With more than 20 years of experience in the web tech business, a genuine lust for freedom and a list of accomplishments only surpassed by the list of goals she still wants to achieve moving forward, FSC CEO Michelle
LeBlanc is a tireless champion of First Amendment rights and securing the longterm success of adult industry players. LeBlanc oversees efforts to address a wide range of issues spanning Section 230 protections to the PASS testing system, spearheading lobbying efforts and even coordinating SBA loan assistance in the wake of the pandemic.
The right wants less moderation of political speech, the left wants more moderation of hate speech and people on both sides are obsessed with moderation of sex work.
By shepherding the Free Speech Coalition to build upon its legacy of helping adult at every level, from behind-the-scenes policies to talent-centric educational efforts, she seeks to positively influence not only the bottom line of companies, but the health and wellness of performers.
As the Woman of the Month, LeBlanc shares the kinds of milestones, dangers and political climate inflexion points stakeholders should be preparing for, as well as the insights gleaned from fighting on the front lines of free speech protection.
XBIZ: Tell us about your professional background prior to adult, and how your experiences shaped your approach to the FSC.
LEBLANC: Prior to joining the staff of FSC, I had 20 years of experience in web product management, mobile app development and digital marketing, primarily with internet companies, but I also worked with mobile startups, small businesses, nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies.
As digital marketing became more and more specialized, I got further and further from the part of my career that I loved, which was directly connecting with consumers and customers. I was tired of trying to sell people things I didn't care about. With the second half of my career, I wanted to do something that would make a positive impact on people's lives.
I wanted to use all the experience and knowledge I had gained to make a difference in the public or nonprofit sectors. I went back to school to finish my neglected MBA in International Business, and then I took an Executive Fellowship with the L.A. County Department of Health Services. When my service was over, I searched for the right nonprofit fit and found the FSC. The more I learned about the FSC's origins in the early First Amendment fights in the adult industry, and its current commitment to protecting sexual speech and bodily autonomy, the more I was personally drawn to the organization. From a professional perspective, I was attracted by the big issues that the FSC is tackling for the adult industry and for itself as a growing trade association.
XBIZ: As the CEO of the Free Speech Coalition, what do you feel are the most significant obstacles to free speech on the horizon?
LEBLANC: The biggest obstacle to free speech in the adult industry, and throughout every part of the United States, is the rise of toxic conservatism and its commitment to moralism and white supremacy. The adult industry and protected sexual speech are under attack by conservatives ramping up their one-sided war on porn. They are twisting laws to attack legitimate businesses on multiple fronts. The biggest immediate threats we are facing are financial discrimination, attempts to dismantle Section 230 and the conflation of sex work with sex trafficking. Outside of the adult industry, free speech and the right to protest are being stifled on a daily basis. Police are murdering Black people and then criminalizing the protests that erupt in response. Such a massive and blatant disregard for free speech as a concept is even more alarming than the targeted attacks on porn.
XBIZ: Can you discuss how you’ve helped the FSC partner with industry stakeholders to establish and enforce agreed upon codes of ethics and best practices?
LEBLANC: Our approach to this is to listen to the community. We have held multiple townhall style meetings and also smaller group meetings of stakeholders from every aspect of production to understand what is happening on sets, where there are gaps in learning and practice, and what we can do to help ensure safe sets for everyone.
XBIZ: Did anything useful come out of those discussions?
LEBLANC: We formed a Policy Task Force in response to performers speaking out about harassment, consent violations and racism in the industry, and invited FSC members from multiple stakeholder groups to join. The task force very quickly set up webinars for performers, directors and agents about consent on set, and began creating resources to help performers get resolution around issues of consent and race. We also published an updated code of ethics and updated consent checklist that producers and performers can modify and use prior to production. The Policy Task Force has now become a standing Policy Committee. Their priorities include developing a process for reporting and resolving on-set complaints, and publishing updated production protocols and on-set requirements.
XBIZ: How do you navigate the hyper-partisan environment of politics in the digital age, given the obstacles each party presents, be it regulatory overreach or moral panic?
