Stripped: Nashville (2024) Movie Script

[no audio]
...for HD movie
[traffic whirring]
[upbeat music]
Yeah
- [Announcer] On the
main stage, Alaria.
Let's go
[crowd cheering]
- [Alaria] Stripping is
a form of storytelling.
It is another art form.
I work two days a week and
I make over a hundred grand.
and most importantly,
I'm going from
surviving to thriving.
- [Katan] When I get to the
club, my mindset is always,
I'm just focused on
making money that night.
I'm very seductive and it
definitely helps me make money.
[upbeat music]
[crowd cheering]
- [Ferrari] Being an exotic
dancer has helped heal me.
[upbeat music]
I didn't know who I was
before I started dancing.
[upbeat music]
- [Belle] I am proud of my body.
I think my body's beautiful.
[crowd cheering]
I really like to
get on the stage
and take my top off
and then people are like, "Oh
my God, like, you're boobies."
[upbeat music]
- [Marie] Once I
figured out my hustle,
that's when I
started raking it in.
[upbeat music]
I know when I dance,
I just kind of do what
my body feels like doing
and it really does feel like
this expressive art form.
- [Divine] If you
can get on the floor
and still look confident,
rolling around twerking,
I feel like there's art
and beauty in that as well.
I've seen it all.
I've been through it all.
I've been robbed.
I've been drugged.
I've been set up.
- [Sadie] The dancing
community in Nashville
is surprisingly close knit.
I don't care if there is
one person in that club
or a thousand.
I'm going hard.
I just gotta go hard
Go hard, go hard
[upbeat music]
Go hard
[upbeat country music]
- My first impressions of
Nashville was that it was huge.
Live music is the number
one, really big thing here,
so it's Music City,
is what we call it.
[upbeat country music]
- People started
calling Nashville
NashVegas for a reason.
Nighttime on Broadway,
on like a Saturday night,
it is a mad house.
It is insanity.
[crowd cheering]
Like it's a party
city. [laughing]
[upbeat country music]
- I feel like
Nashville's pretty lit.
Nashville's also
known as CashVille.
[cash register dings]
Everyone here is
doing really well
so between NashVegas
and CashVille,
you can kind of get the
feel of the money flowed.
[crowd cheering]
[dramatic music]
[upbeat country music]
- Driving around in
Nashville all the time,
like they're always
building something new.
They're always putting
in a new hotel,
new apartments.
There's so much
going on right now,
you can genuinely see it.
Nashville has 1.3
million people.
There's construction
everywhere, all the time.
A lot of people are
moving from California,
New York, Chicago.
The city is growing and
growing and growing.
But what's a side note from that
is the fact that we now only
have two strip clubs in town.
We do live in the Bible Belt
and the city doesn't
really love having us here.
- The clubs in Nashville
are sister clubs,
so even though we only have two,
we're only allowed
to work at one.
Very restrictive.
- Makes it a little
difficult to do what we do,
more difficult than it
would be in other states
or in other cities even.
[upbeat country music]
You gotta really
want to be a dancer
and you've gotta really
be dedicated to your job
and doing what you do,
if you want to do
it in Nashville.
[upbeat country music]
[crowd cheering]
[gentle music]
I grew up in Smyrna, Tennessee.
It's about 20 minutes outside
of downtown Nashville.
Going through school as a kid,
I always made good grades.
Honor roll, principal's
list, perfect attendance.
So my grades really reflected
who I was as a student.
[soul rhythmic music]
Softball was always a
huge part of my life.
It kept me fit,
it kept me active,
it kept me social.
It was pivotal in making me
the person that I am today.
It was amazing.
I'm a class of 2019 graduate
and I'm the starting
varsity catcher
for Smyrna High School Lady
Bulldogs in Smyrna, Tennessee.
I also play travel ball for
the Tennessee Firebirds 01.
Thank you for watching.
It was a lot of fun.
It took a lot of passion.
It took a lot of effort
and I think it was
all that effort
and all of that drive
and all of that hard work
that got me to the
point in my senior year
where I received a D1
scholarship from TSU.
[pensive rhythmic music]
[pensive rhythmic
music continues]
This is the neighborhood
I grew up in
and this is also where I
used to go door knocking
as a Jehovah's Witness
back in the day.
[slow reflective music]
I grew up out in
Antioch, Tennessee.
I was raised in an extremely
religious household.
My mom herself was raised
as a Jehovah's Witness,
but growing up as a Witness
was very challenging
because I was being raised
and being told that,
you know, if you also weren't
a part of the religion,
then that made you bad.
[slow reflective music]
I would go to school and
I would have friends,
but outside of school,
like I was not allowed
to hang out with them.
I wasn't allowed to have
phone calls with them.
This was me in third
grade at eight-years-old.
[reflective music]
Once I got into high school,
I guess you could say I
was a little boy crazy
and my parents
definitely knew that.
They wound up taking
me out of school
and then I wound
up homeschooling
for my last couple
years of school.
But it took boys
out of the equation.
[upbeat music]
- I was born in
Phoenix, Arizona,
and as a kid, I started
doing gymnastics.
When I would do it,
I just felt strong.
I felt excited that
I could do things
that a lot of
people couldn't do.
I felt free.
It was the time where
my mind was the quietest
because I had to stay focused.
It is the best
feeling in the world.
[crowd cheering]
My mom was my biggest supporter.
She was at every meet.
That feeling of
making people proud
and having them smile at me...
- [Man] Boom, you got it baby.
- [Alaria] And when I would
win, I felt like I would matter.
I felt like people would see me
and I was like, I want
to be an Olympian.
[upbeat music]
[camera clicking]
- I was born in Venezuela.
I went to a Catholic school,
so it was very religious.
I was never a good student.
I was always singing, dancing,
doing just anything else.
I was 15 when I came to
Nashville from Venezuela.
We came straight to Nashville
because my dad used to
always come to
Nashville for vacation,
all about rock and country
and like he just loves that
and so that's why we moved here.
[upbeat music]
[banjo music]
- I was born in
Raleigh, North Carolina.
I was born into the LDS Church,
so I grew up as what they
call Mormon, is the nickname.
I went to church until I
could move outta my house.
Mormons do not believe in
dating before the age of 16.
One of my escapes was sports.
One of the sports that I
really focused on the most
was cheerleading
- Go.
[rhythmic music]
[Ferrari grunts]
- I was able to
wear their uniforms,
which were really short
skirts and spandex
because it was in an
athletic environment.
It didn't matter.
But also, to express
myself and be able to dance
and let out my energy,
it was a happy space for me.
Beyond sports,
music was really the way
I was able to connect
with the darker sides of myself
that I wasn't able to
express through sports.
I was getting more rebellious.
My 16-year-old self
was still screaming
to be let out, you know?
I wanted to find who I
was outside of the church.
I didn't wanna be in
the church anymore.
I wanted to find my
own belief system.
I wanted to be exactly
who I wanted to be
and find my own morals.
If you're gonna follow
an all-loving God,
He would love you no matter
what you were wearing
or if you were
drinking coffee or not.
