For this edition of Model Citizens, our Pornhub model spotlight series, I had the privilege of chatting with one of the industry's most recognizable names. An industry veteran who never lost an ounce of steam over the course of her career. A true entrepreneur and maven who controls her business, her content, and her life.
I'm talking, of course, about Brandi Love.
Along with our regularly scheduled programming - tips, tricks and production secrets for models, by models - we're very excited to break some big news in this interview:
Brandi is now exclusive to the Pornhub Network, and we couldn't be happier to have her!
Andy: If we could, let's just start with your story. How long you've been in the industry, how you got started, that kind of thing.
Brandi: I have been in the industry for 15 years now. I got started in the adult industry, just me and my husband having some fun. We both come from a corporate background, we thought this would be so much fun. We're kind of sexually adventurous and wild, so we thought, “Heck, why not share it with the world?” That literally was our mentality. And very quickly, we realized, "Wow, this is super fun, we enjoy doing it every day," and both quit our corporate jobs and dove head first into the online experience. That was how brandilove.com was born. And within 6 months, and being on Howard Stern, we realized that this wasn't going to be a hobby, that we were really going to make this a career and go for it. Have a blast, be successful, and kind of go against the grain if you will - and we certainly accomplished that.
Tell us the Howard Stern story.
Well, back in 2004 when brandilove.com was launched, Howard was at a high. And I listened to him all the time, and I thought, “How fun would it be, and what a great way to let the world know that I'm there online, to get on Howard Stern.” And as a longtime listener and fan, I started writing - remember we're talking decades ago, mail-mail was effective - I literally sent a handwritten letter every single week. It took about 6 weeks, maybe 7, I'm driving down the road, I get a call from Gary, and he's like, "Howard wants to have you on the show." I'm like, "What?" I could not believe it. So, literally 7 days after that phone call, I was in New York, I was at the studios and I did my first appearance, and it was amazing.
Howard's incredible, the whole experience was incredible, and for about three months after that, we crashed servers getting traffic to the site, and that really started everything.
That really shows the value of just getting yourself out there.
It really does. I mean, even today, you think about it, there's thousands and thousands of entertainers, there's thousands of websites people could choose to go to. What makes one better than the other? Well, obviously content, obviously the types of personalities or people involved, and then number three is marketing.
What is your favorite scene that you've ever filmed?
It might sound like a lame response, but my favorite scene in the adult industry would simply be being able to shoot hot passionate sex.
They're fun, the acting community is a blast, I like a challenge. I find that very interesting and the challenge of a new character is always exciting for me. But ultimately at the end of the day, my favorite scenes, the ones that stick in my head and hopefully my fan's heads are the ones that are just balls to the wall hot sex.
Sort of related; do you have a favorite genre or category that you like to film?
Well, I would be crazy not to say the “moms bang teens,” “moms teach sex” genre. It's just hot, it's a little taboo, it's exciting. The older-younger dynamic is very niche-y, but it's also very popular; I think all of us can remember a time when we were just learning about our sexuality, and what it could mean to have somebody that you care about teach you, kind of show you along the way, and most of us never had that. So, of course, in the adult industry, we have to push the taboo and make it a stepmom or somebody closely related.
But the core of the psychology of those scenes are so hot to me.
"I've always lived my life to my own beat, to my own drum."
I'm gonna ask you about your hometown of Detroit - one of my favorite cities. How different is it there today compared to when you were growing up?
I don't even recognize it, to be honest. I left Michigan in '95. I lived there, and went to college there, and got married and left. Literally; after our honeymoon, we never came home. You know, 20, 21 years of those 6 months, 7 months of steely gray cold winters was just more than I could handle. But as far as the state and specifically Detroit, when I lived there, it was thriving, it was a Motor City, we had automobiles and music, and all of that stuff. And it's very sad when I go home because right now, it's hit bottom. You're looking at a Detroit that has more agriculture and farmland than manufacturing plants and thriving retail. So, for me, it's hard to go back, but, you know, it still has its little crevices of good things - the best chili dogs, amazing jazz and blues bars downtown.
Give it 15 years, maybe 20, and I believe Detroit will be back on its feet.
They hit their bottom, but they're very resilient people. They don't back down to failure, they keep pushing forward, so I have no doubt that that town will have another heyday.
Plus, you can't beat a Coney dog from Lafayette.
I swear to God it's the truth. Where I live now in North Carolina, the best chili dog is a place from a guy, he's from Detroit and every couple days, he brings in fresh chili from a Detroit vendor.
Your personal motto is “Dare to be deviant.” What does it mean to live by that motto?
When people think of the word deviant, they think for some reason of evil, that it comes from an evil dark place. But in my opinion, a deviant is simply someone who lives away from the norm. I've always lived my life to my own beat, to my own drum. I don't know that I've ever really cared what other people think of me, because at the end of the day, it's my life, and I only get one chance to live it.
