By Models, for Models: Q&A with LadyBellaKush of CamGirlDollHouse
Among the many women who have emerged in leadership roles within the adult industry in recent years, few embody the voyage from model and performer to entrepreneur and executive like LadyBellaKush, founder and CEO of CamGirlDollHouse (CGDH).
YNOT recently sat down with Bella to talk about her passion for CGDH, the crucial role of cam models in running the company, the challenges and rewards of camming and her take on the best way to deal with the stigma and negativity which all too often surrounds sex work.
YNOT: Take us through a typical work day for you; how do you spend and manage your time?
Bella: I wake up every morning at 7am sharp, make my coffee and get my household of five dressed fed and out the door to start the day. Then I head back home to my office and begin my long day of building my dream of CamGirlDollHouse’s success.
First, I check my emails, Discord, Twitter and all other forms of communication that I have with everyone from fans, companies’ models and potential business affiliates. Communication is key to stay on top of everything and truly make connections within the industry.
After I handle my correspondence part of the morning, I begin my daily promoting of CGDH and the CamDolls (models). Promoting daily is also very important, to get the models out there and seen is important. Every day, new models sign up and it has become a big ocean of talent, so promoting daily and staying relevant is a must.
Each time I promote CGDH I get to go through images and videos from events we have had for promotions. It’s really fun – a trip down memory lane every day. To see all the hard work each person involved did to create every piece of content truly keeps me going and pushing harder each day to grow and evolve.
I spend most of my morning working on CGDH and maybe a hour or two working on my own LBK accounts before I pick up the family and spend a few hours doing homework, playing games, watching TV, dinner, bath, bed, etc. While I am off having fun with the family, I normally have something uploading or saving. Once the family is off to bed, I am back at my computer responding again to all emails and responses across the social media board then I myself head off to dream land. This is not just a Monday through Friday schedule either – this is what I do seven days a week. I live and breathe CGDH.
YNOT: You’ve said the inspiration for starting CGDH was that you “wanted to create a space that was truly by models and for models.” Is the project meeting your expectations along those lines? Have there been challenges that have arisen which complicate the goal, or has it been mostly smooth sailing and a natural outcome of sticking to the “by models, for models” ethos?
Bella: Creating a company that’s by models for models is still the vision I have, and I am happy to say I have not strayed from that design. Several ladies who joined CGDH as models have become part of my staff. These ladies took part in online actives and attended CGDH events. I want to build a team of hard workers who truly love CGDH and what it stands for which is teamwork.
This year, @Adora_Belly hosted her very first Spotlight event which is like a mini CGDH event. No more than three models attend they shoot all types of content with my photographer and enjoy a little bit of the CGDH experience. She did a wonderful job hosting and keeping things on task. Each model left with tons of content it was an overall success. @Kaiia_eve also helped a lot during that spotlight event and had become a spotlight host as well.
@Chellsterz who has been with me since CGDH was “New England Slumber Party” (NESP is what CGDH was before I decided to really invest my time into this endeavor) is not only CGDH staff but has become my Co-Host. She will be running full CGDH events without the need for me to be there overseeing the entire event. She will be responsible for 8-15 models on large scale events. Chellsterz also runs the CGDollhouse premium snap account scheduling and setting models up daily. She is a hard worker and understands my vision like no other and has been my secret right-hand gal for a very long time. I trust her opinion and truly am lucky to call her friend and employee.
There are several others who began as CGDH models and have become staff of online activities. @laylaJay69 @littlepuck @creepXqueen help keep our video bundles running smoothly 24/7. They are constantly sending bundles out to 25 different models fans each day! They work so hard keeping everything running like clockwork.
I appreciate everything these ladies do. I was doing everything I explained above by myself for a very long time it has been back breaking. With their support and teamwork, I can work on growing the company even more. I now have time to plan things two projects ahead of schedule and stay on top of everything. I can truly say with there help CGDH will be the better than I could have ever imagined.
I have also hired a photographer that is a model known as @Smartykat314 she shot a lot of the CGDH promo images during our DenverDragonDoll event and did an amazing job. @xxjalbxx has also been hired by CGDH and has shot stunning content he has an amazing eye and truly makes every model feel comfortable. He so far is the only person CGDH has hired who is not a cam model – although he has starred in some of his own naughty clips. So I guess, technically, he is a clip model (laughs).
YNOT: What would you say the best and worst aspects of camming are, from your perspective as a former cam model and current cam network executive?
Bella: Currency and payout I feel is the worst part of camming and even for me now running CGDH. Each site has their own currency which I guess isn’t all bad, but the different percentages paid to models is insanity. Some sites payout only 50% to models’ others 65%.
While I understand servers and programmers, etc. cost companies money, there is no way with millions of fans logging on and spending massive amounts of money that they cannot pay the models more. These companies are made on the literal backs of these performers and they deserve a bigger cut. Some of the top streaming companies spend $100,000 on swag and big glamorous events that not all the models can attend and most of the models enjoy but would happily do without for a bigger cut of there earnings.
I will end this on a positive note: There is one company that has risen to the occasion and has truly been listening to the models on the platform and that is ManyVids.
Bella French and her team truly care and take note when models request things – and while they can’t make everyone happy, they sure have made a lot of performers happy with their new 80% payout. This is huge, and in my opinion Manyvids has truly become the standard of clip sites. Bella French and her team are a huge inspiration for me. Knowing she, like me, started a company for models by a model helps me see the what I can do if I work hard and stay focused on listening to what the people want and figuring out how to get it for them.
YNOT: In a prior interview, you mentioned that “our community has so much negativity surrounding it and a stigma due to the masses pushing sex workers aside as if we are not an important part of the world.” Is this something all of you at CGDH discuss with each other – how to deal with the negative aspects of interacting with a public which is sometimes quite hostile?
Bella: We talk about stuff like that all the time, but in truth I think we work more on growing ourselves and focusing on what makes us happy than the negative. We can’t change the way the world looks at us, but we sure as hell can make sure we see ourselves in a more positive light. We celebrate each other’s successes and talk about family life and going out into the world proud of being sex workers and not hiding in the shame the world has so eagerly and easily clocked upon us.
I think as soon as a model owns who and what she is, it does make it a lot easier to push that negativity away. It can be lonely when you have to hide your life due to the stigma, so it’s great when online performers get together and see others in person in our industry. Being with like-minded people can help instead of sitting home alone in front of a computer.
YNOT: What’s on the horizon for CGDH? Any upcoming events on which you can provide us info?
Bella: Everyone has been asking what CGDH has in store for next year and I have been keeping it top secret not releasing any event dates till January 2019 – but I do love YNOT, so I will give you a little dirt on the upcoming festivities.
CGDH will be attending CamCon 2019. We will also have five Spotlight events – two in Massachusetts, one in Colorado, and three in Nevada. 2019 is going to be an epic year for CamGirlDollhouse.
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A great read and so amazing what you have accomplished.
Thank you so much Heather! I hope you get to join a CamGirlDOllhouse activity soon. OXOXO