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Lena Paul_ Helping New Girls Stay Safe
Lena Paul, Lena Paul Interview, Lena Paul Podcast
#LenaPaul
Lena Paul, Lena Paul Interview, Lena Paul Podcast
#LenaPaul
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00:00So I wanted to talk to you about that
00:03and about some of the things that you would tell new girls
00:07who are coming into the industry.
00:09Well, first off, I'm so flattered that you would reach out to me
00:12for that, of all reasons.
00:14I was really taken aback.
00:15That was just one of those things where I was just like,
00:18you know, you're like peeing and you're like tweeting.
00:20You didn't even think about it,
00:22but the reception that I received from that series of tweets,
00:26especially from new girls, was so, so gratifying.
00:32It shows a real need for that kind of advice.
00:35Exactly. I think that was what I was taken aback by.
00:37And honestly, to tell you the truth,
00:38for the last six or seven months,
00:41I've just realized that while I love performing,
00:44I love performing,
00:46I feel a kind of responsibility
00:51and I don't want to suggest that I am somehow qualified for it.
00:55It's more of a, I see a vacuum and people aren't filling it.
00:58And so I'm hoping that the more that people talk
01:00and contribute to these topics,
01:01the more qualified people than I can stand up
01:04and speak about these things.
01:07But as far as new girls,
01:09the biggest issue that I see that they have coming in,
01:12and I felt this in other jobs.
01:14I remember being taken advantage of as a bartender
01:18whenever I was in college,
01:19just having to agree to getting patted on the ass
01:24by people in authority over me
01:27and having to flirt with shift managers to get shifts
01:29because my food on the table depended on that
01:32and just being forced into that.
01:34And so whenever we started looking into things
01:37about porn reform,
01:39not that we're broken,
01:41but we definitely have areas that we need to fix,
01:43the biggest issue that happens that I see
01:47is that girls get into a situation
01:48where they feel that they don't have
01:50the economic security
01:52to enforce their boundaries.
01:54If it's a,
01:55oh, if I say no on a set,
01:58that if I say I don't want to do something on a set,
02:02that that's going to reflect on my agent,
02:04that's going to reflect to the studio,
02:05that's going to reflect to these producers.
02:07Because they're going to say she's difficult.
02:09They're going to say that she's a diva.
02:11They're going to say that she's,
02:12all of these derivative words.
02:15And we hear people talk about women this way on sets.
02:18We hear people say,
02:19oh, she is difficult.
02:21And then you get into it
02:22and it's like,
02:24really what their problems are
02:26is that it sounds like she's expressing more opinions
02:30on how she would like to be treated and touched
02:33than the average girl.
02:35I so agree with you.
02:36And I've experienced that so much
02:38because I've had people tell me like,
02:40oh, this girl's a diva or whatever.
02:42And then I'll work with them
02:43and they're fine.
02:45And all it generally is,
02:46is yeah,
02:46they have certain boundaries
02:48that they want respected.
02:50And they're more vocal.
02:51Yeah, or they're more vocal.
02:52And why is that bad?
02:53Right.
02:53Or sometimes,
02:54I mean, to be honest,
02:54sometimes girls are truly just,
02:57I think,
02:58nervous about the experience
02:59and they just need some reassurance.
03:01And so I try to find that when,
03:03I try to remember
03:03when I feel that a girl is being difficult,
03:05it's probably coming from a place of fear.
03:07She's not trying to make my life hard.
03:09Absolutely.
03:10There's something that she's nervous about.
03:11You know,
03:12like I've shot girls before
03:13who will like,
03:14and this,
03:15to be fair,
03:15makes me inside crazy.
03:17But like,
03:17they'll be like,
03:18are you sure this position looks good?
03:19Do I look fat here?
03:20Like they'll question me
03:22and I'll be like,
03:23yeah,
03:23no,
03:23you look great.
03:24No,
03:24you know,
03:24and in my head,
03:25I'm like,
03:25no,
03:25you look like shit.
03:26That's why I'm going to shoot you in this position.
03:27Like shut up and trust me.
03:28Yeah,
03:28exactly.
03:29But I have to remember,
03:30like they're nervous.
03:31And then,
03:31so there was one girl that I work with like that.
03:32And then after she saw the pictures,
03:34she trusted me.
03:35And then the next time we worked together,
03:36it was a totally different experience.
03:37Absolutely.
03:38And people forget that
03:39because of this relationship that we have,
03:41like,
03:41I think the average length of a porn performer's career
03:44is like three months
03:45or something like that.
03:45There's like some crazy statistic
03:47for like the average length.
