Don't hate the player, hate the game of monopoly

As a child, one of my favorite table games was Monopoly. I couldn't get enough of the game. I would bother family, friends and neighbors to play a game of old-fashioned American capitalism with me. And of course, winning was everything to me. Being of equal competitive spirit My brother would dominate purchasing every single mix match piece of land and negotiate later with other land owners. Was he just lucky? I'd ask myself, Not until then did I understand the value of his indirect lesson. I immediately applied that to everything in my life.

 

Yes just as in life, There's a certain amount of luck in the game. Your financial well-being depends on where you land on the board. If you have limited sources of income, a small amount of bad luck will lose you the game. But if you have multiple sources of income, you can withstand a long streak of financial misfortune. Your future and your family's future are less at risk.

Now that I'm an adult, I look back and realize that I learned several valuable lessons about my future business life from all those games of Monopoly. Anyone interested in financial independence can learn lessons from Monopoly. I've listed some of them below:

1. Become an Investor

To become financially independent, you have to become an investor.

In the latter stages of Monopoly, you lose money when it's your turn. You make money when it's the other player's turn. That's how it works in the business world, too.

You invest in a property and a few hotels. It's your opponent's turn. They land on your property and suddenly owe you money. That's the way you have to make it work in the real world.

Do you want to work for a paycheck, or do you want to depend on property and capital to work for you?

If you collect a paycheck, the only time you can make money is when you are working. You have to go to work make any money. That is an incredibly inefficient way of handling your finances. It's certainly no way to become solvent.

But if you invest in something worthwhile, you're making money even when you don't do anything at all. The capital works for you. Even when you are asleep in bed, you are making money. When you are eating dinner out on the town, you are making money. When you are shopping for that new car or boat, you are making money. Life is working for you. People are handing you their money.

Investing is simply a much more efficient way than working to make money.

 

2. Invest as Much as You Can

Every investment is another figurative pole in your tent.The typical opening strategy in Monopoly is to invest in any and every available space you land on. If you have the money, you shouldn't pass up on a good investment opportunity. If you do pass on the chance, you are basically passing a turn. The world passes you by.Monopoly's a zero-sum game. If you don't invest, someone else will land on the same spot and invest in that property. Eventually, you'll land on that space again and have to pay for your indecisiveness. Even if a property doesn't pay off that well, it is an extra bargaining chip. You can trade it later for something more valuable to you.

Of course, the business world isn't so cut-and-dried as a Monopoly board. In Monopoly, every space has value. In real life, not every investment has value. You have to know what is a good investment and what isn't.

But don't let your money get lazy. Don't let it sit around doing nothing. Make that money work for you. If you find an investment worth making, put your money to work and invest in that opportunity. This means you are diversifying, putting many poles in your financial tent. The more poles, the more stable your money situation will be.

 

3. Scale your Investments

Early in the game of Monopoly, you don't have an abundance of money. So you have to be smart about your investments. The best strategy is to buy up as many cheap investments as possible. This allows you to diversify.

Imagine buying Boardwalk at $450. For that investment, you could buy a half dozen cheaper properties. These properties might not pay off as well, but they will be six sources of income as opposed to one.

When you have a limited bankroll, which is common for new investors, you make a mistake if you sink all your money into one big investment. You might be tempted to invest in a get-rich-quick scheme, but you are taking a risky gamble.

But if you scale your investments, you can diversify. You are taking less of a gamble because no one investment can make or break your future. This has the added value of letting you gain experience in the business world, instead of jumping right in with one all-or-nothing proposition.

If you're like most of us in the business world, you'll have your share of failures. But the more investments you have, the more experience you gain. You can learn from both your successes and your failures. If you lose 10% on an investment but gain valuable business knowledge from that failure, hopefully your other investments cover the loss and you can press ahead with more practical experience.

On the other hand, if you don't scale your investments, you could end up losing a catastrophic amount on one investment. You'll be forced to trudge back into an employment situation, with very little experience to show for your losses.

The more you scale your investments, the less of a factor luck plays. Some if not all of your investments will pay off, giving you more money to invest. As you get more money, you can take on bigger investments. But this time, those big investments won't require your entire bankroll. You can put money into a large scale business opportunity, but still be diversified.

As you grow your portfolio, luck becomes less and less of a factor. Having gained experience and business knowledge also takes more the luck factor out of your finances. Luck always plays some role in the business world, but limiting your risk is important every step of the way. Monopoly teaches the wise player about risk management.

 

4. No One Gets Rich Renting

In Monopoly, the owners of property make money. Those who rent, lose money.

That's the same in the business world. People tend to dislike their landlords, and why is that?

Probably because people on some level realize the landlord is in a pretty good situation in contrast to the renters. A person who rents is constantly paying money to a landlord, with nothing to show for it but a temporary roof over their head.

Meanwhile, the landlord has a constant flow of money with a minimum of energy expended. The landlord lets a building make him or her money. That building takes money away from the people living there.

Just like in Monopoly, the renter pays money simply for living. The investor makes money without doing anything. That's a great situation to be in. Become an owner and not a renter.

 

5. Work For Yourself

This is the most important lesson you should learn from Monopoly.

To become financially independent, you must be your own boss. Don't depend on someone else. You are a slave to whims of the marketplace. If you draw a paycheck, you have one source of income. You are dependent on the financial success of one employer, be it a person or a corporation. If business gets bad, your entire livelihood depends on that employer retaining you.

You are also dependent on the personal whims of that employer. Even if business is good, you still have to worry about offending your boss. Office politics is a constant danger to your job security, whether you are productive or not. All is takes is being on your boss's bad side for a short time and you could be out of a job. You could be without a paycheck at a moment's notice.

