Devon Hunter

There comes a time in any career when you have to start considering how you will make your exit (Here are some ideas for careers that you can consider after leaving performance). I’m not talking about my own situation (although I’ll address that in a moment), but of a friend’s. He’s been doing adult entertainment for about two years now, and, honestly, that’s about as long as most people do it. I’d be willing to wager that if I did a survey, there would be a bell curve showing that the greatest number of people in the biz stay in it for two-three years. So, there’s nothing abnormal in having this conversation with someone.

What was interesting is that this person had forgotten about life’s options. He sat in silence for a moment when I said, “The career won’t change. Either you have to change your expectations, or you have to find new work.” I was a tad surprised when he responded with, “Wow. I mean… wow.”

He is the type of person who is happiest in a relationship, and has been dissatisfied since breaking up with his last partner. Relationships are more important to him than staying in his current work situation – he wasn’t able to connect with people, because of his career. People are willing to fuck strippers, but not willing to date us (which says more about them than us, to be frank).

And so, it is time for this person to transition out, so that he can find someone to date. That is his priority. He is going to save up his tips, go to school, start a new career, and look for a woman to bear him children. Such is the heterosexual’s world. It makes little sense to me, but it’s his life, not mine. We have to be happy in this world. That is paramount.

As for my own situation: My application to go back to school to become a Physical Therapy Assistant was rejected, because I “failed to meet minimum requirements.” Uh huh… Six months of jumping through flaming hoops for people who couldn’t read the lists of requirements in front of their faces, and it is I who fail to meet minimum requirements? I have to say I’m not all that put out – it was more rigmarole trying to get into this community college than getting into UCLA. I’d actually been figuring out how to get out of going back now, because I have a plan for getting out of debt that would have been completely undermined by being in classes.

So, it’s time for a different strategy. Both of my female roommates are moving in with their boyfriends when the current lease expires in September. I’ve not had my own place since 2003. I’ve lived with roommates for a long time now. I’m excited. Being in school would have complicated a move, so it’s another reason to be glad that this plan didn’t work. I’m happy that I’ll be free to do all of these life tasks without having to worry about missing a class session.

Also, I’ve decided to experiment with other modalities of adult entertainment. I’m exhausted of all the driving from club to club. I’m not interested in leaving the career, however. I am not done. I am still needed in the field, which probably sounds like an odd sentiment, but I have a carefully honed plan that I will share in about a year or so, when everything comes into fruition. It’s time to work smarter, not harder. I do not think I’m interested in becoming a sex worker. I wouldn’t want to do that unless I could successfully navigate being a gay courtesan of sorts. However, there are other options, and I will be flying to San Diego on May 6 in order to explore some opportunities there.

I hear it said fairly often that being an exotic dancer is a short-lived, unsustainable, no-end career. I would make the same argument about education, given the fact that half or more of new teachers leave the field after five years or less. The point is this: In any career you have to be creative, you have to enjoy what you do, and you have to be willing to evolve. That is how you create your own success.

At some point dancers retire from the stage (many of us do this far later than most people probably imagine – that is a lack of imagination on their part, and has nothing to do with how viable on stage you can remain for a very long time). When a dancer is ready to hang up his thong, he is actually in a position to do quite a few other jobs, especially if he was smart and got experience in other fields as well. I know porn models who are also engineers. One of the dancers at Swinging Richards in Atlanta is a chiropractor. I personally have advanced degrees, work experience in other fields, and plan to become a physical therapy assistant in the coming years. I digress…

TEN CAREERS THAT BEING AN EXOTIC DANCER TRAINS YOU TO DO
(and which have nothing to do with how you look):

1 – Entertainment Director – you will know the ins and outs of getting acts into venues
2 – Club Manager – you will understand the various aspects of running this type of business, if you are hands on about learning it
3 – Sales – you will have the confidence in selling your most important product: you
4 – Public/Motivational Speaker – you would be surprised how much people want conversation and how much they will take to heart what you say, so practice being positive and channel this in new directions
5 – Booking Manager – you could start your own performance troupe of dancers and manage it
6 – Personal Shopper/Style Coach – performers with aesthetic finesse often refine this to an art and can help others with their style choices
7 – Event Coordination/Planning – clubs often collaborate with community organizations, so you should network as much as possible and become the go-to who knows everyone and helps them all get something done together
8 – Fitness Industry Professional – you are probably already involved in fitness, so why not get certified and use your knowledge on a grander scale?
9 – Entrepreneur – just as with sales, many exotic dancers are very bold and confident people who can take their experiences interacting with patrons and turn that into new ideas (didn’t you just give a lapdance to a bank executive??)
10 – DJ – dancers know what music gets a crowd pumped, and with some time in the booth you could learn to spin for parties and events with the best of them