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28th March 2023
04:16pm BST
A woman on universal credit now rakes in £10k a month on Only Fans and used her first paycheck to buy food for her local community after being inspired by Marcus Rashford.
Amber O'Donnell was forced to get by on just £500 a month - surviving on packets of Pasta 'n' Sauce during the pandemic before setting up an OnlyFans account in 2020.
During her first few weeks on the site, the 24-year-old raked in £500 - which she spent on food parcels for low-income families and distributed to local foodbanks in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire.
Alongside partner, Chris, 24, who works in construction, she donated non-perishables such as pasta and tinned foods, as well as toiletries and feminine hygiene products after a huge Tesco shopping trip.
The curvy model still makes regular anonymous donations to various local charities and has also been able to rent her £1k per month dream home and buy her £10k dream car - a pink Nissan Figaro.
Amber, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said she wasn't eligible for furlough payments when the pandemic hit, so was getting just £500 a month to live on and only just scraped by as Chris was working part-time at Morrisons: "It was just a constant struggle every month."
"For me, it's important to remember where you come from," she said.
"As I come from a low-income family, it's important for me to be in a position to give to people. "
"I now earn over five figures every month - around £10k on average."
Amber says her subscribers love her cosplay looks, especially Velma from Scooby Doo.
"I get comments saying I'm selfish because of what I do, but it's just not true. I love helping others, it's so rewarding."
In March 2020, Amber was due to begin studying biomedical sciences at the University of Sheffield, while working part-time in Starbucks.
But after being told she wasn't eligible for furlough, Amber was left with a £500-a-month universal credit payment to live on.
She said: ''I would say 95 per cent of our income went on bills.
"That meant we had no money for eating out, or any extras. I remember living on those Pasta 'n' Sauce sachets and having them twice a day.
"We were in a lucky position with family members throwing us an extra £20 here and there if we needed, but it was still difficult."
Amber knew someone who started an OnlyFans account, so she decided to also give it a go.
"My family and friends were really supportive.
"Chris said I should if it could help us, and my mum is my biggest supporter.''
Amber initially launched her account in July 2020, before really investing more time in it from September 2020.
"When you go on the app, you have to start promoting yourself elsewhere if you want to make money.
"I made a Twitter account and began building my followers.
"I was in a few 'retweet groups' which is where around 70 girls will retweet each other's content to build their following.
"In a few months I had 50k followers on Twitter.
"In mid-2021 I downloaded TikTok and did a voiceover to a famous sound and went viral.
"I now have around 250k followers on there.
"All my pictures I take myself, it's all done by me from my phone with a ring light.
"I would say my style on Only Fans is amateur-authentic, and I do a fair bit of Cosplay.
"My Velma and Daphne looks from Scooby Doo cartoons were popular.
"I only post content I'm comfortable with, and I make sure I'm staying within my boundaries."
After her first Only Fans payment of £500, Amber - who decided not to go ahead with her university degree - reached out to people in her local community via her Facebook account.
She posted on her local community pages, and asked if there were any families who would benefit from a food parcel.
She said: "I took lots of inspiration from Marcus Rashford, he's incredible.
"We went to Tesco and filled two or three trolleys of toiletries like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash, as well as feminine hygiene products.
"We got tinned foods that would last the longest, the basics that would make the most meals really.
"We couldn't fit it all in the car, so my partner had to come in his van to help."
Amber made up 20 food parcels, for people who had reached out to her on Facebook, and dropped them off at their homes, with any left overs being donated to local food banks.
More recently she has donated £100 of dog food to Bark - an animal sanctuary close to her home town.
She said: "I make a lot of anonymous donations to various GoFundMe sites and charities.
"I've got around 10 direct debits that go out each month to children's hospitals, charities and the air ambulance.
"It's really important for me to spread my earnings as well as keep some aside for my family.''
Her career as a full-time OnlyFans model has also allowed Amber - who says the day-to-day content creation "feels like it never stops" - to make dream purchases for herself and her family.
She said: "I've moved into a new home since I started.
"Me and partner now live in a cottage in the middle of the woods, we're so lucky.
"I also recently bought my dream car, I've wanted one since I was 18. "At Christmas I bought my family a £150 shopping voucher each.
"My mum and nan never treat themselves, so it was really rewarding.
"Eventually I would love to pay off my mum and dad's mortgage."
Despite her charitable work, Amber has faced some negative comments on Twitter and TikTok.
She said: "I get comments from people saying nurses work XYZ hours and you're selling pictures of your feet earning all this money.
"I agree, I think nurses should be paid the world, but it's out of my control.
"I know so many people who do OnlyFans and are so giving and generous.
"There's such a stigma, people don't treat you like a human being, and they talk to you like scum "People should be more open-minded about it."
In the future, Amber hopes to buy a property.
She said: "Eventually I want to earn more. "I want to buy myself my first property, and then buy more properties to use as AirBnBs.
"I've always wanted to go into property renovation, so that is my end goal.
"That will be when it takes over as my full-time job."
Amber also plans to keep donating to charities, and help people in need as much as she can.
She said: "I'm just a generous person.
"The more I earn the more I'm able to give. "I'm always the first to be donating, and I pride myself on that. "People can shame me for my job, but I know that I'm a kind, supporting person."
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