NOt making $$ and staying at the same club would be a killer 4 me. The $$ is the only reason I even dance, if it wasn't for that, id be out!
NOt making $$ and staying at the same club would be a killer 4 me. The $$ is the only reason I even dance, if it wasn't for that, id be out!
Never saying no to a drink.
Forget that you have a sense of humor.
Get involved with that hottie you met at the club who's crazier than you.
Constantly compare your earnings, looks and hustle to those of other dancers.
Oh, and spend your money as quickly as you earn without nary a thought about a rainy day fund or retirement.
I'm really glad this post exists. Makes me feel a lot better commiserating with you ladies.
Adapt and Overcome.





Read Hustle Hut obsessively and try to use every single hustle tip simultaneously. If you lose a sale, it's because you didn't study hard enough. Obviously.
Become friends with dancers that compare their earnings with others dancers.
do what I am doing when already on burn out from a couple bad nights and wait almost all month to go to work the last week of the month to make rent because you haven't yet.
Yes, I am ashamed to say, I'll be working everyday into the new year now.... Viva la NYC! 😫



Not keeping boundaries with regulars, so they keep blowing up you're phone with non-stop texting.



When a fellow dancer starts trying to pick a fight with you for no reason; don't respond. The desire to go off and punch the bitch in her face will subside. And if you do the right thing and just complain to the manager and he tells the both of you to behave or you both will get fired, don't defend yourself. Just bite your tongue. After all, you don't want to get fired from your shit job now would you? Who cares if you did nothing to deserve what other miserable people do or say to you?
This also applies for the other bitches at the club like the snotty ass bartenders, massage girls, CUSTOMERS etc..
Lord give me patience...
When your body starts to react negatively to your work (like when you develop a traumatic response to having your nipples touched because you're always touching them at work), don't tell your partner about it. Just soldier on - push through your PTS and it'll go away, right??
(I'm thankful to have never made some of these mistakes - I'm having fun coming up with stuff based on Life Support posts I've seen over the years...)
Cancel all plans both on the days you work and on the days after your shifts. Work is such a huge deal - it's not just a job - that you need at least 24 hours to prepare for and recover from each shift. This will help you focus more and more of your free time on stripping so that it truly begins to consume your life. It will also help you maximize time spent thinking about each shift - you must remember to take this job very, very seriously. Suddenly, your part-time dancing gig will feel like a full-time commitment, which will help you convince yourself that little things like school and family are BURDENS keeping you from realizing your full potential as a dancer.
At work, dance to the same set of songs for every shift. Tell yourself that it's because those songs are "yours" and make you more money than any others could. Have a diva fit if the DJ ever plays "your songs" for anyone else, or if he ever plays any other tracks during your stage sets. Obviously your music should be the focus of your shifts, not your customers (or their music preferences). Anything you can do to make each and every shift feel the exact same as the last will pave your way to burnout!





^ Hey now, that doesn't count as long as you still like them yourself
On a similar note...
Allow the DJ to keep playing you the same artist (whom he 'decided on' 1.5 years ago when he initially asked what kind of music you like and you said "So-and-so, stuff like that". Allow him to play you the exact same 3 songs every time, instead of any of the other 20 songs by that artist he has. But hey, he's set in his ways and letting him do this is easier than attempting to argue with him, even if you visibly roll your eyes every time you get on stage.
"People jack off with the left hand and point with the right."
"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."




Always go in whenever your manager texts you saying "We need girls".
Work every holiday.
Always show up early and leave late.
Take as much Adderall as you can get, don't eat, stay awake for days at a time. Be sure to buy chewing gum since you will twitch like a crack head without it. Also, drink lots of energy drinks all night and no water. You will be super skinny and make lots of money, possibly not from selling dances but at least by selling your Adderall. Also, be sure to buy some weed or Vicodin so you can finally sleep after the 3rd night of staying awake.
If you are willing to do for one year what other's won't, you can spend a lifetime doing what other's cant.
"Push yourself."
(Applies to many scenarios)

This thread is so good!
I love the one about dancing to the same songs every night, I totally do that sometimes and it's so true!
*spend all night in the dressing room getting blackout drunk with the other dancers and complaining about how slow it is
work every single day at a slow club during the off-season and beat yourself up whenever you don't make your highly unrealistic goals
Yell at all your customers at the tip rail for not tipping enough and throw a fit on the stage
Eat anything you want and never exercise because you have such an amazing personality that your customers won't care about those extra 20 pounds and then become depressed about consistently making less than $100 a shift saying "it used to be so good at this club but things have changed"
Give out your number to every guy who buys a dance and go on dates with ugly dudes you don't like in hopes they will come back and spend money on you, even though they never will
Spend all your money on expensive meals, drugs, booze, and clothes you will never wear because you work hard and you deserve it and then Pawn your computer/car/guitar/cell phone when you don't have enough to pay your rent
Travel dance when you need money badly to a hit or miss club saying "I'll pay for my food and hotel with what I make tonight" and end up owing money to th club and sleeping in your car
Get fake boobs on a payment plan so you can make more money only to realize you are making exactly the same and now you're stuck stripping for 5 more years just to pay for them.
Buy cocaine with your last money to make it through your shift, get anxiety from it and make no money and now you don't have money to eat tomorrow. Console yourself by drinking all th alcohol in your apartment when you get home so that you're sick the next day and can't make it into your shift
Care what everyone thinks of you and take everything personally at the club
Oooooh, gurl, you have LIVED.
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On nights when you aren't working but want to go out, run through your pre-work routine of showering and shaving in the exact same way you would if you were working that night, and try to ensure your makeup looks as similar as possible to your work makeup! With any luck, you'll spend your free night resenting the time you spent getting ready instead of enjoying yourself. You will inevitably think to yourself that you 'wasted' your time and makeup "for free" when you could've just gone into work instead.

haha most of those things are observations from other dancers i have had the "pleasure" of working with
my thing would be the one about getting down on yourself for having a bad night and thinking you aren't pretty/skinny/likable enough because of one bad night or weekend





Realize you cannot handle more than 2 days of stupid in a row, yet force yourself to go to work anyway... bail out after 2 hours... and thus feel like you 'worked' even though you really didn't.
"People jack off with the left hand and point with the right."
"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

Acquire some much credit card debt and a loser boyfriend with no job on top of everyday living expenses so that you pretty much have to work every single damn night. And on the nights when you make shit or not nearly enough to cover housefees tell yourself it is because you genuinely suck as a stripper, are not pretty enough, or smooth enough and that if you want to make money you have to do things you are not comfortable doing like letting customers touch you all over because all the other girls let him do it so it is standard now! All of this while dealing with a loser, broke ass boyfriend who refuses to get a job but doesn't want you to strip yet has the nerve accept your stripping money for living expenses, food, xbox and other dumb shit.





When you go grocery shopping, panic every time you see an older white man in a business suit & think to yourself that he recognizes you from the club. Make sure to build it up in your head more and more, and then start having a nervous breakdown in the middle of the store, thinking that every male in there has seen you half naked. You should have just stayed home. Don't even bother going out to get food, because someone might recognize you! It's better to just stay home and starve. Then maybe you can lose a few pounds that way, AND not be recognized- 2 birds one stone, right?
"Dancing tables, making deals with devils like a drunk beauty queen"
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