How OnlyFans millionaires live and spend in L.A.

By Tess Douglas On Dec 14, 2023

Hometown: Apple Valley, Minn.

When did you start doing OnlyFans?

I was very early to OnlyFans. I started in 2017 and did it for one year while living in Minnesota, but I made less than $10,000 in one year. It wasn’t until I relaunched in 2020 that things began to pick up, and now, I am making seven figures annually.

What were you doing for work before Only Fans?

I have been modeling since I was a teenager for local businesses and traveling for shoots, on top of jobs I had at everywhere from Raising Cane’s to Ulta to a tanning salon. My family didn’t have money, and my parents were very strict with me. They said, “If you want to do anything, you need to pay for it yourself.”

In 2018, I dropped out of college to move to L.A. to model. I sold my car, sold all my clothes on Depop and moved in with my cousin, who was doing his residency at Cedars. I had worked at Bank of America back home but couldn’t get a job in L.A. as a teller, so I started working at Sephora making minimum wage while trying to do photo shoots and growing my Instagram.

At one point, I got a brand deal with Ignite [energy drink] for around $2,000 per month to post and that was the most I had ever made. That’s what kicked off my career online.

First big splurge after your OnlyFans success?

My own apartment. I rent a two-bedroom apartment with three bathrooms on the border of Beverly Hills [$6,000 a month]. Three bathrooms is kind of a lot but I wanted to splurge after living in such a crowded apartment with my cousin. I didn’t realize how much I love interior design until I had the money to purchase furniture. I am saving for a house, though.

What type of house?

I love Beverly Hills, but my ideal home is not some huge mansion. I want a cottage with a huge yard because I have a dog and I want more dogs. I also want to grow my own food. My family back in Minnesota are huge farmers.

What kind of car do you drive?

When I first started making real money from Only Fans, I bought a 2020 BMW 3 Series. Recently, I traded that in for a 2023 BMW X3.

Where do you go grocery shopping?

I go to Erewhon a lot. I’m kind of a basic b—, but the quality of the food, especially the produce, is really good. I really started understanding this whole organic thing when I moved to L.A.

Favorite small business to support in LA?

Coffee Tomo on Sawtelle. It’s near my office, and I’ll just walk there. They have this special coffee with condensed milk at the bottom that’s my favorite [$6.50].

Where do you like to go out to eat?

Me and my friends are such huge foodies. For a loungey, cocktail hour, I love Fleur Room, a newer place from Tao Group Hospitality. I honestly don’t go out that much anymore except during the day.

Decor inside Desiree Schlotz’s home. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

A sampling from Desiree Schlotz’s collection of shoes. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

A Louis Vuitton fashion coffee table book in the home of Desiree Schlotz.

What do you do for exercise?

I work out probably three or four times a week. I have a trainer, I go to [the gym] RPT in Beverly Hills [$200 a session]. I also go to Equinox [$250 a month], and I recently just got a membership at Heimat [$350 a month]. Heimat is a little far from me, and there’s only one location, but the gym is amazing. It’s so luxurious, almost too luxurious.

What do you splurge on?

Travel. My accountant was like, “You know, that’s something you should probably chill out on.” I was paying to go all over the world, especially with Celestial Swim, my swimwear brand. We rented a villa in Tulum [Mexico] for a bunch of model and influencer girls and gave them bikinis and made content for the brand [$12,000].

Recently, I started making travel content, so I’ve started having partnerships with hotels and getting to travel for free in exchange for creating content. It’s been forcing me to get into that creative aspect of photography, which I’ve always wanted to do but I just never had the time because I was trying to survive.

When it comes to beauty, how do you spend your money?

I love treatments. Ever since I started making money, I started putting a lot of money into my skin and my face. My face is my brand and I am the face of my swimwear brand too so it’s both an investment and for pleasure.

I go to iGlow Med Spa in Beverly Hills. I recently just started getting Botox, and it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done [$3,000 a visit].

I’ve been going to get my facials at the place that Haley Bieber and the Kardashians went to called Artisan of Skin, and they’ve really changed my skin. I was struggling with some acne so we did a few chemical peel treatments [$1,500 per treatment]. Now, I just go to them monthly, and they maintain my skin [$500 per facial].

What’s something you’d never splurge on?

A really absurdly expensive car, like a Bentley. I could use all that money to do something else.

What’s an unexpected thing you recently splurged on?

My Halloween costume. I dressed as a Na’vi from Avatar [$3,000 for body makeup and wig install].

Did you fund your swimwear business yourself?

Yes. It was really cool to be able to put up the money for something I really was passionate about, but it was also very risky [more than $200,000 invested]. I knew Celestial Swim would take off in a few years. It’s not something that’s gonna happen overnight. I had to accept that. I remember writing in my journal: “I’m gonna be a millionaire, I’m going to be a CEO.” To actually see that come to fruition is so insane and still mind-boggling to me.