This feature appears in the December issue of AVN magazine.
LOS ANGELES—Cali Sweets made her adult industry debut in 2012, performing for most of the heavy-hitting studios of the time, including a career-making threesome with Jack Napier and Lexington Steele for Sean Michaels’ The Black Pack (Evil Angel).
“I honestly loved it,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘How do I do more of this?’ I didn’t have an agency—it was just this guy who happened to know people. He got me a few shoots, and then I started meeting other girls on set. They said, ‘You need an agency.’ That’s when my career started skyrocketing and I was shooting non-stop—it was amazing.”
An exhibitionist with a revved-up sex drive, Sweets had arrived in Porn Valley, ready to chart her own course—until she hit a detour two years later.
“I’ve always been a very sexual person,” she said. “I love to explore. I’ve dabbled all over the place in my personal life. I’ve done gangbangs, BDSM, a handful of orgies, lots of public sex—on hiking trails, on the beach.”
“My first relationship was polyamorous,” Sweets continued. “I had a girlfriend, and we had another girlfriend. Besides that, we were cool with dudes. People thought it was weird or a phase, but I can love more than one person. I don’t hold people hostage. I like one-on-one, but I also love to interact with more people in deeper ways.”
In 2014, Sweets abandoned porn to pursue nursing because, “I was more worried about other people’s judgment.”
A one-time cosmetologist who had earned decent “normal people money” before crossing over to sex work, Sweets was determined to be ordinary. “I thought I should be a nurse because nurses are the top-notch normal people of society—helping others, which I love to do. I specifically worked in mental hospitals.”
Sweets revealed, “People that are in there—whether it’s for mental conditions or traumatic experiences they’ve been through—need someone to talk to, you know? So, it was really cool to be that nurse. It was very fulfilling work… but it had nothing to do with me being stared at or feeling sexy, and I guess I selfishly need that, because I continue to be a very sexual person even while doing a normal job.
“It’s an empowering feeling… to know people are fantasizing about you,” she continued. “I’m not offended by people looking at me. It’s an honor and a privilege to be admired and to make people happy. I hope that doesn’t sound snobby. I’m grateful for my genetics. I’m grateful for life in general.”
Sweets quit nursing and inched back closer to sex work when she took a bartending gig at a gentlemen’s club. “It was my last job before coming back to porn,” she said. “It was fun. I got to party while I made money. But I don’t like asking for permission to take days off or to go on vacation. It’s better to be your own boss.”
Represented by Nexxxt Level Talent Agency, Sweets is back in action and once again working for top studios, including Elegant Angel, Kink, Naughty America, Adult Time, and more.
“I missed the porn industry,” Sweets said. “The freedom, the fun we have, and the ability to express myself without being looked at like a weirdo.”
She lets the words hang for a second.
“Sometimes, I like to be in the moment and do weird shit for myself, you know? I don’t just do it for financial purposes. It’s for pure enjoyment. I fucking love sex. I think it’s amazing. I think it’s beautiful. I think people should explore more together with their partners. I think it’s horrible that guys and girls sneak around with other people because they’re scared of exploring certain things or think their partner’s gonna judge them.
“The world would be a better place if we explored more together, started checking boxes, kept our relationship interesting, spiced it up in the bedroom, maybe put a finger up the ass, I don’t know.”
Photography by @kogafoto
