We'd love to shout out our sponsor Livia Lash for bringing our lashes to life. At Livia Lash, you'll be in great hands with Liz. With over six years of experience, Liz can create any set of lashes you desire, from natural classics to the most dramatic mega volumes you could ever imagine. If extensions aren't your thing, you can opt for that clean girl aesthetic with lash lips and brow lamination too. Find some time to schedule some much-needed self-care at Livia Lash. You will receive $25 off your first visit for any of your services of your choice with the code 50+ at him. Intima is a local sex shop that celebrates our industry in a spicy and empowering way, proudly representing many sex workers and queer-owned businesses, community and education is at the heart of what they do. With over 300 hot sex toys available online, their collection is curated intentionally to help you find what you're looking for so that you can have an infirming experience in the bedroom. They even make their own plant-based pleasure products, so make sure you try out our favorite one, Smooth Operator. Your hyaluronic acid water-based bloop. Use promo code 50+ a tip for 10% off your online orders. Whether you're shopping from the comfort of your home or visiting their adorable storefront in the heart of Victoria, they've got a little something special for you. Did we mention their sex worker owned and operated? Check them out online at intimapleasurevuteak.com and remember to use the promo code 50+ a tip. You're listening to 50+ a tip. The show for strippers, ethical sluts, and other open-minded whores. Hi lovelies, welcome back to 50+ a tip. I'm your host, Danica, and I'm Riley, and today we are doing it a little differently. We are going to be the interviewees on our own podcast. We had the pleasure of sitting down with our friend, Willa, who is interested in joining the industry, and we just opened up the floor to ask us any questions that she wants to know about the industry and have actual sex workers answer because we feel like that's not an opportunity that a lot of non-sex workers get to just ask questions that are on their mind about the industry and particularly ones that they want to know before they enter into it. We thought this was a good opportunity to use our platform for that. I think it's interesting to see what questions people ask us that we don't even think about talking about on the podcast, so now we have a whole episode dedicated to what do you want to know? What would Danica and Riley do? Yeah, www.rd. Yeah, D. You guys are going to enjoy this episode and we really enjoyed recording it. So here you go. Thank you so much for joining us below. We are so excited to have you and do a little role reversal here and be your interviewees. Thanks girls. Yeah, I'm so happy to be here. I have so many questions. I've been extremely interested in the industry for a long time, so I'm glad to finally have a chance to pick your brain about some things I've been curious about. First off, I would like to ask how you two got into the industry and where about are you working at the moment? So I got into the industry many moons ago. I went to Fort Mac, or Fort McMurray, which is Northern Alberta. Back when the oil was really, really good, there was a lot of job opportunities up there and a partner of mine at the time had the opportunity to go work on the oil rigs and he was like, why don't you work in a club up there? His cousin was the bar manager at a strip club up there and I had been serving for years before that. So I had the experience of being clubs and serving and I knew the money was going to be good. So I got, I'll get, let's try it. So we drove all the way to Fort McMurray and I started like serving at the strip club, but I had competitively danced my whole life. So I was pretty confident dancing and the more I worked at the strip club, I became better friends with the strippers than the servers. And one of them took me under her wing and was like, you just need to start dancing. You'll make even more money and you'll love it and we can dance together and whatever. So then the manager of that club asked me if I would be interested in starting to strip and I was like, fuck it, let's try it. My partner was always super supportive as well. So yeah, I started dancing out there. And then when I moved back to Vancouver, I kept dancing out in Vancouver and then haven't really stopped since. I think I've taken like months off here and there because I get lazy, but yeah, I've been dancing, yeah, pretty much the whole time and that's been over a decade. So it's been, it's been a hot minute, yeah. Yeah, I started back in like 2018, I believe. And I started as a topless poker dealer. So I would get hired at private events and I learned how to deal poker. And I would go to like, I would be golf caddy. I would do bachelor parties. I would do more like, wow, like I'm poker dealing. But yeah, usually like lingerie or topless poker dealing. And then through that, I met a girlfriend of ours who was working at a club. And I really enjoyed the job that I had. It was like, I think such a great entry point into sex work because it was like you kept your panties on during a lap dance for this company. And then I also actually too competitively danced. So I mean, the gateway from competitive dancer to stiffer is a small and steep one. But yeah, I got a job at this club through our girlfriend. And have been at the club ever since. I just wanted something that was a little bit more consistent. Like the gigs were great, but it was sort of, you couldn't just go and work when you needed to. You would have to apply for a gig. They would have to choose you. The gigs had to be available. It's sort of like a lesser version of PR, I guess, which is like popular in Vancouver. And we've talked about it on podcast too, which is like private gigs. But yeah, that was kind of my stat until it was topless, folky dealing. Wow, that is so cool. And where was this? This was in Vancouver. I've only ever-- Oh, thank you. Yeah, I never danced in New Zealand. I was young when I lived. So. Oh, yeah. Okay. Wow. Wow, that's so cool. And you danced, do you ever wear knee pads or anything or do you just wear your outfits? I wear knee pads. Do you? Yeah. There is, I would say, like, for the girls that do stage, which is slightly different to girls that do lap dances. It depends. There's definitely a handful of girls who wear knee pads. I wear knee pads under, like, thigh-high boots. So the audience can never see that I'm wearing knee pads. I've definitely seen girls wear only knee pads, like, not even socks over it, because some knee pads are thin enough that you can kind of wear thigh-high socks under it, and it's not too much. Yeah. Yeah, we've definitely seen girls just wear straight up knee pads, and I just think it's such a-- So bad. Yeah. Unless you're constantly-- The faux pas. Totally. Like, unless your question's like volleyball or, like, work hard for me, or something like that. It's like, it's a cute dress, or, like, schoolgirl outfit, and you're sporting, like, basketball knee pads. I just don't make great sense to work, but there is something to be said about the absolute importance of taking care of your body, and especially your knees if you're down to us. So I like to make outfits that I can wear knee-high boots with. Yeah. We-- I never wore knee pads ever in all my years, and