Between the ages of 14-21 I worked two dozen jobs, from political canvassing to amateur stripping. They were varied and emblematic of an overall desire to capture facets of life head-on, provoke thought, and make a meaningful difference in others’ lives.
Having graduated Western Michigan University with honors in my majors-Comparative Religion, English Literature, and Gender Studies (with a focus on sexuality and sexual behavior and representation)-and with a track record of extensive activism and volunteerism with progressive groups-I stayed in Kalamazoo and began working as a prevention specialist with Community AIDS Resource & Education Services.
For over four years I counseled, tested, and educated primarily men who have sex with men along with developing and facilitating the area’s social group for young bi and gay men, based on the impactful Mpowerment model. Working closely with the GLBT community and its allies, I also founded and directed the first annual Kalamazoo Pride in 2007.
I then went on a life-changing Group Study Exchange with Rotary International to the Philippines in 2008. For the first time, I witnessed abject poverty and extreme luxury existing side-by-side. I acknowledged my desire to live in a traditional culture while effecting constructive change. In 2009, I went to Namibia with WorldTeach to serve as a volunteer teacher and librarian for a year in a remote village on the Angolan border.
When I returned stateside from sub-Saharan Africa, my mind had opened tremendously, and myriad things I had once encouraged in others, I now accepted within myself. I followed my bliss while allowing my eyes to open to my numerous possibilities while working in a shelter for homeless youth in the south side of Chicago. It was there I realized my time in the social services had come to a close.
A lover of bodywork, I cultivated the craft and merged it with my experience in the field of sexual health and sex work with almost every spare moment. I moved to Madrid in summer 2010 and, by the end of the year, had set up a private erotic massage studio. I quickly became the most successful and sought after sensual masseur in the city.
In March 2012, I took off to touch down in 16 countries. I worked in various cities and soaked in the culture in other places. That September, I returned to the States and continued living out of a suitcase, working equally in New York City and Chicago, while taking significant time off to experience America’s cultural and geographic diversity. A few hiatuses in Africa and Europe, and a life-enhancing months-long vagabonding adventure in Asia later, I moved to Manhattan in August 2014.
I’ve established a luxurious safe space in Hell’s Kitchen. For me, incorporating sensual services within the context of a multi-faceted, passion-filled life experience is an impetus for something larger.
This era of life is the most expansive yet, and the day-to-day opens up doors I couldn’t have imagined even existed. I live in a state of perpetual excitement to discover what’s around the bend.
