Barbie Takes CamSoda!

When I was a young adult, around 20 or so, I remember desperately wishing I lived on my own and could start walking down my own path of the sex work industry. At the time, I wanted to cam, do OF and be a stripper. I was just absolutely enamored with the idea of being in the industry and at that age, I could finally taste the freedom of adulthood on the tip of my tongue. I knew one day I'd be able to follow these dreams, I just wasn't sure exactly when.

That freedom would come in the summer of 2019. I had finally had the very uncomfortable conversation and told my parents that I'd be moving in with my then-boyfriend in downtown Denver. That was that, and I had my unlimited freedom in my hands, at last! After talking with my boyfriend, we decided that I should try to cam since I was extremely nervous to try stripping at that time. We figured it was a good way for me to dip my feet in and see what the industry was like, even if it was online instead of in person for now. I made a profile on Flirt4Free, tried to study the information they gave me like my life depended on it, and finally went live for the first time while I had the apartment all to myself. 

It was awful. I was so scared of going live in front of potentially hundreds of people that I froze up and struggled to talk much at all. I had no clue how to run a room, command attention, be charismatic or interesting or funny or even sexy. I was terrified and everybody (I felt) could tell. I wasn't sure of how anything really worked in the broadcasting room and I struggled badly to figure out how to troubleshoot anything and handle all the people messaging me. I'd get taken into privates, requested to do something, and immediately kicked back into the live public room once I'd done whatever the person asked because they'd end the session promptly - so I'd be in the public chat with my whole ass and pussy out on cam for everyone, for free.

Needless to say, I was mortified, embarrassed, nervous and absolutely drained. The last thing in the world that I wanted to do was get back on live cam and try again. Although I didn't want to do it again, I did a couple more times. Each time would end in an explosion of nerves and tears as I'd slam my laptop shut, feeling defeated. It wasn't going well at all and I felt like I was 110% out of my element and not built for a place within the sex work industry. I decided after maybe 5 attempts, camming definitely was not for me. However, I did not want to give up on sex work completely by any means, so I did some more research. OnlyFans was newer at the time, but still a huge deal, and growing rapidly. So, I jumped on that train. "I don't have to be live", I thought, "just gotta film, edit and send." 

I would, unfortunately, experience many issues with OnlyFans at the beginning, too. It might sound crazy to those of you who know me now, whether in "real life" or on the internet, but I used to have a crippling fear of preforming for people. It didn't matter if it was live on cam, a prerecorded OF video, or the strip club's stage - if I had to preform - I was a nervous wreck. How does that tie in with my OnlyFans? Well, dear reader, because I probably made and deleted 8-12 profiles in those early days because I'd get insane "stage fright" so to speak. I'd wig out at the idea that my whole entire naked body was on the internet, list off all the reasons why it was a terrible idea and I couldn't continue and then delete the profile. Finally though, after months of the deleting & recreating (and a very annoyed boyfriend lol) I made a profile that I stuck with for quite a while from mid 2020 - early 2021. 

Now, you all know I always keep it real here. I'm not gonna lie to anybody, at the time, I had a very (embarrassingly) civvie mindset about OnlyFans. I thought, "I'll post a couple feet pics and start making tons of money!" You can imagine my dismay when I didn't make but $4.99 off of a short video clip of my feet for my first whole week. I had a civilian job at the time, and I was making good money, so it wasn't like I was doing OF out of financial necessity, more for fun and because it was something I'd always wanted to do. Unfortunately, when I saw that I wasn't making anything for money on OF, I grew despondent and posted less and less frequently. 

One day however, out of the complete and total blue, I was hit with this thought, "just go as hard as you absolutely can on OnlyFans... post consistently, daily - make tons of videos, just see how big you can take it, fuck it." I had this overwhelming feeling of irritation for the fact that OF hadn't immediately worked out for the the way I'd envisioned it, so I decided then and there to make it be the way I'd envisioned it, whatever it took.

So there started the journey into climbing to the top 2% of all creators on the site. It was an incredible feeling, making it up even to 2% (I know its not a 0.0000001% gimme a break). I was proud, but I was also severely burnt out and struggling with various drug problems that were making it impossible to keep my head straight while working. I melted down eventually, had a total mental break and deleted my huge profile. My free OF with 3k fans... down the drain just like that. Effectively leaving me with no job, no plan and no idea how to keep the rent paid and food on the table.