I have a propensity to like things or do things that don't exactly help me fit in, and some days are harder than others for making those choices. But I also live with zero regrets. So, when I say that to my Love Troopers, [ed. note: Brandi’s fans call themselves Love Troopers) I'm simply trying to convey a message: “You be you, live by your own rules, enjoy your life your way.”
So it's about being true to yourself and living life your own way.
Without question. I know it's not easy, but it's the only way to find true happiness.
Here's a little thought experiment; let's imagine you had a time machine, and you could go back in time to 2004 to when you first started making content. What's the first piece of advice you would give yourself back then?
I decided on the day that we created brandilove.com that, regardless of where my career went, I was only ever going to do in my content what I personally enjoy. And what I mean by that, in the industry, you get lots of crazy offers to do things - whether it's gangbang, whether it's anal, whatever. Whatever they can imagine, there's usually a price. And I decided way back in the beginning that I didn't care about the price, I cared about whether I would personally enjoy it. I've always been very protective of my sexuality, and I never want to do something that I would not enjoy.
And I have absolutely stayed true to that. The only other thing that I would tell myself would be to enjoy delayed gratification, financially. Remember I said financially, not sexually! That's a whole another thing.
What I mean is, when you're young and you're starting to roll and it's starting to make sense, and you're starting to make good money, it's very easy to spend a lot and think that it's always going to be there. If I had saved a lot more... I did okay, but I didn't do great. I would tell myself just live on the minimum and put it all away for a rainy day and for your future. That's advice that I'd give to my younger self, and it's also advice that I'd give to anybody getting into the adult industry - absolutely try to practice delayed financial gratification.
"I've always believed in doing what you love and loving what you do."
It’s really important to set yourself up right for the future. Because as we know, it's a volatile industry, it's feast or famine, you might get a great paycheck today and none for six months.
It is feast or famine, and it's also those of us who get interest, we have to be aware and know that future is more difficult. It's not like you can go to work at IBM after you've been in the adult entertainment for 10 years.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but it’s going to be more difficult. And having some financial backing if you choose to work…well, you have to have a plan, is what I'm trying to say. You're going to have a difficult time walking away from this industry and just walking into a "normal” retail or corporate situation, and think that they're not going to have a problem.
What's something easy and inexpensive that models can do to improve their videos?
The number one thing is lighting. Sounds dumb, but you can take a great cell phone video if you have good lighting.
When I am editing and I'm watching things back, or the things I find myself drawn to on Pornhub, those videos that stick out are the ones that look really well lit.
Do you use a special lighting setup or do you try to use natural light?
I personally love natural light, I think it's the most attractive. I also think it works better than anything else. But we do have a really great... well, I can't tell you, it's my secret. [laughs]
Of course. The secret sauce.
But we absolutely do have and utilize a really, really nice LED set. LEDs have come a long way for photography and they don't produce heat and they light the entire room.
It’s great that they don’t produce any heat - when you're shooting the right type of content, you're hot enough as it is!
If someone gave you $1,000 to invest into your career today, what would you spend it on?
That's a great question. I've got the content thing down as far as I'm aware today, so I would spend it on marketing. Making sure people know where to find me, where they can spend time with me and/or watching my favorite content. So, I would absolutely put it into marketing.
You are the number four porn star on Pornhub, with almost 650 million views. To what do you attribute all your success?
I've always believed in doing what you love and loving what you do, and in doing that, I work really hard. It's hard to call it work - it sounds silly, but when you love what you do, you don't really work a day in your life. So, when I put in 12 hours a day, 7 days a week doing what I love, the success comes. And on top of that which I do every day, there's not a day that goes by that I don't participate, whether that’s online, uploading, shooting, answering email, Twitter. Obviously, spending a lot of time in my Pornhub profile and things of this nature, that's what pays off.
And on top of it, the truth in the matter is I absolutely adore my fans, and I think I've connected with them through the years. Whether it's a personality trait, whether it's the types of people that are my fans, we've connected. And I have a really, really cool army of Love Troopers that I spend a lot of time with, and their loyalty beyond everything else is what's helped create my success.
So, it was really about building a community.
For me, it is. That community began with brandilove.com, where it started off as nobody knew what to call me. You know, I was 30-something, 33, 34, something like that. I wasn’t a babe, and MILF didn't exist, mind you, so what was I? I was what was referred to at the time as a hotwife; my husband and I loved swinging, we were very sexually liberated, we're out there. So, that's kind of what the site was, but more so, it became a community where you could be whoever the hell you wanted to be, and talk about whatever you wanted, without judgment. I think that's where the bond and the loyalty came from with me and my fans.
Talking about your day to day marketing work that you do, you mentioned Twitter. How important is social media for your business?
