THE pandemic has indirectly opened up stock markets to millions of millennials across the West and the trend of investing is still on the rise.
I wanted to find out more about this new trend so I spoke with one of the millennials who has participated in this investment trend.
Her name is Kaya Corbridge (‘HempressKC’), and she is a 24-year-old OnlyFans sex worker from Colne in Lancashire, UK.
Before entering into the adult entertainment industry Kaya’s previous jobs included being a “cash-in-hand” waitress at the age of 14, working in McDonald’s and Lidl, and a job as a part-time tour operator.
Kaya started her business after she quit a degree course in international relations and global development at Leeds Beckett University in September 2017.
She then decided to start an OnlyFans account, a subscription service where content creators provide adult content to their subscribers who in return pay a fee. In the first few months of becoming a sex worker, Kaya’s income was in the low four figures but after building up her content, social media presence and subscriber base she quickly grew her income to £30,000 a month.
Then the pandemic struck and the world turned upside down, but for Kaya and many other Onlyfans girls this was a financial gift.
The pandemic has increased Kaya’s subscriber base due to the world going into lockdown and her monthly income rose from £30,000 to more than £85,000, turning her into a millionaire reaping a total of £1.9m from her OnlyFans account since 2017.
Newspaper tabloids including the Daily Mail, radio stations including Times Radio and magazines including Chat have all covered Kaya’s success since the pandemic started and she is soon to appear in a TV documentary.
Throughout the pandemic Kaya was witnessing a change in investment behaviour among young British millennials and because her income was growing she decided to start investing.
Here is what she told me:
KAYA: “Within a day of learning about investing in silver from TikTok influencers I decided to buy 8 kilos of silver bars from Bullion by post. When the bars arrived I was really surprised how shiny they were and how you can just feel the value in your hand. I won’t sell them for at least another 30 years when I’m in my mid 50s.”
“I get a lot of information from sites like the Freetrade community and CanaryWharfBets but guys like Max Keiser, Dave Portnoy, Sven Henrich and StocksForYoungies provide that outsider perspective with both a sophisticated and satirical approach.
“I found out that when investing, the outsider’s view is more trustworthy and believable than the mainstream media. Since the lockdown I have educated myself so much on finances and investments I have become very passionate about it, I never realised there were so many opportunities in the markets.”
“How much have you invested since the pandemic started, and have you done well?”
KAYA: “In total I have invested over £150,000 and by the end of this year I will have invested at least another £100,000. I have done very well so far and my return is now over 105%, I’m really chuffed.”
“Tell me about some of your investments…”
KAYA: “I own a £125,000 home that has been fully paid for and I am currently in talks with an agent over a home valued at £700,000. I own gold, silver and some crypto currency. I have an ISA and a shares portfolio with IG Trading and in them I own shares in 67 different companies including Aston Martin, Lloyds bank, Nightcap and Tesco. My accountant is setting up a SIPP so I can invest into a long-term pension plan that can take advantage of government breaks.
“Over the next 6 months I am thinking about expanding my brand to invest into my own production company and name it ‘Hempress Films’. I already have two private equity funds willing to invest because investors seem to be very interested in the industry. I want to make British porn a professional product for the whole world to buy and I want to financially empower sex workers and stars through the brand. If the plan and financial numbers fit then I will go for it and launch it in early 2022.”
“Do you get nervous about your investments?”
KAYA: “Sometimes yes but mainly no. The main reason why I don’t get nervous is because my consultant gave me a portfolio strategy that is diverse and protected. I do not invest more than 1% of my wealth into one company and I do not invest more than 5% of my wealth into crypto currency. I do not invest more than 15% in gold and silver and my trader buys me something called VIX and this supposedly makes me money if the stock market crashes. It also helps to know that if all of my stocks fall 50% in value I would still be in profit after taking out my investment, so that gives me a peace of mind.”
“What is your next investment?”
KAYA: “I have just invested into my own dog business and I am currently building that up on the side. Once it gets off the ground I will then get someone to run the company and to grow it slowly but surely. My next project is my own personal podcast and a production company that specialises in British pornography. This week I think I am going to buy some stocks in Tesla because the share price has fallen and I feel the price is good.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself yet, but an investment fund has approached me and two other sex workers with a proposal to invest into a sex club and a sex festival. It does involve a lot of money and planning so we are spending the rest of the year doing more research and studying but if it seems doable I will 100% go for it.”
She added: “I am not really a big spender, I invest much more than I spend and I believe that the money I work for should work for me. Having a good adviser and educating myself has taught me new ways to build my money up.”
I asked Kaya about her lifestyle and the one thing she said is that she loves to travel and during the pandemic she travelled to more than five different countries including Portugal, Mexico and Miami in the USA. But her lifestyle seems very financially prudent and she said to me that paying $8 for a soup in Miami broke her heart and that she doesn’t buy expensive designer clothes.
KAYA: “I’m more of a Primark rather than a Prada girl”.
One thing I learned while speaking with Kaya is that she is very hungry and ambitious to reach a goal and create a business empire. Her ambition seeps out of her when she speaks; she mentioned the word ‘empire’ to me a lot of times and that gave me an indicator that millennials like Kaya have bigger goals than the majority of her peers.
Many baby boomers will sneer at what Kaya does for a living but they would love to make the same type of money as OnlyFans workers. The UK adult entertainment industry is now the UKs most highest paid industry for females – no other industry competes with this.
Since 2019 Kaya alone has contributed more than £400,000 to HMRC when factoring in all taxes and VAT – that is more than 13x the average UK wage, so those who sneer should think of the taxes these sex workers pay.
I also learned that Kaya’s motivation is not to acquire frivolous items and luxurious goods; her motivation is to build something and to leave her mark in history. Greed and power does not exist within this one.
After analysing our conversation I have come to the conclusion that if Britain’s young entrepreneurs are anything like Kaya Corbridge, then the future of Britain may be more hopeful than some of us might think.
Kaya is the epitome of millennial entrepreneurs who like to do things a different way.
Those who are mad enough to think they can change the world, end up changing the world. Industries that may seem alternative to many of us today, will be the power industries of tomorrow.