then, recently, you and I ride we're up doing stage, and I was like, fuck it, why am I suffering for the art I may as well just fucking put some knee pads on, so I started putting my knee pads under my thigh eyes on stage. Yeah. It was like, oh, my God, so much easier to, like, do all my moves without, like, cringing every time I, like, blend on my knees, and then there was a girl there that was, like, rocking the fucking knee pads just, like, out in the open, and every time she was on stage, it was like, what the hell is she wearing, and it was just so, like, unattractive, and it just made you look very, like-- I don't know, it kind of-- to me, it looks like trashy, like, you don't really take your art seriously, you don't really care about, like, the look you're putting out there. A studic. Yeah. I mean, especially nowadays, the sex work and stripping is so, like, commonplace that there's, there's companies like Hela Heels, who have boots with knee pads, like, built-in now with them, so, like, just buy those, like, if you need the knee pads. Yeah. One hundred percent. Yeah, it's interesting seeing girls wear knee pads and things, but that's so cool that it's in the boots. I didn't, I didn't realize that, but that makes so much sense. I know. Exactly. Exactly. Pretty new, too. Like, this company's only been doing it for maybe the past two, three years, maybe. But yeah, there's definitely, like, a subset of girls who only wear clear heels, like, the, I guess, the, the classic stripper heel, the pleaser, on stage, and I pray for the knees every day. Like, I know some girls have enough, I guess, flexibility or, like, padding around their knee that it's not, you know, horrible. And I get, you know, I, I do probably one stage show a night without my knee pads because I just can't find a boot or something that, like, makes it look good. So I'll tell everyone, but I definitely could not suffer through, like, this six or a day shows that sometimes, like, clubs will have us do. Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Um, how do you deal with the bruising that you get from dancing? Do you wear makeup on your legs or? Arneka. Arneka. Jalen Arneka tablets, but that's, that's more, that's not even like a trick from the tree. That's me being like a plastic surgeon freak and like, yeah, I mean, the arneka is like perfect for surgeries. Um, you can get it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You can get in tablet form where you put under your tongue or you, it, or it can be a gel that you like, um, rub on, whether you get your lips done in your face. Arneka gel is really good for bruising. Yeah. And there's like, there's other different appointments people recommend for bruising, but to be honest, like, I don't really try to hide mine. Um, yeah. My legs are scarred to shift and dancing my whole life, that like, whatever. And the only time I've tried to hide my bruises is like when I get like, I got filler in my face one time and it gave me like two massive black eyes. Yeah. Like that, that I hit. Like I hit those. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Where your score is proud. Yeah. Exactly. It's so funny. Like I feel in the last sort of five years, like even you saying, because you've endured plastic surgery or like pillows and stuff, you've heard about arneka, arneka for me is something that we always had in the house since I was a kid. Like whenever I found if there was any sort of like bump, bruise, anything, my mom would be like, get the honour for out. You know. Okay. Good to know. I've never heard of it. I've heard of colloidal, colloidal silver works really well for bruising, I guess. But that's really good to know about bruises and a lot of people need that secret. Yeah. It's the swelling. I think that's the worst and arneka helps a little bit with that, but yeah, you're, you just have to kind of prevent it as much as you can, because yeah, I do know a couple girls who have really injured their knees at work. Yeah. Yeah, no kidding. Is it hard to get into the industry that you find in Vancouver or how do the auditions go at each club? I would argue it should be harder. Oh yeah. Yeah. It's not only it's hard to get into the industry, I think it's more the challenges to be successful and have longevity in the industry, but I think that's the harder part. Depending on what avenue of the industry you're getting into depends on also how hard it is. Like if you want to do webcam, you just set up an account online and you're in webcam. Like it's not, that's, there's no one to really like bypass or ask permission to. Most online is quite easy, except you're only fans, whatever. For club work, I've never experienced an audition in BC. I've never experienced an audition process beyond calling and saying, are you taking freelancers? I have this many years of experience here in my photos. I'll come in and work a shift whenever this schedule allows me to. Okay. Yeah. I've never known much about auditioning. How do you ever go? Oh, wow. BC. Not for floor work. Like sorry, not for VIP work. So VIP, if you're not familiar, is just when you go in and freelance and you walk around the room, you sell lap dances. There are some audition processes for getting on the circuit, which is when you do stage performances, you're hired by the club through an agency and you typically move around clubs in BC, performing at them, and so that would require some sort of audition process. Usually either the agency manager will see you at a club on stage or you participate in the amateur night that happens at one of the local clubs in Vancouver. Okay. Wow. So I guess for lap dances, you could just, yeah, like you said, send in a photo to a certain club and, and they can say, be schedule you in to just work the floor, I guess. Okay. Because I heard that you can, someone recently told me that you aren't able to do lap dances without being a stripper at the club. Is that true? You have to, the club has to hire you. Oh. Sorry. We just, you can't just walk in and like start working. You have to walk in, talk to the manager. So my, the way I would suggest people doing it in Vancouver, especially, is calling a club asking, are you taking on freelance dancers right now, VIP dancers right now? If they say yes, and I would say, okay, is there something I need to come see before you hire? And they'll probably say, yes, manager, they're on this day. I would go with my work stuff ready and I would be dressed to impress my hair and makeup done. And I would say, hi, like, can I talk to your manager or your hiring manager? My name is blank and I would give my work or name that I already chosen. And then I would say, like, yeah, are you hiring girls? I'd love to work here. And if you have experience, I'd say, you know, I write down, like, go off on your experience. But yeah, the biggest mistake, I see a lot of people in the industry do, or wonky in the industry doing. They come into the club looking like shit. Like, they, like, haven't cared to, like, put on a nice outfit on. Try. Yeah. Like, you're trying to convince someone that you can, like, make people think you're attractive and make them money. Like, you got to kind of look like you can make that happen. Yeah. All the time, girls come in looking like shit, or they're getting nervous, like, drink before they come talk to the manager and it just looks sloppy. And you're like, yeah, or they talk to the manager and they stay in the bar and they start drinking. And you're like, no, like, this is a bad look. Like, you want to, you want to take the job in my years, I believe you want to take the job professionally because you are a professional dancer. So you should behave as such. Yeah. Some other, some extra advice to step onto that is have a, like, a range of outfits that you can choose from or at least know beforehand if the club that you're applying it has any type of outfit restrictions. I know some clubs in Vancouver have specific colors for different days. I know some clubs in Vancouver, you can't have any nipple showing. So if you're wearing a fish in it, like, you're not going to be able to work. And then come with more than one man prepared because some clubs, if you, they already have a Riley or a Danica or a Willow, you'll have to choose a different name. