Each month, industry news media organization 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.
Ruth Blair is calling all affiliate webmasters and publishers, or anyone who needs to get paid — if you want to receive payments and access them immediately at MasterCard-supporting ATMs worldwide, she can help with that.
Paxum recognizes that when it comes to payments, all commercial needs are unique and one size does not fit all. Consequently, Paxum offers a fully tailored payment solution rather than a basic portfolio of products.
A familiar face at Paxum Inc. for more than seven years, Blair assists clients with their needs and helping to further develop Paxum into a trusted ewallet payment service within the adult entertainment industry.
Blair seemingly always is available to assist, whether it be one-on-one or through a post on an industry board, so that users can get paid and access money within seconds of receiving it through a Paxum ewallet.
These days, Paxum is expanding, venturing into the online financial service business as Paxum Bank, and that keeps the business development manager busier than ever ... but not too busy for XBIZ.
We recently sat down with Blair for this Q&A interview after she was named WIA Woman of the Month.
XBIZ: What do you do for Paxum, and what prepared you for what you are doing now?
Blair: I do a variety of things for Paxum — business development, marketing, sales, social media, copy writing, assisting clients with their needs and representing the company at some trade-show events and online.
At the moment, we are focusing heavily on the launch of our new financial service — Paxum Bank. That has been dominating a fair amount of my time of late.
As far as my history, I’ve been working in the adult entertainment industry in various roles for almost 15 years. From herbal solutions to adult paysites, I’ve been a COO, affiliate manager and in 2014 I was voted Business Woman of the Year for my role with Paxum.
In the U.K. I worked as an insurance clerk, and briefly as a revenue assistant for the Inland Revenue Service in the U.K. before making the move to Western Canada. I emigrated to Canada from the U.K. at age 21.
XBIZ: Why should companies choose Paxum for transferring funds?
Blair: Paxum recognizes that when it comes to payments, all commercial needs are unique and one size does not fit all. Consequently, Paxum offers a fully tailored payment solution rather than a basic portfolio of products.
Paxum’s platform builds on the existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit/debit cards to create an integrated realtime payment solution. Customers are supplied with full technical support, proven anti-fraud measures, and reliable customer services.
Paxum has become a staple in the adult industry for payments; our service is very easy to use and we are adult-business friendly. Since most adult entertainment companies and affiliates already use Paxum to send and receive payments, it is definitely beneficial to add Paxum to available payment methods.
XBIZ: What types of online businesses are using Paxum’s services the most these days? And why?
Blair: Affiliate programs recognize the benefit of being able to issue instant payments en masse. It reduces time and costs, and the affiliates themselves appreciate gaining instant access to their earnings.
Many cam platforms and studios pay their cam performers with Paxum as well for the same reasons. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
Advertising and traffic companies use Paxum to both send and accept payments, streamlining the purchasing process with our versatile API/IPN which enables ad/traffic companies to deliver traffic immediately after payment is received.
Since Paxum is adult-industry friendly we do attract a lot of adult business to our platform.
XBIZ: What are your thoughts about other alternative currencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum?
Blair: Alternative currencies are an interesting prospect in the payments landscape; however, they are not regulated in any way.
As a result, Paxum is unable to do any business with any alternative currency platforms. We do not allow any account activity relating to bitcoin or other alternative currencies. It is against our terms of service.
XBIZ: How important is it to attend and be active at trade conferences?
Blair: Some trade conferences are more relevant than others, but it is always beneficial to be able to interact with clients and prospective clients in person when possible.
Skype, email and phone calls are a great way to communicate and build solid business relationships, but being able to shake someone’s hand, look at each other face to face and spend time talking in person, can take that relationship to a stronger, more intimate place.
XBIZ: What’s a typical work day like?
Blair: Haha. I don’t think there really is a typical day. Each day has different demands depending on what’s happening at the time.
In general, during my day I rotate between emails; Skype conversations/calls; phone calls; research; writing; social media; forum checking; special projects; contacting clients/prospective clients; following up on active investigations; event planning (if we have tradeshows coming up, or for example when we host our Paxum VIP Dinner each year in Montreal); etc.
XBIZ: What’s your favorite quote, and why?
Blair: “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and take a look around once in a while, you might miss it” from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
To some it may seem juvenile, but I love this quote because it’s so very true. In fact life seems to move faster every single year. I’m in my 40s now and a grandmother, and I make every effort I can to not let life pass me by.
XBIZ: Outside of work, what do you like to do?
Blair: One of my biggest pleasures these days is spending time with my grandson. He’ll be three in December and he brings so much joy to my life it’s astounding!
Beyond the fun stuff with the grandkid I like to draw/paint; I love to watch baseball (Go Yankees!); go to the movies; and I cannot live without music but I’m not as keen on the new stuff and prefer soul/blues, rock n’ roll, reggae and classical.
The go-to time-wasting apps on my phone are Sudoku and Kindle, though reading is never really a waste of time!