[rhythmic music]
- So I grew up in
Miami, Florida,
was born and raised there.
I went to a Baptist
Christian Church.
I got baptized as a
Baptist Christian.
I just didn't like school.
Whenever I did like school,
I would try to like fake
being sick all the time.
There were a couple
times my mom caught me
making fake throw up to
try to get out of going.
[engine revving]
[upbeat music]
So when I was 17 or 18,
is when I got into
riding motorcycles.
To be honest, I
think I got a rush
when I first started
riding stunt bikes.
It was more that I
just enjoyed the rush
of knowing that I was
probably gonna fall a lot.
[tires screeching]
[bike thuds]
[engine revving]
[bike thuds]
- Oh.
- I just really liked
the thrill of it.
I liked to just push myself
and even though I
knew the outcome
was probably gonna be that
I'm gonna eat shit and fall,
like it was something about
it that I just, I don't know,
I loved to do it and I
didn't mind getting hurt.
I feel like when I was younger,
getting hurt didn't
really hurt. [chuckles]
[engine revving]
[rhythmic music]
- So I was originally born
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
I don't know if I had a
normal childhood or not.
I feel like it was normal.
There were parts
of the childhood
where I feel like things
could have been better,
but overall I feel like
I had a decent childhood.
I played basketball.
We actually won state.
I used to joke in high school
about being a stripper,
but I wasn't like
dead ass serious.
Like I was just joking.
I had never been to a strip
club or anything like that.
I was just like, it
was always a joke.
Well, I thought it was.
Obviously, it wasn't but, um.
[rap music]
The first place I danced at
was called DG's in Dallas.
I was 19.
I go in the locker room
and it's just like music playing
and people are doing coke
and like, I just started crying.
I can't do this, like
this is too much.
So they called me on stage
and I get on stage
and I do one song
and after the first set,
you're supposed to go
to the second stage.
Well, when they called
me to the second stage,
I just got dressed and left.
I had jumped into something
that I really had no
idea what came with it.
I thought that like if you have
the confidence to get naked,
you can get paid and that's it.
I didn't think about drugs.
I didn't think about pimps.
I was thinking about how
I'm gonna pay this rent.
[upbeat music]
- When I moved to Nashville,
I was a server at a
breakfast restaurant
for maybe a month and a half
before I started dancing.
My rent was incredibly high
and I had served many
times throughout my life
and I knew that it
wasn't going to cut it.
[rap music]
[crowd cheering]
[announcer indistinctly
chattering]
- When I first started dancing,
I had zero experience with
exotic dancing at all.
I had a dance background
and cheer background
and I went online and
watched some videos
on how to do basic floor work.
[zipper reverberates]
I took the little money that
I had and I bought pleasers
and it wasn't something
that I was terrified to do
because it was something that
I had thought about doing.
I just never really had a reason
to pull the trigger
until that moment.
[rap music]
[crowd cheering]
- So when I started stripping,
I was actually 31-years-old.
I had been thinking
about it for a long time.
- Oh, oh, oh!
[crowd cheering]
- I actually auditioned
at Deja Vu in Nashville.
That was my first club.
I went on stage and a guy,
when I got off
asked me, he said,
"How long you've been dancing?"
I'm like, "That was actually
my first time ever."
It was my audition.
He handed me a
hundred dollars bill
and he goes, "You're
gonna be just fine."
And I was like, "I'm in!"
[rhythmic music]
[crowd cheering]
- Whoa!
[rhythmic music continues]
- [Announcer] Senorita
Bonita Belle joins us
on that main stage.
- My first day
dancing, I made $900.
My second day of
working, I made $1,500.
It was insane.
Now like I find myself in
a place where I'm like,
I did nothing tonight.
I just got on stage a few times.
I did a few lap dances
and I have almost a grand
in my bag on one day.
[upbeat music]
- The first week I
started dancing in Miami,
I made crazy money because
I was the new stripper.
So I think anywhere you start
when you're the new girl,
you make a lot of money.
I went home, I got on YouTube,
I got my pole set up
and I just started
learning tricks
and it came pretty quickly.
[upbeat music]
Making that kind of money for me
felt really good when I'd go
home and check on my kids,
and knowing that I was
able to provide for him.
- [Announcer] We're bringing
you sweet, sweet Mary Jane
coming up next.
[crowd cheering]
- Around when I was 19, I
started taking kickboxing.
There was a guy there
that I worked with
and he approached
me and he was like,
"I work as a manager at
the strip club downtown
and we really need waitresses,
like people we can trust."
There's this joke that a
lot of people tell at work
and it's what's the difference
between a waitress at the
strip club and a dancer?
And the answer is three
months. [laughing]
- [Announcer] Music
City, Tennessee,
let's see those
dollar, dollar bills,.
Mary Jane, we're starting now.
[crowd cheering]
- Granted for about
the first year,
I wasn't very good at it.
I went on stage
and did a stage set
and there's this girl I knew
and after she came up
to me and she was like,
"Girl, I don't know what
you thought you were doing,
but it was not twerking."
So it did take a while
for my hustle to develop.
These people are there
for a specific reason.
They want that fantasy
and you're there to
give that to them.
- [Announcer] Sadie's making
her way to that main stage
to show off the main frame.
[crowd cheering]
- From an early age, I
really wanted to be a dancer.
I was really scared
for a long time.
Growing up religious
and in a small town,
through dancing, I truly feel
like I've found my passion
and it was really cool
to be able to step
outta my box one day
and decide that other people's
opinions of me didn't matter
and I didn't care
what they thought.
[crowd cheering]
[upbeat music]
- [Man] This place
is a den of iniquity,
a den of sin.
Time for you to get
right with God, sinners.
- Nashville is very interesting.
Most places like
Vegas or Dallas,
you'll have like a street
where there's like
a bunch of clubs.
- [Alaria] There
were three clubs,
and now there's only two
because a lot of the
clubs couldn't stay open
with all the rules
and regulations.
- They are very
conservative views here.
- [Ferrari] The
governor has big beliefs
that the strip clubs should
not exist in Davidson County
and has made really difficult
rules for Nashville to follow.
- [Divine] I feel
like that boils down
to like a religious thing.
The club is on Church
street for God's sake.
- I always joke that they
love Jesus, football and guns,
but they hate tits.
[crowd cheering]
- I will say
Nashville is probably
one of the most restrictive
places to dance in.
- There are so many rules
and if you break the rules,
they'll fire you on the spot
and they can shut the club down.
It was a little bit
stressful in the beginning.
Before they can even
let you audition,
you have to pay
to get a license.
- [Divine] All of the dancers,
regardless of what
club you're at,
you have to get a
sexually-oriented
business license,
which is your SOB.
- What you have to do
is you have to get
a background check
done by a police department
as well as fingerprints
and you have to bring in
the entire full sheets
of every single finger,
all of your fingerprints,
as well as passport pictures
that are done so that they
can create your license
and then you have to pay a
fee to receive your license.
And typically, that
takes about a month.
- It's about $150 a year.
Luckily, it's a
write off. [laughing]
So that's really helpful.