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. How, how have you two managed relate your relationships in the past with stripping have most of your partners been, or a partner been supportive or has it been a little bit challenging to navigate that? Well, I was lucky enough that when I started in the industry, I already had a partner. I know it's for years. So me just dancing didn't change anything. We had years of experience together, where he knew me inside out, pun intended. So, you know, I think he, well, there's no surprise there wasn't going to Jade or bias his view of me, maybe a Danica, right? Which is what you say is starting new relationships with someone being like, hi, I'm a stripper. They like catalog you as a certain type of way. And then it's like the work of like deconstructing that and being like, I'm not this like drug addicted, daddy issues, it's going to cheat on you, like blah, blah, you know, curate in your head to believe I am like. Yeah. So that's been the biggest challenge for me dating when people don't know me. And they meet me at my mom and dancer. And then, yeah, kind of trying to unpack that with them. It's just like very emotionally taxing and it's like emotional labor that I don't care to do when I find dating men already is like to emotionally labor. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So my, I say successful with regards to me dancing has been with a partner who knew me for years and then I got in the street and then another partner who's also in the industry. I did a woman who was in the industry and I dated a guy who was in the industry and those were definitely the easiest with regards to my work. Yeah. Because yeah, there is definitely a learning curve with someone who has no experience in the industry. But yeah, I think that's like, I know I've talked with that recently with Riley too. I'm like, okay, like I want to start putting myself out there going on dates. Like I've, I've been single for a while. But just like the people, the poster child of what someone thinks of dancers like and who I am as a person is like very contradictory. My look and who I am as a person is kind of a big tits, big lips, big lashes. But then I want to spend a Saturday night reading and playing trivia. Yes. Like it's so true. Yeah. Yeah. So that's I think the biggest challenge dating is you really had to find someone who's like open-minded and looks at you as like willow, not willow the stripper. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So it's definitely a mix of experiences when it's come to dating while I've been in the industry. And I think a lot of my experience echo what a lot of dancers and other sex workers face is that people want to date us because it's sort of novel to data stripper. They think it's hot. They think it's sexy. And then one of two things happen. They either don't take you seriously. I sort of like always have a wandering eye, the next best thing that they can bring home to mom or they wonder in three months why you're still dancing and how can you be dancing for other guys because they've witnessed you in that situation and they just like don't understand how you could just give up your entire career after three months, you know? And unfortunately I've had that experience with both men and women. And I've been like ghosted because I was a stripper by men or not taking seriously because I'm a stripper and I've had women ghost me because they couldn't handle the fact that I was a stripper either. And then I have had like successful dating experiences in the industry as well. So yeah, I don't know. It's really, it's a really fine line I find between like of the timeline of when to tell people that you dance because if you say it too soon as Danica said, as Danica said they get this sort of preconceived notion of the type of person that you're going to be. And if you tell them to late, it feels like you're sort of hiding something. I think I'm going in because you're not being authentic towards your, you know, your potential partner and your potential partner doesn't feel like it just like sort of, yeah, I guess it sort of like feeds into the notion that it's not something that we should be open and honest about, which is like totally incorrect. So it's this real fine line between people giving you a shot because of their preconceived notions and like you protecting yourself and being your authentic self as well. Yeah. And it's like, I mean, all these years and I still don't have the right answer because I go back and forth on like, I'm very unapologetically myself and I've been at my back that my whole life. Yeah, absolutely. And everything I do, then like, there's the door, but also me telling you, I'm a stripper. Is that like bringing in the wrong people or like, I mean, like, I don't know, I just like, am I making it even harder for myself? Like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know the right answer. I've been battling it for over a decade. So I've figured out. Yeah. Yeah. I guess it just kind of depends on who's right for you and who's not. You know what I mean? Because no matter what profession you have, it's, it can scare people off, you know? Yeah. And also too, like, no matter what fashion, like, scheduling is hard, right? Like as a dancer, like, night time, Friday, Saturday nights are a busy, best night. So that's usually date nights. If you're working like a nine to five, if your partner is a nine to five, then it's like... So true. Yeah. And then, and then you got to be careful of not taking too many nights off to make date night work because why you the only one losing money. Like, yeah. Yeah. Like, are you going to pay me boyfriend or girlfriend makeup? Yeah. I know, I know women who have successfully met partners while they've been working in the industry, like, and have met through their work, and it's been successful. As a personal role, I don't date anybody who I meet in the club. I just think it's messy. I feel like... It's just a no-no. Yeah. Like, they just have a visual of what I do in the club, and then it gets weird as I experienced three months later. You know? Yeah. And then, you know. I met one of my boyfriends. Like, he came. I hadn't seen him in years. We grew up together. And then he saw me years later in the club, and then we started dating, like... It was perfect 'cause then he was like, and he was like, you know, did well for himself. And I was like, "Hey, if you want me to take off a night, you got to pay me." He's like, "Of course." Like, why wouldn't I? And it's like, that worked out well, too. So there's pros and cons of them understanding your job, right, and, like, seeing you in the club? Yeah. Yeah. I think... Yeah. It's totally subjective. Mm-hmm. Definitely. Yeah. Situational. Yeah. So you said you don't date anyone from the club, but do you ever give your number out to people at the club, or is that a no-no as well? It depends on the club. I've definitely heard of clubs like, not okay with you giving out your contact information. I give out my work number because that's how you make regulars and, you know, bring people back into the club. So I never give out my number with the intention of dating. Yeah. I always give out my number and the intention of them bringing them back and have, like, coming to see me again. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah. And the takeaway there, too, is, like, a work number, so, like, obviously, keeping safe and, like, not giving out your personal information, maintaining that it's a work, like, not, even no matter how much you like someone, and no matter how, like, regular they become, and how they find they come, like, I do urge people to still maintain your, like, work name and your work number. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I typically opt to give them my Instagram, my work Instagram first, because, like, also close to my Instagram when and where I'm working, like, if I'm doing the stage circuit, so that people who admit in the club know that I'm working, they come in to see me. And I don't have to, like, individually text the 20 people whose number I got while I was working those weeks at that club. Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. A little bit of safety there. Have you two ever had stalkers come to the club, and how have you dealt with that? Oh, I've had male and female stalkers. Yeah. Yeah, I've had so many stalkers. Right? For every, every female, identifying person, somehow, yeah, I have, I've had more psycho women come to club than I have had men. Typically they're women who's, like, boyfriends were regulars of mine, and, like, after they broke up, and then they, like, were mad that I remember one, uh, he was, like, a really good regular mine, and then her, if they had broken up, like, a month or so before he became regular. And then she was, like, mad that he was, like, giving me money, because, like, obviously she didn't get money from them. I'm like, girl, I'll just do better next time. Like, make your money. And I'll tell you. And then she said it was, like, several times at clubs. She showed up at a club that was, like, out of town, like, committed to the cause. Yeah. And then I just, like, the nice thing, too, about having a, um, reputation of being a professional at work, and being a good, like, a good employee, if you want to use that term, that clubs want you, and they respect you, and your word means something. So I just went to, like, the manager, and I was like, hey, this girl's a clown, and she's, like, causing issues, and, like, he's obsessed with it, and we're, and, like, and then he just kicked her out, because he was like, okay, well, like, it's either between you and her, like, get the fuck out of here, bitch, to hit her. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I've definitely been, like, approached in the club by people who were, like, unhappy, with me, same thing, like, women of, like, friends, exes, even. Yeah. Yeah. But I do know of two girls who have been, like, quite scarily stalked, one, I mean, I'm not going to share names or any details, but we're at a club, and, um, I guess they put up posters of who's working, and then they went and, like, found, I guess, on the agency, like, who, um, they were working with. I was contacted to try and, you know, under the guise of, like, a fake account of being, like, hey, like, I just, you know, dance with so-and-so. I would really love to, like, dance for them again. Can you, uh, pass on their Instagram, or their number, or something? And so automatically, I was like, this feels weird to me, because, like, I was also at the club, and I was around her a lot, um, and so I messaged her, and I was like, hey, I just want you to know, like, this is happening. Um, and it turned out that it was somebody who had been continuously stalking her and, like, showing up at her gigs, and, um, making fake accounts of getting people to message other people that knew her, like, three steps away, um, to try and get her contact information. So we sent out, like, sort of a PSA in the, uh, in the stage group, just saying, like, as a reminder, like, please, if anyone is asking for somebody's contact information, ask that person first, or can know the message. And, uh, a similar thing happened to, uh, actually, friend of ours at a different club, I'm sure I told you about this, was that he went into the club that she used to work at, and paid a girl for this other girl's personal information, like, her legal name. And the girl, I guess, like, for a hundred bucks, but nothing. Yeah. And then this girl was basically like, well, I know she has some, um, followers on Instagram. So I, like, I, like, it probably doesn't matter, it's the retelling that he told me. He was a regular of mine, and I dropped him. I haven't seen him since. I. Yeah. So yeah, just like, do not be that girl, do not talk about other girls' personal lives, do not talk about their families, their relationships. Don't be an accessory. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And, like, yeah, absolutely, that woman, even, like, I mean, to me, this is fucking common sense, but as we learn common sense is not common. Yeah. Even if you're in a club and the girl was working, even if she's like a foot away from you, when people come up and say, oh, do you know Willow, I'll be like, oh, I don't recognize that name. I don't know if she's working. And then I'll just walk away. Like, I'm not telling you, oh, she's right there. Like, I don't know who the fuck you are. Like, I'm not, like, I never, like, oh, does this girl work her? I don't know. I usually say, oh, it's my first day. Even if it's not even a person. You're so good at that. You have such a good poker face. Like, no, I'm not interested. Yeah. Moving on. Yeah. Not in my business. Like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's, yeah, it's you. It's would be scary just because you're, yeah, I feel like especially dancing, you're really hypnotizing people and there's just so many, so many layers to people falling in love with dancers, I guess. Like, I, we just talked about my last podcast, I had a regular a couple of years back and he just went a little kooky and he would call, he called me like 40 something times and one day and just like, was like a little nutter and I was literally like, you need to not contact me more. I've locked him and then he like, it's been like two or so years and we recently went for lunch because I was like, I don't, I truly believe he's no like physical, like danger at all. Yeah. Yeah. And like, it's time together. He just gets like a little obsessive and he'll be like, yeah, I'm like, you love me and we went for lunch. He was like, you just say it. And I'm like, why? He's like, you say you love me again? I'm like, no. It's like, but he is, he is fun and like I generally enjoy his company, but he needed a little breather. He needs to be put on the shelf for a little bit and we'll see how he fares. Totally. Yeah. Boundaries. Two years. Two years of space. Yeah. You're not a doggy. Doggy. Yeah. It's your jail time. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. That's so funny. Um, how do, what is the thing that you both love most about the industry and what is something that you wish would change about the industry? I mean, the easy answer. I love the money. It's good money. Yeah. Um, I love, love, love being my own boss and scheduling myself. Yeah. Like that's great. Like if I want to like go on a vacation, like I kind of my, I just feel like I need some mental time with my parents and I want to spend some family time. I can just fuck off my family's house and like not answer anyone on anyone when I'm coming back. Yeah. Like I want to go travel and dance. Like I want to travel and make money as I do it and see through Canada, like that's been really cool. Um, I've, I've met a lot of dope people in the industry, a lot of great women, especially. Um, met some shitty wants to do, but that's never industry as well. Um, or no, it's like shitty servers back in my day. Yeah. I thought it was a shitty, shitty restaurant owners, but um. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. But, um, yeah, those are definitely the best things I think is the money, the time, um, the flexibility schedule, being your own boss, um, also like it's nice to have people worship you and tell you how gorgeous you are and tell you your God's gift all the time. Like you can't completely, you know, it's not the worst thing for sure. Um, yeah. I think like I say all the time, the worst part is just the stigma around it, right? Like you're constantly combating this, like people hate us and people hate our job. And like the false narratives people have, but it's absolutely not. Yeah. And like you constantly have to like combat that and that gets exhausting having to like justify what you do for work, just like, and justify yourself and like that becomes exhausting. Um, and then like the fact that I've done it for over a decade and I believe I'm pretty successful at it and I'm pretty proud of how I conduct my business and to not be able to like put that on a resume is annoying. Um. Oh, yes. Yeah. The last, you know, what I've been doing for the last X and 90 years, I could be like, well, I've made this much money and I like made this many regulars and I've like, I've gone around to this many clubs that like are happy to make me back like my sales, my sales skills are this, my communications skills are this, my people's skills are this and then none of that is really like, um, valued or noticed in like the, in quotes, professional world. I guess. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But sex work is real work. Yeah. It's really changed by now. It's 2024. Yeah. Exactly. And then the safety aspect to, um, people because people hate sex workers so much, like there's danger in being a marginalized group, right? So, um, not that the industry itself is dangerous. It's the way people view sex workers that makes it dangerous, right? And the legal rights and labor rights we have. Yeah. I really echo a lot about what Jennifer said about the positive parts. I mean, the money, the flexibility alone are like incredible. I love that I have an active job that's creative. And there's still a lot of like academic, um, I like skills that you build up to, like, um, you know, essentially you do your own accounting a lot of the time. You schedule, you, um, maintain relationships, like you advertise it. There's a lot of like. Design. Yeah. Convertible. Yeah. Convertible. Yeah. To like other industries, especially, you know, in, in sales, um, and yeah, the things that I wish would change about the industry are very similar to Danica. Obviously, the stigma is, is a huge one. And then, um, this, the safety and the laws, especially for like our full service sex worker, like counterparts, um, it's really frustrating in 2024 to have all of full service sex works still viewed as human trafficking when those things are completely separate. Human trafficking is not sex work. Yeah. And so I, yeah, I would say like that's the biggest thing for me. And then, um, the lack of workers rights and like workers protection, we have like even outside of the public, even from the government, I mean, and I'm sure like other contractors and independent, um, workers have, you know, the same, uh, experience of, you know, having no health care, no, um, no one like helping you pay into your, like, RRSP, or though I'm not sure they do that here in, um, Canada, um, if COVID happens, like a lot of girls struggled to get, um, serve, uh, just sort of those things that people really don't think about when you're an independent contractor, as I said, I know that other people in different industries that are in the same sort of like set up as us experience this, but then also not feeling comfortable going to an accountant or, um, you know, a doctor and explain why you're, you're self-advocating, like yourself, um, what work am I looking for? Uh, when you like, not defend yourself, not, no, like to, yeah, advocate, like self-advocating for yourself of why, uh, workers need things like, um, you know, standing STI orders without being asked why, uh, why you need to know certain laws around, like, things that you can and cannot write off and having somebody who's actually knowledgeable in that field be able to tell you, hey, this is what you can and can't write off, so just like the lack of like the developmental support, I think. Yeah, no kidding. Yeah, wow, that would be, yeah, that would be interesting to navigate as well. Do you, because I guess with STI clinics, uh, I guess it's, do book regular appointments, like monthly or is it, is it a, is it mandatory for the, so dancers to do that or? No, no, no, it's not. No, I mean, depending on, I guess, what body house where, yeah, where you work, they might, if you're a full service, they might have certain, uh, requirements, um, I'm, I'm, I'm an advocate for this and I have it for years before anyone was really talking about standing orders. I think I was one of the first, if I, definitely my friend who's just started talking, what is this standing order? Yeah, so in Canada, especially, I think you should take advantage of it. You can just go to your doctor and say, um, I want all the STI screens I can get, um, through urine and blood is what we'll do. And yeah, and I have it as a standing order and I'll get checked in the, I, I say I want to get checked at least every three weeks. Even if I don't have any sexual partners, even if I haven't said sex in a fucking year, even if I'm in a monogamous long-term relationship, I still have a standing order religiously. Uh, and it just, it's like a little card and you take it to life labs and they put it in your computer and then now anytime you want to go, you just walk into life labs and your user have a standing order and they do all the tests to you and they get sent to your doctor. You don't have to go get up. You don't have to do the two steps of getting a requisition from a doctor and then with the life labs, you can just go online for yourself. Um, and then the I book, I book like every three weeks, um, like for like up to like a few, uh, several months. And then like, I know like, I have one in two weeks and then