LEBLANC: The adult industry has always had opponents and defenders on either side of the political spectrum, and effective anti-porn campaigns have almost always come from the collaboration of conservative religious groups on the right with sex-work-exclusionary feminists on the left. We see it happening again today. Religious groups like Exodus Cry are co-opting traditionally progressive language about racism and the exploitation of women to garner support for shutting down adult sites.
XBIZ: Is that the spark creating pushback against Section 230?
LEBLANC: The battle over Section 230 isn’t specific to one ideology. Progressives and conservatives are both calling for its repeal for entirely different reasons. The right wants less moderation of political speech, the left wants more moderation of hate speech and people on both sides are obsessed with moderation of sex work. Everyone’s an advocate for free speech until they hear something they don’t like.
If we want to defend the adult industry successfully, we have to speak to people in a context they understand, about issues that are meaningful to them. In some offices, we might emphasize the importance of sex worker rights; in others, we might emphasize how legislation affects small businesses and innovation. We never compromise our core values, but it’s important to understand what moves different groups of people.
XBIZ: Give us a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes workflow within the FSC, as you shepherd a diverse team to achieve your mission. How do you approach delegation, project management, and coaching?
LEBLANC: The FSC has a small staff: five full-time and three part-time folks. Three of the eight were added within the past year. As a leader of people, I try to be a guide more than a manager. Each person has a specific role to fill and is empowered to manage their time and their work. My job is to ensure they have the resources to do their jobs and that they are growing in their current roles as well as in their careers. As a leader of an organization, I am focused internally on ensuring operational compliance and efficiency, and externally on growth and advocacy.
XBIZ: How has the pandemic affected the industry from your vantage point?
LEBLANC: Everyone was negatively impacted in some way almost immediately. Operations for every segment of the adult industry ground to a halt. Some parts of the industry, like sexual wellness products, were able to resume much more quickly than others, like studio entertainment production. Sexual wellness product sales increased dramatically, to the point that manufacturing could not keep up with demand. Cams and clips did extremely well also, both the platforms and the models. Any company that had a backlog of content was able to weather the first part of the pandemic.
As the pandemic raged on, the negative impacts compounded. At the FSC we tried to help our industry navigate the shutdown, providing guidance on SBA loans for adult businesses; raising and redistributing money through the Emergency Fund to help performers and crew who were out of work; consulting occupational health experts to create safety guidelines to reduce the risk of returning to set; and modifying PASS to include crew and COVID testing information.
One of the biggest positives to come from this was a renewed demonstration of the adaptability and innovation of the adult industry. We saw a power shift from studios to performers, and we saw new methods of remote production and new business models emerge.
Our goal as an industry should not be to get back to where we were before the pandemic, but to use this event to propel the industry forward.
XBIZ: What are some of your personal hobbies and passions when you’re not working hard for the FSC?
LEBLANC: During the pandemic there were a couple things I like to do that became some of the only things I could do. One was hiking. At the beginning of 2020, I started the 52 Hike Challenge thinking that it might be difficult to complete by December. I finished in July because hiking was one of the few enjoyable, safe activities outside of my home. Inside of my home, I was baking way more than I had before. I didn’t become a bread baker like so many others because I missed out on that first run on bread flour and yeast, and I have always been more of a cookies and cakes baker. I’ve definitely leveled up my skills in that area.
XBIZ: What are the top three milestones you hope to achieve this coming year for the FSC?
LEBLANC: Our mission is to protect the rights and freedoms of both the workers and the businesses in the adult industry. As such, one of our top priorities this year is federal lobbying on behalf of the industry and fighting the harmful legislation that threatens the lives and livelihoods of our members. We are nearing the end of our search for the right federal lobbyist and will be engaging those services in the near future. Our Legislative Committee has already been hard at work tracking bills, contacting legislators, and writing letters to support legislation that advocates for sex workers and fighting legislation that threatens to criminalize the adult industry once again.
As a trade association, one of our top priorities is to provide additional benefits and resources to our members. We already have the NexGen benefits for individual members, and we are working on rounding out that package, and increasing the benefits we offer to all types of members. We are also working on creating additional education programs for the industry and providing more resources such as forms, templates and directories to our members.
A major milestone that we have been working toward since before the pandemic is the launch of the new PASS software and the announcement of some exciting changes to the PASS program.
Each month, XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry's most influential female executives.