03:49And so a lot of us
03:50don't have the time
03:51to build up the relationships
03:52because I see a difference now
03:55in how I'm treated
03:56as someone who is
03:58quote unquote a name.
04:00They're like,
04:01oh,
04:01she's rated numbers such and such on BornHub.
04:03We have to be nice to her.
04:04But I remember how they treated me
04:05whenever I was new.
04:07And I know that those two experiences are different.
04:11And so one of the big things that I see is
04:14believing girls
04:15whenever someone does something to them
04:19that you go,
04:19oh,
04:19they've never treated me that way.
04:21But I think when a lot of us observe it,
04:24it's because they know better
04:25than to treat us that way,
04:26which suggests a kind of sinister scenario.
04:30And so the question becomes,
04:31you know,
04:31how do we fix that?
04:32How do we make that not happen?
04:34And the biggest way that I see that happening
04:37is girls developing their own streams of income,
04:40things like Snapchat,
04:41things like OnlyFans,
04:42things like ManyVids,
04:43PornHub Premium channels,
04:44things along those nature
04:46where they're able to directly sell
04:49to fans and consumers
04:50and gain the rewards from that.
04:52And it's not that they have to do that
04:55to the detriment of their porn career,
04:56but to treat it as a form of,
04:58I believe that diversified income streams
05:00is a form of self-care
05:01because it gives you the autonomy to say,
05:04no,
05:04I can turn down this shoot
05:06because I'm not comfortable with it.
05:07But I will tell you a story,
05:10if I may.
05:11I would love to hear a story.
05:13So whenever I first came into the business,
05:16I was really excited to shoot
05:19for this one particular company
05:20because they just did this really pretty,
05:22soft, romantic stuff,
05:24stuff that I had masturbated to
05:26in high school and college
05:27and all of that stuff,
05:28just stuff that I really liked.
05:30And they were doing a cosplay feature
05:33of something that I super loved.
05:35And I was so excited to do this shoot.
05:37And I had done maybe less than 20 scenes
05:41at that point.
05:41I'm like brand spanking new.
05:43So I drive three hours to get to the location
05:45because I still lived in San Diego at the time.
05:47And I get there
05:48and the director pulls me aside and says,
05:51did your agent talk to you
05:53about what we're doing today?
05:55And he's got that tone in his voice
05:57and I'm like,
05:57oh, fuck.
05:58Yeah, like I'm not going to like this.
06:01No, no.
06:02He didn't tell me what we're doing today.
06:04What are we doing today?
06:04He's like,
06:05well, we're doing a rough scene today.
06:08I'm like, really?
06:08You guys are like glam gonzo.
06:11You don't even let an eyelash get out of place.
06:14Like, what are you talking about?
06:17And they're like, yeah,
06:18the directive that we're getting from corporate
06:21is to push compliance
06:22with how rough we want this scene to be.
06:24It's so funny
06:25because I totally know exactly
06:26what you're talking about.
06:28Because I've had this experience as well.
06:30Yes, yes, yes.
06:30Yeah.
06:31Yes.
06:31And I'm like,
06:32I'm like so new.
06:33I'm like, push compliance.
06:35What the fuck does that mean?
06:37And so I'm just like,
06:38okay.
06:39I mean,
06:40at that point,
06:40I don't really,
06:41there's not really a space
06:42in which I can think about,
06:44okay,
06:44do I want to do this
06:45or do I not want to do this?
06:46I've just driven three hours
06:47and it's this company
06:49that has this sort of like
06:50pre-established definition
06:52of what they do
06:53and so I'm confused going into it.
06:56Right, right, right.
06:57And I agree to do the scene
06:58and I have an incredibly high pain tolerance.
07:02I like really,
07:04I'm one of those people
07:05that just the nerves are kind of crossed in me
07:07and so you like pinch my nipple
07:08and I'm like,
07:09ooh, that's nice.
07:10I just like a little bit of pain.
07:12That was,
07:14they fucked the shit out of me.
07:17I hit my cervix so hard
07:19that I had to go
07:20and lay down in the bathroom
07:21and dry heave from the pain
07:23and I tell that story
07:27not to elicit sympathy.
07:29You know,
07:29I definitely had that moment
07:30where I went home
07:31and like had my like
07:32stereotypical cry in the shower
07:33and I had to go back
07:35and think about this analytically
07:36and I was like,
07:37okay,
07:37I do not like what happened there
07:39but what went wrong there?
07:41Who did what here?
07:43So obviously there was a failure
07:44with miscommunication here.
07:46Someone failed to communicate with whom
07:47and then,
07:49you know,
07:50no one forced me into this scenario
07:52but I need to think about
07:53how I can extricate myself
07:54from these scenarios in the future
07:56and at the time
07:57with the level of economic security
07:59that I had,
07:59I was just getting into porn.