- And it's pretty
much to make sure
that your record's like clean
or that you haven't like caught
a prostitution
charge or whatnot.
But they're more
worried about the steps
and rules and regulations
when it comes to the
sex industry here
versus like the gun laws.
You can go buy a gun,
you can have it, carry it
around, ride around and slow...
It doesn't matter.
But lo and behold, you want to
go strip and it's a big deal.
- I could leave today,
in just a couple minutes
and go buy a gun,
but if I wanted
to get on a stage
and be an an entertainer
and do my job
and show you my body,
I gotta wait two to
three weeks to do that.
Bummer when you hear that
Oh oh oh
I say oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
I said oh oh oh oh oh
Bummer when you hear that
Bummer when you hear that
- In Nashville I can
make eye contact,
I can dance in the
customer's direction,
but with all of the
distance between us,
it's a little harder to to
grab somebody's attention.
- We have what's
called a three foot law
that whenever we're getting
naked, taking anything off,
we have to be a certain
height off the ground
as well as a certain
distance away from customers.
- [Alaria] So the moment
a body part comes out,
they have to be three
feet away from us
and we have to be 18
inches off the floor.
- At our club, we have this
just kind of like tape
line around the stage
and customers are not
allowed to cross that.
- The customer can't
cross this barrier.
They have to kind of literally
throw the money at you
if they want to
tip you on stage.
They can't get right up on
the tip rail and grope you
or try and shove the
dollar in your pussy
or anything like that.
Like they have to
stay three feet back
and that's something that's
very strongly enforced.
You will get kicked out
leaning over the barrier
trying to tip the girls.
Bummer when you
hear that oh oh oh
I say oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh
We are a full nude club.
You're up there for two songs.
The first song
you're fully dressed.
The second song
you're fully nude.
Before you get off the stage,
you have to have all
your clothes back on.
- So when we're on the
floor we cannot wear thongs.
They have to have, I believe,
80% of our butt
covered at all times.
- [Ferrari] In Nashville,
you are not allowed
to touch the main
hotspots of the body,
no boobs, no butt, no punani.
- You're not supposed
to have contact
with the customers
like touching.
You can't be on them
with your top off.
And obviously, that is
so different from Miami.
[electronic dance music]
- I don't like clubs where it's
allowed to touch or anything
or when there's clubs that
you get naked on people
like I don't think
I would do that.
- It's a touchless club,
which also doesn't
necessarily suck,
but it is hard
explaining that to people
that come in from out
of town that have been,
you know, to Florida and
Texas and these other places.
- Some people come
in and they get like,
"Oh, I thought
this was full nude.
I haven't seen a girl naked
and walking around yet."
And it's like we do have to
kind of market a certain way
to where the customers
are still having fun
and the attention's still on us
but we make them feel like,
okay, you're not getting
everything you want
but we're gonna do this.
Hey, here's a butthole contest,
like prettiest butthole contest.
[dramatic music]
- Yes, we are actually judging
buttholes on the main stage.
Each and every contestant
is gonna have 45 seconds
to show you what they've got.
They're gonna have
the same 45 seconds
just to make it as
fair as possible.
There's some whores
in this house
There's some whores
in this house
[crowd cheering]
- [Announcer] Lord had mercy.
There's some whores
in this house
There's some whores
in this house
There's some whores
in this house
[crowd cheering]
- [Lady] Let's see it, baby
There's some whores
in this house
There's some whores
in this house
[crowd cheering]
- I mean it goes as far
as like laser booty plugs.
I feel like they
have it all, really.
[swanky upbeat music]
It's gotta be against a
law to look this damn good
Watch out now
'Cause baby I feel real
good and I wish I would
Watch out now
It's gotta be against the
law to look this damn good
Watch out now
- Customers are
allowed to bring in
pretty much any
liquor they want.
We can't serve liquor because
we're technically full nude.
The customers can
bring in coolers,
they can bring in bottles.
It's BYOB.
- I've seen people
bring in kegs before.
- These customers get wasted.
They get shit-faced,
[crowd cheering, yelling]
Last call for some alcohol
And don't forget to tell
It's going down
[crowd cheering, yelling]
[upbeat music]
I guess I'm now
too legit to quit
Everybody watch out
[swanky upbeat music]
Watch out
Hey, baby
- So I do feel like,
especially with how
restrictive the laws are,
that you have to adapt
your hustle to that.
I have found,
especially with people
that don't know it's
BYOB and come in,
they wanna drink
and so it's actually
a really cool way
for me to sell a VIP room.
I'll just, you know,
say something like,
well, you know, if you'd like,
we have these rooms in the back
and I'm really good at what I do
and I would love to
share a bottle with you
and show you how
good I look naked.
And then they get in there
and by the time
that they realize
I can't get naked
on top of them,
I just say something
really cute, distract them,
and then they don't really care.
You know, you just
keep them busy
and [chuckles] people seem
to be happy with it. [laughs]
[gentle music]
[slow rhythmic music]
At home, in my head,
I am mentally preparing
myself to be Mary Jane.
So as soon as you walk
through those doors,
you're Mary Jane.
You're there to make money.
You're a badass and
you're fucking hot.
[slow rhythmic music]
- My makeup area is my
safe place, honestly.
[slow rhythmic music]
I have a big basket
of just palettes for eyeshadow.
I'm just obsessed
with makeup palettes.
[slow rhythmic music]
I have like a shelf
with all my eyelashes.
[slow rhythmic music]
I have a lot of lipsticks.
I love lipsticks.
I love the extra, I
love the attention.
I love people to be like,
"Oh I love your eye makeup."
I always like to express
myself through my makeup,
especially when I work
'cause I always
gotta be extravagant.
[slow rhythmic music]
- Hi!
- Hey!
You look so cute.
- Thank you.
You too, boo.
- Thank you.
- I pay a makeup
artist to do my makeup
before every single shift
and I feel like it's
giving me the energy
of like it's getting
into character.
Like okay, I'm getting done
up to go make this money.
[slow rhythmic music]
- Okay, pump your lips.
All righty, we are all done.
- Thank you, boo.
Now let's go make some money.
When I go to work,
everyone notices,
like if I ask you for
a thousand dollars,
if you have it, you're
probably gonna give it to me
'cause I look like
I have it already.
Like if you look like you
just rolled out of bed
and then I'm asking you
for a thousand dollars,
you're gonna be like,
"Bitch, you look like shit."
[gentle guitar music]
- Getting ready for the club
is like the perfect moment
where you're seeing
the transformation
of the caterpillar
to the butterfly.
[gentle guitar music]
In my head, you know,
doing my makeup,
I'm like thinking you are
beautiful, you are smart.
You are going to
make money tonight.
You are worth every penny
and the money is on the
same frequency as me
and I'm going to make that
money because I deserve it
and I worked my ass off for it.
You have to transition,
otherwise you're gonna
bring work life home
and you're gonna bring
home life to the club.
[gentle guitar music]
- I am abundant.
I am powerful.
I am love.
I am light.
Money flows.
Money flows.
