Meet Ivette Epps | Erotic Poet & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ivette Epps and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ivette, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I’ve always been artistic since a young age. As a quiet girl who always was too timid to speak her mind, being creative with words and design was my outlet. I’ve always struggled with social anxiety and my public speaking skills, leading me to pursue my dream goal of becoming an author and content creator. It allows me to expand my skills without having to feel out of place. Every time I would take an opportunity that did not align with what I love to do, I ended up hating the job, and it took me a while to stand my ground, trying to accommodate everyone’s expectations of me.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I developed a love for writing at a young age. All of my classes pertained to English writing and poetry. I also was in several book clubs that focused on adult non-fiction books. Many people have always been taken aback by my erotic writing and inappropriate sexual humor, but I feel that sets me aside from many other erotic authors.

It has been a stressful journey building up my confidence in accepting who I truly am as a writer. The biggest accomplishment that I achieved was self-publishing my first erotic poetry book “Poison,” which pertained to my toxic love life. The poems in this collection are raw, erotic, uncut, sexy, and bathed in emotional trauma.

Here is my book blurb:

“A stimulating anthology inspired by a life of poison.
After leaving an abusive relationship where weakness and insecurity were all she knew, Ivette struggled to repossess her mind from the clutches of bipolar II disorder and depression. Her strength unleashed and taking on a form of its own, Ivette embraced a spicy and seductive version of the girl she once knew, aliasing herself as Poison Ivy.
A name with its inherent nature, Poison draws on the inner toxicity Ivette possessed, which always reminded her that she was far from perfect. As the poisonous nature unfolded throughout her healing journey, Ivette found herself repeating toxic patterns, sabotaging her happiness, and continually disrupting the love and kindness around her because of her traumatic past.
Sectioned into five parts: Drink My Poison, To the Men Who Have Poisoned Me, Bleeding Love, Lily of the Valley, and Smoke My Drip, Poison takes us on an emotional crusade that’ll leave your mind drugged and your senses reeling.”

After publishing this collection of poetry, I changed how I wanted others to express their real emotions. I also wanted the readers to accept their sexual energy throughout the stages of their healing journey. I feel like the elephant in the room is our real emotions. The feelings we don’t repeat, the ones in our journals or personal diaries.

It has been extremely difficult to get to where I’m at today. Not only did I struggle with my mental health, but learning not to care what anyone thinks in the entertainment industry slowed down my path to becoming an author. The moment I would put myself out there and share my content, most of my audience just saw it as me being “overly sexualized.” When in reality, I was just writing about my real-life experiences and emotions.

My professional journey has been a stagnant one between the ages of 21-25. I would receive great opportunities, but the experience never was worth my time. These opportunities would result in working for free, no pay increases, no credit for work, and overall just being a dead-end job. Of course, these experiences led me to push myself even harder to accomplish the one goal I had: to publish a poetry book.

It took a lot of trial and error to overcome a lot of the challenges I faced while dealing with financial setbacks. I was a people pleaser while trying to network and put myself out there. However, that always led me to burn out and receive a lack of support. If I were to give any advice, I definitely would say to be selfish while you’re creating a name for yourself. Set your boundaries and stick to them. This way you make room for the individuals who will appreciate your hard work instead of abusing it.

Overall, building up the courage and confidence to put my poetry out there has not been easy. It took a lot of personal growth to publish my personal thoughts to the world and say “fuck it.”

With that being said I am now a marketing specialist for Retro Fitness and s self-published author who loves writing erotic poetry.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My perfect day would consist of working out early in the morning and creating visual content for my business, fitness, or music. I then would hit Island Spa & Sauna to detox myself from my day’s work.

This would lead me to hit a happy hour at any local restaurant with a view and end the night with a big blunt. lol

I consider myself an introvert who will choose quality time alone over going out. So self-care days are my to-go-to for vacation- even with my best friend in town.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to first thank my high school English teacher, Jenny Waller, for her support, constructive criticism, and mentorship as a writer. She always took the time to read my work with an open mind, whether it was a school assignment or poetry about my personal life. She never judged me and always had her door open to understanding me more.

I also have to thank my mother, Nicole Epps for standing by me throughout my journey. Years ago, making a career out of writing wasn’t realistic due to how hard it was to publish content. Even during my process of applying for colleges, several admissions counselors told me, that publishing was a one-in-a-million opportunity for only best-selling authors. However, with the advances in technology, my mother has seen me take every opportunity to learn about self-publishing and how to utilize social media. Both of these women have seen me progress along my journey with my writing, my self-confidence, and my ability to achieve the goals I had set for my career.

I also have to thank William Sloan Jr (Willypropane) for the opportunity to put myself out there with this interview. We all need that friend who will push us outside of our comfort zone to achieve greatness. I cannot thank him enough for considering me to be a part of this Shoutout series. They always say to appreciate friends who will mention your name, even when you’re not in the room.

x

Website: https://poisonerotics.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poison_ivied/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/poison_ivied

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivette.epps

Youtube: https://youtu.be/R1KYBQD83cc

Other: My poetry book: https://www.amazon.com/Poison-Collection-Erotic-Ivette-Epps/dp/B09S92KYZS Poetry Blog: https://ivettemepps.wordpress.com/ Poetry Recitation: https://soundcloud.com/poison_ivied?utm_source=Partnerize&utm_medium=Affiliate

Image Credits
Book cover: @space.skanx Pictures: @moneylong108 (pics with grey backdrop) Woman reading my book: @celinakristine22