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Multi-talented Jade Greene has never been one to follow a conventional career path.

A former Washington Capitals cheerleader and Big 5 beauty pageant queen, Greene has also worked in finance, earned an MBA and become a competitive distance runner, as well as built a successful career as an acclaimed adult entertainer and content creator. 

These days, she can add another title to the résumé: award-winning author.

Greene recently earned her first ASN Award, taking home Best Erotic Writer during a private awards dinner in Orlando, Florida. The event brought together nominees and others from across the adult entertainment industry, with winners selected through fan and industry voting.

For Greene, whose erotic fiction draws inspiration from both fantasy and pieces of her own unconventional life, hearing her name called was particularly gratifying. It’s the latest turn in a life that has included more reinventions than most.

I recently spoke with Greene about becoming an award-winning writer, the difference between creating fantasy on the page and on camera, how her business education helped shape her career, and why the scariest leap she ever took had nothing to do with adult entertainment.

You recently won the ASN award for best erotic writing. What was that experience like?

Jade Greene: It was so gratifying. I love being recognized for my video and photography work as a model, but it was nice seeing my work pay off in writing because they’re two different arts. I’m grateful I had Erika with the RubPR to guide me along the way and become an award-winning author!

Q: You’ve had one of the most unconventional career paths: pageants, finance, cheerleading, writing, adult entertainment and running. Does it feel like you’ve lived several different lives, or is there a common thread that runs between them?

Greene: It does feel like a separate life. Looking back, before the pandemic, I felt like I really lived for other people. After I graduated with my MBA, that really set things off because I learned the skills to start a business and handle all the administrative stuff on the back end, both as an author and performer. It also taught me work-life balance and that I’m not limited to one job or one stream of income. People see all the different things I do, but they don’t see how long I sleep afterward [laughs]. Writing books and recording audiobooks takes a lot of energy. 

Q: How different is creating fantasy in a book from creating it visually on camera?

Greene: I wouldn’t say that video or photography is easier, but it’s faster. Writing a book takes a long time, especially when you’re doing it without AI, which I haven’t used. I’m also really proud of my covers. I commissioned Giulio Villa, an Italian designer, to hand-draw them. There’s something to be said about choosing to pay an artist versus having a machine spit something out.

Q: How much of Jade Greene ends up in your characters?

Greene: It’s a mix. I definitely pay tribute to people from my real life, people I was intimate with or friends with, but there are also scenarios I completely made up, including some I secretly wish had happened. Some characters are nobody. I created them out of thin air. Others are combinations of people.

One of my favorite characters, Gerald, is basically three guys combined into one. He’s this perfect, rugged, gentlemanly, knight-in-shining-armor type.

Real people are flawed. Sometimes fiction lets you add that extra little piece of fantasy.

Q: You narrated your own audiobook. Was that something you enjoyed?

Greene: Out of every part of publishing, recording the audiobook was the most challenging. Writing can take me a long time and I enjoy it, but audio engineering was something completely new to me. It was painstaking, but I’m so glad I did it.

Q: Did your background in finance and business help you build the Jade Greene brand?

Greene: It helped tremendously. I learned how to establish LLCs, how tax laws differ across states and countries and how to handle personal finance. I wish personal finance were taught in high school everywhere. There’s no reason students shouldn’t learn taxes, insurance, credit and investing. I would tell every performer, entertainer, contractor or business owner to get an accountant and get a financial adviser. You don’t know more than people who specialize in that work.

Q: What is the biggest misconception people have about you because of your work in adult entertainment?

Greene: That I didn’t choose to do it. When people learn about my background, it should be pretty obvious that I did choose it. For me, it was an empowering choice. Another misconception is that people think creators are available 24/7. That’s true beyond adult entertainment, too. People think because you put yourself out there publicly, you’re always accessible, even when you’re not.

Q: You’ve reinvented yourself many times. Was there ever one leap that genuinely frightened you?

Greene: Moving to Alaska. That was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done. I moved there alone at thirty, right after finishing my MBA, with basically nothing but a couple of bags and a purse. I eventually lived in Anchorage for a couple of years, and they were probably the best two years of my life. You have to get comfortable being alone there. That changed me.

Q: Which makes you feel more vulnerable — releasing a new scene or releasing a new book?

Greene: The audiobook. I’m very self-conscious about my voice. It’s really another form of acting because you have to find the right balance. You don’t want to overact, but you also don’t want to sound flat and monotonous. That makes me feel much more vulnerable.

Q: Running seems completely separate from writing and performing. What does it give you?

Greene: Balance. And amazing sleep [laughs]. Seriously, if you struggle with insomnia, become a runner. Once your body becomes used to running it becomes an addiction.

Q: If everything goes exactly the way you want over the next five years, what does your career look like?

Greene: Two more books for sure. I’m writing the fourth now, and I already have the fifth planned as the finale. I don’t want to stretch the series beyond that. I might also do a graphic novel or comic-style special edition with erotic artwork of the characters. And I absolutely still plan to continue shooting.

Eventually, I want to open my own studio. It wouldn’t always feature me. I want to build something larger than that.