LOS ANGELES—A self-help author who’s lived in 70 countries, leading workshops and retreats on feminine empowerment, isn’t someone you’d expect to find entering the adult industry. But after the loss of her partner, Venus Valencia reflected on the life she had imagined for herself—and the one she had long encouraged other women to pursue.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a morbid start to why I entered the industry,” she said. “He passed away right before I decided to do this. I thought I was marrying him and then he was gone. But it allowed me to step back from my career. I was like I have this one life…what am I going to do?”
The goddess embodiment coach leaned back into the teachings that had defined her career, but discovered there was still a part of her she had not fully lived—a part she was now willing to explore, despite the backlash it might bring.
“I teach women to follow what makes them feel most alive and empowered,” Venus said. “I knew doing this was going to come with a lot of judgment and hate, but it was something that felt alive in me and I didn’t want to ignore that.”
The reaction was as expected. Valencia lost more than 50,000 followers on Instagram and was met with a barrage of hateful messages. “My community was outraged,” she recalled.
“I love the art of pornography,” she continued. “I see it as sacred, though I understand that’s not the general perception. I’ve studied Tantra, and its philosophy holds that everything in existence is sacred. It’s about releasing shame from our humanness. Sex isn’t sinful or wrong.”
Others didn’t see it that way. Three months after launching her OnlyFans, a leaker exposed her content to family, friends, and clients in an attempt to extort money from her. “It felt humiliating at the time, but it was a blessing in disguise,” she recalled. “Everyone knew, so I decided to own it. I was like, ‘I’m just gonna go all the way now.’”
Valencia started as an extra on Brazzers sets before making her industry debut in a VR scene for Naughty America’s Perfect Fucking Strangers series. After two years of playing moms, wives, and seductresses for the industry’s top studios, the 36-year-old began to rethink the line between the spiritual and the primal.
“I discovered that animalistic sex can also be sacred,” Valencia said. “In tantric and spiritual spaces there’s eye gazing, breath work, and deep connection. But I’ve found that whatever level it’s on, I see it as a sacred, beautiful experience.”
That perspective, she noted, was shaped in part by the people she’s met in the industry.
“The people in porn are the most real I’ve ever known,” Venus said. “I was in the spiritual community for a decade, and I’ll go as far as to say that I’ve met more enlightened beings in the industry than I have in the temples.”
She explained, “By enlightened I mean authentic and true to themselves. Those who are aware of why they’re here and enjoy it. They learn not to care what anyone thinks, because there’s a lot of stigma around it. Being naked on film is very vulnerable and raw. If you enjoy that, you’re not the type of person who wears a mask.”
Valencia, who is represented by Foxxx Modeling, continues to coach and is now writing a new book about her evolving path.
“I’m still working in my regular career and focused on my memoir, which shares my spiritual and sexual journey together,” she said. “I’m integrating the two and writing more about erotic expression and empowerment. It’s been a unique and rewarding experience.”
Photography by @kogafoto
