libraries, conferences, dive bars, and Off-Broadway.

All these plays dealt with health because during these theater years, I had dual career in wellness: corporate wellness trainer (specializing in resilience), trauma-recovery expert, yoga instructor. As the child of Holocaut survivor, yeah, I was interested in how people heal.

Author & Sexologist

Growing up, I had a very loving family but I also happened to live on a block shared by two pedophiles. (Yup: two pedophiles on one block!) I dealt with this the best I could, and even thought I'd beat this trauma (thanks, therapy) until I got married in my forties and realized much more healing needed to be done. In short: I had a lot of bedroom issues. Like, a lot.

I didn't know where to start my healing though, and there was so much shame...So I turned to art, creating a one-person play that mapped out a healing journey I might go on, and did! This play MARRIED SEX, was invited into the New York International Fringe Festival and was performed Off-Broadway. I began publishing essays and articles about my journey, with pieces published in The New York Times, Salon, and other publications. Eventually, I was offered a book deal--a chance to turn my play into a memoir! THE PLEASURE PLAN was published in 2020 an became an Amazon bestseller.

While working on my book, however, I saw that it wasn't just me that found it difficult to get good information about sexual healing. I went through a rigorous training program to become an Certified Sexuality Educator, accredited by AASECT, and began working with clients as a Sexual Solutions Coach; Online Educator; and Campus Speaker, creating something called Campus Consent 2.0.

Everyday Pleasure at Work, and Everywhere

Life throws curve balls though. When my husband was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, I kept myself sane using my skills as a wellness professional. But what I found most helpful was adapting what I knew about pleasure/dopamine from sexology. Science backs me up. It turns out pleasure is the key to resilience. See studies here. And here.

I began focusing on pleasure-as-wellness in my work as a resilience speaker and trainer. I founded the Pleasure Literacy movement.

I believe we all have a right to feel good. In our bodies and in our lives. Aren't we all living a big life for others who didn't have that chance?

Also...

When we fill ourselves up with good feelings, it naturally flows out of us as acts of kindness. Kindness is the opposite of the cruelty my family suffered, the cruelty most everyone's family has endured, at some point in history.

I believe we all can create this kinder world, together.

I'd always been interested in wellness. During all my years in the theater, I supported myself with a dual career in wellness: corporate wellness trainer (with a speciality in resilience), trauma-recovery workshops, and years working as a yoga/meditation teacher

When my husband was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, I used my wellness training to manage this hard curve ball, but it was an adaptation of my pleasure knowledge I found helpful! Science backs me up: it turns out pleasure is the key to resilience.

I am not the only person who knows hard curve balls.

Here's what I believe

No matter what life throws at us, we have a right to feel good--in our bodies and in our lives.

When people fill themselves with good feelings, they naturally overflow. They overflow in acts of kindness.

Helping people feel good is a way to create a kinder world.

Let's create that together.