Each month, industry news media organization XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry's most influential female executives.
As the Content Manager for Cams.com, Jackie Backman is a pro in everything related to putting on a good live show — and she is eager to share this knowledge as part of her daily duties and in her monthly articles in XBIZ Cam World.
For me, success is living up to my potential and leaving a legacy my daughter and future grandchildren can be proud of.
From her passion for her profession to her penchant for parenting, Jackie is a well-rounded industry insider that serves as an inspiration to her peers.
XBIZ caught up with Jackie to learn more about her career path and her hopes for the future. Here’s what she had to say:
XBIZ: What did you do before joining the adult industry and why did you choose this career path?
Backman: I joined the industry right out of college! I majored in journalism at San Francisco State University with an emphasis in magazine writing. I was also taking human sexuality classes, which I found so interesting I immediately started writing sexual health pieces for the on-campus magazine. After graduation, I was hoping to find a job that combined my love of writing and my interest in human sexuality, but the adult industry never crossed my mind. It wasn’t until I took a job as a junior copywriter at Cams’ parent company FriendFinder Networks that I started to realize the industry might be exactly what I was looking for.
XBIZ: What attracted you to become part of the Cams.com team and how has your role for the company evolved?
Backman: I’ve been with the company since 2006 and initially worked as a copywriter for our casual dating and digital media silos. That position allowed me to try a little bit of everything and learn different aspects of the business from casual dating to interactive video. About five or six years ago I started to work more closely with the model team and that allowed me to expand my role within the company and build upon my skill set.
I’m still the head copywriter, but I also manage several of our social media accounts, work on press releases, and work directly with the talent which has been a lot of fun. The best part is that now I also get to write magazine articles on behalf of the company. I’m a journalist at heart, so it makes me very happy to see my name in print; especially when I get to represent a company that has been so good to me over the last 13 years!
XBIZ: You’ve written insightful stories covering a variety of talent-targeted topics for XBIZ, ranging from makeup to social media, cam room construction to leveraging YouTube for promotion, and more. Discuss how talent can best incorporate such broad experiences into their work?
Backman: A broad level of experience is essential when working with top talent because so much goes into being a successful cam model. They have to be business people, costume designers, makeup artists, merchandising experts, social media managers and more. You need someone with experience in all these avenues to guide models through the business and help them build their brands. What’s interesting is that I have never been a cam model, but I was a beauty YouTuber which has a lot of similarities when you consider that you are building a brand that is based on engaging with the public. That has helped me relate to the models and offer them some guidance when they need it.
XBIZ: One story in particular, “Encouraging Community Amidst Competition,” underscored the value of “co-opetition” between diverse and often strong personalities in the search for success. In what ways can stakeholders support unity amidst outside discrimination?
Backman: It is absolutely vital for people to support each other in this business because the mainstream world can be very unforgiving. It’s interesting because I am so proud of what I do, yet when outsiders question me, I still feel the need to explain myself if they don’t approve. It can get very uncomfortable at times so we must lift each other up and realize we are all on the same team.
One of the things I love most about this industry is that there are so many brilliant people to learn from. Once you start learning from others instead of seeing them as a threat you can grow both personally and professionally. I learned this lesson very early on in my career when a new copywriter by the name of Sarah Klein came to work at FFN. She was so talented that she was immediately promoted to management and suddenly I found myself reporting to the “new girl.”
I remember feeling threatened at first until she sat me down one day and talked to me about how we could combine our talents to make our team even stronger. After that, I did everything I could to learn from her and within a few months, I was promoted because I had new skills I would not have learned otherwise. Suddenly this person who I once saw as a threat became my mentor and eventually one of my best friends. I honestly don’t think I would be where I am today without her guidance and friendship.
XBIZ: A live cam company such as Cams.com must balance both the needs of members as well as performers, and requires strong relationship-building skills. How do you develop the relationships you need in your role at Cams.com?
Backman: Social media has been an invaluable tool when it comes to building relationships with models, studios and members. It gives me a way to constantly stay in touch, keep people informed and develop a great rapport. This applies to both models and fans because one would not exist without the other. For a company to succeed, you need talented models who are excited to perform and fans who are willing to spend their hard-earned money on the performers they love.
XBIZ: What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in your work and the best score you’ve made in this industry?
Backman: My biggest challenge was when the Cams.com Instagram account was deactivated. I had been working on it for a while and had put a lot of effort into building our following organically. Our follower count was growing fast; and then one day, I logged in to make my daily posts and there was a notification that our account had been deactivated for violating community guidelines. I don’t think I’ve ever been that upset at the office because I had worked so hard to make sure we were playing by the rules.
