There are things that we find out about ourselves when we’re young, and those things help us with the way we see life and approach the difficulties we encounter. But what I know is that we’re always learning and sometimes, the lessons we learn when we’re older tend to teach us more about ourselves than the ones that we get when we’re young.
You see, when you’re young and grow up in Romania, you have an idea of what you want to become. Some of us want to be doctors, others want to be lawyers and so on and so on. Never will you hear a young boy or girl say, “I want to become the best cam model and have my body exposed to people that pay me for my time.”
If I had started camming alone and not with a studio, I would probably still be trying to fix the colors of the camera so that they make me look more bronzed, haha.
Well, as life goes, we encounter different situations that change us, that lead us to become who we are.
I was always a good kid. I learned in school, loved sports and took good care of myself and my body. So at the age of 20, I became a fitness instructor in a gym in Bucharest. My dedication and hard work payed off and so I had a lot of people interested in working with me, offering me jobs and so on.
I created a nice group of friends from the gym I worked in, and some of them told me that I look so good that I can be a cam model. First, I brushed off the idea as I thought it was silly and my idea about cam modeling, especially for men, was something really weird. And, given the social perception and preconceptions about it, it was something I wasn’t so eager to do.
Somehow, the thought lingered in my mind and I decided to look more into it.
I believe that a good brand and company has nothing to hide, so after I did a lot of research about it, Studio 20 came up a million times. Yes, I know they have a powerful marketing strategy, as I later found out by working with them, but they were also the only one that made me feel safe as far as this job goes. I liked the payment and overall vibe they gave me about the work I was supposed to do. I consider that these are key factors you need to take into account when choosing to work with someone.
Fast forward a year-and-a-half from that moment, and now here I am, Ethan Joy, the winner of the 2018 XBIZ Male Cam Model of the Year trophy.
My start was really interesting, as I didn’t know anything about the cam industry nor have I ever been introduced to it before actually starting to work as a model. I remember my first day being strange as I was looking blankly into the monitor and the camera and trying to keep up with what everyone was texting on the live chat. People were saying, “You look like you’re sleepy,” but my eyes were watery from how close I used to get to the screen and try to reply to everyone.
Months have passed and I got better and better. I started building a brand together with the marketing team from Studio 20 Men, building my own website and posting on social media.
There are so many things that people starting in this industry don’t take into consideration, like the people that you work with, the trainers, the support that you need both for technical stuff and personal things. If I had started camming alone and not with a studio, I would probably still be trying to fix the colors of the camera so that they make me look more bronzed, haha.
So that being said, I strongly believe that we don’t know what we want to be when we’re young, but it’s a good thing to have an open heart, an open mind and to always do your research before committing to a certain company or, in my case, a cam studio.