Eventually, as you all know, I came back around and redid my OnlyFans profile. I gained a decent percentage spot, maybe top 5% at the height of my second go round on there, but I could never quite make it back to where I was originally, and the work began to get more and more frustrating, exhausting, demanding and draining. As time went on, I found myself avoiding almost every custom I had until the last minute - often asking clients for an extension on filming because I just hadn't been able to force myself to shoot the custom scene. This lethargic relationship with OnlyFans would continue for a couple of years before I finally called it quits at the beginning of 2025 - almost a whole year ago now! I stepped back from the online side of the industry and honestly didn't ever think I'd return. I was free and it felt good.

However, life rarely works out the way we build it up in our heads. I thought stripping alone would be enough to sustain me, but I was wrong. Dayshifts got worse and worse; money dried up, regulars bailed and more girls started working the same shift - hoping in vain that days had something nights didn't. I traveled to Austin, Texas with my best friend twice to dance this past summer, and while the money was good, I knew realistically I couldn't be running off to Texas every two weeks just to pay my bills. I managed to limp through a couple more months on just stripping, but I knew it was rapidly becoming unsustainable. 

I was about to walk into my bedroom with a cup of tea when the thought hit me like a freight train, "I need to get back on CamSoda." It wasn't just a silly little thought, it wasn't something I brushed off, it was something I felt that was begging to be done. It wasn't something I could forget about, no this thought demanded I not only listen, but obey. When I have feelings that strong about something now, I don't question it, I just listen & obey. 

So began the camming journey that I have now been on for the last week and a half; and when I tell you it was the right decision to act on that thought... I mean it. I was able to successfully cam for several hours each day for 6 days straight and managed to pull together my rent and some extra money, too! Thankful doesn't even begin to describe how I felt realizing I wasn't at risk of not having rent anymore. It was like a huge weight lifted off of me. Not only because of rent, but because I felt like I may have really found a path here with camming that can take me a lot higher than stripping can at this time. It made me feel that I had a new way to keep working toward my goals and something productive to focus on. 

Don't get me wrong, I love stripping and probably always will. What I do not love, however, is sitting in a cold, loud club that is almost entirely devoid of customers for 8 hours and leaving with $42. Camming reignited the spark that sex work gave me, it made me want to keep showing up. Interacting with people, making people happy and building connections through CamSoda has made me immeasurably grateful and excited for what comes next! Showing up to work and feeling appreciated, valued and wanted is so awesome, and I feel very blessed to be experiencing it again. I hope to continue stripping, especially travel dancing, but ideally I'll wait until the economy takes an up-turn and things aren't so bad financially for everyone. In the meantime, you can catch me in my cam room!

You're probably wondering though, "Barbie, I thought you said you hated online sex work and would never go back? What changed?" For starters y'all, taking a big ole break from the online sex work world was honestly so very much needed. It was refreshing to be gone from it and not feel so glued to my profile whether on my laptop or phone. Second, I knew that live camming would be vastly different than creating solo content alone and sending it to the buyer. Live camming to me felt like it would be much more enjoyable because it's all so much more interactive in the moment than a site like OnlyFans typically is for a regular (not famous) creator. I also figured that at my current age, I'd had 7 more years of life experience than I did when I first tried camming - I knew how to command attention at a packed strip club on stage, surely I'd be able to get in my flow online, too. There are several other reasons, but those are really the main ones aside from needing to make money. 

With nothing to lose and rent to gain, I joined CamSoda and went live for the first time on a Saturday night. It went incredibly well and I felt relief and contentment wash over me as I logged off for the night. "What a difference a few years can make", I thought. Not only was I comfortable on cam and holding people's attention, I was actually making money, too! From private sessions to random tips, the money was flowing to me unobstructed that first night and I knew I'd hit a goldmine. It was time to level up and get back on top of my finances the way I'd been wanting for so long.

So, what does this mean for TDD? Well, things will be somewhat different! I'll be including more cam-centered content along with stripping and I'll try to keep a good balance! I want to continue to help as many people in as many areas of the industry as I can by sharing my stories, experiences and tips as I gather them. I will be in the club less, but still plan on keeping my contract and staying up to date with goings-on in the club/industry. Stay tuned for more updates and info for the website and shop! And don't forget to drop a comment, question or suggestion for our next blog topic!

Thanks for reading! Xo - Barbie