If I could pinpoint the moment when I first decided that getting naked for a living wasn’t such a bad idea…I’d invent a time machine, go back and smack the hell out of myself…maybe.  And I say maybe because I don’t think I’d be the person I am without going through the challenges of surviving in that world.   Plus, there are a few people I’m glad I’ve met along the way…

I grew up in Virginia with some pretty strict parents.  I wasn’t allowed to date until I was 17 and didn’t even lose my virginity until two weeks before my 18th birthday.  I was an angel of a teenager and I’m not just saying that.  I was highly involved in school athletics; volleyball, softball, cheerleading (lettered in all of them) – academics; all AP classes, honors grad with scholarship offers from two prestigious universities – clubs; DECA, yearbook, keyettes, FBLA , etc (can’t remember them all and I don’t feel like getting my yearbook out) – and I still had chores at home including helping with 3 younger siblings and a part-time job serving frozen yogurt.  Like I said, I was an angel of a teenager.  I didn’t get knocked up, smoke, get involved with drugs or throw tantrums.  So what happen?  Still not really sure, but years later I have a few theories…

Was I too sheltered?  Too passive?  Not strong enough to resist the temptation?  Wait.  I’m getting ahead of myself…

First, I’m a college graduate.  From a fabulous school in Florida.  With academic scholarships.  So what was I thinking?  A friend of mine, and yes she’s still a good friend of mine, suggested I try it out on the weekends.  It’s great money and all you have to do is dance.  “You’re doing that anyway, just not making real money at it.”  That was definitely true.  I was an aspiring professional dancer studying ballet, tap, musical theater, hip hop, african…you name it.  But I was a late bloomer and learning things that girls next to me had been doing for ten years or more was frustrating to say the least, and I loved it.  But loving something doesn’t pay the bills and after a breakup I had almost no money.  Scratch that almost.  It still took me almost four months to finally take the hour-long trip down to Tampa for my first night as an exotic dancer.  I would be involved in this industry for more than ten years.  Nope, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into…