When I'm saying those
things to myself,
it helps me get out of
the negative self-talk
and it helps me have my purpose
and know what I'm about
because other people
don't dictate my behavior.
I know how I feel about myself.
I know my value and
I know my worth.
[ambient rhythmic music]
- Getting ready
for the club for me
is very much like
putting on a mask.
Some days, I don't
even feel like a girl.
I am a gender fluid person.
So putting on that makeup,
I'm getting ready
to go be this person
and entertain these people.
It's a sense of excitement.
I put on my outfit and I walk
out of the dressing room.
As soon as my heel
hits that stage
for the first time
that night, it is on.
I grab the pole
and I just feel power.
[crowd cheering]
- We don't have to be ashamed
of what we do anymore.
Like people used
to frown upon us
and look at us as like
whores or whatever,
but it's like at
the end of the day
everyone's getting
naked for somebody.
It's just that some
people get paid for it
and some people don't.
I feel like once people realize
how much money is
actually in dancing,
they wouldn't frown upon it.
They would probably
go buy some heels.
[upbeat music]
- [Alaria] When
I'm using my body,
I'm telling a story.
I'm being creative.
[hip hop music]
I think all forms of
dance are an art form,
whether your clothes are
on, your clothes are off,
whether it's ballet
or it's pole,
these are all forms
of communicating
with the world around you.
[hip hop music]
- Stripping keeps me sane.
I'm very much an introvert.
Being able to go into the
club and just flip this switch
and take my clothes off
and show people how I feel,
not just what I look like.
I can express myself
freely in this building
and it has been
insanely beneficial
to not just my life
but my mental health.
I would call dancing a
medication at this point.
[hip hop music]
I like it when you
move your booty
Shake it, shake it like that
I like it when ya shake
it, shake it like that
I like it when ya shake
it, shake it like that
I like it when ya
[hip hop music]
- The positives that have
come from pole dancing
is feeling more feminine.
I grew up as a tomboy
so I was always wearing
boys clothes, skateboarding,
all my friends were boys
and I felt like a boy.
I just felt like I didn't have
any feminine aspects of myself
until I started dancing.
[hip hop music]
Boppity boppity
boppity bop bop
Boppity boppity boppity bop
Boppity boppity
boppity bop bop
Boppity boppity boppity bop
Boppity boppity
boppity bop bop
- I think dancing is something
that not many people can do.
It requires not
just like strength,
but it requires
courage to get
yourself out there.
Everybody has different
beliefs on what you can
and cannot do with
your own body.
Like if you don't wanna show
your body naked out there
and make money, that's okay.
But I want to
and if I'm okay with
showing my body,
why do you care so much?
[dance music]
- Dancing has changed my life.
[dance music]
Switch
Stripping and dancing
is healing.
It's empowering.
It's fulfilling.
It's brought back who I am.
[crowd cheering]
It's powerful to
take back the power
that some men in this world
took from me.
[dance music]
[crowd cheering]
[gentle music]
- When you dance and
you're really into it,
you feel sort of this like
sensuality within yourself
and it just kind of like flows
through you and out of you
and I'm really good at
like feeling the moment
and doing what feels right
and doing it slow and sexy.
You know, it's...
Honestly, very empowering.
[dance music]
Switch
- It's super important
to embrace our bodies
and use what we have
to get what we want.
We're all beautiful
in our own ways
and I have people
that inbox me and say,
"Hey, I wanna dance but
I feel like I'm too big."
Like girl, someone's gonna look
at your big ass and pay you
and as long as you exude
that confidence in yourself,
they will pay you.
Every time, they'll pay you.
[dance music]
- Confidence was something I
really, really struggled with.
Softball gave me
confidence on the field.
Dancing gave me
confidence in my life.
[reflective music]
When I started dancing,
once I got on stage it
was the same feeling I had
when I was doing gymnastics
only this time,
it was even more freeing
and more empowering.
Everything goes away.
I am in tune with my body.
I'm in tune with my
spirituality, my higher self.
- We do have a few
girls at the club
that are amazing on the pole
but that's just
really not my thing.
I'm more of like, let's sit
down and have a conversation.
Let's have a drink.
You know what I mean?
Like what's your budget,
like fuck the pole.
Like how long can we be in VIP?
That's my thing.
[upbeat dance music]
- I do have like a
passion for pole dancing.
I do love it.
I feel like I started to
kind of fall out of it
because there are a lot of guys
that are just kind of like,
I don't really care about that.
And the guys that are like,
"I don't care about that,"
like I'm pretty sure they
can get up there and do that.
- I remember I used to get
really angry or like upset
if I was performing on
stage and not getting tipped
or if I was doing
this pole trick
that I could essentially
die doing if I got wrong
and there would
just be crickets.
So I've learned that sometimes,
people just aren't stage tippers
and if you come off that stage
realizing that you
danced for yourself,
you don't get that bad attitude.
You come out positive and then
you go talk to those people
and come to find out,
yeah, they didn't tip
you but they want a room
and if you would've
came down there
and given them attitude like
you would've lost that money.
[crowd cheering]
Fumble a bag
No, I will not fumble a bag
Fumble a bag
No, I will not fumble a bag
Act like you know
how this goes
[hip hop music]
- I do typically have
great nights at work,
which means I usually
have to come home
and straighten my money out,
big bills, small bills,
I can smell the success,
you know what I mean?
Like I'm getting where
I need to in life.
Fumble a bag
No, I will not fumble a bag
Act like you know
how this goes
Fumble, fumble
When I count that cash
and hear that money
counter going,
you hear them ones
going through there,
I'm like okay, it's all good.
Let's go take a nap.
We did our shit last night.
[zipper reverberates]
[hip hop music]
[drums beating]
- When I'm counting
my money at home,
there's a sense
of accomplishment
that comes with
being able to see
the amount of money that
you were able to make
from yourself.
Hello?
I can't hear you!
I got too many stacks going on!
You feel successful
to be able to hold
that much money in
your hand and be like,
I did that.
[drums beating]
- Seeing the money
that I'm earning,
especially from being in LA
and being a starving
artist for almost 10 years,
seeing my talent pay
off in a big way,
and yeah, you see ones
and it's really deceiving,
but when you accumulate
it and you add it up,
when I'm looking at my account.
[cash register dings]
I have peace of mind.
I have confidence that
I am self-supporting.
[rhythmic music]
- I love counting my money
because I realize that they
liked the way I looked,
they liked the way
I talked to them,
they liked my personality.
It should be a lot
more normalized
to use your body to make money.
It's the easiest tool to use
'cause you already have it.
[rhythmic music]
- You could have a
night that you make $200
and then you could have
a night, you make 2000,
and then you know like,
it all ends up
evening out at the end
and you still make money.
Fumble a bag
No, I will not fumble a bag
Act like you
know how this go
[hip hop music]
- There really is something
about when you come home
and you're sitting on the
couch and you're exhausted
but then you're just like
looking at your stack
and you're just like,
"Ugh, this is fucking
awesome." [laughing]
Once you get to a point where
you know you were making this
and then now this
is your average,
you're like holy shit,
well what else is possible?