If you are economically independent, you have many sources of income. If one of your investments doesn't pay off, you have something to fall back upon. No one person, no one factor stands can negatively affect your prosperity. That's a good thing.

Think about it. Which one is really riskier? Putting all your faith in one employer, or putting your faith in your many investments.

Consider the example of Monopoly.

Ultimately, you are always at risk if you are working for someone else. That risk becomes a lot less when you become your own boss. You don't have one source of income. That's the secret of success and economic independence in the modern world.

Life costs money, but it also brings a multitude of opportunities to collect that money, too. Take advantage of those opportunities and do not allow yourself to become a slave to the marketplace.

 

Winning The Game

Start slowly and prudently. Build up your portfolio. Cut your ties with the workplace and become independent of any one source of income. Become your own boss and invest in the world around you. In the end, people will pay you for doing nothing. That's the life lesson of Monopoly.

That's how you become one of the winners in the business world.

Start a Public Brand business (Fan Club)

Define the mission and goal for the club 

Most eyes roll when they hear they need to create a mission statement. Many have been involved in a corporate exercise in creating a mission statement where you often end up with a bunch of vacuous words that have no real meaning and everyone forgets about. Often people "feel" they know what the mission is but when they try to articulate it, they can't. That's not to say a group can't be successful without a mission statement - however, in coming up with the goals you can help clarify in your mind what the long term goal is and help communicate that to others. Your mission may be to advance a political agenda, or to raise environmental awareness, or it might simply be to socialize and find future dates - it may be all of those things -- whatever it is, the more clearly articulated the vision, the more that you direct your efforts towards reaching that vision.

Create the structure you need

Some groups are so well organized that they institute officers, create a constitution, even create processes for amending the constitution and nominating, electing and removing officers. These types of processes are useful, even critical when a group scales - otherwise anarchy ensues. However, most groups starting out don't necessarily need a mini-government in place. Many groups just start with a few lighter weight processes:

Officers: usually there's a president (the leader), vice president (2nd in command and often leader of several important initiatives), treasurer (who handles the funds), secretary (who takes care of meeting minutes, next steps, etc.). Depending upon your group's need, you may also institute a publicity officer, webmaster, historian, etc. It is very helpful to define the roles as well, especially who has the right to decide what. For instance, some groups will require the treasurer to co-sign any checks with the president. In this way there is a check and balance within the group on the money.

If you are fairly serious, you may consider incorporating oftentimes as a nonprofit. Incorporating has many benefits such as limiting liability of members from debts and responsibilities. Incorporation also provides increased levels of "permanency", and it may help you with funding.

Meetings: usually a periodic meeting or event helps to keep things going in the group and to increase activity. It's also a great way for group members to help participate in events and to get to know each other better and share information. If you are holding meetings, pay particular attention to how meetings are run which leads to the next section.

Run Effective Meetings

Poorly run meetings reflect poorly on the leaders and are a big waste of time for the participants. While there are whole books written on having successful meetings, here are a couple of tips to make sure you are getting the most out of any meeting you host. First, define and publish an agenda. The meeting needs to have a purpose and participants may need to prepare in advance. Very few meetings require a surprise to be effective. An agenda also helps prevent you from straying off course. Many groups have individuals who want to express their opinions - leading everyone down the proverbial "rathole". An agenda helps you enforce whether that meeting is the appropriate place to address those issues or if you need to "table it" to another meeting. Always have a desired outcome for the meeting (e.g. get agreement on a particular initiative, or brainstorm and come up with 3 ideas for next year's events). You'll be often surprised at how better prepared you make a meeting by simply thinking through what type of decision or outcome you want from the meeting. Understand who needs to be there and what the roles are for the participants. Start the meeting on-time.

Many groups have a designated secretary who is tracking the "minutes" of the meeting - what was discussed and in particular, any conclusions that were made and any items to be tabled for a future discussion. This can be published so that there is a historical archive so that members can always go back and track what happened.

When you finish the meeting make sure you capture what the "action items" are. What is the next step - who does what, and by when and who is responsible for following up. Oftentimes, spending a few minutes to plan the next meeting is useful to do.

Many groups start off with a kick-off meeting to discuss the club and how it will operate. This should be your first meeting.

Funding and Budget

Most clubs need to spend money in order to perform activities, print flyers, host a lecture, etc. In order to spend money the club needs to get money and there are a variety of ways to fund the club's activities. Funding can be accomplished from the members themselves through membership dues, activity fees, donations. Funding can be also obtained through a variety of fundraising activities such as a bake sale, garage sale, car wash.

Many corporations and government institutions also fund and sponsor groups. Grant applications can be filled out to see if you qualify for this type of funding. Not all funding needs to be cash. Some companies for instance might provide equipment, or a place to hold an event or practice. They may ask for some form of sponsorship, for instance, a banner displayed at an event.

In addition, you may wish to connect with national, state and regional chapters of similar interest groups. They can be good sources of funding themselves or provide you with valuable insights on how to improving the effectiveness of your club.

Get the nuts and bolts down

Every club has a basic set of operations that help it operate more efficiently. There's nothing more frustrating for leaders and members to be in a poorly run group. Membership, and more importantly, participation will begin to sag as a result. Here are a couple of basics:

• Get an updated roster. It's important for you to know who is in the group, how you reach them and what roles they play, what their membership status is, etc.. There are several electronic and web tools to help you, such as spreadsheets, word processing documents etc.
• Get an email list group created. Communicating with the group is important and doing so easily without having to type in 50 emails each time will save you a lot of time. Getting a self-managed email group list will save you countless hours.
• Create a website. A website is important for messaging not only to the group but also to the broader community. It's a great way to let people know what's going on (future events, how to get involved, etc.), what the accomplishments are of the group so that you can strengthen the binds within the group and also to recruit more members. Again, try to stay away from solutions that require a webmaster to make any change. You may not have a webmaster in the group and plus, you don't want to bottleneck all of your activities through one person. Was it Worth It? Being a part of clubs is an important part of everyday life. Forming clubs does take effort but the payoff is clear. As an organizer, you might think it is a thankless job, but keep in mind, people wouldn't join and participate if they didn't see value in it.