It's imperative because first of all, we live in a culture, in a society, where people spend more time on social media than doing anything else. It's connections, it's communications, it's leading people where you need them to go or want them to go, talking about politics, religion, sex, all the things you're not supposed to talk about and fight about.
Social media has become something very interesting and necessary for business. If you're not there, you're missing millions of potential views and opportunities to connect with your fans. I can't imagine what we did before.
Now we connect on such a personal level because of the things that we talk about, argue about, debate about, you name it.
It's really an incredible way to find like-minded people.
There are communities for just about any interest group, anything you could be into.
It's also cool to have these layers of intimacy that come with the different platforms - if you want to just hang out and be in a public forum, you go to Twitter or Instagram. If you want to communicate with me daily and one-on-one, you go to my private Snapchat. And I mean, there's millions of other forms, you know, of communication, there's phone calls, there's this, there's that.
With the recent pornography ban on Tumblr, what do you think is coming next for social media and the internet, as it relates to sex work?
I 100% believe that somebody will recreate a Tumblr that is absolutely secure. It's for open-minded sexual conversations, groups, people, a non-judgment zone. That's what so many people utilized Tumblr for was the whole non-judgment thing. People of every thought, every kink, you name it – they were on there, and they were connecting with other people and sharing those things. And I have no doubt that within 4 to 6 months max, another one pops up that's going to be very similar and hopefully better.
What is your biggest professional goal for 2019?
My biggest professional goal for 2019 would be to continue what I'm doing, but push it a little bit further. And what I mean by that is bring the fans even more intense, even more passionate, even better, bigger, more interesting scenes, number one. And number two, of course, I'm very competitive – I would love to scoop up some more Pornhub Awards and be number one! My goal is to get back to number one.
And on top of it, most importantly, have more fun than I've ever had. That's going to be hard to top, but I'm gonna try.
"Scenes cost money, paying talent costs money, paying for all of it costs money. So, somebody's got to ultimately pay for it."
What can your fans do to support you and all models better?
Well, that's a dual-edged sword because, of course, there's the comment "pay for your porn." The reason that's important and supports the industry is that it allows things to go round and round and round. As you know, scenes cost money, paying talent costs money, paying for all of it costs money. So, somebody's got to ultimately pay for it. And it's not just the scenes, it's doing things like going to FanCentro and getting your favorite model's private Snapchat. It's going to girls’ Pornhub profiles and connecting with them and downloading and buying your favorite scenes. Those are ways to keep the models supported. And then for me, of course, when it comes to award season, it's nice to know that your fan base is voting for you to get the awards that you're up for.
Between Xbiz, AVN, and Pornhub - as a former athlete, shit, I'm competitive, I'm not going to lie. I'm amongst some of the greatest talents in the industry in the categories that I'm nominated for, which is an honor in and of itself, but yeah - I want to win. And when I do, I know it's because of my fans, and that means that I put out great content and they loved it. And then on the other side, they loved it so much they're voting every day and that's how I got it. So, it's a dually exciting thing to win an award for me.
You hear that folks? The answer is pay for your porn and vote, vote, vote.
Exactly!
We do have an exciting announcement to discuss: you are now exclusive to the Pornhub Network. What brought you to that decision, and how is that going for you so far?
So far, I could not be happier. I'm looking forward to the beginnings of 2019 when we really start to roll out the hundreds of photo sets, and videos, and content that I am going to be working with you guys on. There is unbelievable confidence that comes with working with the best in the industry. The team that you guys have between your software, your technology, your handling of the models, is the best in the industry. Every time I email, I get an instant response. Talking with you, you guys know what you're doing, you've got the people, and the professionalism and the intellect to put this whole team of people.
So, for the first time in my online career, I feel like I have the best team I could have behind me. And that allows me to go out and shoot the scenes I want to see knowing that my content is taken care of and being delivered to my fans. So, the decision for me was easy; when we started talking, I just went, "Oh my God, this would make life so much easier!” Instead of me and Chris having to do everything, we actually have this super amazing team that's going to help us get the content out there and manage it properly. So, for me, this was a win-win and a no-brainer, I'm thrilled to be a part of the team.
We really do care, and we're just trying to help everybody make more money, be more successful. I'm so, so glad to hear that from you.
I can tell! For me, it's not always been an easy path - working hard is something I was born to do. I've done it my whole life and I have no issue doing it, but to get those little moments in life where you have a reprieve, and just know that something's taken care of that you've worked your whole life for, it feels awesome and it makes me just I want to hug you guys! I'm totally thrilled and know that we have a great synergy here.
I'd like to take a moment to thank Brandi not only for becoming an exclusive Pornhub Model, but also for taking the time to share her wit and wisdom with me, and with all of you. It's not every day that you get a glance at the creative process and business acumen of a veritable industry legend, and we're very grateful for her contributions.
Thanks and love to Brandi, and to our whole Model Program family.
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