[jazzy music]
- I never thought that I would
make over a hundred grand.
Like I never thought
that would be possible.
I thought you had to
come from a rich family.
There is a confidence and such
an appreciation and gratitude
for being able to comfortably
live in a place like this
from being homeless.
The fact that not only
can I survive on my own
but thrive and provide
that for myself
is something that I
am so grateful for.
[jazzy upbeat music]
[jazzy upbeat music continues]
- When I wake up in the morning
and I open the blinds
and look out the window,
I honestly feel nothing
shy of gratitude.
Like I feel super,
super, super thankful
because there's been times
where I didn't have nice things.
I didn't grow up rich.
Yeah
I never imagined I'd
be in this position so
and I start my morning
with gratitude.
[jazzy upbeat music]
I'm really doing this
shit right now, like,
and it's not something
I'm envisioning anymore,
it's something I'm in right now.
Like it used to be something
I was working towards,
you know what I mean?
Like I want to
get that apartment
or I want to start this business
or I want to start
this YouTube channel
but now I'm doing it.
[jazzy upbeat music]
It's super important like,
multiple streams of income.
I do YouTube,
I vlog like day in the
life, week in the life,
showing like the ins
and outs of dancing
so I invest into a editing
software, Final Cut Pro.
A lot goes into editing.
[jazzy upbeat music]
Thumbnails and tags and
description box and you know,
making sure everything's
exactly how it needs to be.
Oh I like it. I like it.
Having this platform on YouTube
has also allowed me
to get like contracts
with different companies.
Every video I post is sponsored.
YouTube, you can bring
anywhere from a couple thousand
to $10,000 in one month.
How do you feel like March
went with Airbnb so far?
- I think it went good March.
Once we had people staying
for a longer length of time...
- I recently started the
short-term rental business,
MPH Luxury Stays,
and I pretty much
started THAT with my mom.
We wanted to do Airbnb and
VRBO where we get a home,
get a contract or buy
it and stage the home
and rent it out to traveling
business professionals,
people on vacation.
April and May should be,
maybe 500 more than what
we did earlier this year.
Me and my mom actually
have like weekly meetings
where like we FaceTime
and we go over numbers,
like previous numbers
from the month.
I love you so much.
- I love you.
- Okay.
I just try and right
now to plant seeds
so that when it is my time
to finally actually
hang the heels up,
everyone around me is good.
[light knocking]
- Hey!
- Hey, how are you?
Walking into the studio is
such an incredible experience.
Woo hoo.
It's where I am at most peace.
It is the most
peaceful space for me
to authentically express myself.
- Okay, how are you in there?
Can you hear me?
- Yep, I can hear you.
I moved to Nashville
because I make music.
I have been a musician, singer,
songwriter for six years.
- All right, let's do one.
[gentle music]
[Ferrari vocalizing]
[gentle music]
Beautiful angel
Is what you use to say
You call me more
than my name
[Ferrari vocalizing]
Along with all the pain
In the streets
where you left me
[Ferrari vocalizing]
- I was able to release
all of that on tracks
and then create it into a
whole entire beautiful piece
by each piece of my vocal.
Finally somebody
- So good, dude.
- Bam! Thank you.
That felt awesome!
[Marie sneezes]
- Cosplay has always been
a big part of my life.
I cosplay at least
three times a year now.
There are three
conventions I usually go to
throughout the year
and two of those, I
actually perform at.
[ambient music]
It's really, really cool
because it's a completely
different audience
than what I'm used
to at the club.
Like these are people
that would probably
never even make it
through the door of a club
because they would be
too nervous to do it
and I'm bringing
them the opportunity.
So I've been able to
take my dancing career
and mix it with my cosplay.
[upbeat ambient music]
I also have an
OnlyFans on the side,
which is really nice, you
know, because you have the club
that has these certain laws
and requirements from you,
but then you also have this
thing that is solely your baby.
Like you can do whatever
you wanna do with it.
Maybe there are some days
where you don't feel
it going into the club
or maybe you're sick.
But one thing you can
always do is just be like,
well, I could always
just shoot some content.
It can be a really good
way to have extra income.
[upbeat ambient music]
[boyfriend faintly talking]
[Marie chuckles]
- At least a half
chunk of your bills?
Like that's amazing.
Then it's like the other
nights you can dance
when that's taken care of and
then just save your money.
Like holy shit.
Like what a blessing.
[upbeat ambient music]
- It's so important for me to
have multiple revenue streams.
I am a personal trainer
and a spin instructor,
just not full-time.
[upbeat music]
And I still do professional
dancing for music videos,
for projects that come up,
things that fill me creatively.
- Music has always
been part of my life.
Being at the studio is
definitely heart racing.
Hi!
In a good way.
The name of my
song is Step Back.
There's Spanish
and English in it.
It's got these two beautiful
cultures put together
and I'm really excited about it
I should have known
you had another lover
I just wanted
this to be forever
I gave everything I had
And you just took
it all for granted
The signs were
right in front of me
I just kept on
playing make-believe
But now it's time for
me to leave, step back
You don't get
another piece of me
I would rather
you just let me be
You don't deserve
me, step back
I'm running out
of tears to cry
It's time for me
to say goodbye
We're all done
here, step back
- I love singing 'cause
I've always loved
to express all those
emotions I have
that are just like
trapped inside.
[Belle singing in
foreign language]
[Belle singing in foreign
language continues]
[Belle singing in foreign
language continues]
[upbeat music]
- OnlyFans has been
a really big part
of my career as a dancer.
[upbeat music]
I've got this whole
pole room now.
For me, I think it's
a really cool way
to like connect with
people on another level,
figure out who they
are or what they like,
and really be able to
personalize content
for people in a
way that [chuckles]
can make you a lot of money.
[rhythmic music]
- Having a pole at home
and being able to
use it or not use it
but having just an OnlyFans
really does help me
because it's like almost
like passive income.
It really doesn't take
much to make a video
or to take a picture
to post to OnlyFans.
[upbeat dance music]
Dancing at home,
having like the room
set up with a nice light
and having the music
that you actually want
to dance to is nice
because you get to like
really get in your zone,
where at the club I don't
get to pick my music
and for me, that's
a really big thing.
So when I dance at home,
I just feel more myself
because I can listen to the
music I want to dance to.
[upbeat dance music]
- Having a pole in my home
has been really,
really good for me.
It's keeping my body in shape
and I'm also
focusing on something
and have a drive to practice
towards something
to get better at.
It's a goal.
I feel like a beautiful painting
when I'm doing like
a beautiful move
and I'm just holding.
I'm just like, wow,
you are awesome.
- So Violet, I need your help.
- What you trying to learn?
- I can't keep twerking.
Okay.
- Ooh.
- Teach me how to
get on this pole.
- You wanna start
here and push off
and around with that foot.
There you go.
- Ooh.
I've been to Violet's house
and she's given me
like mini pole lessons
to try and help me
learn a few things.
I can dance well on you
but as far as climbing up
this pole, it's not happening
and it doesn't have to happen.
