Isla Moon learned the value of ambition and hard work from her mother, a strong woman who started and ran multiple businesses while raising Moon and her siblings by herself. Moon says her mother never stopped working to provide for and take care of them, a task made even harder by her younger brother’s numerous health issues.
Having seen firsthand the struggles that come with raising a family while worrying about money, Moon wanted to make sure that she did not run into the same issues. So she studied very hard in school and got into a top university, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience.
It wasn’t too long after I started creating content that I started niching down on outdoor content.
While working in a lab and weighing an offer from a PhD program, however, it became clear to her that becoming a researcher and perhaps a psychologist was not going to make her feel financially secure.
She had spent a lot of time on TikTok just for fun, and heard people talk about OnlyFans as a side hustle to make some extra money. After some deliberation, she decided to give it a try.
Leveraging promotional efforts on TikTok to drive traffic, Moon managed to turn that side hustle into a lucrative business, eventually saying goodbye to her old life and diving into this new realm — over which she now reigns as 2024 XBIZ Female Premium Social Media Star of the Year, with more than 2 million fans. As this month’s featured creator, she opens up about her career and her goals.
XBIZ: How have you evolved, personally and professionally, since entering the industry?
MOON: I’ve learned a lot, faced a lot of challenges and had to grow a lot in many different ways. I had to learn how to do everything myself, depend on my own skills and lean into my competitive advantages. I’ve since built a team that assists me with posting and editing my social media content. But starting off, I faced an incredibly steep learning curve. People think that you just snap a couple of pics and film a quick video here and there, and that’s all there is to it. But to really be successful, you have to become a full-on production machine.
I’ve also grown a lot in terms of how I see myself. I’ve never been a skinny person, and at times I have struggled a lot with my body image. It was challenging at first, but over time I started to feel more and more empowered and good about myself and my body to the point that promoting body positivity became a part of my brand and identity. I wanted to show other women who may be criticizing their own appearances that you don’t need to have a “traditionally perfect” body or a certain look to be successful. A lot of fans are looking for that girl-next-door vibe.
XBIZ: What kind of content sells the best for you, and which platforms are you most active on?
MOON: I have a few OnlyFans pages and a Fansly account, but my main OnlyFans page is where I try to lead potential fans. How well any given platform performs is not always guaranteed, though. It’s ever-changing, so you need to adapt where you’re posting all the time and stay ahead of the curve to maximize the conversion of social media views to a paid platform like OnlyFans. Ninety percent of my job is self-promotion, whether that’s posting on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram or any other social media platform.
In terms of the type of adult content I create, I try to post a variety of videos and I love collaborating with others, but my main focus is outdoor content. This is what ties all my content together and is a recurring theme on my pages. My bestselling videos on OnlyFans are my fishing and adventure adult videos, which is great because those are my favorite to produce.
XBIZ: How would you describe your brand, as far as your overall vibe, style and personality?
MOON: I would describe my brand as focused on outdoor adventure. It wasn’t too long after I started creating content that I started niching down on outdoor content. I’ve always been a sporty person who loves fishing, hiking, canoeing, skiing and other kinds of outdoor sports. So tailoring my content toward something that I naturally love doing was the perfect fit.
Having to produce content all the time has given me the chance to try new activities and travel to places I might not have necessarily considered in the past. It also means I have hilarious stories to share from my experiences filming adult content — for example, while on a snowmobile in sub-zero weather!
XBIZ: What is a typical shoot day like for you, and what kind of hardware and software do you use to produce content?
MOON: It depends on what kind of content I’m making. It’s pretty rare that I’ll devote a whole day to filming adult content. I usually wake up very early and start the day off with posting and general admin work before getting ready for either a TikTok session, filming part of a YouTube video or filming adult content. If I’m collaborating, we will try to cram in multiple scenes every day, which can be really fun but a lot of work. At night, I love doing livestreams on my OnlyFans pages as a fun way to interact with my fans.
In terms of gear, a phone is just the easiest for most adult videos. I film a lot of POV content with my film partner, Andrew, so that’s usually best. For my outdoor adventure videos, I have a pretty big selection of camera equipment, like drones and gimbals, but filming with a logarithmic camera setting on the Sony A7s III is my favorite for this type of content. I occasionally film in RAW with my Blackmagic 6K camera if I want a shot to have a specific cinematic feel.
XBIZ: How do you generally approach marketing yourself and your content on social media?
MOON: Social media is a huge part of what I do, and my TikTok content is probably what I’m most known for. That’s generally what people recognize me from when I'm out and about.
The most important thing for me is being genuine. I have found that being myself in my content — as opposed to playing a role or online character — is the easiest. This is true in terms of production, too. I post the type of content I like but tailor it to what’s trending at the moment.
I think most creators would agree that filming adult content is actually the easier side of the job. Successfully promoting yourself on social media, and finding what platforms and strategies work best for you, is the real challenge.
XBIZ: Discuss your work-life balance, especially considering the interactivity fans demand.
MOON: There are a lot of upsides to this job, and I really love what I do. The downside of being your own boss and running your own business is that you feel full responsibility for it. It’s hard for me to stop working at the end of the day because there’s always something more I could be doing to grow my projects. That’s also just part of my personality, so it’s hard to turn it off and take a break. I’ll usually get close to burnout before I actually take a few days off, so this is something I’m working on.
XBIZ: What was it like being named Female Premium Social Media Star of the Year at the 2024 XBIZ Creator Awards?
MOON: I really enjoyed the whole experience of the convention and the awards show. I honestly can’t believe I won! I wasn’t expecting it, so it was a huge surprise. I was watching the nominees being called out and was just happy to see the short clip I submitted being played. But when I was called up on stage, it felt like a dream. I felt heard and recognized for all the hard work I had put into my craft. I really felt appreciated. It was a great experience seeing all my fellow creators alongside me being recognized for all their hard work and creativity too.
XBIZ: Discuss your goals for the upcoming year.
MOON: I plan to keep exploring my strengths and delve into some longer-form safe-for-work content. I want to keep going on my outdoor adventures and experiencing new places and new things. I also want to keep working hard on my OnlyFans page in order for it to be even more successful than it is now and become a place where fans know they’re always going to get quality content and immersive experiences. It’s also always fun to meet new friends and get the most out of what this industry is all about, so you will find me attending more events, networking in the industry and making deeper connections in the creator economy. Here’s to a great rest of the year!