My life in the sunshine

Why would I love to own an apartment building in Hartford?

I don't know how personal I should be in this essay however I want you to genuinely know the writer of this and understand where my heart and my head is as I write to you I have started crowd funding  just so I could raise the money to send you the entry fee that's how extremely excited for this opportunity and dedicated to this project. 

I would simply like to bring my family back together. 

I'm 37 single mother of a 16 year old boy, I've had a boyfriend for the last 8 years and he's chronically Ill with a rare disease called retroperitoneal fibrosis. Im legally his caretaker. He is a good hard working man! For Seven years we have been renting a brownstone apartment on capital Avenue and every year our neighbors drive by with compliments on how beautiful he decorates the makeshift rooftop Patio we created with flowers and patio furniture. He's truly a gem always offering me beauty and comfort wherever I go from and indoors to outside my house feels like a palace. I love him very much he is an amazing man There is no way I'd ever be able to own the house that I live in at this moment we've been renting for seven years and the owners don't have a lease with option to buy out with this space and I've always wanted to own my own home. 

My story gets extremely personal and as I mentioned earlier I'm not sure exactly how personal I should get it however I don't believe you'll get to know the person without understanding the personal backstory so here goes. 

I used to be a really weak person I would never tell people what I truly felt what I wanted I would just assume they were right and will just follow orders and do what I was told which led me to having a really poor relationship with my mother and did not decide to date seriously for very long time because I had a mistrust with men mostly due to the father of my child who kidnapped my son at 11 months old. He was the first man I've ever trusted and he totally betrayed me for 12 years. Not only did I spend over 12 years searching for them I also spent every resource I had relocating and reinventing myself to eventually become a good mother when I did find him because I knew I would. I entered programs for family assistance and enrolled in adult education. I finished high school I live with my mother and other family members as I attended college got my 1st apartment and started building my credit. I got good jobs tried to save money and started a business and once I did I got on social media and that's where my son found me. MySpace saved my ass! I studied humanities and social science with hospitality that landed me a job at Ruth's Chris where I worked 3 years before applying to the Marriott. I sought a full time position in hospitality but landed 2 part time positions in customer service. There I learned of the expansion plans and building of Adrian's Landing. There I was determined to make myself a name in Hartford. I've had my heart set on entrepreneurship my whole life.  Most girls were conditioned in that way, when we're a baby were given a baby doll, not much younger than we are however we are expected to assume responsibility as mama of baby. I created my first business with my dolls and teddy Bears. By age 7 I was enterprising enough to ask for a job. I worked as an shrimp head remover for $.25 a lb then was promoted to an oyster shucker 2 days a week 4:30-7:30 made about $6.00 a day. At age 10, I started a business whole selling carnival toys to fairs and traveling carnivals. At 12 I was on my way to the post office to get a book of stamps when I saw an elderly couple planting sod and scraping paint off of the side of an old Victorian house I asked them if they needed help immediately hired me we tended all of the grounds. Intricately we restored the outside and inside of all 23 bedrooms of this historic mansion to a bed and breakfast inn. I was later hired as a housekeeper and maître d' at the inn. http://www.coombshouseinn.com/

When you think about it I guess that's the American dream for everyone to own a piece of property or land that you can call your own raise your family which leads to success a comfortable quality of life. Doesn't  matter your race or ethnicity or cultural background. My cultural roots started in a small town called Apalachicola Florida there with about 3000 people in total our family lived in a one room house with the kitchen added on an outhouse eventually restored to a bathroom and a living quarter thats it! We are all ethnically creole by definition. But we are mixed raced Americans with lineage from France, Africa, & Native America. There were 13 of us they're living in that house that we did feel wonderful because it was the only thing we owned. My grandmother was born in that house and she made sure to proudly boast to us that her mother and father purchased it for $1. Legally something happened not to my understanding when my grandmother passed away and we realize they were unpaid taxes on the house we eventually lost the house and because credit its is tough when you are uneducated or low income  we were back to renting apartments again. The family was suddenly split apart my uncles and my aunts took their children moved to different areas a lot of my family moved to upstate New York and to New York City. Unfortunately a lot of the cities and towns offered poor housing options and only affordable project living stack apartments and very small or infested spaces and it added a lot of stress and trauma to everyone not only the children that were split away from their cousins and growing up together as a family also to the adults who had to find new jobs a career options to raise their family. Everyone's world was turned upside down. We all had to make new friends and so many people noticed the displacement and took advantage. I believe a lot of the bigger cities were  overwhelming to the Southern comfort lifestyle a lot of the older relative that were stuck in their ways of living and found themselves completely isolated. Small towns offer a lot more instant trust and a neighborly camaraderie we weren't able to receive elsewhere. We have a lot of talented people in my family. Talent attracts a different source of people whereas we were used to having neighbors and friends that were often in the church had small businesses or community obligations we were able to fit in mostly in that community because we attended church services and was very much involved in our community as well working with kids or the elderly. A family of different writers musicians athletes artists playwrights actors singers dancers motivational speakers clergyman businessmen and women so much talent had to be wasted because we ended up living in towns where they would get jobs or change career options all together like mechanics working at factories working in construction or working in labor-intensive fields that were only available seasonally so we often moved to where the work was. The paper mills of Port St Joe, the construction site bridges of Panama City, the uprise of new construction in Atlanta Ga. The nursing and home health care boom of Albany Ny I'm the only one who decided to Pursue  my dream and reside in Hartford Connecticut, and dance. Now being here for the last 12 years I've been a proud resident. I come from a small town and lived in large cities so Hartford is perfect for me it's everything that I've ever wanted in a home I could raise my children and still become very successful in my business I can make amazing friends and have an amazing entertaining life style that allows me to be able to explore many of Hartford's arts music and historical gems that I've been able to share with my family when they do visit. Cultural education hasn't always been an option unfortunately places that are more fordable have very little cultural significance to the community Since I've lived here I've done nothing but tell all my friends and family from around the world how amazing this place really is even to where an old classmate decided to move here and give success a try here. I tell them how big cities like New York and Boston are just a scenic beautiful 2.5 hour drive away public transportation is booming and there's really no excuse to enjoy the outdoor living enjoying all four seasons and celebrating every national American holiday in style. I really wouldn't want to live anywhere else in America. I love watching this beautiful city grow up around me as it is renovated and reinvented by many of its charitable organization that get together and organize opportunities in the city for expansion. I really do feel like one of the first American pioneers settling to a new land that offer so much. I'm really sure my Native American ancestors would be proud so will my French and African-American ancestors would be as well because the dream is real. Hartford really does have it all. 