I have one another three weeks after that and I just religiously go because things stay in, um, like, like late, like, um, dormant, dormant for like, yeah, maybe like three, two days, it can be a year. Sorry. So I just, I'm really uncomfortable because, um, it's important. And things that don't get, there's so many STIs that don't show symptoms that you can be like spreading that or can cause like severe damage, um, like, yeah, sorry to sell to you. Yeah. Especially like take advantage of it in Canada when it's so easy to go do it and you don't need to close your doctor, the ear sex worker I never did. I just said, you know what, I, I like sex and I'm single and I want to be on top of my sexual health. And if you, if you're not going to give it to you, go find a new doctor because yeah, I will add to that. Um, like, I mean, yeah, you, I think you asked before, like dances, there's no like requirement to have that done, but yeah, it is super important. Um, I mean, if you're sexually active at all, um, or if you have been recently, um, if you're making any type of porn on only fans, especially with other people, even if it's like just toy shows or whatever, like things, you know, just be safe, be smart. And then, um, another thing I will say as a piece of advice is that, um, you can also get swabs for STIs. So like roast swabs, um, because you can obviously get, um, STIs from just oral sex. Um, and there's other swabs as well. Life labs do not supply the swabs. You have to get your swabs from a doctor and then bring those swabs to life labs and self swab. And then life labs will take it from there. So find yourself a doctor who will A give your, give you a standing order and is like non-judgmental about it. And then two is able to provide you those swabs because you'll, you will need to take them to life labs. Okay. Yeah, people are like, are you shook when I'm like, when was your last STI testing? And they're like, what? I'm like, mine was like a week and a half ago. Like, I like know exactly what I mean. I know what the dates of mine. I know. And they're like, well, you take it really seriously. Of course, I do. Like, yeah, I would have a partner like the first thing I asked them is like, when was your last testing? And if you can't handle those kind of conversations and you think it's uncomfortable, then like, I bet, like, you just can't be back in bed. Like should be, you might be. If you think talking is comfortable, then you shouldn't be having safe. Yeah. Yeah. No, exactly. You're not going to tell me you're comfortable eating ass, but you're not comfortable with talking about STIs. Come on out. Yeah. Can a festival cross game? Yeah, it's, it's so, so true. Do you two have only fans? How do you or do you have friends that have only fans? How do you, how do you like that website? I fucked up my friends. I'm only fans and yeah, um, are successful and they love it. And a lot of people too are like, it's not for me. That's the one thing that I do like about the industry is the flexibility of how many avenues you can dabble in, find what works for you. Like from me, I'm much more an in-person sex worker. Like I enjoy two things about in-person at the club, especially. I like the physical aspect of it. If I'm talking to you and I put my hand on your shoulder and lean into you, like all that, I think plays into my sales tactics that all the psychology behind all those, those interactions I enjoy. Absolutely. I contact all of that, that kind of like, yeah, in the flesh kind of sales tactics. Yeah. And I also like that when I walk into the club, I'm Danica, I'm this persona, and as soon as my feet are outside that club, I am back to me, and I can like keep that off and like hang it to dry and like pick it up later. When I was doing Only Fans, I started in 2020, like, or 2019, but I had done, I had done a webcam before that, years before that, like 2000, fuck me, 2000, fuck it, I don't even know. I think it would be 24. It's 2013 maybe. Yeah, 2012. Um, UFC. Oh my god, you went under H. How are you doing? It's fine. I'm a little shy. I'm a little shy. We've never aged on this podcast. This is 50. We're Benjamin Buttons over here, forever 21, 18 backwards. But um, yeah, and um, I found that was very exhausting for me. I struggled to put up boundaries of like when I would log in and when I would not answer messages, I found I'm bad on walking away and I think there's money on the table. So, um, it was hard for me to like log off and not check my emails during a certain time or not respond to people. I found I was to be letting myself be too available and I didn't know how to turn that off. Yeah, your work boundaries. Yeah, and I just know, yeah, and I think like, I don't know, I think online sex work is like a completely different beast and I have so much respect for individuals that have succeeded in it because it's just, it's not my, my favorite type. Um, yeah, I much prefer. I meet at the club and then I step the fuck away and it's my time now. Yeah, I've also had only fans and it is just so like unless you have a really big following on like Instagram, but especially TikTok, um, it is so hard to get enough fans and enough loyal fans to like one, you know, get enough money via just monthly subscribing, but like two consistently buying your videos because it's not like only fans have set up that you have to send people videos or like have little things on your feed, but essentially like send people videos to buy. And so if you're not online at the same time that they're online or you know, your, you sent a video out, but since then 10 or 15 other people have sent a video out and you get bumped down their message list, like it's just you have to be so like quick on the ball, as Danica said, like available all the time. And that was just like really not for me. Whereas something like many vids, you can just, um, have all of your videos so that people can like click on your link and then just like read the descriptions and buy what they want. Um, is just like a little bit, probably would be a bit more my speed. Um, yeah, I just, you, yeah, you have to be a lot online and you have to be available when that person is horny and wants to buy a video. Um, very, very strategic with online work. Yeah. But let's like any online work too, right? Like online is a different piece. