The world is a different place now. Gone are the days where everyone was expected to work the 9-5 job, suffer enough to then hopefully retire 40-50 years in the future. While some people still welcome this daily grind, others are looking to change up the game. One woman, MelRose Michaels (@melrosemichaels) decided that her life as a bank teller was not rewarding enough for her life. So, despite the potential backlash, MelRose knew this is what she wanted in life.

Most of you know me pretty well but for people who are meeting me for the first time, let me “formally” introduce myself. I’m a 28-year-old published model, marketer, entrepreneur and influencer who grew up in Chicago IL. I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life, everything from working retail and restaurants, to real estate. The most interesting job I’ve had though, thus far in my lifetime, is as a webcam model.

When I was 20, I broadcasted live online in lingerie for the first time in my life. I had just moved out of my mothers and was working a bank job, and gogo dancing in downtown Chicago on the weekends. I logged on with the intention that I would not log off until I made my $975 rent. At around 4am that morning, I had made over $1000. And little did I know, within the next 7 days, I would make over $7,000. Needless to say, later that year I quit my job at the bank and began what’s now been a 9-year career of chatting online in lingerie. I’ve been lucky to find a fanbase that adores me, and an extraordinarily warm community to call home since I began this career. It’s allowed me to do a lot of really great things, like recently, on somewhat of a whim, I uprooted my entire life, bought 80 acres of land and moved to the Tennessee.

“A myth that I should debunk is that I was in some terrible situation and saw this as an opportunity to change things. I wasn’t. I grew up poor yes, and again, you don’t miss things you never had. When I found out about webcam, I was 19 and making $17 an hour at a bank and $400 cash every weekend gogo dancing. I was doing okay for myself at that age and at that time. For me, I just saw webcam as yes, a way to make extra money. An easy way. I was young, attractive, and there didn’t seem to be any reason not to. And then, the more money I made, the more everything else seemed like a waste of time. Working at the bank, gogo dancing. It all became so empty. I’m just living my life, making other people money, and I didn’t agree with that. I remember when I finally quit the bank job. It would’ve been 6 months or so after I began webcam. I had requested Thanksgiving off so I could be with my family and I was denied. I went back to my cubicle thinking, “denied?” “After taxes I average $30 a day working here. What’s the point when I can make $1000 a day at home.” So, I quit. And that was the last corporate ‘employee’ job I ever worked.”

MelRose Michaels (@melrosemichaels) and she has dominated the webcam/ OnlyFan space by being one of the top webcam models in the world. Yet, she never had an easy childhood but that never stopped her from keeping on the track for success.