Embarrassing times at Ridgemont High

Remember the movie weird science ?Can you imagine if you created Pamela Anderson or Dita Von tease or Kim Kardashian? I am an self acclaimed actress model a singer dancer radio show host voice over personality and I have an overall fun demeanor and uniquely exotic appearance. However I'm kind of tired of getting by on my personality it takes too long to make an impression. I want to walk into a room and people are stunned. I like to say I'm a big fish in a small pond or I should have big boobs and be a blonde. I am probably the first person who ever placed a Backpage ad with this weekly advert  running "I am going to give one plastic surgeon the opportunity to give the best breast augmentation in the world  to me. I'm going to create a  website that Will allow the fans to choose all of the options including anesthesiologist  supplies operating room with a small donation gift to the surgery if the surgeon decides to donate the services I will allow them all the rights of public imagery and a 10% percentage of future earnings from their display and keep all funds earned during fundraiser!" Then I found out that many licenses were at jeopardy so surgeons did not want to participate and my social experiment and it was a huge failure. So here's my backstory I am 37 years old had four children only one survived he is now 16 years old in on road college bound. I desperately want a beauty makeover. Not that I have destroyed my body I just don't want the opportunity to let my body began to slip. When I lost three of my children I did not get extremely heavy and lose myself in depression I got back on the horse and start a pole dancing and that became my solace for exercise and psychological awareness of myself and empowered me to keep pushing on. I now teach pole dance fitness and burlesque dancing and to me it only makes sense for me to exude the sense of confidence that I teach others to have naturally a little help from a kind hearted surgeon with the magic to sculpt this form into a goddess would benefit the entire planet. It's a symbiotic effect I'll explain, A beauty makeover to me would consist of cosmetic dentistry rhinoplasty fat transfer and breast augmentation. A great smile and nice nose would lead to better face-to-face personal and interpersonal relationships with family and business. People will  stop text messaging and fidgeting  on their phones every time they look up they'll want to see a body like mine out of nowhere they will start saying hello and smiling at each other with the thought of my beautiful smile. Fat transfer or a butt and breast implants would benefit first the person who was getting rid of their fat (preferably my mom) and then of course me a person who is unable to gain much fat (me) I was premature by 3 months, however the natural fat would round out my figure into an hourglass shape my chest and derrière and would look great in or out of clothing. Which would make the planet extremely happy because no one would want to waste money by cutting down trees or creating wasteful garments which will lead to a free the nipple campaign and save the silk worm and the world will have to invest in Lycra spandex Which will drive  the stock market wild and free the economy financially of its debt of so we will save the world with your help to finance my cosmetic procedures! You could say you created Dita Von PamAnderDash

Positive Posts about Exotic Dancers

cyberstripper

08-08-2009, 02:02 PM

I have read too many negative posts lately :( I hate to hear about my fellow SWers going thru hard times, so I wanted to start a positive post: what is your Stripper Success story?

Wether you are using stripping to get ahead or go to college, or have been a dancer and moved forward with your life to a "real career", I want to hear your success stories.

Heres Mine:

I moved to Vegas about 5 years ago with $200.00 in my pocket, a backpack full of clothes and not much else. I left everything behind, I know it was risky but I was tired of my life. I was staying at the WILD WILD WEST (a scary hotel to say the least) until I was able to rent a room. 

I got into dancing and camming, and havent looked back since!! I now have a steadyish lol income, a beautiful condo and my two doggies! I feel like I have accomplished so much in the past 5 years. Everytime I drive past the wild wild west I always remember where I came from and how much progress I have made. Thinking about those times where I cried in my hotel room because I didn't know what to do, or where I would end up always keeps me motivated.

Christyismyalias

08-08-2009, 02:35 PM

Congratulations for you! It's a great feeling knowing you came from nothing and made yourself into something you love.

Mine is a work in progress.. I moved out of my parents house at 17 and started dancing as soon as I turned 18. Already hard into drugs when I started dancing, I went through years of bullshit and drug abuse, and it has taken me a few years to get it together and realize my potential. 
At this point, I am saving serious money, working towards setting myself up for my future with hopes of retirement and opening a business. I am also in college, getting my degree and most importantly, am 100% sober. 
I have realized the potential of this business and am working six days a week putting money away. I have also realized that I LOVE the business. I love entertaining people and I love being in control of my life. 

