Experiences as an Exotic Dancer: My First Night in the Club

Seller Sellers’ Perspective Experiences as an Exotic Dancer: My First Night in the Club

When one thinks about what it’s like to apply for a job what do you expect? Personally, I have gotten used to the same routine basically everywhere. Before applying to be a dancer I have always been asked to bring in a resume. Then after coming in being required to fill out a company application before they give it to management. I was used to having employers take up to a month to finally make an interview appointment, even with me calling to check on the progress of my application.

The experiences I’ve had in the past left me unprepared for applying to work at my local gentlemen's club in January of 2020. I decided to call because money was tight even though I was working a day job. When I called, I was told to come in to fill out an application. Nothing had me prepared at that moment in time for what happened next.

When I pulled up in my car; I saw two girls who ended up being the ones to help me pick out my stage name for the club, Cherry and Delilah. They were sitting by the entrance in a designated smoking space and greeted me as I walked up, introduced themselves then lead me to the speak with the manager (Sam). Sam handed me an independent contractor application which that establishment also used as their independent contractor contract.

In the application it asked what my stage name was, and I didn’t know what to use. Thankfully for me Cherry and Delilah stayed by my side to get to know me, and Cherry had been working there for 12 years by that point. The three of us went back and forth on ideas, Cherry would inform us if there was another girl already using the names to make sure it was unique to me. Eventually without knowing my love for the game series, Delilah suggested the name “Zelda” and it was perfect for me.

When I handed back the application I was startled to be asked “You want to start now?” and I was definitely not prepared. This is when Cherry spoke up and offered to let me borrow one of her clean outfits, I was this adorable holographic two-toned purple-blue scrunchy butt bikini. Turned out that it was a perfect fit and I fell in love with it, I have been searching for one just like it ever since.

Not all the girls were nice to me at first and some just aren’t nice period. I learned relatively quickly who the club hotheads were and heard a ton of different versions of the rules of the club due to how much everyone likes to gossip.

It took a lot from me to do this, I personally suffer from social anxiety and had low self-esteem. I almost didn’t go through with it and debated on just going home to never return but I really needed to get the rest of rent and Delilah invited me to go on stage with her. Delilah is this beautiful petite woman who really made me feel comfortable and introduced me to Niki, who eventually took me under her wing but that’s a story for another article. Niki helped Cherry and Delilah with teaching me some basic starter routines in-between the customer traffic.

Eventually It came time for me to actually go on stage in front of customers for the first time for what this club calls a team dance with Delilah. I’m not a lesbian but I am bisexual, so I was fighting with “gay panic” as I was instructed to remove a bill from her thong in front of her pelvis. Everyone went wild for it and for the first time I experienced having someone “make it rain”.

As hard as it was for me to get up there, in that moment something in me changed. I grew up being the most picked on girl in school, some guys didn’t want to date me because I was “ugly”, and it was considered social suicide. It gave me a small ego; I didn’t feel the way I was forced to feel my whole life. I realized in that moment that in order to grow and start to love myself there was nothing wrong with using this new career as a stepping stone on my journey.

If you had told me 5-10 years ago that I was going to become an exotic pole dancer, I would have laughed in your face. Today I am no longer the same naïve, sheltered, insecure girl who walked into that club for the first time. For me this career is part of my journey on the road to self-love and acceptance, I finally can look in the mirror all natural and be happy with who I see looking back at me and that for me feels great.

By: Astrid Hollow aka AstrolGoddess