July 17th is National Tattoo Day. This day recognizes and celebrates the history, culture, and artists who are dedicated to body art as well as everyone who has ever felt the urge to commemorate their mom with a classic heart or couldn’t live without a butterfly gracing their lower back – we've all been there! Tattoos date back to around 3300 BCE, when a mummy labelled Ötzi the Iceman was discovered preserved in a glacier. He had 57 tattoos on his body. Since then, tattoos have fluctuated in cultural popularity. Now, they are more popular than ever. To celebrate this special day, we linked up with top-ranking Model on Pornhub, Valerica Steele. She tells us what working in the industry is like as a heavily tattooed person, her diverse and supportive fan community and how winning a Pornhub Award increased her traffic, and more.
Where did it all begin? Did you know you wanted to work in porn, or did it just happen?
I always had this idea in my head that doing porn would be fun, and that I might regret it later if I never went for it. School did not work out due to health problems and I was doing odd jobs like working at a factory making sanding belt tape. At one point I had 3 jobs at once! Then I started dancing at 19 and met a pornstar at a party. She hooked me up with my current agent, and I officially started doing porn when I was 20. I always felt like if doing porn was right for me then the opportunity would eventually find me, and that is exactly what happened. At the end of the day, the timing was right and doing porn really saved me!
Fate brought you to where you needed to be! Let’s talk about tattoos. What was your first one, and do you have a favorite?
My first tattoo was the roman numerals behind my right ear. It is the date a friend of mine passed away. But my favorites are my armpit tattoos because I pushed my limits with those. I think pushing your boundaries with pain is one of the most beautiful parts about getting tattooed. It can be like therapy.
Tattoos are becoming a little more mainstream every year, with over 30% of Americans now having at least one. Have they ever been a problem for you finding work? Or are you sought out specifically because you have them?
As someone who has been alternative since 2011, it is cool to see everything become more accepted. When I started doing porn in January 2020, it was a different world, and I had face tattoos already. For years, it took a lot of effort for people to take me seriously because of my looks. No one wanted to shoot my first scene! My agent took a chance on me and said, “Screw it, we will do it ourselves then,” and I shot my first scene ever for our agency casting site HussiePass. I think over time I really proved myself through my own content creation and when directors finally gave me a chance, they realized my tattoos do not change the fact that I am a solid performer.
We love that for you and all the inked Performers who are more accepted today! Our 2023 Year in Review showed us that “tattooed women” is highly searched by Gen Y (age group 25-34). Does this data have a similar correlation to your fan base?
I have noticed that my fanbase varies widely as far as age goes, which I think is cool. It is diverse in every way and the reason why I enjoy talking to them on my sites, because everyone is so different. I attract a lot of Gen Y, but it is cool to know everyone can appreciate tattoos!
We sure do! Btw, congratulations on winning Favorite Inked Model and Top Squirter at the 6th Annual Pornhub Awards! How have these accolades contributed to your brand growth?
It was a huge honor to win those awards, thank you! I have noticed more traffic, and since these were my first performer awards, it is nice validation after a little bit of a shaky start to my career. I have not been shooting for studios this year because I am still recovering from an injury and resulting surgery. But directors and companies I have been dying to shoot for have been asking to let them know when I am back, so I am excited to see where things take me when I do finally return!
Rumor has it that you are not only a squirting legend, but a consistent one! Were you always a squirter? How does a Performer prepare for this to achieve the same results on camera?
I only squirted once before I did porn, and I did not really know if it would ever happen again or how I did it. But during my first scene I was squirting a bit, and I was super surprised! I think I was really excited and enjoyed being watched! My agent pulled me aside all stoked and said, “can you keep it going?” and gave me some Pedialyte. He told me to focus on squirting because that was going to be my thing. It ended up opening a lot of doors for me that being tattooed might have kept closed. Learning to squirt is a lot of hydration and muscle memory – learning how to let go and give in when you orgasm. It is something you can learn with practice, but everyone is different. My favorite toy to teach people how to squirt is the Lovense Nora… not sponsored… it just really works!
Let's talk about your popularity. Your most viewed video on Pornhub with Dredd has almost 25M views. How has this crazy surge in views contributed to fans discovering your other sites to see the full version?
I love Pornhub because I see a huge increase to my OF whenever a video on Pornhub does well. It has brought in so many people that may not have found me otherwise. Even if I post a video that is a year old on Pornhub, I will get new subscribers asking for the full version on my OF. I also think it has contributed to my diverse fanbase, because let’s be real, everybody watches Pornhub!
Your trailers to promote your paid content often go viral. How do you edit clips to be engaging for your fans?
I do a lot of editing myself, and when it is not me making the trailers, it is my boyfriend (who is a director and professional editor) Logan Xander making them. We are a team in this respect. I think it is important to show a lot without showing too much, which can be a hard balance to find. There is a lot of porn out there these days and consumers want to know exactly what they are getting if they are going to pay and engage.
What is your favorite edit you have come across online?
My favorite edits come from the gooner community, for sure. They are so creative, and I feel like the way they edit with effects and text is super engaging for fans.
You mentioned taking some time off to undergo surgery and we are so happy to see you in strong health again. What advice do you have for Models on preparing financially, both before and after, an event like this?
I am still unfortunately taking some time off and regaining my strength in physical therapy, but I hope to be back in a couple months! I just started doing regular modeling again and recently worked with SuicideGirls (a site that has been dedicated to celebrating alternative pin-up Models for over 22 years.). But I underwent a total disc replacement in my neck after car accident injuries (stemming from 2020) worsened over the past 4 years. I guess you could say I have a bionic spine now! It is something I always knew I would have to do since the accident happened. I have prepared for it by saving money and building up a strong backlog of content that I own myself, and that I continue to make money on long after I had to stop working for studios. My fanbase is amazing and they have mostly stayed subscribed and supported me through this, and posting on Pornhub has also contributed to my ability to take as much time off as I have needed to recover properly. I am very thankful for that. Even though I was preparing for this surgery for years I consider myself very blessed and lucky to have the community I have behind me.
Community stays together! One final question for you. What are your goals for the next 1-3 years? Any plans for more tattoos?
I will always want more tattoos! I slowed down on getting them because I did not want to limit my mainstream career opportunities too much. But I think I am in my own lane now and I have a lot of tattoo plans.
I want to start my own porn studio one day. I was working on it before my surgery. But I have many big ideas for that, that I hope I can bring to fruition soon. I want to focus on creating quality scenes that I own the rights to and find a place for myself in this industry that will be there for me if my injury ever limits my ability to perform and travel again down the line.
If you want to join a community that looks out for each other and supports diversity and authenticity, you can start by becoming a content creator and joining our Model Program! Learn more about it here.
Sources:
A Brief History of Tattoos, https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/W9m2QxcAAF8AFvE5
Comments