What’s your name?
Mimi Valentine
What do you do/what part(s) of the biz do you work in?
Stripper / Cam Girl / Sex Worker
How did you get started in the industry?
In my first year of college I finally found a place to watch the movie Girl 6 after years of seeing that screenshot of Naomi Campbell wearing the “models suck” tshirt. The movie was a bit lackluster, however it did introduce me to the “humanity side” of sex work. Before that, the only film I saw that struck a cord with me was Flashdance (which my mother had me watch at age 10 because I loved musicals and she wonders why I’m in this career path now). But Girl 6 showed women that not only looked like me but also behaved like me as well. It was the first time I thought, okayyyy yeah imma put my pussy on live for a thousand dollars. I started doing phone sex which very quickly turned into private video calls. 
If you’ve worked in more than one aspect of SW, which is your favorite and why?
I recently started dancing and it has grown to become my favorite, over camming, phone sex, fansites and online shit. Dancing makes me feel a part of a community. Before dancing I never took time to hold a conversation with a co-worker. But in the dressing roommmmmm oh those are my people!!! It brings me so much joy meeting dancers, so witty, so smart, creativeee (sex workers are the most creative people on the planet and you can never get me to change my mind), and funny. Online work can feel sooo isolating and lonely. When the only people you talk to are horny men, it gets pretty old, pretty tired, extremely quickly. When I started stripping I hadn’t been in a workplace setting in three years. So, being at the club was extremely entertaining to me. It truly felt like I was on ‘The Office’. Everybody there is such a character from the bouncers, to the bartenders, managers, and customers. It quickly reminded me that stories and television is derived from real life, and to me the genuine thing is a thousand times better.
What is your best tip for making money at work?
Pushing your boundaries will almost always bring you more money in a night but it will exhaust you, burn you out and might even break your heart in the long run. I suggest sticking with your boundaries (whatever they may be), and also really listening to your body and mind so you can help yourself accordingly. Neglecting those warnings can lead to having to take long breaks from work ie making no money. This past week I was in such a bad mood, all the customers were pissing me off and I ended up calling the majority of them cunts or fistfucker under my breath. That week ended up being awful money wise as well! If you’re not physically or emotionally ready to work, take time for yourself so you can go back ten times better (and make the money you lost back tenfold).
What has been something SW helped you with/encouraged you to do, or how has SW made you more confident?
Sex work started my body love journey. It forced me to work with my naked unfiltered body everyday. And over time I truly loved and appreciated all that my vessel has provided for me. It led me to care for it in a way I never have before. Stripping has led me to love my body at every angle, under every light. Honestly, now I’m more comfortable naked than I am in clothes. And for a girl that would only swim in a big tee, it warms my soul. After a good night at the club, I hug my body close and run my fingers over each stretch mark along every folded roll and I thank my vessel for moving and for getting the job done. I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated my body before, it always was something my mind would fight and pick on. Now, fortunately through sex work my mind and body can finally work together in harmony.
We all have a story about a babe in the industry who we loved and were inspired by from the moment we met her- tell us about her/them:
I’ve never felt more welcomed than I do when I’m with Audi. The woman I met while she was upside down and on fire. Literally (yes she lights sparklers on her heels). She is the innovator every man wishes they could be. Watching her work pushes me to be assertive and to take what is deserved. She also pushes me to have fun and enjoy work, being one of the funniest people I know, she can always turn a situation from bleh to bahaha. She’s inspired me to let my own humor shine when talking to customers. Before her, I was a bit sheepish with customers. I never had a problem talking dirty online or over the phone but something about having a man stare back at me made me nervous! I would think to myself, “is it too far, too brash, to overt?” And one night I was talking to a customer, and Audi walks over and says something like, “does she make your c___ hard?” and she put such a sexy emphasis on c____ that if he wasn’t hard then, he was definitely starting to rise. And the way she confidently said it with no hesitation inspired me to speak as whorish as I wanted and be as whorish as I wanted.
What do you wish people knew about us (SWers), and about you personally as a SWer?
I recently went to see the musical, Cabaret, with no previous knowledge of the show. So, within the first ten seconds when I realized it was taking place in a nightclub where all the dancers where full service sex workers I was pleasantly surprised, but also extremely wary. Aka, are they gonna do it right or are they gonna show their ass. Ultimately they showed their ass, along with the audience and I ended up leaving during intermission to shake mine at the club (and had my most profitable night of the month btw). I wish that the audience members knew that there was a whore in the audience, sitting right behind them. I wish they knew when a whore says she works at night is simply a fact and not a joke. I wish they knew that we don’t pull hair over a dollar (and if we do, its probably not just about the dollar). I wish that they knew it takes a lot of learned skill along with trial and error to do what we do; it takes persistence and introspective thought. I wish they knew we are some of the most observant and attentive workers. And that nothing about that is funny, not really.
What are your plans for the future (can be related to the industry or not!!)?
I'm currently working on a screenplay about fantasy and desire with sex worker leads! I am also planning / curating a sex worker themed gallery show with my work bestie, Starr. She's a photographer and I make videos / creative direct and will be showing a documentary on the emotional toll of this work.
There is a lot of talk nowadays about sex work being “empowering.” Is this true for you and why or why not?
Empowering, and glamourous. When I tell normie babes what I do for work they smirk and say, “oooh get that money gurl!” and I know they mean no harm. I know that they are making an effort in bonding but if I were to tell them I worked as a therapist, the first thing out of their mouth wouldn't be about money, I’m sure it would be a question of substance and intrigue. People (tier one level feminists) will call this work empowering before doing any sort of research of what the job actually entails. They’ll see a stripper on Instagram and say “feminism!!!” with hearts in their eyes while glancing over the caption. I wonder if they would still think it’s empowering if they read articles written by whores and listened to podcasts by whores. I wonder if they would still think it was empowering if they got a dance from a stripper and asked her honest opinion of how her night was going.
What is something you wish you’d known when you started in the industry?
You are not just a fantasy girl. You are a person with agency and you’re allowed to decline offers, walk away, and say no. When I first started, I did a lot of things I wasn’t comfortable with because I thought, “well I’m in this industry, I’m sure everyone does this, I gotta just suck it up.” I wish I knew that I was allowed to still have boundaries while on the clock.
Where can we find you?
instagram: @othrrgurl
twitter: @othrrgurl
Thank You, Mimi! XOXO