For myself, I am thankful to have gotten into the business, because I have learned sooooo much. I wouldn't necessarily promote the business for others, b/c you do sort of get thrown through the ringer, but it has turned into a blessing for me.

ilovetobenaked

08-08-2009, 02:40 PM

When I turned 18 I too left home with absoluetly NOTHING. Nada. No clothes, nothing. I had a car and that's it. I borrowed money from a friend and bought myself one pair of dancing shoes and a bikini and I started dancing and slept in my car for the first week. I'd mostly sleep behind buildings or in parking lots and when the stores would open the workers would always tap on my window to wake me up!! LOL 

I then got enough money to live week by week at the local Motel 6. I did that until I got enough money to rent my own apt! I had saved up ALL the money I needed, and then someone stole it, all. I was DEVASTATED, but, I worked harder and made it all back and got my place!!

That was 13 years ago and I never have stopped dancing but I did learn web design and now run a very succesful web design company AND dance. I love it! I have a 9y/o lil man and things are wonderful! 

Great thread! :)

ilovetobenaked

08-08-2009, 03:17 PM

For myself, I am thankful to have gotten into the business, because I have learned sooooo much. I wouldn't necessarily promote the business for others, b/c you do sort of get thrown through the ringer, but it has turned into a blessing for me.
^^^^^^^^^ 
Ditto :)

Winged Dinghy

08-08-2009, 03:28 PM

I'm really impressed with you ladies who started supporting yourself by stripping at 18 and have become such smart, accomplished women. That's really something to be proud of.

I quit my graduate program because I knew I didn't want to teach writing--I wanted to be a writer. So I started stripping and started using my free time to write.

So, the money I made stripping is allowing me to shift gears into a career that is in alignment with my talents and my life purpose.

cyberstripper

08-08-2009, 04:18 PM

I can relate to all of you! I didn't post much about my past but I was independent from 16 and in and out of foster care, had all kinds of probs for a while. Keep the stories coming!!!

Kylea2

08-08-2009, 06:50 PM

I have a pretty long and confusing story, so if anyone wants to hear the full thing you can PM me. Basically I had nothing and couldn't afford anything even though I was working a full time office job. My money was going to bills that weren't even mine before it ever reached my pocket and then nothing was left. I started dancing, paid off everything amazingly fast and figured out I could go to college from the money dancing. By 22 or 23 I had a very nice life including a sports car, house, and college - all because of dancing. Plus, dancing has made me happier than I've ever been.

M3wlove

08-08-2009, 10:40 PM

i am so glad for this thread, its really inspiring..i am starting out right now when the economy is shot, but im very determined and hopeful.

librafox

08-08-2009, 10:42 PM

I love these posts! I truly enjoy dancing and am now at a point where I'm mature enough to see it through and maximize my money! My bf is giving me shit but I told him straight up if u can't respect me whether I'm dancing or notbi don't need you!

Gia2608

08-08-2009, 10:58 PM

I started dancing in RI when I was 20 but I knew I had to get the hell out! My older Sister and almost all of my friends back there have 2 or more children, rent apartments in shitty neighborhoods and have no education to fall back on, as well as the fact that they have jobs which offer little security (waitressing, secretary work, etc). 

I enrolled in a college down here and bought myself a new car and put what I could fit in my trunk and left. I had a three bedroom apartment when I left and my mother was supposed to keep my things for me until I got settled but my furniture got divved up among friends and relatives and ALL of the clothes I had there (like thousands and thousands of dollars worth) got stolen by her neighbor's teenage daughter when they moved. Fuck it! It's just stuff.

To be honest I had a rough time down here for a while, I feel behind in school and had two shitty relationships back to back but right now I really need to get back to where I used to be mentally when dancing was freeing and empowering. 

I did get back in school and just got my 1st degree Monday of last week! Now I am enrolled in University and evern though I plan on working full time I still want to dance at least one night a week so I can save up for the deposit on a home and start a retirement fund and also do some traveling!

But my success story: Getting out of my crappy small town and moving to a city where I knew no one and making it against all odds!

sorsi

08-09-2009, 12:40 AM

I moved to Vegas about 5 years ago with $200.00 in my pocket, a backpack full of clothes and not much else. I left everything behind, I know it was risky but I was tired of my life. I was staying at the WILD WILD WEST (a scary hotel to say the least) until I was able to rent a room. 

I got into dancing and camming, and havent looked back since!! I now have a steadyish lol income, a beautiful condo and my two doggies! I feel like I have accomplished so much in the past 5 years. Everytime I drive past the wild wild west I always remember where I came from and how much progress I have made. Thinking about those times where I cried in my hotel room because I didn't know what to do, or where I would end up always keeps me motivated.

This is the most inspiring thing I've read on here in a long time. :) Good for you, and thank you for sharing!

Melonie

08-09-2009, 12:42 AM

My own 'success story' is a bit different. Before I started dancing, I was married ... gave birth to a son ... obtained a degree in Respiratory Therapy ... and was working in hospitals at a fairly 'good' rate of pay. However, after a divorce, I was left with custody of my son, a ton of debts, and zero financial help from my ex. It soon became clear that it would take me many years to 'dig out from under' those debts and still provide 100% of everything my son needed on my Respiratory Therapist's salary, even if I worked some double shifts and holidays. Then to top things off, it was discovered during a routine test that I had contracted TB from one of my hospital patients, which kicked off 6 months worth of treatments.

At the same time a new club opened up. I decided to take a shot at at being an exotic dancer, in hopes of earning enough money quickly to wipe out my divorce debts and actually being able to save money towards my son's future college education. I was pretty successful at this from the beginning. I then took advantage of a few opportunities to migrate to 'better' clubs, and subsequently expand ( pun intended ) into featuring, magazines, an adult website, etc. 

