Brittni De La Mora was attending college in Santa Barbara, California when she decided she could make a little extra money by stripping. What started out as a side job turned into a successful career in the adult entertainment industry.

A dangerous path

The money started rolling in, and she quickly became a successful porn star. Less than a year into her career, her agent presented her with a choice — either quit college or quit pornography. The money was good and she was becoming a success, so she chose porn.

Even though she was making a great living, she was anything but happy. She told This is Me TV, "The first time I filmed a porn scene — weird. It was like, gross. It was really bad. Emotionally, I just started to go downhill." She revealed that within the first month, she caught her first STD, and later a director told her she was too fat even though she only weighed 110 pounds.

A downward spiral

She turned to drugs to lose the extra weight, and eventually became addicted to a variety of drugs including cocaine and heroin. She said, "I hated myself. I hated my life. I hated what I was doing. I hated being an addict, but I couldn't face filming without the drugs." She reached an all time low and attempted to take her own life.

A little glimmer of hope

After years struggling with the pornography, depression and drug cycle, she finally found a glimmer of hope through a new boyfriend. She went to high school with this guy, and she wanted him to take her to church.

One day, she went to a church meeting and the pastor was speaking about love. Brittni distinctly remembers the man saying specifically to the women in the congregation, "I want you to know that you are a woman of God, that you are worthy of real true love and that you are worth the wait."

The moment her life changed

This struck a chord with Brittni, and she truly believed the words he was saying. She broke up with her boyfriend who took her to church in the first place because he wasn't treating her like a woman of God, and she dedicated a year of her life to getting to know God without getting in a relationship.

The pastor's name was Richard De La Mora, and he and Brittni developed an amazing friendship over the year that Brittni was getting to know herself and God. As their friendship grew deeper, so did their love for each other.

As their relationship progressed, Richard learned more and more about her past and what brought Brittni to church. He said he knew how amazing she was and that her past was just that — her past. But, that didn't mean their relationship didn't come with trials.

It wasn't always easy

Richard recalls, "In the period of us dating I would get so many negative things thrown at my way. This one time Britt and I were hanging out, all of the sudden someone sent me a photo, and it was a graphic photo of Brittni's past." It was difficult, but Richard says, "Every time they would try to throw shade on me, what they were really doing was ... growing me and growing the love I had for Brittni." He knew he needed to embrace her past to have a future with her.

They wanted to save themselves for marriage

Brittni and Richard kept dating and made a commitment to each other to wait until they were married to have sex. Although Brittni had worked in the adult entertainment industry, it didn't mean that she couldn't start over and have a wonderful life with her future husband.

They decided to get married, and they did save themselves for each other. In a blog post Brittni says, "If an ex-porn star could wait to have sex until marriage, then anyone can do it." She wanted to encourage others and let them know that it is worth the wait.

Now they're helping others

Brittni and Richard are now happily married and are using their voices to speak out and help others who are looking for God or a way out of the pornography industry. Brittni even started a campaign called Always Loved to collect donations and provide resources for women who want to get out of the adult entertainment industry. She knows how awful it is, so she wants to help others find a way out.

There's always hope

Richard has some wise words for anyone looking to start over. He says, "The beautiful thing about God is that when you receive a relationship with him, he wipes the slate clean ... you're no longer a product of your past but you're a product of grace."

Richard and Brittni are the product of a beautiful relationship, and Brittni is finally happy. She rose from the depths of despair and is now a powerful influence of joy, love, faith and acceptance. If she can do it, so can you.