Ava Adore

Obs: Perspective$

I have two thoughts around stripping and money right now.

1) If you want to know how the economy is doing, ask a stripper.
2) If you should ever need to change jobs, everything else sucks.

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Obs: Misconception$.

Sometimes the stereotypes we fight are not strictly personal. And sometimes they’re not only outside the club. One of the stereotypes that’s got me thinking a lot lately is the “lucrative stereotype” and how it can really bite you in the ass.

Imagine you’re sitting with a client and instead of the myriad douchebag excuses he gives about why he isn’t getting a dance, he instead pins it on you: “But you make so much money, you don’t need my help.” Thaaanks, buddy!

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Oh, The Places You’ll Go

Part Two: “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.”
Answering this question: How much do you make in a week on average?

So yeah, we don’t generally like to talk about how much we make. There’s another reason for this, too: ‘on average’ is a really hard term to quantify. ‘On average’ in the summer I could make $300 per week, ‘on average’ in autumn I could make $300 per night. A stripper’s pay is very rarely average.

You’ll notice I mentioned seasons. In general, strippers don’t do as well in summer: folks are busy vacationing, partying, going to the beach, and being anywhere but indoors in the dark. You’ll still have clientele, but they will be fewer than in colder months where nudity is sparse and girls are less likely to be clad in bikinis for free.

Location also plays into it heavily. The culture around different areas greatly figures in. I made crap when I worked in Florida this past time around, and I’ll get to why in later posts. I also hear it’s hard to make good money consistently in Portland, because Portland is Stripper Mecca and the dancer saturation there is crazy.

So yeah, it’s hard to say. I’ve had crap $36 nights nestled right up next to nights where I’ve made over $500 in two hours. It’s a profession for those who learn to stick it out and really recognize that a) each day is a different day to make money with different clients and b) what you’re paid is not your worth.

The First Rule of Strip Club

Part One: “The First Rule of Strip Club.”
Answering this question: How much do you make in a week on average?

This is a hard question on a lot of levels.

For one, “The first rule of Strip Club is you do not talk about money.” Guess what? Second rule of Strip Club—DO NOT TALK ABOUT MONEY.

Seriously. It turns even the nicest girls into total asshats and makes the atmosphere more competitive. If a girl gets a private and you don’t, the feel should be, ‘Good for her.’ Not ‘Fuck that bitch.’ Talking about how much money you’re making creates that hostility.

If you’re consistently seen as a threat, you’ll be treated like one. Why bother? And in contrast, talking about how little money you made on a decent night, or that another girl ‘stole’ money/client from you, just makes you seem whiny or catty. See again about poor work atmosphere.

Most girls learn to keep quiet about how much they make. We generally don’t have trouble being like, Damn, That Was A Shitty Night when there was literally no money to be made, but even if you’re making Amazing Money one night, you should still say, ‘I did alright, you know, got lucky.’

Because sometimes it’s the ‘hustle’ and sometimes it’s just luck. Because sometimes you work your ass off and hit all the wrong guys. Talking about money brings the focus back to the ugliest part of the job, which is the erroneous thought that you’re paid what you’re worth. This just is never the case.

It’s a trap early dancers fall in on bad nights: I’m awful at this, I’m not worth anything, no one will pay me. That’s horse shit. You’re good at it, you’re learning, what you’re ‘worth’ will never be spelled out by your job—salaried or otherwise—and you had a bad night. Even top earners have bad nights.