How did you get into the business?
I started my first porn website in 1995 selling adult DVDs, CDs and laser discs (yes, I realize that shows my age) to the public. I sold a total of two laser discs that first year before migrating my business to be completely Net based. In 1996 I started my first adult membership sites and was the first hardcore cartoon membership site on the Net. I grew from there to consulting and have worked in just about every area that is the adult net: running affiliate programs, membership sites, free sites, paysites, live cam sites, VOD sites, processing sites, traffic brokering and pushing my own traffic promoting other adult affiliate programs.
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether the attitude is positive or negative.
What prepared you for what you are doing now?
Early in my online career, I fell into a consulting role helping company’s release and run their adult sites and affiliate programs. I trained the customer service staff of Epoch/Paycom the first year they were in business. I started and ran Hustler.com, websites and their first affiliate program the first three years they were in business online, and I trained the owners of National A-1 (Hot Movies) how to run adult sites and affiliate programs the first year they were in business online to name a few. I have assisted every company I’ve worked with along the way not only with the basics of their websites, affiliate programs and the adult Net in general, but also establishing merchant accounts and setting them up with third party processing, which ever made the most sense for that company’s needs. I have 16 years experience running high risk adult websites and securing processing both for my own company as well as for the clients I’ve worked with. I choose to work with iProcessing.com because I firmly believe they are the best processing partner a company can have. iProcessing has a strong focus on domestic accounts and has secured great relationships with unique banks that most people cannot get in to. I have worked with iProcessing in sales and marketing since 2009; we share the same values of complete customer focus and utmost integrity.
What do you see as the challenges of working in the adult online business? How do you overcome them?
This question always cracks me up. Back in the day, there was an ongoing debate about is it advantageous or detrimental to be a woman running online adult sites. My answer is always the same ... it’s an advantage. Honestly, how could it not be? The only challenge for female or male owned companies is to keep up with the speed of online business, to constantly be learning and constantly be growing. The rate at which offline business moves in a year is what we accomplish online in one month. The biggest trick to longevity online is to never think you know it all. As soon as you think you do, you may as well get out because it’s all going to change tomorrow. To me, this is the biggest challenge of having an online business, male or female, adult or mainstream no matter, you’ve got to always be willing to learn and grow.
Does your work life affect your personal life?
It took me about seven years to find that healthy balance between work and family. The excitement of starting up and running successful sites and programs always pulled me in and held my attention —the problem was that I loved the stats, conversion ratios and sales so much that I worked too many hours a day in the early days. As my children got older, I realized that they needed my attention more than my computer did, so I took a step back, re-evaluated and got my priorities straight. Now 16 years later, I feel very blessed to have a successful online career doing what I love while simultaneously raising my amazing children. My children also love that my main focus is iProcessing.com, of course, they love the name because of iCarly (silly I know, but true!).
Do you have a personal motto or saying that you live by?
There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether the attitude is positive or negative.
What career accomplishment are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of my business reputation. The saying is true that you are only as good as your reputation. I have worked full time in the online adult industry for 16 years and have never once burned a bridge. Other than my integrity, my biggest accomplishment is that I have helped many companies and many people be successful online. If a company needs a new or secondary domestic merchant account, they can trust that we at iProcessing will exceed their expectations. Contact any one of us for a free competitive comparison and let us show you how we can help you make more money.
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.