- [Divine] Yeah,
you're really trying
to shake your inner thighs
and let the butt follow.
- [Violet] Butt
don't want follow.
- Shake, shake, shake.
They still gonna pay for it.
Just shake, shake, shake.
There are plenty of
clubs that you can go to
and just kind of do
floor work on the floor,
twerk a little bit.
- Yes?
- Okay. Wow. Okay. [laughs]
[bright music]
- I do have a pole in my house.
You want to polish your
performances and tricks
before you try them
out at the club.
When you do pull tricks like
and you're trying something
new like you're gonna fall
and it's probably gonna hurt.
You don't have
people watching you,
you don't have people
expecting anything from you.
You're not having to
try to get that person
in the front row
to throw that money
so you're literally
doing it for you.
[bright music]
- Pole dancing actually
requires a lot more skill
than I initially
assumed that it did.
It takes a lot of practice.
I've been extremely
competitive my entire life
so the way I look at pole
is I want to be the best at it.
There's no alternative.
You figure out how to be the
best or you quit doing it.
I've only been pole
dancing for a year
and I have gone hard
every single day.
[bright music]
- A week before I started
dancing, I got myself a pole
and that's when I
realized that like
I really, really,
really like pole dancing
and it just kind of feels like
I'm flying a lot of the times
'cause you go so fast and
you're just so high up
like it's just so nice.
Like I've always wanted to fly
and that's the
closest thing to it.
[bright music]
- So when I set up my
rig in my apartment,
it's bringing the
club to my house.
It's me preparing for
what it'll be like
when I'm actually in the club.
I find the inspiration that I
will use for my performances
when I'm in that private space
and feel safe to really
explore my own sexuality
or sensuality on my own,
which is very important,
bringing it to the club.
[ethereal music]
[dramatic music]
[police siren wailing]
[tense music]
Growing up, gymnastics
was my escape.
On the outside, my
family looked like
we had the perfect life.
At home, things were not
as perfect as it seemed.
There was a lot of
abuse from my stepdad
towards my mom and myself
and I just started to notice
my mom really struggling.
You know, it was
taking a toll on her.
When I was 13,
I was helping my
mom's friend move
and she had ended
up giving me meth.
I went from trying
to be an Olympian
and a straight A student
to a complete dropout,
full-time, meth addict
living in a lot of
pain and a lot of chaos
and a lot of things
that happened
when you're that young on drugs,
you know from homelessness
and sexual abuse,
mental abuse, abandonment.
[dramatic music]
- The things teenage girls
have to endure is unbelievable.
I...
Was raped at a very
young age in high school.
He was pretty popular.
He was well liked among
faculty and other students
and just became a really
intimidating situation.
It was something I didn't
wanna speak up about.
I was extremely embarrassed,
I was scared people
weren't gonna believe me.
So I just kept it to myself
for a really, really long time
and it really kind of
started to eat away at me.
I was just feeling so
much dread and disgust.
It wasn't very long after this,
I spent eight days
in a psych ward.
I was diagnosed with severe
anxiety, severe depression,
borderline personality
disorder and PTSD.
It was a really
difficult period for me.
I will never, ever, ever be
able to thank my mother enough
for the things that
she has done for me.
If it was not for that woman,
I do not think I
would be sitting
in front front of you today.
[electronic music]
- The first part of
my college experience
was really great for me.
I did enjoy it the
first few years
but then I had an individual
that was a coworker and a friend
and I did not know that he
was going to have sex with me
and he did.
- I thought he
knew my boundaries
and then he crossed
every single one of them,
in a moment, and
it was shattering.
The only way that the
memory comes up in my head
is I'm not even in my body
when I remember that day.
That's been one of the hardest
things for me to deal with
because I've had
other experiences
with two different men
who have crossed boundaries
in different ways
when I didn't want it to
and I did not
acknowledge those things
and just shoved them
down for a long time.
But when that third
one happened in July,
that changed my whole life.
It was jarring.
It ruined my mental state.
I couldn't function
anymore. [sobs]
It only took about
a month before I had
to start seeing someone
finally for my mental health.
I couldn't focus in college.
I was having mental
breakdowns every day.
I was shaking constantly.
I had anxiety that I
never dealt with before.
I had fear that my whole
world was going to fall apart.
I didn't feel like
I had control.
It took a long time
for me to realize
what had really happened.
So that's when I
started going to therapy
I don't know if I
would've made it
if I didn't have somebody
helping me mentally
because I was so broken.
[suspenseful music]
- When I was about 18 or
17-years-old, to be honest,
I found an advertisement
on Craigslist for modeling
and I didn't know that
it was actually webcaming
until I got there.
It was a big webcam studio.
I got talked into doing
it with the person
that was running it
and that's kind of when I
leaned on drinking a lot
because I would drink enough
to like get me through
those four to eight hours.
I would be at the studio
and I ended up meeting some
people through the webcam,
which is extremely dangerous
and I got into
escorting at that time
and I started drinking a lot.
Even at home, I would
sometimes like have
like a bottle of
Jameson in my shower.
It helped to numb me
and I guess be okay
with what I was doing.
[suspenseful music]
I got trauma through escorting
when I was a little
too sober at times
just because these men
would ask for things
that I was uncomfortable with
and I would push
myself to do it anyway,
[suspenseful music]
I'm sorry. [sobs]
[tense music]
It's just like I tried
to commit suicide a lot.
Anytime that I went
through depression,
I just kind of felt like
there was no way out
and so I wanted
to make a way out.
When I do open up about it,
I do have a lot of people
that come clean about it
and tell me that they suffer
and they're suicidal
or they have anxiety
and so it's really
like nice to know
that you can help other people
and be like, you know, I
know what this feels like
and I'm here for you, too.
[tense music]
- Growing up in the religious
household I grew up in,
I look back and I do wonder if
I even would be a dancer now.
My dad almost treated me and
my sister more like boys.
I never once felt like
daddy's little girl.
I never got in
trouble in school.
It would just be, you know,
like you were
talking to this boy
and you know we did get spanked.
Like there were times I
got whipped with a belt,
you know, I would get
grounded and things
but I still remember
being like 14, 15
and my dad still
threatening us with a belt
and I remember at
that point in time,
I was just kind of over it like,
"Why are you hitting me?"
[pensive music]
Well, that one hit.
[rhythmic music]
- When I moved
here when I was 15,
my parents did not tell me
that we were moving here.
But eventually when we got here,
you know we applied for
political asylum and everything
but it's just been a
really hard process
and I just was really confused
because when we left,
I didn't bring anything
that I felt like
I would want for
the rest of my life
because I thought I was
coming back to get it.
And when I got here, we
literally started from nothing.
Like we had to
stay in like places
with like no beds for a while.
So going from like
having everything
to having nothing
was really hard.
It's just what it is
when you immigrate.
You start from zero
and you have nothing.
[pensive reflective music]
- When I first danced,
I danced for like
six months in Dallas.
My first experience
dancing was like horrible.
I actually ended
up getting drugged.
I don't know exactly
what they gave me
but whatever it was,
it really fucked me up.
