Why an Exotic Dancer Is (Financially) Just Like Your Hairdresser

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Part 1: How Strippers Get Paid

When I was a stripper, people were surprisingly curious about how I made money. “So, you’re a contractor?” men would often ask.

“No, technically I’m running my own business,” I would tell them, and this was true. It wasn’t that I felt a strong need to correct them. I’m sure other dancers probably let the comment slide, and responded with, “Yeah, sure I am. Would you like me to contract you into that booth over there?”

I genuinely found the economics of exotic dancing interesting, as did many of the men I had as customers. Most of the men who were willing to give me copious amounts of money wanted to have copious amounts of conversation in addition to nakedness, and I was able to oblige. I wasn’t a turn-&-burn Applebee’s type of stripper. That style never worked especially well for me. I was a long-term investment type of girl, who often required a warm-up and cool-down period, and I attracted like-minded customers who required the same. And so, conversations about finances…