After about 12 years, I managed to not only pay off my debts and buy a house, but also to save up enough money to fund my son's college education, and also to save / invest enough additional money to allow me to 'retire' from the exotic dancing / adult entertainment world. 

Now that my son is away at college, I had the choice of continuing to live in my home state of NY and return to being a Respiratory Therapist ( or some other straight job) in order to pay all of the taxes due on my 'passive' investment income as well as the taxes due on a straight job paycheck, or to circumvent the taxes and live rather comfortably on my 'passive' income alone. I chose the latter, and am now on a 'permanent vacation' way south of the US border ... where up to $91k per year in 'passive' income is now free of US and NY taxes, and where the local cost of living is FAR less expensive than it was in NY. I will also add that my son loves to visit on semester breaks ( since I now live within relatively easy driving distance of Cancun LOL - 'hey, I thought you came down here to visit ME !' )

~

papillonluvr

08-09-2009, 11:17 AM

Melonie, You are amazing!

As for me, dancing has helped me pay for college, pay off my car, put a down payment on a house, and start paying off credit card debt. Now I am teaching English as a Second Language at a middle school here in town. It is in an at-risk, 70% poverty ridden school, where over half the kids are either involved in gangs or have family invovled in gangs, or are illegal immigrant kids. This is what I have always wanted to do, so I am glad that dancing has gotten me here. :)

rareaspasia

08-09-2009, 11:45 AM

Guys, thank you so much for sharing. I'm leaving my dead end day job in two weeks and while this is definitely the right decision I am scared to death because it's such a big change. Thank you. I needed to read this because I know I'll have my own success story to share in two years!

cyberstripper

08-09-2009, 05:41 PM

My own 'success story' is a bit different. Before I started dancing, I was married ... gave birth to a son ... obtained a degree in Respiratory Therapy ... and was working in hospitals at a fairly 'good' rate of pay. However, after a divorce, I was left with custody of my son, a ton of debts, and zero financial help from my ex. It soon became clear that it would take me many years to 'dig out from under' those debts and still provide 100% of everything my son needed on my Respiratory Therapist's salary, even if I worked some double shifts and holidays. Then to top things off, it was discovered during a routine test that I had contracted TB from one of my hospital patients, which kicked off 6 months worth of treatments.

At the same time a new club opened up. I decided to take a shot at at being an exotic dancer, in hopes of earning enough money quickly to wipe out my divorce debts and actually being able to save money towards my son's future college education. I was pretty successful at this from the beginning. I then took advantage of a few opportunities to migrate to 'better' clubs, and subsequently expand ( pun intended ) into featuring, magazines, an adult website, etc. 

After about 12 years, I managed to not only pay off my debts and buy a house, but also to save up enough money to fund my son's college education, and also to save / invest enough additional money to allow me to 'retire' from the exotic dancing / adult entertainment world. 

Now that my son is away at college, I had the choice of continuing to live in my home state of NY and return to being a Respiratory Therapist ( or some other straight job) in order to pay all of the taxes due on my 'passive' investment income as well as the taxes due on a straight job paycheck, or to circumvent the taxes and live rather comfortably on my 'passive' income alone. I chose the latter, and am now on a 'permanent vacation' way south of the US border ... where up to $91k per year in 'passive' income is now free of US and NY taxes, and where the local cost of living is FAR less expensive than it was in NY. I will also add that my son loves to visit on semester breaks ( since I now live within relatively easy driving distance of Cancun LOL - 'hey, I thought you came down here to visit ME !' )

~

Wow Melonie! I am sure I speak for many when I say I hope that one day I can accomplish what you have in your career! You are one amazing woman.

All of you are!

It has been such a hard time lately but I am trying to be more positive, and this is just what I needed. All of you are so inspiring! Ty for all of your replies and I hope there are many more to come.

NREXM

08-09-2009, 05:49 PM

I moved out of my parents house when I was 18 and a half and went to live with my boyfriend across the country in his small basement bedroom in a house that had five people already living there. I had about $200 and really couldn't afford anything. I looked for jobs but since I didn't have much experience, I didn't have much luck finding anything. I started dancing a few weeks after my 19th birthday and was able to save up enough money to support myself and pay my side of the rent. I saved for a year and was able to move into a three bedroom house with my boyfriend, get a new car, new home decor, insurance, and pay all my bills.

Right now I'm trying to save 50k to start a restaurant. I've meet a lot of interesting people dancing (dancers and customers) and they've definitely brightened my outlook on life.

Axiom

08-11-2009, 03:51 PM

Wow! This is a great thread! Thanks for all the inspiring stories... I was starting to feel discouraged.

chanzep

08-11-2009, 06:01 PM

I heart this thread too, stripping has helped me alot from almost homeless to happy and housed, and right now I have other goals in the process.

Nuclear Martini

08-11-2009, 11:12 PM

I am also a success story in progress.
I was kicked out of my highschool when I was 17 because the school found out that my legal guardian (my mother, who was a mentally unstable alcoholic and had extreme depression) had moved out of the state without me.

I was alone in my city, working 2 minumum wage jobs and was forced to drop out of highschool which has made the entire college process really hard for me. I would have panic attacks almost daily. I had considered many things for survival such as prostituting myself if I ever had to. I never did. 
Fast foward to moving to Miami.

I was a 19 year-old bartender in South Beach (Miami). I worked at a really slow bbq restaraunt and bar and made about $400 a week, I worked 5 days a week and had to take a two hour bus ride to get to work everyday.

My mother had chose to cut herself off of all the meds she was perscribed to and was drinking heavily. She was mentally and physically abusive towards me. I was living with her at the time.