You gotta remember,
I'm 19-years-old
waking up in an
ambulance on the highway.
I remember just asking
them like, "Am I dying?
Like what's going on?"
And they're like,
"No you're fine.
Like you've been drugged,
like you're fine,
everything's fine."
And I'm like, "Where's my mom?"
Like I'm freaking the hell out
'cause I just
thought you show up,
you dance and you get
paid and that's it.
I never thought about the greed
that comes with the lifestyle
or the people that aren't
just decent people.
Like there's people out there
that will actually hurt you.
[suspenseful music]
- I think it's smart if
you're a dancer to carry a gun
but you need to know
what you're doing.
[gun bangs]
You're meeting guys
you don't know.
No matter how nice they are,
you don't know what
their intentions are.
So having a gun on me
does make me feel safer.
- So I have my 380
on me at all times
with everything ready
to go if need be.
And I pretty much
just watch my back.
It's pretty tough because
like I said, I am on YouTube,
I am online.
I am putting myself out there
but that comes with
being a dancer.
You know what I mean?
Even if you haven't been
through anything traumatic,
you're lucky.
If it's you or me, it's gonna
be you every single time.
- So I have a Bushmaster AR.
I also have a
general defense AR.
I have a 1911.
It's a gold limited
edition like US Navy 1911.
I also have a Swedish Mouser.
It's a World War II rifle.
It's a bolt action rifle that
my dad had actually gifted me.
And I have a Sig P365,
which is my concealed carry,
that is my favorite gun ever.
And then I have a JM
Pro Series 12 gauge.
[gun bangs]
[curious music]
- I do carry a knife on
me and mace just in case
so that I know, God
forbid anything happens,
I at least have a
fighting chance.
So I just have to be
smart and protect myself.
[upbeat dance music]
[crowd cheering]
I got sober at 23.
It has been 11 and a half years
so I am 34 now.
Living in recovery has
transformed everything
about my life,
my pains and my trauma
don't have to dictate my future
and I can be free.
But most importantly, I get
to use my pain to help others
which is more
fulfilling than anything
because it gives
my pain purpose.
- Dancing sober has been good.
It's finding a balance
between working my program
and not over draining myself.
I feel like my sales has
have definitely gone up
since I've been sober.
And I feel like I
connect a lot better
because I'm more present.
- There was a girl brought
to me who is a dancer,
who has been trying
to get in recovery.
We work together
at the same club
and I get to be an example
and you know, she helps me
just as much as I help her.
- [Both] God grant
us the serenity
to accept the things
we cannot change,
the courage to change
the things we can.
- Our thinking and actions.
- [Both] And our wisdom
to know the difference.
- Almonds.
I love showing people that
you can do this job sober.
That you can do it with
integrity and grace
and authenticity.
[bright reflective music]
- Jenique is my girlfriend
that I'm currently dating.
I've been dating her for
almost a year and a half.
She is a masculine-presenting
queer woman.
She is a 23-year-old beautiful
soul who has changed my life.
It's been a really
great experience
to be able to have
somebody by my side
who's so supportive
and loving and kind
and is very similar to me.
I'm being able to enjoy my space
with somebody that I really love
and on top of that she's a
dog lover as much as I am
and we've both been able
to create this family
of us and our dogs here
and be able to really
just enjoy life
as adults together in a
space where we feel safe.
Hmm. Thank you.
[reflective music]
- Last night was actually
a fun night for sure.
When I met my husband,
I was 15 and he was 16.
He's awesome.
He helped me learn English.
Mmm. [laughing]
Because I wanna make sure
that if I speak a language
like I might as
well speak it right.
He took me to prom.
He was someone that was
very loving and kind
and he was very
respectful towards me.
I got married when I was 20.
I'm 21 right now.
So we just had our first
like year anniversary
of being together.
You ate all my pickles?
- No!
- My husband is my best friend.
This is not okay.
We're always together.
- I really didn't
eat your pickles.
- It was you.
You were probably just high.
[rhythmic music]
- So one of the dancers
that I feel like
I'm kind of close to is Violet.
Violet is super funny.
So Violet actually stays like
in the same building as me.
We kick it in and
outside of work.
- There you go.
- She teaches me pole
tricks, occasionally,
tries to anyway
'cause I'm trying to learn
some more pole tricks.
But yeah, me and Violet
are kind of close.
This is to big bags.
- Success and money.
- She's a little younger than me
but we've been through
a lot of the same things
and she's been there for me
in times when I needed it
and vice versa.
So I really appreciate
me and Violet's friendship.
- All on my face.
- No.
[drums beating]
- Tyler is my boyfriend
of almost five years now
and he plays as a musician,
not only in original projects
but also as a drummer downtown.
[upbeat jazzy music]
[rock music]
I really don't know what
I would do without Tyler.
Not only can we just like
spend time chilling together,
but he also helps me with work.
[rock music]
I mean, he treats
me like a princess.
Like he is honestly the
most supportive partner
I could have asked for.
[rock music]
- Gotti Karate is my absolute
best friend on the planet.
I got him as a
tiny little puppy.
Gotti was with me through
probably one of
the most traumatic
experiences of my life.
Having that dog and having
him to take care of,
it wasn't just
myself at that point.
I had this thing that
I cared about so much,
I never wanted
anything to happen to
and it was how I was supposed
to be caring about myself.
I love my dog and I
love myself. [chuckles]
[soft guitar music]
- I always wanted to be a mom
so I always wanted
to be a good mom
and just make sure
that I can take care
of everything on my own
in case anything ever happened.
Having a kid changed me a lot.
To me that's like,
that is my world.
Like that is my purpose.
Like I feel like that
was my purpose in life
is to have my son.
He's everything to me so
he comes before anything.
[dramatic music]
- Yeah!
[dramatic music]
[adventurous ambient music]
I was really interested
in skydiving.
It was one of those things
I just wanted to take
off my bucket list.
And the very first
time I did a tandem,
I was like, I wanna do that.
I loved it.
[Katana exclaims]
I have a little
bit over 200 jumps
and I try to go at
least once a month.
And the feeling that I
got from skydiving was
it takes all my anxiety,
all my depression,
all my worry away.
It just is like a release.
It's like a drug to me.
[adventurous ambient music]
[Katana yells]
So I think about
skydiving every day.
That's what I mean when
I say it's like a drug.
It's very addictive and every
single day I look outside
and I look at the sky
and I'm like, I wish
I could skydive today.
Even if it's raining, like I
wish I could skydive today.
I don't care.
[adventurous ambient music]
[guns banging]
- You're hot to trot.
I'm a very, I feel like,
competitive person naturally.
So when I start playing a game,
you know, like Call of Duty
where it is very competitive
and people get
competitive to the point
where like they're gonna
be talking shit to you
while you're playing
and so at that point,
I'm gonna outplay you so
you feel like an idiot.
[guns banging]
Oh, oh, oh, that
is a triple kill.
How'd that taste?
Like your mom's cunt last night?
That's what I thought. Eat it!
- I'm actually
really fucking good.
