
Originally Posted by
Melonie
Just my own opinion, but ... with all of the background checking being performed by some 'straight' job employers these days, combined with a huge surplus of available qualified applicants for every halfway decent 'straight' job, getting involved in exotic dancing or camming or any other type of 'adult' industry work these days seems to automatically produce some sort of future negative risk toward future 'straight' job careers.
Thus, in today's economy, the old scenario of girls choosing to dance or cam occasionally / part time, while also pursuing a college degree or also working a 'straight' job, no longer 'computes'. ANY amount of work as a dancer, camgirl or other 'adult' business capacity creates potential future negative risk, but occasional / part-time dancing or camming provides a lot LESS income than a serious full time effort would in exchange for the same amount of potential future negative risk.
Therefore, under today's conditions, I would recommend that girls either 'jump in with both feet' and pursue dancing and/or camming as a full time effort yielding maximum earnings / savings / investments, or 'stay out of the water' so that the associated potential future negative risk won't be introduced in exchange for 'a few extra bucks'.
In terms of entrepreneurial possibilities, 'it takes money to make money'. Retiring from dancing or camming at, say, age 35 with six figures worth of savings / investments behind you can open the door to all sorts of entrepreneurial possibilities. But without that self-financed capital at your disposal, the probability of an ex-dancer with no money saved up, with no noteworthy educational 'credentials', with no noteworthy 'straight' world professional job experience etc., successfully obtaining six figures worth of 3rd party financing for an entrepreneurial business venture is extremely low.
As to age 25, I didn't even START working as a dancer or camgirl until I was older than that !!! I had obtained my college degree, my professional license, and had worked as a Respiratory Therapist for a few years before every walking into a strip club for the first time !!! However, those few years worth of working nights and weekends and holidays, contracting diseases from my hospital patients etc., in exchange for an after-tax paycheck that would barely cover my rent + groceries + a half-assed used car, taught me that my life was never going to improve much if I continued to work as a Respiratory Therapist.
After abandoning my RT 'profession', and getting my head wrapped around the idea of working as a 'serious professional dancer' and camgirl night after night, week after week ... after 12 years worth of solid effort I had saved / invested enough of my earnings that I could afford to retire completely before age 40 !!! I was also able to buy two houses and send my son to a 'name' college ... none of which would have ever happened if I was living on an after-tax RT paycheck for those 12 years !
But, as you have apparently already discovered, the point where most young dancers 'screw up' is by failing to treat their dancing as a serious professional career pursuit. They typically pi$$ away much of their earnings on luxury items and other non-essential spending, without saving and investing. They typically get 'lazy' about their work ethic, passing up opportunities to work extra nights / earn extra money because this month's rent and this semester's tuition is paid. They typically take a short term viewpoint, instead of viewing their dancing and camming opportunities in the same longer term light as a professional athlete ( i.e. make major money NOW because it the opportunity won't be there in a few years ). And just like some professional athletes, they may find themselves at age 35, with little or no money saved / invested, with their former high income potential rapidly declining, with little or no credentials / experience to provide successful entry into a different line of work.
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