I dreamed of being in college like most of my high school friends were. While many of them were already messing up their college careers by partying and slacking off, all I wanted was a chance to be in college. I wanted to study medicine, maybe even oncology since I had lost many people to cancer. My mother knew about my goals and never assisted me, she never even told me she was proud.

One morning I woke up to the sight of my mom rummaging through my purse. My wallet was in one of her hands and I had already suspected her of stealing from me in the past. I would have loaned her money if she would ask, but we barely spoke to one another. In my half-asleep state, I mumbled "bitch" at her. I woke up to her hitting my head and scratching my eyes, it hurt so bad my eyes were burning. I cried all morning until I went to work. I felt so low that day. If I had any $ in the bank whatsoever, I would have left that day. I then vowed to myself that I would never, ever let myself be in this kind of situation again. Thats when I put two and two together and said "I'm gonna strip and never rely on anybody again" to myself. I went to work that day (bartending at a shitty place), quit two days later, and auditioned at the club I work at today.



Anyways, now I am 20 and I'm in community college, I want to be a dentist. Before I started dancing I wanted to study journalisim, but now that I work for myself I dont think I could work 9-5 office style ever!

I have a car, I live in Miami and take frequent trips to travel destinations in Florida. I now have a fulfilling social life and no one is beating the shit out of me! :D
I take a lot of road trips out-of-state, like to Savannah (one of my fav cities) and to New England (Where I grew up). My dream now is to get accepted into Tufts (or another equally elite Boston school) and one day own enough rental properties to live off of. I also have a pooch that I love to death and a loving man who treats me like a queen.

My self-esteem is through the roof because of dancing. I love myself :). Sometimes I even feel like I'm on the brink of something special (does that make sense? I don't know what that something is, but I definatly feel it).

i wouldnt reccomend dancing to everyone, but its totally changed my life for the better ;D



Oh yeah, awesome thread idea

britneyireland

08-12-2009, 06:56 AM

Here is mine (a literal cut and paste from my website, but honestly it took me several months to get it the way I liked it)

I was an elementary school teacher, until I couldn’t afford to eat. My paycheck just barely covered rent, car payment and insurance. I fell into dancing with the idea of “just until I finish graduate school and pay off Visa….” That was almost a decade ago. Since then, I have embraced the industry and all the opportunities that it offers smart, business-savvy women who are willing to stand up to the societal stereotypes.

During the dot.com craze, I was making great money and didn’t know what to do with it. The more I made, the more I spent, with most of it going towards rent in California. By 2002 I was drowning in consumer debt and filed for bankruptcy. I identified my mistakes, vowed to never make them again, and began my personal journey towards financial literacy.

In January 2004 I took the Naked Assets DancerWealth sales training class in Las Vegas. Although there have been several copy-cats, Naked Assets is the Original Stripper Sales Training School founded by Adam Sternberg that has been featured in Playboy Magazine, 20/20, and CityLife Magazine. Taking the DancerWealth course was the turning point of my dancing career. Afterwards, I began to experience massive success at closing lapdance and champagne room sales. DancerWealth also inspired me to begin my own journey into personal development. I started with the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. 


Three years later I began blogging about how to be a successful stripper on Myspace. I even coined the term “SuperStripper” to describe the mindset and process of running a stripping business. The blog blossomed into a fabulous community of like-minded entertainers and those who aspired to become a SuperStripper.

In May of 2008, I assumed majority ownership of Naked Assets. In addition to the original DancerWealth course, I created the DancerWise and DancerVictory courses to coach entertainers towards SupperStripperdom. My personal goal is to continue dancing until I am Financially Free. This means that I have enough passive income from my investments to cover my living expenses. Becoming a SuperStripper has been a life changing experience for me. When I'm old and bleached blonde, I'll reflect on my stripper experience with fond memories and positive thoughts. Despite the social stigma of being "a stripper" I revel in proving them wrong!

Ivymaid

08-25-2009, 12:09 AM

Bump!

(I am bumping this thread because I am loving all the stories here and would love to hear more!)

missy873

08-29-2009, 09:14 AM

I've been really discouraged because of the economy and this thread has totally given me hope and focus! Thank you for starting this, cyber! 
:)

firemaiden04

08-29-2009, 11:39 AM

I started stripping just for the hell of it, and to semi-support myself while waiting to go back to school. Personally, I don't really want to go back to college, for several different reasons. Especially having just watched my boyfriend finally graduate with his PhD, and the bullshit he had to deal with to get there was surreal, and none of it had to do with education or learning or knowledge. It was all a power struggle and politics. I don't have the patience for that. 

My Mom has been pushing and pushing and pushing for me to go back to school, but I had a bit of an epiphany the other week. I decided that I didn't want to do it, and I wasn't going to.

Now that I know all the money I make isn't going into some savings account my Mom has for me (of which I have no information at all, no account number, nothing) which will be spent on tuition, all of the sudden my earnings have skyrocketed. I want to fix my credit, and get my own place again, and I want to have nice things in it, and I want to travel. So I've already planned a trip to London next month to meet up with my boyfriend, and I'm looking at apartments in the area. 

I feel like now that I can do what I want with my money, all of the sudden I've become noticeably happier and more motivated. I've always wanted to travel extensively, and while I've managed a small bit of it until now, I've realized I can make enough money to go abroad if I want to. And I can have my own wonderful place to come back to whenever I want. I'm feeling more optimistic about it than I have in a long time.

griffinbikini

08-29-2009, 12:45 PM

I was already in school for music when i started dancing after a very bad car wreck and loss of hearing on one side i had to reevaluate my life .My best friend at the time took me to a club she worked at and a few nights later i was working there as well for several years.