08:01I'd put out a lot of initial,
08:03there's a lot of expenditures initially
08:04in getting in porn
08:05in terms of body maintenance
08:06and wardrobe
08:07and travel
08:07and blah, blah, blah.
08:08And I realized,
08:11you know,
08:11if I had had
08:12my secondary income streams
08:14more set up
08:15at that point,
08:16I probably would have stopped
08:17and thought more critically
08:18and gone,
08:19okay,
08:21this isn't something,
08:22you know,
08:22I need to stop this.
08:23I need to stop.
08:24I need to call my agent.
08:25I need to figure out
08:26what's going on
08:26and then,
08:27you know,
08:29I would feel more comfortable
08:30at that point
08:32saying,
08:33all right,
08:34I need to change the script here.
08:35We need to soften this up.
08:37We need to like do these things
08:38and that things.
08:39It's not that anybody forced me
08:40into that scenario.
08:41It was that I felt
08:42that I had to go along
08:43and be agreeable
08:45in order to get more bookings
08:47even though it was beyond
08:48my level of comfort.
08:50And I look back
08:51on that situation now
08:52and I realize
08:54I've probably encountered
08:55that situation
08:5620 or 30 times over
08:59but it's never gotten
09:00to the point
09:00where I was dry heaving
09:02on a bathroom floor again
09:03because I developed
09:05my income streams
09:05to the point
09:06where I was never dependent
09:07on a booking.
09:08And I could say,
09:09we need to change the script
09:11or we need to stop
09:12and do this
09:12or we need to do
09:13something differently.
09:13And if they ever came back
09:14to me with a,
09:16no, we can't do that,
09:17I could be like,
09:18well, sorry,
09:19I gotta go.
09:19Yeah, yeah.
09:20I think that that's
09:21a great power
09:22to be able to have
09:23and I love that
09:24you give that advice
09:25because I think
09:25a lot of girls
09:27don't realize that.
09:28I think especially
09:28when they're new,
09:29when they're new,
09:30they come in,
09:31they get booked a ton.
09:32That's kind of
09:32always the way it is
09:33and then you get shot out
09:35and then there's not
09:36as much work happening
09:37and then you're like,
09:38ooh, what do I do now?
09:39And a lot of times
09:40these girls,
09:41they've never had like,
09:42you know,
09:42because it can be
09:42a quick, big source of income
09:44and they've never had
09:45that kind of money
09:45and then they go
09:46and spend on stupid shit,
09:47you know,
09:48like a fucking new car
09:49that they can't afford,
09:50purses,
09:50dumb stuff like that.
09:52And yeah,
09:53they don't take control
09:54of their own
09:54because you can do that now.
09:56I mean,
09:56the internet has allowed
09:57you to do that.
09:57It has given so much power
09:59back to the models
10:00that they never had before.
10:01Oh yeah,
10:01it's completely democratized
10:03porn because the thing is
10:04is that I have just
10:05as much of a shot
10:05at this point
10:06to acquiring new,
10:09so people are turning
10:1018 every day,
10:11people are getting
10:11credit cards every day
10:13and purchasing porn
10:14for the first time.
10:15Right now,
10:16as it stands,
10:17I have just as much
10:18of a possibility
10:19to lock in
10:20a new prospective
10:21porn purchasing client
10:22as any major studio does.
10:26Like,
10:26I can lock them
10:27into my Snapchats,
10:28I can lock them
10:28into my many vids
10:29to where I'm capturing
10:30those sales.
10:32And I can do that
10:33just as effectively
10:34as browsers
10:34or mofos
10:36or evil angel
10:37or any of those
10:37can at this point
10:38because of the internet
10:39and because of social media.
10:40And girls don't realize
10:41that they have
10:43the power now.
10:44And I compare porn girls
10:46and porn performers,
10:48not just women,
10:49men and women,
10:50a lot of ways
10:51to athletes.
10:52A lot of them
10:53come from backgrounds
10:55where economic management
10:57is not a taught skill.
10:59And we don't really
11:01encourage that education
11:02within school systems.
11:03It often comes from,
11:04it's passed down
11:05from generation
11:06to generation
11:06as a privilege.
11:07Which, by the way,
11:08also makes me crazy.
11:09Oh my God.
11:09I've never understood
11:10why they don't have
11:12just basic life shit 101.
11:14Like filing your taxes.
11:16Exactly.
11:17Getting a credit card.
11:19Like getting a bank,
11:20setting up credit.
11:20Checking your credit.
11:21Checking your credit.
11:22Just like basic things
11:24that people need to know.
11:25Calculating compounding interest.
11:26Things like that.