It was almost like this
little secret thing
I almost kind of
keep in my pocket.
When people hear about like
a girl playing Call of Duty,
they're like, okay yeah,
you play Call of Duty.
But then they play with me
and then they learn,
yeah, I play Call of Duty.
Yeah.
- Hey, baby.
[upbeat music]
- Ready to party.
- See ya.
Back again.
- On J and I's nights off,
we like to go to the strip club
and we like to throw some money.
[dance music]
You can have a good time
while some girls make
some fat racks. [laughing]
[dance music]
I do believe in that.
The money that I
spend on these girls
that deserve it that night,
it will come back to me
in the club on my time
when I need it.
[crowd cheering]
It is so fun to like throw money
and have the girl
just smile at you
and just feel so good to
make someone else feel good.
[dance music]
Throw all the money
on the pretty girls
'cause we love pretty
girls. [laughing]
[dance music]
[children faintly talking]
[folk music]
- Watch out for the corner!
- I know.
- [Alaria] Being in nature is
just another way of healing.
It's another way of
connecting to things.
Feeling the wind
and learning to relax has
been such an important thing.
So being in nature
gives me that ability
to get away from the chaos
and the sounds of the city
and listen to my own
intuition or be inspired.
- [Sadie] I started painting
at a really young age
with my sister and
it just kind of grew
from there into something
that really relaxed me
and really calmed me
and I started using it as
kind of a form of therapy.
Art is just something
that I love to do.
All forms of art really, I
just, I love to create things.
I made stickers.
I have my own logo.
I make buttons with
pictures of me on them.
It's my life.
Mini skirt on, got
my body in glitter
Pop pop foam sneakers
The boys wanna picture
[ladies exclaiming]
[upbeat pop music]
[ladies screaming]
- So every now and then, we
do have like girls night out
where we're like, get
casual, nothing too crazy
and we'll go down to Broadway.
[upbeat music]
[ladies cheering]
- What are we ladies
drinking today?
- [Ladies] Lemon drops!
- [Bartender] Let's
go! [laughing]
[ladies exclaiming]
- [Divine] Have a
few drinks. Barhop.
You know, just get the
vibe for the night.
[ladies exclaiming]
- Since I started dancing,
my only group of people I
hang out with are dancers.
- You know, you've got Hustler
girls and Deja Vu girls
going out to the bar
and having a good time.
We're all in the same industry
and we all do the same job.
It's kind of cool that
Nashville girls can see that.
- [Marie] I love to party
and I love working with girls
that also love to do that.
- Every now and then,
you gotta just let
your hair down,
go out with your girls
in a different setting
and have that night
where you're not just
thinking about work
or getting ready for work
or did you make your
goal for the night
or what's due or what's not due.
It's like, no, let's
just throw something on.
Go kick it downtown.
No guys, leave the guys at home.
- When you go out with
strippers, everybody has money.
All of us have money.
All of us can pay.
Like it's so much better
to surround myself
with girls who make the
same amount of money as me
'cause we're not
jealous of each other.
We're happy about each other.
We encourage each other.
[ladies exclaiming]
- It's honestly kind
of weird to have
as many girlfriends
as I have now.
I wasn't the kind
of person growing up
that like made
friends with girls.
Having all these girls
and not just like
all these girls,
I've got all these pretty
girls that wanna be my friends
and they like to do the same
things that I like to do.
[ladies exclaiming]
- [Belle] It's so nice
to be surrounded by
like badass bitches.
You know? [laughing]
[rhythmic music]
[upbeat reflective music]
- I really wish that people
wouldn't put such a
judgment on dancers.
Like, we have this
stigma that really sucks
because even I had it
before I started dancing
and I've lost friends.
I've had family members
not really talk to me.
I just wish that people
wouldn't judge us so harshly
because we're also moms.
We're we're human, as well.
[upbeat music]
So I really don't think I'll
be dancing for much longer
and that's why I
started nursing school.
I have a really big
interest in nursing.
I wanna do something
related to trauma,
like maybe work in
the ICU or in the ER.
So that's kind of like
my next goal in life
is to just finish and
get my RN license.
[light dance music]
- Dancing is absolutely going
to be a thing in five years.
I just want to get
better and be better
and I plan to do this
until the day I
just cannot anymore.
After dancing, I guess when
my body just gives out on me,
I would like to be a mortician.
I think mortician is a really
solid career path for me,
especially after
dancing. [chuckles]
Yeah
[upbeat music]
- As for my aspirations in life,
I've always seen myself
touring with music.
That's one thing that I
know that I was meant to do.
I was meant to make music.
I was meant to change lives
and be there for people,
like other musicians
were for me.
- When I become famous,
I think I'm not gonna strip,
but I definitely think
that I'm gonna incorporate in
my music videos pole dancing.
So if I'm basically gonna be
stripping on my music videos,
you know.
[ladies exclaiming]
[announcer dialogue
drowned out by yelling]
- Oh.
- We're catching up on the...
I see myself over
the next few years,
five years or so with
a much bigger platform,
touching many more people,
signing more contracts and
deals and things like that.
Wigs.
This is not it.
Like I do really
well for myself,
but I want more, you
know what I mean?
I feel like I'll
always want more,
but I see myself building
on everything I have
going right now.
- My goal is to kind of
start phasing out of dancing
by the time I'm 35.
Having, you know, my
nutritional coaching on the side
has been really nice.
So one thing I will say is
we're not even gonna worry
about your fat and carb intake.
We're just gonna kind
of set those to the side
and we're really
just gonna focus on
like your protein intake.
We're gonna get you
going and in a good spot.
While I get this off the ground.
- [Client] Perfect.
- I can still get my bills paid
and have that money on the side
while I get my own
business going.
[upbeat music]
- I'm looking at buying an RV
because my philosophy is you
don't need stuff to be happy.
I wanna build a company
to where I can mentor girls
in and out of the club
and I don't wanna limit
myself to Nashville.
It isn't my forever home.
But living a simple life,
I feel like I can breathe
and I can actually enjoy
being alive and being free,
which is priceless.
[air whirring]
[country music]
Yeah
Let's go
We just gotta go hard
I go the hardest
I bring the pain
Not what she used to
It's all part of
the game, yeah
I just gotta go hard
Uh, I just gotta go hard
Go hard, go hard
Yeah, oh yeah,
the beast back
Adrenaline pumping
through my veins
Can't relax, original,
I am not the same
as these cats
I sting them if they never
ever minding they beeswax
I don't ever cap, but I'm
wearing like three hats
Never been a rat, but I
know where the cheese at
You'll never get a trophy
'Cause they all
here where we at
You better believe that
When it's all said and done
I still be here standing
Never took a loss
And it ain't something
that I'm planning
I dare you to say
something
My focus is A-1
Every dog has its day
It's been mine
since day one
This is real grinding,
I'm still climbing
While you still trying,
I'm still shining
It's real blinding
And I'm getting hotter
too, talking top two
I'm not about to
You let the
pressure bother you
And I do what I gotta do
Let's go hard
I just gotta go hard
Go hard, go hard