It’s frustrating how much this type of discrimination affects companies and performers within the industry. Especially when you see so many mainstream influencers posting so much risqué content and getting verified instead of deactivated. I made this argument when I tried to get our account reinstated but it fell on deaf ears so I was forced to start over from square one. It was really hard for me to accept the “L” on that one, but I believe you’re winning as long as you don’t give up. It’s taken some time, but our new account is slowly picking up steam once again.
The best score I’ve made in this industry is my monthly column for XBIZ. I had been dying for a chance to write for the magazine and as luck would have it, a longtime coworker and dear friend was writing the Cams.com column. When he left Cams to start his own company, he recommended me to take over, and boy did I jump at the chance! It was always my dream to write a column for a major publication and to have that happen monthly is so exciting I can barely even put it into words.
XBIZ: Is there anything else on your plate, business-wise, at Cams.com or elsewhere?
Backman: I do a lot of freelance writing and I am working on getting my beauty YouTube channel off the ground again. My following is small, so it’s more of a hobby for me, but it’s one that I am truly passionate about as anyone who has read my column probably already knows. It’s interesting, because when I started my channel on YouTube in 2009, I had no idea that what I was doing would one day help my career in the camming industry.
XBIZ: What does a typical workday look like?
Backman: Had I been asked this question a month ago, the answer would have been so different from what it is now. Normally, I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and it’s full steam ahead, with a regular day looking more like a blur of pre-K pick-up and drop off, meetings and Starbucks-fueled writing sessions.
Things are looking a lot different these days, because I live in Silicon Valley, which is one of the areas hardest hit by COVID-19. Our office shut down pretty early on, as well as all schools in the area, so I’ve had to adapt to a new routine.
Now, I wake up around 6:30 a.m. to do my hair and makeup. It sounds silly, because I’m not leaving the house, but keeping my same morning routine helps me fight the temptation to crawl back into bed. Once I’m glammed up (aside from the Christmas PJ pants I’m usually still wearing), I make a cup of peppermint tea and sit at my desk to start my day. I put my headphones on and throw on some R&B classics (think Earth, Wind and Fire; Billy Ocean; and Tower of Power) or some Frank Sinatra, and I get right down to business. I start making my to-do list for the day which is an essential part of what helps me get things done on time. I’ll often have multiple things due for various departments on the same day, so it helps to map out my priorities.
After that, I usually plan out my social media posts by looking to see what hashtags are trending and checking news sites to see if there is anything we can piggyback off of. That’s usually when my five-year-old wakes up, so I take a quick break to get her ready, make her breakfast, and get her started on her schoolwork.
After that, I settle in and spend the rest of the day handling copy assignments, editing contractor submissions, having video meetings, and taking on whatever else comes down the pipeline. That can mean anything from member newsletters and model contests to urgent press releases. Each day is different, but it always keeps me on my toes, which I thrive on.
XBIZ: What does a day off look like — or is it a matter of all work and no play?
Backman: My days off consist of taking my five-year-old to her dance classes (which we’re doing online for the time being), as well as working on some personal writing projects. I’ve been working on a novel since college and keep finding excuses not to finish it, so I’ve set a goal to finish it this year. My lifelong dream is to write a New York Times bestseller and I think it’s time to make that happen!
XBIZ: How do you stay motivated and what do you define as “achieving success” in your life?
Backman: The biggest driving force in my life has always been my mom. Knowing how hard she worked to give me all the opportunities I had pushes me to work harder every day. She and I have been through some tragic events together, and every time I felt like they would derail me she was there to keep me on track.
My dad was killed in a car accident the semester I was supposed to transfer from junior college to university and I immediately thought there was no way I could bounce back. She refused to let me settle for less than I was capable of and the very next year I was at SF State working on my bachelor’s.
The same thing happened a few years later when we lost my little brother. I was crushed and wanted to give up, but there she was to make sure I didn’t and I am so grateful for that because look where I am now.
For me, success is living up to my potential and leaving a legacy my daughter and future grandchildren can be proud of. If they can look at me one day and say, “Wow, grandma, you’ve done so many amazing things with your life,” and feel inspired by that, then I will know I succeeded.
XBIZ: What does 2020 hold for your work at Cams.com and your personal life beyond?
Backman: When 2020 started, I had an entire plan mapped out, then the world was flipped upside down and everything changed. Though I’ve had to amend the plans a bit, the overall goals remain the same. I want to continue helping Cams.com succeed whether I’m working from the office or my living room. I also want to keep writing engaging pieces for XBIZ that I am proud to have my name on. I want to keep my family safe and provide stability in this otherwise chaotic world. And most importantly, I want to sit back with my daughter, Sarah (yup, named after my mentor!) and my longtime partner at the end of the year, and say, “Wow, that was one hell of a ride, but we made it!”
