Scarlett Lush on BDSM, Femdom, and Inspiration

What brought you to the adult industry and what do you love about it?  

I started a vanilla modeling career when I was a teen. I had been doing that part-time to supplement my income on top of my full-time job. In my personal life, I had identified as kinky early on in life and really got into my role as a lifestyle femdom in the BDSM community and through personal relationships.

When the 2008 recession happened, the art gallery I was working at as an art consultant closed its doors forever and I was out of a job with no leads in sight. While scouring the Internet for ways to make money I kept seeing gigs for modeling in the fetish and adult industry, it seemed like they were thriving while the rest of us were drowning so I applied to a few that seemed to align most with my personal kinks. One was trampling (walking across another human’s body to smother them with your weight- it’s a form of humiliation, feet fetish or domination), and another was wearing a bikini while tying up another woman and tickling her. Both were fun and very straightforward experiences.

I personally have a tickle fetish and love tickling others so getting paid for this was very exciting! After those went so well, I kept applying for gigs and asked the producers to send my info to their friends. At the time there wasn’t a lot of crossover between vanilla and fetish models. I had always been warned to avoid those shoots and that doing so would ruin my modeling reputation and that the fetish producers were generally creepy and abusive. I found that to be the opposite. I had more issues with vanilla photographers than fetish ones. In the BDSM world consent and safety is paramount, we always went over my boundaries and limits before a shoot.

That’s not to say there aren’t abusive people in the adult industry, I just found it to be generally safer and producers tended to be upfront because they didn’t want to waste a model’s time or their money if everyone wasn’t on the same page. From there it just snowballed. I started taking classes and mentored under another dominant, I was engulfed and wanted to learn more all the time. Men and women wanted to meet with me in person and experience what I did in front of the camera to them. After enough training, I felt skilled and confident enough to start doing in-person sessions and open my own fetish studio.

What is it about the BDSM culture that inspires you?

So many things! One unique thing about me is that I am a lifestyle and professional femdom, so I am always around kinky people. For fun I go to public dungeons and fetish events, I volunteer my skills for BDSM parties, and I vacation at kinky conventions. At conferences, I always take classes to brush up on my skills or learn a new craft. For professional inspiration, I spend a lot of time traveling and working with other femdoms so we can bounce ideas off each other and come up with evil plans for videos, content, and in-person experiences.

Who do you most look up to in femdom and why? 

There are so many inspiring women to look up to that I can’t pick just one! I could talk about fantastic women all day haha. I’ll just pick some that I’ve spent time with and witnessed their prowess:

Midori has been a figure in the community for a long time and continues to amaze me with her brain, confidence, and humbleness. Every class of hers I take I walk away glowing and inspired.

Goddess Alexandra Snow for always fighting and striving to make a safe community for adult workers. If someone tries to stop her or tell her “no” that will only light a fire under her ass to push harder. She works endlessly to make the BDSM world a better place. Seriously, does she sleep?

Muse Naadia for using her energy to point out inequality and providing education to make our industry better for marginalized people. Her bravery to stand up to anyone is inspiring. She’s beautiful, witty and so funny I hurt from laughter being around her.

Mistress Michelle Lacy for putting together amazing femdom events where dominant women and submissive men can live out their wildest fantasies. She’s an incredibly passionate and caring woman who gives all her heart to every experience, whether it’s a week-long slave event or a simple foot worship session she will give nothing less than 150%.

Tell us one of your most interesting fetish-related stories from your career.

Here’s a wholesome story that happened recently.

Years ago, a client came to me wanting a very simple session, to be tied up in very secure and strict bondage in a couple of different positions while I sat next to him on the floor and just talked. It was a fantasy he always had and wasn’t able to ever find a partner willing to explore that with him. We did this once a month for a while until he got a job offer and moved.

He emailed me recently and revealed that when he reached out to me for those bondage sessions he had gotten a demotion at his job, his wife had left him and he had suffered PTSD and depression from the military- he was suicidal and got the courage to seek me out for my dominatrix services because he didn’t think he was going to be on this earth much longer so wanted to try something he had always been too scared to explore.

Me being an open-minded and encouraging person who tried really hard to help him work through his shame from his bondage kink was enough to make him reconsider ending his life. He felt seen, heard and not judged, inspiring him to look for a new job and start exploring his kinks on his own. I had no idea he was going through any of this at the time, our conversations mostly focused on BDSM, shame, acceptance, and of course, having fun. He told me this recently and I was blown away!

Human compassion, connection, and acceptance are so important for people. I’m happy to say he now owns his own business, got some help for his mental health, and gets to do bondage within his bedroom.

What do you think is the secret to longevity in this business?

Consistency, determination, and education. We have to pivot a lot and wear a lot of hats.

What are the biggest hurdles in making a living in this industry?

The rest of the world doesn’t really want to deal with or work with us. Even just using a normal cash system (rhymes with hayhel and benvo) doesn’t allow us to use their services. We are kicked off most websites, not even for advertising – just being in the industry, there’s a lot of stigma and shame and hatred over what we do. We get a lot of negativity, so you have to be tough to be in this industry.

How important is it for models to attend industry events like Exxxotica and why?

I really like conferences because it gives us a chance to be around those who support and appreciate our work! It’s a lot of fun connecting with the fans and just feeling that high energy from everyone. I meet so many amazing people in my industry and I think that’s important because our job can be isolating. Being around other adult workers and those who support us is good for our mental health. This is the reason I really enjoy working at the YNOT booth at Exxxotica, it’s a great booth for resources and connecting with others.

What are some ways you promote your business?

I have accounts on all social media, I travel and do BDSM events and sessions, and I try to be active and involved in the BDSM community.

What business services do you think are missing or wish existed that could help models? 

A supportive payment processor that doesn’t charge 20% fee per transaction. If you’ve run a business, you know the average is 1.5-3%. The fact that ours starts at 20% is rough. I wish there was a social media platform where we could be ourselves and make it 18+.

What are your goals for your career?

To keep growing and evolving. I have no plans to stop! More sessions, more femdom content and more positive BDSM experiences that I can share with the world!

Fans can find and follow Scarlett Lush on her Twitter @ScarlettLush