This as-told-to article is based on a transcribed conversation with a 41-year-old OnlyFans creator who uses the stage name Sarah Juree. Insider has verified her earnings and job termination with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I absolutely loved my teaching career. Schools would bring their fifth-grade students on field trips to my classroom in Indiana that was part of a government-funded youth program. My job was to talk to them about the different kinds of STEM careers they could consider pursuing in science, technology, engineering and math.

Despite having a full-time job, I was juggling five side hustles to try to keep myself afloat financially as a single mom, including teaching group exercise classes, Keto nutrition coaching, tutoring kids, a teeth whitening business, and designing shirts and mugs.

I would teach all day and then work on one of my side hustles until I went to bed. I felt constantly stretched and overwhelmed with trying so hard that I'd often cry in the bathtub at night. My kids started calling me "sad mommy."

I became increasingly depressed because of the financial stress. Then inflation went sky high – gas prices skyrocketed, my grocery bills doubled and I became even more financially desperate.

A friend started an OnlyFans page in April 2022 and told me she made $10,000 in one month. I decided to give it a go and started a page just to sell nudes on the side to supplement my teaching income.

Last June I tried out during the summer vacation. Within a few days, my photos were copied and sent to my employer. I was sent a termination letter and my 20-year teaching career – and primary source of income – swiftly ended.

I believe getting fired was a catalyst for a new direction in life
I've since made my entire annual teaching salary in just six months. As a teacher I made $55,000 a year, but in the last six months I've earned over $58,000 through OnlyFans.