‘Double Lives of Suburban Wives’ star went from food stamps to making $100K a month
Emily Smith’s life has gone from scraping together grocery money to bringing home six figures in a single month.
The 37-year-old stay-at-home mom of four, featured on TLC’s "Double Lives of Suburban Wives," said her family once relied on food stamps, struggled with housing and had just $200 to spend on groceries for six people.
Now, she said her adult-content business generated more than $1 million last year.
And the suburban mom said the moment it finally sank in that her family’s financial life had changed came after one particularly massive month.
"I think staying in the 100K a month that's the moment we were like, ‘Well, holy moly,’" Smith told Fox News Digital. "Who would’ve ever expected something like that to happen? Not us, for sure."
But getting there was anything but an overnight success.
The adult-content creation business, she explained, is notoriously unpredictable.
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"You had that really good month… And it doesn't last. It tapers down, it tapers down and then — this world of content creating is very roller-coaster-y," Smith said.
Eventually, one month refused to taper off.
"There was a month that really, really hit, and then it never went down and hasn't gone down, and we're like, ‘Oh, oh my God,;" she said.
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Smith’s story is at the center of TLC’s new reality series, "Double Lives of Suburban Wives," which takes viewers behind the polished façades of suburban lifestyle — and into the unconventional careers happening behind closed doors.
That second life comes with some unexpected and bizarre requests.
One of Smith’s strangest adult-content requests came with a $2,000 price tag and an unusual ask — she was paid to "lay an egg."
"So that request was $2,000," she said.
Smith's niche includes what she describes as "kinky weird adult content," with requests involving wedgies, fart content and "giant" videos — a fetish centered on fantasies of giants.
"I love to make people’s fantasies come true — if I can do it, I will do it," she said.
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The "giant" videos hold a particular appeal for Smith, who is just 5 feet, 1 inch tall.
"For me, I think the giant videos are really fun," she said. "So those have an extra little sense of intrigue for me, because I've never been tall, never will be tall."
Judgment, family expectations and the challenge of maintaining two seemingly opposite worlds become recurring pressure points in the reality series.
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For Smith and her husband, Nathan, the adult-content creation is strictly business.
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After years of financial instability, Smith built what TLC describes as a highly successful niche adult platform.
Joining the group is about more than money, the reality star said. She is also looking for people who understand a life that can be difficult to explain to outsiders.
Back at home, however, Smith looks like the quintessential suburban mom.
She cooks, cleans and cuts her children’s hair. The family eats dinner together every night.
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The Smiths share four children — sons ages 17, 15 and 12, and an 8-year-old daughter — along with six cats and a dog.
But when the school day begins, the reality star’s other job kicks in.
"It's very much like a light switch," she said. "As soon as the kids leave, you put on your little business hat, and you just get out your notebook and your pen, your iPad and your other phones, and you got to start typing up right away."
Her husband, Nathan, eventually quit his 9-to-5 job to help her keep up with the business.
He had been a store manager for a pharmaceutical company.
Now, he helps with marketing and other aspects of the operation while also running his own unusual business involving snakes. The couple keep 23 snakes, including rare, reticulated pythons.
The financial pressure that pushed them toward adult-content creation was real.
Nathan previously told the show they turned to the business because they were struggling financially.
Smith remembered trying to feed six people on a $200 grocery budget.
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The family also experienced periods of relying on food stamps and not having a place to live.
A friend who was already creating adult content ultimately gave the couple an idea.
Nathan inquired about the business, and they decided to take a chance.
The work also became a deeply personal transformation for Smith.
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The "Double Lives of Suburban Wives" star said she had spent years focused almost entirely on motherhood and had essentially forgotten another part of herself.
She said content creation helped her rediscover her identity and confidence.
According to TLC, the six St. Louis-area couples have built "lucrative and unconventional second lives" while navigating marriage, parenthood and careers creating adult content.
New episodes of "Double Lives of Suburban Wives" air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TLC.