It is a very common misconception that in my industry (strippers,working girls) you have to be beautiful,thin,tall,busty to make lots of $$$$. WRONG!

Sex appeal is something intangible-it can’t be described, it can’t be taught, I don’t even think it can be acquired. You either posses it or you don’t. And it has very little to do with physical beauty.

For years I worked in one of the oldest and biggest strip clubs in Las Vegas-Olympic Gardens. The place was open 24/7. It was (and probably still is) owned by Pete The Greek,who later went on to open Sapphire.

Here’s how it worked. All girls were considered independent contractors. If you wanted to work there, you first had to obtain what is called “Sheriff’s Card” from Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. They took your fingerprints and run your record to check that you didn’t have prior arrests. If you had any arrests or outstanding warrants, you didn’t get the card and simply couldn’t work in Las Vegas,as all the hotel jobs and many others required Sheriff’s Card as well.

The card had your name and photo on it. It was quite an ordeal to get it, as hundreds of people flock to Vegas in hopes of getting jobs every day and they all discover they need to go to Police department first. You can’t make an appointment, so it’s live queue and you better get there before opening at 9 am,as the wait could be as long as 5-6 hours.

With your freshly laminated Sheriff’s Card you then make your way to the Manager on Duty of the club.

For a long time Olympic Gardens was by far the most prestigious and popular and they NEVER,EVER had to advertise for girls. Girls came in by a dozen every day asking to work there. That’s where managers had a lot of fun.

To work at OG (Olympic Gardens) or any other strip club in Las Vegas, for that matter, the girl has to pay “shift fee” up front when she turns up for work. Those vary depending on the time of day. As night time brings in more punters,it is considered more profitable, so shift fee is $60-$80. Day time used to free for a number of years and then became $20. Also, if you want to stay off stage, you had to pay another $25.

Contrary to popular believe, going up on stage does not really bring any serious money to the stripper-you are put on DJ’s roster and he just calls the names in order they are listed, giving you 1 song advance notice. You go up and dance a set of 3 songs:full costume first song,and down to your G-string for the second and third. You get some dollar bills thrown at you or put in your G-string by punters sitting by the stage (if any). You might end up with about $15-$20 (if you’re lucky) at the end of the set. It is also customary to tip the DJs at the end of your shift-they expect it,in fact.

On the other hand, lap dances are $20 per song and if punter buys what is commonly referred to as a “set”- 5 dances in a row, stripper pockets $100 for 15-20 min worth of dancing. So if you’re in the middle of a “set” and you hear DJ calling you on stage, you’d have to go and, quite possibly, loose this particular client to another dancer,thus loosing $20-$60. If you ignore DJ and don’t go on stage when called, you will be fined $40, so it is a prudent decision to pay $25 in advance to stay off DJ’s roster.

However, that means that you’re out of pocket $100 straight off the bat without any guarantee of making any money whatsoever.

With this set-up, it is clear that there is no limit as to how many girls can work every day/shift,as it is win/win situation for the establishment: the more girls, the more $$$ and more punters want to come in and browse the “merchandise”(punters are charged a “door fee” as well and they buy booze, which is where REAL profits are). To put it in  perspective, Spearmin Rhino Strip club in Las Vegas has 3 bars and it’s gross revenue is 3 million a month.

But that’s not what the managers usually tell wannabe strippers knocking at the door. Depending on the manager’s mood and personal preferences, they tell them that they “have enough girls at the moment”, that they are “looking for a different type right now” and to “try later”. It doesn’t mean that managers attempt to sleep with every girl that walks in the door in order for her to get a job, but it is a common occurrence.

Sometimes managers just don’t like the way girl looks/talks/walks… Sometimes they are too lazy to bother with paperwork right at that moment… I know some very pretty  girls who tried to get on OG’s roster repeatedly and were repeatedly turned down for no apparent reason. And others who walked through the door and started working that day,although their looks didn’t amount to much.

Once the girls got changed in the dressing room, they go on the floor and the hunt begins. Customers sit at the tables and on the little couches and booths that line the walls and girls just go up and ask if the guy wants a dance (meaning lap dance). There could be 5-15 girls on the floor during the day and as much as 300 (yes, 300) during the night. Competition is fierce and the guys know it.

Usually just asking for a dance will not  get you anywhere. You’d have to sit and chat with the guy for a few minutes,trying to get him interested. Often it involves lightly rubbing his cock through his pants and sticking your boobs into his face. Anything to get him to buy a dance. It’s a very delicate balance,as you don’t want to do too much for free (or let him grab you everywhere) and you don’t want to waste too much time on it,either, as time is $$ and you’re not making any unless you’re doing a paid-for lap dance, but if you don’t get him interested, he won’t buy a dance and you’ll walk away empty handed.

That’s when you really see how beauty doesn’t necessarily amount to much and sex appeal means everything. I’ve seem some truly gorgeous girls with awesome bodies getting turned down again and again and some rather plain looking (or even quite un-attractive) chicks getting dance after dance. I think sex-appeal is combination of charisma,personality,presentation,ability to sense what a particular individual wants/needs at the moment. Yes, looks to a degree, but very minor.

Some beautiful girl strolls into the club thinking she is “all that” and often times that reflects in her approach to the customer and her attitude. As a rule, punters don’t like that. They are there to fulfil their dream,whatever that might be. They also believe that they are doing us a favour by spending their money (very male approach, but it is exactly how they view it) and they can care less about the dancer-it’s all about them.

So a girl who can in 15 minute’s time (about 3 songs) figure out what it is the guy after AND play into his fantasy and make him believe that she is just what he wants will get the $$$. It is not as easy as it sounds.

You also have to separate fantasy from reality in your own head,as often times the guys who come into the clubs are lonely and, yes, they want a relationship of sorts. It is a very dangerous wire act,as I’ve known a lot of cases where a stripper played into that and, in guys mind, they were a “couple” when in her mind, he was just another punter with $$$. This scenario always ends badly. From stalking to actual murder. Yes, murder and suicide.

This job is not for everyone. It messes with your head. You have to be very much self-assured, secure and mature to do this day after day.

Imagine being in the club, barely dressed, for 2 hours, approaching guy after guy just to get turned down and seeing other girls doing dance after dance. You begin to think that something is wrong with YOU, you start to doubt your looks, your personality,your conversational skills.. You go and change your outfit and still nothing. Sometimes you just need to leave and start fresh the next day.

On the other hand, some young and unexperienced girls would make $2000/night for a couple of nights and think that it will always be like that. They’d blow it all in a couple of days on booze/drugs/shopping and then get a “bad day” as described above. Huge blow to self-confidence and ego!

As a dancer, you have to be weary of the guys that shower you with compliments and flattery-often times they just want to sleep with you for free or, even worth, try to get you to be their girlfriend and have you support them and their suddenly lavish lifestyle. Sadly, I’ve seen so many girls fall into that trap.

This job is not for the weak or faint of heart, that’s for sure