11:26I can't tell you
11:27how many letters
11:28I get from the IRS
11:29of liens on girls
11:31who don't pay their taxes.
11:32Mm-hmm.
11:32I mean, every year
11:33I get all these letters
11:35from the IRS.
11:36Like this person
11:36owes this much money.
11:37This person owes
11:38this much money.
11:39Do not pay.
11:40You know,
11:40basically what they're telling me
11:41is that if I hire
11:42these people again
11:43to not pay them
11:44and to take the money
11:45I would pay them
11:45and give it to the IRS.
11:46It's terrifying.
11:47And I'm just like,
11:48and I, you know,
11:49here are people that go years
11:50and they don't pay their taxes.
11:51Like, do you think
11:52that the IRS
11:53isn't going to find you?
11:54I know one AVN,
11:56an AVN award-winning performer
11:59who shot hundreds of titles
12:01who is my age,
12:03I'm about to be 25,
12:05who owes the IRS $300,000.
12:09And that's,
12:11that at that point
12:12you look at that
12:13and that goes,
12:14someone failed
12:15to educate you here.
12:16This is,
12:16this is obviously,
12:17this is not normal behavior.
12:19Someone's failed
12:19to educate you here.
12:20And so the question
12:21then becomes,
12:21where do girls
12:23get education
12:24on this topic?
12:25And if you're clever,
12:27you sort of pick things up
12:29by osmosis
12:30here and there,
12:30but really when you look
12:31at the girls
12:32who succeed
12:32on like a business
12:33and longevity level,
12:35it's the girls
12:36who come from
12:36privileged backgrounds
12:37who know what to do
12:38with a windfall of cash
12:39whenever they get it
12:40because they have
12:41a team of people
12:41who are advising them
12:42who've been able
12:43to do that.
12:44And so I started
12:45asking myself
12:46about six or seven months ago,
12:47how can we work
12:50to level that playing field
12:51a little bit
12:52to where girls
12:52who are getting in now
12:53who are starting
12:54from square one
12:55and know nothing,
12:57how can they
12:58not have to
12:59struggle
13:01the way that
13:02we do now?
13:03And when you're new
13:04and when you're bumping
13:05into things
13:05and figuring out,
13:06okay,
13:06this thing
13:08I can't do
13:09because of this
13:09and this thing
13:10I should do
13:10and all of those things,
13:12how do we
13:13basically create
13:14crash courses
13:15for new girls?
13:17And related
13:18to that tweet,
13:19actually,
13:19Kevin Moore,
13:21who is the,
13:22he's the widower
13:24of August Ames,
13:25reached out to me
13:27and has,
13:29we've been working
13:29together on the
13:31August Ames project,
13:32actually.
13:32We just started
13:33working together
13:33on that.
13:34He's been working
13:34on it for some
13:35time now.
13:36And the basic
13:37premise of the
13:38August Ames project
13:39is that every
13:42performer who has
13:43ever shot for a
13:44major studio
13:44should be able
13:45to access both
13:47adequate mental
13:48health care
13:48and adequate
13:49resources to
13:51setting up their
13:52own income streams
13:53because we both
13:54do strongly believe
13:55that having your
13:56own independent
13:57income away from
13:58the studios
13:58is a form
14:00of self-care.
14:01So he started
14:03doing a series
14:04of educational
14:05videos and I'm
14:06in some of
14:07those talking
14:07about just
14:09the basics,
14:10something as
14:11simple as
14:11walking you
14:12through the
14:12basic steps
14:13of signing
14:13up for
14:13FanCentro
14:14or MyFreeCams
14:15or CamSoda
14:16or things like
14:16that to
14:17setting up
14:19income,
14:19setting up
14:20income monitoring
14:21software and
14:22doing bookkeeping
14:23and that type
14:23of thing.
14:24Just all of
14:25these cheat codes
14:25that you amass
14:26over years
14:27talking to your
14:28network of girls,
14:29just what
14:30would happen
14:31if we just
14:32gave girls
14:33those resources
14:34just up front,
14:35if we gave
14:36them our
14:36years of
14:38struggling
14:39and we
14:40simplified that
14:41into wisdom
14:42that girls
14:42could take
14:43and apply
14:44to their
14:45lives early
14:45on so that
14:46way they
14:47perhaps don't
14:47have, as
14:48you said,
14:48these sort
14:49of traumatic
14:49experiences early
14:50on that color
14:52their view of
14:52the way that
14:53the industry
14:53works.
14:55Because me
14:55personally,
14:56I feel deeply
14:57enriched by
14:58my time in
14:59the adult
14:59performance
15:00industry.
15:01I feel
15:01that
15:05it
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