Gabrielle Christ knows what it means to work hard — and more importantly, what it means to work smart. That mindset has shaped her path from marketing copywriter to content creator to co-founder and COO of Unnecessary.ai, an AI startup designed to help adult creators streamline their workflow and grow their income.
When we connect over video chat, she’s sipping English breakfast tea in a hoodie, fresh from a sugaring appointment and laughing about her chaotic week.
If you’re building for creators, you need creators at the helm. You need to understand the vulnerability of being naked on camera.
“I look like such a mess today!” she says, but her energy is composed, capable and self-assured. She says she’s still in shock over being named WIA’s Woman of the Month.
“It feels like I’m just now getting started, even though I’ve been around forever,” she admits.
“Forever” may be a slight exaggeration, but Christ did get her start in marketing when she was just 20. After the Running Start program helped her earn college credit while still in high school, she completed an associate’s degree and landed a copywriting job at a Seattle agency. That quickly snowballed into account management, branding, SEO and cannabis industry integration.
“It was kind of a Peggy Olson start,” she says. “They hired me to write copy, and then I started managing big accounts. I was part of this celebrity brand rollout when weed became legal in Washington state.”
Getting Creative
At the same time, she began modeling on the side to make ends meet.
“I was managing a hot yoga studio and doing agency work, but it still wasn’t enough,” Christ recalls. “Modeling started as a side hustle, and then I just kept leaning into it.”
She started out as a glamour and bikini model, but eventually shifted to artistic nude work, building her own photo sets and hosting subscription sites before OnlyFans even existed. Then, as OnlyFans gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, Christ jumped in headfirst, working with a range of adult photographers to bring her vision to life.
“I loved every minute of it,” she says. “It was so fun and such a good creative outlet.”
She also appeared on “Vitali Uncensored,” a 2020 reality series from popular YouTuber Vitaly Zdorovetskiy that documented the behind-the-scenes lives of creators in the adult space.
“That was my first experience being on film in a more traditional adult setting,” says Christ. “There were multiple camera angles, a professional camera crew, audio, a makeup artist — we had a formal set. It was definitely a very wild experience, but it was a lot of fun.”
From there, things picked up fast.
“My Instagram following tripled,” she says. “I got a lot of opportunities and people wanted to collaborate. I started working with others who were growing and also with people who were way bigger than me.”
Through the pandemic, Christ continued building her audience on OnlyFans, despite the challenges her independence posed.
“As an individual creator who wasn’t signed to an agency, had no desire to be signed to an agency and wasn’t working in mainstream, it was really hard to consistently collaborate with people,” she confides. “But being hands-on in the trenches as a creator definitely gave me the best basis for this business.”
‘What would you build if you could?’
By her late 20s, Christ had taken on a corporate job as a regional ecommerce director for a luxury automotive brand.
“I was still doing OnlyFans, but I was also working 80 to 90 hours a week in enterprise sales,” she remembers. “I was coaching teams, managing strategy — it was a lot.”
Eventually, burnout crept in. That’s when a friend from the tech world reached out.
“He said, ‘You’ve been talking about AI. You know this creator space. What would you build if you could?’” she recalls. “And I was like, ‘Give me a weekend. I’ll map it out.’”
She quit her job, took on the role of VP of sales for what would become Unnecessary.ai, and within months moved into her current role as COO.
“I run ops, marketing, product direction, all of it,” Christ explains. “It’s the most aligned I’ve ever felt. Like everything I’ve done before was building to this.”
Of course, even with a clear mission and deep experience, some hurdles remain.
“One of the hardest things has been finding a payment processor,” she admits. “We’re building something that’s for everyone — you can produce things that are safe for mainstream social media platforms — it just so happens that you can use it to make adult content too.”
Tech, With Heart
Christ is deeply involved in every layer of development, from marketing to testing and performer outreach. She has also become a visible figure at industry events, attending creator expos, tech panels and award shows with the same enthusiasm she had as a full-time performer.
She is especially passionate about helping creators build long-term financial security.
“I think it’s important to create an avenue for people that’s low-friction, that’s already in the lane they’re running in, and to give them a way to have passive income once they decide they don’t want to shoot as much,” she says. “Would we love it if everyone had these long, amazing careers like some of our MILFs? Sure. But not everyone wants that. So let’s give them options.”
That mission is personal to Christ.
“I’ve known creators who got injured on set,” she shares. “Others who had to step away for health reasons, or pregnancy. This tool gives them a way to keep earning without burning out or recycling content. That’s a game changer.”
Christ also wants to make sure creators have a seat at the table when it comes to developing the tools they use. She believes every adult company should have at least one creator in a leadership role.
“If you’re building for creators, you need creators at the helm,” she says. “You need to understand the vulnerability of being naked on camera. You need to understand what kind of privacy, ethics and security should be involved.”
Making It Count
Christ now splits her time between Los Angeles, Washington and wherever else the business takes her, but she still makes time for things that keep her feeling on top of her game. That could mean going to the gym, hiking in the mountains, doing hot yoga or just walking her dog, Noodle.
“I try to stay super active,” she says. “It keeps me more awake.”
She lights up when talking about a recent trip to visit her best friend in Idaho.
“She has horses, and I got to ride through these beautiful fields,” she marvels. “It was so peaceful. I’m really into equestrian stuff and if I could do more of that, I would.”
Aside from being “10 toes down” working on Unnecessary.ai, Christ’s fall schedule is stacked with family time in San Luis Obispo, plus a trip to Korea planned for November. She’s also eyeing a birthday trek to Machu Picchu.
“My ‘dirty 30’ was a huge party and I went all out,” she reveals. “But this year, I want something more introspective. I want to do a long hike. That’s kind of my birthday tradition now.”
Christ is also deeply social and loves hosting other creators and collaborators.
“If there’s anything I’ve learned going into my 30s, it’s that I love a full house,” she says. “Community is everything. Having people who know what you’re working on and are in your corner, at least for me, keeps me going more than anything else.”
Her family is also a key part of her support system. Talking about them, Christ becomes visibly emotional.
“My mom and my sisters are the most important people in my life,” she says. “I would move mountains for them.
“I’m big on celebrating people, especially the women in my life,” she adds. “You never know how much time you have with someone. So I always want to make it count.”
Advice for the Next Wave
For creators hoping to transition into business or tech, Christ’s advice is simple: Just do it.
“You’re always capable of more than you believe,” she says. “I’m a huge proponent of failing forward, so don’t be afraid to start as soon as possible. The longer you sit on an idea, the more likely it is that someone else will come along and do it first. It doesn’t take as much money as people think to build something, especially with AI. And getting in front of people to pitch is easier than people think.”
Her biggest piece of advice? Find your niche.
“There’s already been so much saturation in AI image models,” she explains. “If we had just built a generalized AI tool, I wouldn’t have been interested. But applying it specifically to adult content? That’s where my skill set applies, and that’s what differentiates us.”
She also emphasizes the importance of aligning every business decision with your core goals.
“Our mission is to improve the quality of life for creators,” she declares. “If I’m making a decision that doesn’t line up with that, then I’m out of alignment and I go back to the drawing board.”
Each month, 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 businesswomen.
