I first reached out to Mati Marroni in the spring of 2019. At the time she had a very impressive Instagram account and I knew from chatter on social media that she was only 17.

This is the first time Shore Thang ever worked with someone who was 17 and I had a lot of questions for Suzanne, one of our attorneys to make sure we didn’t break the law.

Mati picked out a bunch of clothes from DollsKill and the shoot we had planned did not include nudity, so I felt confident we weren’t doing anything illegal.

I flew to Texas in order to set up the photo shoot. Mati showed up several hours late with a group of friends and even though the shoot, didn’t last long, she was very charming, fun to work with, and certainly above average intelligence.

Mati’s background is from South America and she is also part Armenian. She was very cool in person and highly complementary about my photography skills.

Several weeks after returning to LA, I posted the photos that we shot on CaliStonerGirls.com

Mati was already an up-and-coming social media celebrity, even at the age of 16, and word got back to her very quickly that I had posted the photos.

 She was upset that I decided to publish them, but based on the amount of interest we received in her content, I felt confident that I made the right choice.

Mati demanded a few times that I take down the pictures and that she didn’t want to be known as a "sex worker." I said that we paid her for the content and that I have the legal rights and copyright that allowed me to use the content.

Mati who can be a bit toxic at times put my personal phone number on her Snapchat, as retaliation. Over the course of one day I received over 200 calls and FaceTimes. To this day I don’t know what she said.

In order to quell the controversy,  I offered to pay Mati half of what the content made and she agreed.

In the thick of it, I remember telling my trainer while we were working out at Gold's Gym in Venice that if this insanity didn’t stop, I was going to have to change my phone number.

 Throughout most of pandemia, I spoke to Mati here and there, although plans for us to work together again never came to fruition.

Mati is a fan of Heaven Roquemore, the first Shore Thang model, and I always let her know when Heaven and I were working together.

Mati and I have crossed paths a few times since , the first time we shot. Since our first tense business relationship, both of us have calmed down and continue to show each other respect.

I think that Mati Marroni is the most physically impressive young woman Shore Thang has yet worked with. She is well-traveled, shrewd, savvy,  and uniquely intelligent.

Rather than pissing money away on trivial things, I have noticed Mati traveling the world with the money she has earned selling exclusive content on her own.

That’s the right way to live. I’m glad she is successful. And I wish her the absolute best.