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. But I also like a clock and then a clock out, you know, as so I think like if I was going to go back into online of any form, I would probably choose canning over only fans. Um, and have, you know, and then have that clock and clock out. We're like, okay, I'm going to work from this time to this time. And then, you know, do my shift and then clock out and then have something like, um, only vids that people can visit when I'm not online and still purchase. Um, purchase my videos. I don't think that like, I can go back to only fans. It was too much work and not enough money in my opinion, especially when I'm comparing it to stage and in person work, you know. Yeah. And again, it's so individualized. Like we know so many women and, and men who, and non-binary individuals who are extremely successful on only fans and online work. It's just, yeah, for our style of sales and like what, how are my words? Just, yeah. Yeah. I just feel like that has to be your full, I mean, this is, maybe I just like wasn't good at it, but like I just feel like that has to be your, your full-time job. Like I just don't understand. You have the time and the day to be at a in-person at work and then also curating all of this content. But yeah, yeah. Yeah. No kidding. Hey, yeah. But that's like, I just hate anything online. Like even like Instagram, I can't say it. I can't be fine. Yeah. You don't post on Instagram. Oh my god, girl. I never do like really add my worst nightmare. Yeah, it's too much. Yeah. Meaning that I even have like a, basically like an advertising company for a bit, for my only fans that would post like PC pictures, I guess, on like Reddit to draw people to my only fans. And they were like, please, like I need more photos. So yeah, it was just, I was just not cut out for it. I think it's probably the fairest way of, I'm stating that. Yeah. Yeah. It's yeah, anything with marketing yourself online takes so much effort, I feel like, and yeah, focus time. Yeah. I have a lot of respect for the woman. And I name, and I name. Yeah. No, same with me. Is there, are there any pole dancing classes that you two can recommend in Vancouver? Oh, thank you for asking one of our sponsors. Tantra Fitness is wonderful. We had Tammy on one of our episodes. She's lovely. And she owns Tantra Fitness and Ry will probably list off the locations and the information for you. But we have discount code. Yes. So I'm just going to play with them. So it was episode 60 interview with Tammy, former exotic dancer and owner of Tantra Fitness. And she has given our listeners a 20% off any classes, memberships, anything like that with the code 50 plus a tip. They have locations in Mount Pleasant, Kisuano, I believe is new, Gastown, and I believe they have one in Richmond as well. And they have a really good variety of classes to take, especially if you're a beginner. They have a lot of like, you know, they have level one through to six of just pole dancing, which will be your sort of moves and combinations. And they also have exotica, exotic pole, lap dance classes for more of like the stripper esque dancing. And they also have like hoop and aerial and stuff like that. So if you're looking to do a pole class or two, I think that they're a really good option to start out with. I know there's other pole companies around in Vancouver that a lot of the dance is like. But I think as a beginner, like those are just so perfect to like build up your skills. I will say though, and I think this is a common misconception is that you don't need a lot of pole to be a dancer, like a stripper. Obviously, depending on what you want to do, if you want to really elevate your stage shows and your stage dancer, it's definitely good to have a bit of pole, but you don't need a pole to do freelancing. So yeah, and then also just learning from strippers, you know, a tundra is owned by a former stripper and has a lot of strippers sort of, I'm going to daylight as a pole teachers or instructors. So I think if you are wanting to like learn a stage routine that specifically for the strip club, you might want to check out some of their classes and then ask for private lessons. I'm pretty sure they do private lessons through places like tundra fitness as well. Amazing. That's so cool. Yeah, I have quite a few girlfriends who take pole dancing regularly, and it's just so impressive to watch their progress over the past year. So yeah, it takes so much strength, I feel like. Yeah, it really does. I think it's underappreciated in a lot of the clubs. Yeah, I do too like dancing on the pole much or is it like floor work mainly? Do you have to take, I heard you have to take like a pole shift or no or just a stage shift. So in BC, you don't have to, if you're just a VIP, you don't go on the stage all. Some clubs will allow VIP girls to get up in between stage shows to self advertise or whatever it is. But if you're just freelancing, no, you don't need to touch the pole in BC. I know there are other places in I believe like Ontario, Toronto and Montreal, Quebec. Yeah, everyone, there's no like feature entertainers or at least there's like maybe only one or two a night. So they schedule every girl who's freelancing to like go up and do a couple songs. But again, you could just walk around the pole if you want like you don't have to have a show. Honestly, over like the years, I've seen some amazing pole work and I've seen some amazing girls on stage and without fail, the women that make the most money are the women who know how to engage an audience and know how to like have a stage presence. They know how to pick the right music. They know how to like, they know how to engage with their audience more. Typically like I make more money being on for engaging with who's up around my per row who's ever sitting on my stage. I was like, I don't know, a lot of the stage tricks that we acknowledge as like impressive, it just goes over the head of the audience and they don't understand like the technique behind it. So for that, and the other way that when you're on the pull, you're further away from them, right? Like they, I find like forward and like audience engagement and playing with the audience is going to make you more money than impressive pole tricks. I would say that like having some pole tricks, some pole combinations are really great one because it can get, you know, really you know, boring walking around the pole of like nobody's paying attention to you and be engaged with an audience if nobody's sitting in per row. So I think it's a great time filler. It looks impressive. It's impressive towards the club. So if you have a better stage show, you can get theater bookings. And then also, I think it's a great attention grabber and then you can, you know, do the audience, you know, participation or I guess absolutely like, you know, yeah, I think I agree with what Danica is saying. I think like stage presence will, will like out shine. I mean, we had a feature dancer that worked at one of the local clubs in Vancouver, Rachel Rampage, she was on the podcast before and she did on her episode, I know three pole tricks, but I smile and I look at every member of that front row and the audience. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, that's one of my, I have a mutual friend of Rachel Rampage and she's, yeah, she's fun to watch on stage for sure. He's engaging and like you and I were just at a club, like sometime this week and we were watching a girl on stage and so fucking strong and like doing like walking handstands and dropping the splits and like, she did something else I watched on the pole and I was like, very nice. And no one fucking clapped. People were barely even watching her. Like, and I'm like, what a waste. Like, but that's just how it is. And like, I really acknowledge her because we looked over and saw her doing that. That's cool. But like, there was no real like audience engagement. She didn't like, she didn't have a good facials. Like, she was kind of like new her tricks and like her tricks were impressive. But like, they didn't make me mean. Yeah. And that's what I mean. It's like flying limbs and big tricks will get attention, but stage for example, keep it. Yes. It's so, it's so true. Yeah, that's interesting that you say that I feel like I do go to the strippers quite often, but I rarely see people clapping. Now that I think about it, I'm like, I didn't even realize like, that was a thing because