This was the start of something bigger I began doing dancer costumes and opened a business what seemed like fun turned into something that ended up changing my whole life and way of thinking. 20 years later we still sell exotic dancer costumes, bikinis, and have another site we are working on for dancers /industry. This business opened up a whole new way of thinking for me and i would never change a thing.

Its still funny to me that people will go oh you used to be a dancer then give you that dopey look yes i was a dancer and i would do it again the best thing that i ever stumbled into.
I have had many friends in the industry that have been able to go to school, take great care of there children, open businesses that they would never have been able to do without dancing.I may be off the stage now but never out of the industry.

Best advice do what makes you happy and keep your money and your men separate

rusdancer

08-30-2009, 05:51 PM

What a great thread!A lot of touching stories.
This business was a tremendous help for me as well.I won't go into details,but if it wasn't for it,I probably would have not made it in this country,having been here very young and without family.

Wild Child

09-08-2009, 09:19 PM

Well, I chose to strip because the thought of it equally enticed and haunted me, as well as scarred and confused me. A combination which most always serves as my compass as to where to go/what to do next. My ENTIRE life (I'm talking since I'm 9) I've been angry at men. ANGRY. No clue why. Might be blocking something out there, not sure. 

Anyways......for some ODD, anti-intuitive reason, the time I spent dancing CURED ME (of that anger anyhow). I felt (and still feel) that I, more than anything, just UNDERSTOOD men now. I could let their stares and comments on the street or at my "real" job slide without popin off. 

Who knew?

Great thread.

Nuclear Martini

03-04-2011, 01:14 PM

I know this is an old thread, but I had to bump it. We have had a lot of new members since this thread has started and it would be nice to get more success stories on here

seashell

03-04-2011, 07:16 PM

This is a great thread! : )

I started dancing at 21 in my 3rd year of college. I had been working a low paying retail job and was still living at my parents' house because I couldn't afford my own place... it was horrible, they were always fighting and my dad and I didn't get along. Having two jobs was killing my grades in school, so I eventually decided, fuck it, I'm going to waitress at a strip club. They hired me, and two months later I started stripping and was able to afford my own apartment with roommates.

I bought all my own furniture, bought a new laptop and a desk for school, and graduated a semester early with awesome grades because my schedule was so much lighter than before.

Now I'm kicking those roommates out, and I have enough money to pay all my own bills and have my own place all to myself, for the first time. It's the best feeling ever. Dancing really puts you through the ringer, puts you face to face with your strengths and weaknesses. But it can give you so much freedom -- I feel like a lot of us here have gotten to places in our lives that it would have taken years and years to reach otherwise.

K Sweet

03-07-2011, 04:18 PM

I remember reading this thread before becoming a stripper. It's nice to see it active again, and this time I can contribute!

Before I was a stripper I was completely broke, continuously getting deeper into debt, barely being able to afford gas to put in my shitty car to get to work and pretty miserable when I was at work. There was no way I'd be able to pay for school, I didn't have anyone to rely on financially to help me if there was an emergency, and I was going nowhere in life.
I've worked my way up with stripping. I first started at a peepshow, which didn't pay great but it paid well (does that make sense?). I was able to use this money to buy myself a better car, which I now use for working bachelor parties. I've used that money to save up for an apartment close to where I plan on going to school and buy a laptop. I now also work at a club in the area I'm moving to, so I'm set up to go back to school and be financially taken care of! I've also made great friends, gained confidence, gotten really good at speaking my mind (this was a huge weakness for me), and my body has gotten much stronger too.

The very best thing though, is the assurance that even in tough times I will manage.

Kisa7513

03-10-2011, 01:08 AM

It is so great to see so many strong women who have used stripping to change their lives for the good instead of blaming it for their problems. Good job ladies!! 

I started dancing back when I was 19. I actually come from a great family and we are all very close. My boyfriend in high school's mom was a stripper back when he was growing up and she just made it sound so fun I wanted to try it. I was taking 43 units in college and going year round to get it done. I came out to Vegas with some friends since my family had a home out here. Back in 1999 you could dance at clubs with alcohol under 21 you just needed a wrist band. I got hired at Cheetah's, danced for 3 nights and LOVED it so I started to come out every week or two to dance. As soon as I was done with school I told my parents that I wanted to put off my job and move out to Vegas to dance. Where I am from in Orange County that was very irregular but I have awesome parents and when I showed them the numbers and benefits they both agreed it was much smarter than the route I was originally going to go. I was also very lucky that because of dancing, I was able to spend a lot of time with my grandfather for the last 2 years of his life and after he did pass in 2001 I bought their Vegas home to keep it in the family. 

Dancing has allowed me to have ZERO debt with the exception of my mortgage on my home in Vegas which is almost paid off at this point. I paid cash for all my vehicles, all my toys, my second home in So Cal. I was able to take 21 months off and travel, be involved in a couple of businesses that provide me great extra income, fully fund my retirement, and make some amazing friends along the way. I was also very lucky that from early on, my family was very good at teaching us to be financially responsible, so from day 1 of dancing I have always put at least the first 10% aside for myself. For most of my dancing career I have saved 25% off the top. 

I don't dance very much anymore, in fact tomorrow will be my first day back in 3 months, but I miss it and my husband is out of town so now is the perfect time to call up my regulars and spend a couple nights shaking my thing.

Jay12

03-11-2011, 06:14 PM

I started dancing right after I got out of active duty to support myself in between drills and TDYs. At first I didn't made enough money because I wasn't that much into dancing (that's why I was so happy making less than 200 bucks), but I eventually managed to step into the game until I eventually made it work for me (where earnings in the high 300's and above became the norm). Now, I have a wonderful place to live, a car, insurance, and a wonderful man to share all those things. Now I'm mad if I only make 200 bucks. 

That was only six months ago.