Adult+Impact: Juicy Jay
The Adult+Impact series celebrates those visionaries from the Adult Industry who are tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges to build a better future for us all.
Juicy Jay — Founder and CEO, JuicyAds.com
Juicy Jay, Founder and CEO of JuicyAds.com, spent many years as an unknown whale affiliate marketer before building JuicyAds and himself into an icon in the adult industry. He is known for his generosity and good business ethics in an industry that is gaining more and more mainstream acceptance.
Even if you have never heard of JuicyAds, if you have browsed an adult website in the last 13 years, chances are you have seen advertisements provided by JuicyAds. Behind the scenes, however, he and his company have a very active social mission, responsible for commitments exceeding $65,000 to a wide range of causes including water projects, wildlife protection, humanitarian aid during natural disasters, disease research, and is an active supporter of child protection via the ASACP organization.
The pride and joy of its social mission — which is aptly titled: JuicyAds Cares — has been supporting entrepreneurs living in poverty. But the initiative is now turning its sights toward even bigger things… Like saving the planet.
Why do you believe it’s important to mix profit with purpose?
Being able to ‘give back’ is one of the things that I like most about running a profitable and popular company like JuicyAds. There are all kinds of causes and organizations that will take your money, but some appreciate your contributions much more than others. Choosing the right partners and causes also determines how much of your commitments actually go towards helping.
It is imperative to have a social mission only if you are doing it for the right reasons. Quite frankly, being philanthropic is an expense and re-investing that money directly into your business will drive you farther — no matter how your marketing department spins it. It is nice from a public relations standpoint to have a social mission, but just doing it for marketing purposes is not a good reason.
We believe that with great business comes the responsibility to contribute to furthering the world. In the end, I would rather have people say “JuicyAds made a difference to the world” instead of “JuicyAds was successful, won a bunch of awards, and made millions of dollars for its Publishers and Advertisers”. Running a successful company is excellent, but contributing to a real change in the world makes us part of long-lasting effects beyond the company.
There are plenty of causes worth fighting for. But for many people, it is difficult to find one that truly resonates. How did you identify yours?
Our social mission developed organically over time. Years ago we did not really have a focussed social mission or charitable theme. However, there came a point when we saw that so much of our money was going to organizations and foundations where a large amount of those funds go towards salaries and administration of the actual organization instead of the real cause. So we took a pause.
Our current social mission was set in motion entirely by chance, because of a movie on Netflix named “Living on One Dollar.” The film follows a group of four friends who travel to Guatemala and attempt to live on the typical income of the poor — just one dollar a day. That was the moment the light bulb went on, and I realized that there are millions of people out there with all the energy, ability, and intelligence who are innovative and more than capable of becoming successful entrepreneurs. But, by circumstance, they lack the capital to be able to do it, and a little money goes a long way without getting siphoned off to the non-profit’s pocket.
A lot of people don’t want charity or a handout. In some cases, the efforts of non-profits actually damage local economies, and we wanted to ensure we were supporting a sustainable ecosystem. So we are starting to support entrepreneurs living in poverty around the world, and have commitments in over 70 countries. They may never become JuicyAds clients, but we provide a hand up instead of a handout.
A few years later while hiking through Peru, I saw first hand the extreme poverty but resilience in the people, living on almost nothing. When I broke my foot during that hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, a team of Peru locals carried me by stretcher for two days to evacuate from the mountains. We tipped them all the cash we had on us — a couple hundred dollars — and they were more than thankful. The feeling was mutual. By the time the cast came off, we had shifted most of our efforts towards supporting Peruvian entrepreneurs. I’ll always feel indebted to the people there.
More recently, the increased talk about irreversible climate change has been making headlines and causing grave concern. JuicyAds has been carbon neutral now for over eight years, but most people and companies don’t pull their own weight when it comes to the environmental impact being caused by their businesses. So it means that responsible companies with a social conscience have to give back multiples more to make up for that disparity.
To fight global climate change, we have made a commitment for the next three years to plant at least four acres of trees per year and also ensuring those hundreds of trees survive a decade beyond. We consider that commitment a minimum. We hope to exceed our financial projections to be able to do even more. The greatest thing about the trees being planted is that they are a hybrid non-invasive Empress Splendor variety that sucks up 11 times more carbon dioxide than any other tree on Earth. That choice allows us to offset a minimum of 1,200 tons of greenhouse gasses annually by our third year. It is remarkable and just the start of making the world a bit juicier.
How do you motivate your team to get onboard with your vision and values?
We live in a society where most people value money over everything else, but what people really crave is happiness and purpose. Money is just the most common way to “keep score” of how purposeful your life has been. It is not that difficult to get a team on board with combating climate change since it allows us all to be part of something much larger than ourselves and to erase some of the damage we have done. There’s definitely some social guilt at play, but I think a lot of people are on board with doing the “right” things when they see others doing them also.
What is the biggest myth you’d like to dispel about the adult industry?
I really hate this question because I get asked it so often and give the same answer. People’s perceptions of the adult industry, the conventions, and the people who work in porn are totally misguided. It is a business that sells a product. It is not a big wild orgy. These people have relationships, friendships, and families like everyone else. Almost everyone I talk to where I mention that we sell advertising for adult sites thinks its the coolest thing ever. Yet, there is this widespread hypocrisy where porn is privately enjoyed and accepted, but publicly ridiculed and denounced. Porn is becoming more mainstream every day, but there is a long way to go.
For ambitious impact entrepreneurs, caring for our health and wellbeing is critical. How do you like to disconnect and recharge?
I write extensively about productivity and work-life balance so it’s a topic I know quite a bit about. When I’m working, I try to squeeze every ounce of productivity and efficiency out of the day (and out of my coffee cup). The amount of decisions and tasks that I am able to engineer out of a typical day is pretty impressive, but executing at a high level means that it is mentally exhausting and requires downtime.
Years ago I would finish a project then spend a couple of days playing video games, then I would recharge and want to get back to work again. Today, I enjoy things like cooking, golf, reading, mountain biking, and am trying to get back into video gaming again. I agree it is essential to have downtime, and I know that my work is better for it when I have ample sleep, relaxation, and don’t work weekends — but it is difficult. When trying to relax, I often feel like I should be doing something more productive and that has been a struggle for me. I have to make a conscious effort to train myself that I’m not being unproductive when I’m spending time with family, friends, or watching TV mindlessly; I am making my productive hours more productive through rest.
Who is someone that inspires you and why?
I have a few inspirational figures that I follow in my life. One is Richard Branson from the Virgin brand, who built a small company into a great brand, then expanded it into bigger and bigger things. Now it is a lifestyle brand conglomerate that has a heart, soul, and a social mission. I could only dream of attaining ‘rebel billionaire’ status like that. There are others like Tony Hsieh (Zappos) and Elon Musk (Tesla) that I admire for very different reasons. Tony Hsieh for his ability to build a customer service focused company and live a personally grounded life despite wild fortune and fame, and Elon Musk for his ability to deliver huge seemingly impossible things juxtaposed with his wild rebel “I don’t give a shit” type attitude.