I never hear or see people clapping. That's because they just clapping with cash, you know? Yeah, yes. And I'm like, I'm such a cunt. Like, when I'm on stage, if no one's clapping, I'll like, bang my hand on the stage. Like, make the clapping sounds like, like, good to know. Sometimes I literally take about or like, do a curtsy and be like, hey, pay me now. Yeah. Like, hold on my little pretend dress. Like, yeah, we'll get to know. Yeah, that's so, yeah, that's interesting. But yeah, people are just copying it. A big thing too, or like stage is kind of like, lean into, like, the uncomfortable or awkward moments. Like, if you trip, make it a joke, if you like, I don't know, yeah, if no one's clapping, like clap your own ass and be like, I'll clap myself, like, yeah, like, do certain facials or, I don't know, there's so many ways to clown and stuff and make people, like, it's endearing and people like it, and you're more approachable that way, you're not just like, a ballerina on stage, like, that's so true. Now I want to look on your face, you know. I, I've definitely had stage shows where I've like, really put myself out there, and, um, the audience has given absolutely nothing back. And I have felt the light in me die, you know. Yeah. It was really like, it was the, it was the only time I have ever felt like, embarrassed being on stage, including when I like, was a super awkward, like, baby stripper. More shy. Yeah, totally. But yeah, I was like, smiling and everything. And it was just like, it looked like, yeah, it was, you would have thought that nobody was up on stage, like, the way that they were looking at me. Yeah, no kidding. So you do have to have kind of like, tough skin for the industry too, both in the sense that you get rejected a lot. But sometimes you just have stage shows where like, you could literally back flip onto like the pole and catch yourself and like, nobody would bat an eye. Yeah, I feel like it might be a lot of times maybe in like, I don't know, because I'm rarely at the strip club, but some people, I just don't know if they know that they're allowed to you or like what's acceptable strip club etiquette, you know what I mean? Yeah, so maybe that's why I don't know. I don't know. I guess so. I feel like if anyone's doing a performance, like, it's okay and encouraged to get out to cheer them on. Yeah. We say a lot of, you know, we have our opinions about woo girls who like, you know, come to the club and like, clap and woo, but like, don't have any money. But like, God, I'd rather a woo girl in my, at least they're in your corner. Even if you're like, not nervous, we've done a million times, like, Ryan, I will still go and if we can, we go sit on each other's stage. And like, we would bring a client with us or we'd like, encourage him for us around us to cheer and throw money and like, we'll hype each other up. Because like, especially like, when we were dancing at club recently, and there was like, no one in on our first show. So like, news comes to the stage last one to like, talk to on my stage and like, perform in front of like, yeah. So we always have an entire stage if we can. Yeah. Oh, that's good. Oh, I know you two both at number five right now, or do you kind of switch clubs in Vancouver? I'm on the circuit. So I move around the stages of BC. Okay. Yeah. So I tried along. Yeah, I'd be a pain here. I have the, I've been at the five. It's probably my most like consistent VIP booking, but I move around the lot. Yeah, we both bounce around quite a bit. I know I had a regular message me like, literally yesterday, and he's like, oh, it sucks that you don't like work at the five anymore. I was like, I mean, if you told me you're there, I'll come in. But like, I don't, I just don't like frequently go to any club anymore. I come when like, my regulars are there. Like I, oh, I'm like orchestrated it. So I know when my money is going to be there, and then I, I work accordingly. Oh, yeah, that's, I love that. That's awesome. Well, I think that's all the questions I have that you opened up my eyes to so many things I didn't, didn't realize are a pleasure. Yeah. And like, the thing is too, like it's such like an individual job that like what works for Ryan, I, or what we say could vastly differentiate from someone else, right? But yeah, for the most part, we're usually right. Yeah, I will take this opportunity to like restate. I know we've said this on the podcast a lot as like both Anne or her and myself work in sex work in a place of privilege. We're able to turn down money that isn't good. We're like, we're able to walk away from customers when they suck, because we know, you know, our rent's going to be paid and our food's on the table. And so a lot of our advice comes from, you know, yeah, place of privilege in that perspective. So I know that is not everybody's experience. And I just want to acknowledge that. Yeah. Yeah, that is. Yeah, that's so fair. And that's yeah, that's so good for you, for you girls. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for picking our brains. I know we have a lot to listen that aren't necessarily in sex work or new to sex work or thinking about getting sex work. So like I said, I've been an industry for so long that everything is just commonplace to me that it's good to have someone ask the questions that I wouldn't even think of asking. Like I said to you, like, if I were training someone as a server, the hardest thing is remembering what the small things they wouldn't even know yet are because everything's muscle memory to someone who's in the industry for so long, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, there's so much, so much to learn. Well, thank you both so much. Thank you so much for joining us. And hopefully you'll join us on a strip floor soon. Yeah. One of us. One of us. I always do. Well, that is it for this episode. Again, Willow, thank you so much for joining us. If you guys have any questions, comments, stories, seeking advice, don't forget to either DM us on Instagram at 50+a tip pod or emails at 50+a tip at gmail.com. We get back to everyone eventually. We're going to check out our sponsors as always and have a wonderful day. Yeah, we're going to go to the tagline there. I'll let Willow say it. Have a wonderful week and happy horing. Bye-bye. Studio X is a boutique adult production company that creates premium erotic photography, video and content. They produce unique custom high quality work that will generate you more clients, fans and subscribers. They pride themselves in creating a safe, sexy and fun luxury service experience unlike any other. They want their work to remain special, unique and high quality. Therefore, they only offer a very limited amount of shoots each month. They want to focus their energy on you and provide you with the most professional service and best experience possible. They prioritize those that work in the entertainment, performance, adult and sex worker community. Listeners at 50+a tip get $100 off their shoot with Studio X as well as a Polaroid add-on value at $150. Just mention 50+a tip. Model Express in Vancouver is the ultimate destination for sexy and affordable lingerie, dancewear and exotic high heels. Visit Model Express.ca for all of your sexy style essentials. For our listeners use code 50+a tip for 10% off all pleaser shoes online. That's 10% off pleasers online only at Model Express.ca.
