Things That Are Completely Normal at My Job and Insane Anywhere Else

There are a lot of jobs where people say, “You would not believe what happened at work today.” Adult content creation is one of the few industries where I genuinely believe them.

After you have worked in this industry long enough, your definition of normal becomes completely warped. Things that would require a full explanation in almost any other workplace barely register as unusual anymore. There are moments when I stop, look at what I am doing, and think, Imagine trying to explain this to someone with an office job.

So, in honour of all the wonderfully bizarre things that somehow became completely ordinary, here are some things that are perfectly normal at my job and absolutely insane almost anywhere else.

Getting Fully Ready for Work From the Waist Up

There are mornings where I am wearing full makeup, curled hair, lashes, jewelry, a cute top and absolutely nothing that resembles a sensible outfit below the camera frame.

And somehow, I am ready for work. In most professions, forgetting pants would be a significant problem. For me, it may actually save time. There is an entire science to what is visible on camera. You can have a gorgeous setup, perfect lighting and immaculate makeup while there is a laundry basket three feet outside the frame and a pair of slippers sitting underneath you. The camera sees what the camera needs to see.

Everything else is between me and God.

I will say during 2020 this was a lot more acceptable for other jobs lol especially with the zoom calls and everyone working from home from the pandemic.

Being High At Work

In most workplaces, smoking weed during your shift would be a fairly significant HR issue.

When you work for yourself from home, the rules are a little different. There is something hilarious about taking a smoke break, coming back inside, putting on lingerie, checking your sales and answering messages like this is an entirely normal sequence of professional events. Sometimes it helps me relax before a stream or settle into the right headspace for filming, sometimes I'm a little too high on cam and think, damn, there are a lot of people looking at me right now lol, and I have to hop off for a little bit. Somewhere, someone is sitting in a fluorescent office hoping their manager does not notice they took an extra seven minutes at lunch. Meanwhile, I am high in my underwear deciding which thumbnail has the best boobs. Different industries. 😂

Having a Work Drawer That Would Horrify an HR Department

Most people have a desk drawer with pens, sticky notes, gum and maybe an emergency granola bar. Adult creators have drawers that require context. Lingerie. Chargers. Lubricant. Toys. Tape. Batteries. Stockings. Makeup. Props. Cleaning supplies. Random costume pieces.

Sometimes all in the same drawer. You eventually stop thinking anything of it.

You are just looking for the charger. Then someone who does not work in the industry walks into the room and suddenly you remember that your completely ordinary storage system looks like evidence from an extremely confusing crime scene. Actually this one reminds me of the time my curious mom opened the door to my office wardrobe and was flabbergasted at my shelf of dildos ahahaha She was like "AHHHH, I'm sorry!" and shut it! She said "I know, and expected you had toys and stuff. I just didn't think they'd be right there in my face" hahahahah So funny!

Discussing Your Butt/Boobs/Belly Like It Is a Business Asset

Imagine sitting in a corporate meeting and hearing, “The butt content performed really well this quarter.” Perfectly normal sentence here. Adult creators regularly have incredibly detached business conversations about extremely intimate parts of themselves.

You start thinking in analytics. This angle performs better. That outfit converted well.

People really liked this particular set. This fetish has a loyal audience.

Suddenly something that would normally feel incredibly personal becomes data.

There is something almost hilarious about opening your sales dashboard and realizing that apparently your boobs had an excellent Tuesday.

Congratulations to them.

Flirting With CoWorkers & Customers

Outside of maybe bartending, this is such a big NO NO. Chemistry, flirting and being Playful flirting with another creator during a collab? Normal. Flirting with a customer because that is part of the fantasy they are paying for? Also normal. Sometimes I think about how bizarre that would sound in almost any other profession. Imagine your boss saying, “Great work today. Maybe flirt with the clients a little more tomorrow.” Here, that is not necessarily misconduct. It might just be good customer service.

Having Regular Customers Who Know Extremely Specific Things About You

People outside the industry sometimes imagine adult content as anonymous strangers buying pictures. Sometimes it is. But longtime fans can know surprisingly specific pieces of your life. Your favourite colour. Your pets. Your birthday. Your favourite television show. What kind of coffee you drink. That you changed your hair. That you mentioned six months ago that you were repainting your kitchen. That you have a freckle on your left butt cheek. Then you will realize you know oddly specific things about them too. They have been buying your content for years. You know about their job. Their divorce. Their dog. Their vacation. Their weird boss. It creates this unusual space where someone can simultaneously be a customer, a familiar username and a person you have spoken to hundreds of times.

Getting Complimented on Something You Were Insecure About Five Minutes Ago

Adult content has a very funny way of exposing how subjective attraction really is.

The thing you almost edited out? Someone loves it. The outfit you were not sure about?

Someone thinks it is the hottest thing you have ever worn. The body part you spent years feeling insecure about? There may be an entire category of people actively searching for exactly that. That does not magically erase insecurity, obviously. But working in this industry for a long time can make you realize just how ridiculous universal beauty standards really are. There is no single version of sexy. The internet has made that abundantly clear. It has often been one of my favorite parts of this job. Logging online or posting to my story and just receiving a flood of compliments, it's such a confidence booster! I can confidently tell my friends who are feeling insecure "Girl, men do NOT give a fuck about that".

Taking Fifty Photos to Post One

This is probably relatable to anyone who works in social media, but adult creators take it to another level. There will be fifty nearly identical photos. One has better hair. One has better boobs. One has a better face. One has perfect lighting but your hand looks weird. One would have been perfect except there is something bizarre in the background. Then somehow photo number thirty seven wins... and nobody looking at it will ever know the emotional journey required to select it. They just double tap and continue with their lives. Growing up, photoshoots/photography and modeling were a hobby of mine, so it was not new to me lol. My computer has always been filled with thousands of photos that will never see the light of day.

Buying Extremely Strange Things and Calling Them Business Expenses

There are purchases that make perfect sense to another adult creator and absolutely no sense to an accountant without context. Costumes. Dildos. Shoes. Props. Furniture because it will look good in the background. A ridiculous outfit you will wear exactly once because somebody requested it. Storage drives containing enough explicit material to destroy several family Christmases. Everything becomes a potential production expense. You start walking through stores thinking, "Could I make content with this?" Which is a dangerous way to shop.

Being Both the Talent and Literally Everyone Else

One of the strangest things about independent adult content creation is how many jobs you are actually doing.

You are the performer.

You are also the photographer.

The camera operator.

The editor.

The marketer.

The social media manager.

The customer service department.

The scheduler.

The accountant.

The stylist.

The set designer.

The sales department.

The tech support person.

The person cleaning everything afterward. Although I do trade this one off to Erik a lot.

Occasionally you are also the person crawling around the floor looking for a missing tripod screw while wearing lingerie. Very glamorous.

Realizing This Somehow Became Normal

That might be the funniest part. Eventually none of this feels particularly strange.

You stop questioning why there are three ring lights in your bedroom. You stop thinking twice about conversations that would make another person turn bright red. You stop being surprised when your workday involves editing a video, answering messages, changing outfits, discussing taxes and searching your house for a very specific pair of underwear.

It is just Tuesday. The other day I lost my cumming dildo squirting contraption, and I thought... "this is such a specific issue only my peers will understand."

Like any job, once you have done it long enough, the unusual parts become ordinary.

The adult industry definitely has its challenges, but it is also funny, creative, unpredictable and occasionally completely absurd.

I cannot imagine every job gives you moments where you suddenly look around and think:

This would be absolutely impossible to explain at a normal office.

And maybe that is part of the fun.