Would you hire someone to represent your business if you knew they had a background as a nude model?
Maybe you would. [Have I told you today how awesome you are?]
And maybe you wouldn’t. It’s cool — I understand some people are put off by the idea.
Not my clients, though. Some of them are amused that I once posed naked halfway up a tree, or perching in a giant birdcage.
I used my background as a pin-up model and burlesque dancer to win one of my first writing gigs, with an upmarket lingerie retailer who was impressed by my knowledge of garter belts and stocking seams.
The client checked out my modelling portfolio to confirm my expertise, and the photos in which I wore nothing but retro stockings and a garter belt sealed the deal. They were pleased to have a hosiery-obsessed pin-up write articles for their website, and I was proud to work with them.
Being a photographic model was fun and paid well, but writing has become even more profitable for me. Here’s why.
Most clients simply don’t care what I used to do for a living, as long as the blog posts I write for them deliver the outcomes they need.
But my best clients believe my life experience makes me a better writer for their business, and they’re right about that.
Don’t fear your past
Imagine you just met me at a conference or a friend’s dinner party. You ask about what I do for a living, and I say, “I used to be an astrophysicist, but now I’m a freelance blogger.”
Sounds pretty cool, right? You can picture me working on my laptop, blogging about hard science and earning a good rate for it.
Now imagine I said instead, “I used to be a nude model, but now I’m a freelance blogger.”
You can picture me working on my laptop… for about three seconds before you get distracted by the nudity thing. [Maybe ten seconds if you’re acutely interested in freelance blogging.]
The thing is, both of those histories are true.
I have worked as an astrophysicist. And a model. And a stagehand at music festivals, a data entry specialist, a mystery shopper, a Y2K preparations administrator, and a bunch of other jobs.
The big fear that often troubles a “writer with a past” is that your attention-catching history will be discovered and then everything else you’ve done will get ignored.
But you’re worrying too much. You’ve already imagined the scene and the consequences a hundred times over, before the client even signs a contract.
The slightly less melodramatic truth is that your past rarely makes a difference — unless you choose to use it to your advantage. More on that in a moment.
Have your clients seen you naked?
Before we go any further: you do not need to bare all for your clients!
Whatever lies in your past, you don’t have to discuss it with a client if you don’t want to. But you also don’t need to hide anything.
For example, anyone could browse through the photo gallery on my old modelling website. My pseudonymous blog on that site also mentioned that in my late teens I worked as a stripper, a brothel receptionist and a catwalk model for a latex fashion company before realising the benefits of becoming a strict dominatrix. [The benefits? Short hours, high pay, and extremely respectful customers who know they’re not getting in your pants.]
When clients asked about my history, I told them. Nobody ever fired me for it.
Nobody even blinked. [Yeah, my clients are all kinds of wonderful.]
Every once in a while, a client would ask if I minded them seeing some photos, and I’d tell them my modelling portfolio was online if they wanted to take a look. After a couple of years I let that website’s hosting and domain name expire because there was no good reason to keep on paying for it — the photos are available via the photographers’ websites anyway.
Even since taking down my modelling portfolio, I’ve had quite a few clients for whom my background as a model, burlesque dancer and dominatrix made me an ideal expert writer.
The point is, you don’t need to worry about what your potential clients think of your past.
Most of them will never know (or care) what you were doing in 2003. You don’t need to tell them unless you have a genuine reason to believe that hiring you could adversely affect their business.
But you might want to tell them, anyway.
Be shamelessly experienced
Because experience is attractive and profitable.
Look at Erika Lyremark, whose 9 years as a stripper taught her as much business sense as her 10 years in commercial real estate development. Oh, and grab a free copy of her book Think Like a Stripper while you’re there. Erika’s past is an integral element of her personality and her business — and she knows exactly how to work it.
Look at Cara Sutra [that link is probably NOT safe for work], whose award-winning sex blog led to a lucrative career as a sex industry journalist and copywriter.
Look at me. I got hired over and over for my experience in some narrow yet profitable niches.
You might think it’s different for us than it is for you. We’ve achieved success, therefore our histories weren’t as unusual / shocking / embarrassing / concerning as yours.
But listen: in the present, your past is what you make of it.
Here’s something I just made from mine:
Freelance bloggers on the way up are learning this lesson fast, too. BAFB reader Lorraine Reguly told me:
I’d rather have someone find out something negative (or what is perceived to be negative) about me from me than from someone else. My background as an English teacher obviously enhances my writing. However, depending on what exactly I’m writing about, my past experiences with drugs and prostitution bring to the table a plethora of viewpoints not easily seen by the “average” person.
I know a fair number of freelance bloggers who’ve been homeless, been in prison, been through a psychotic episode, and used that experience to attract clients who respect its value. Ex-addicts who blog for rehab centres. Ex-hackers who blog for software businesses. I’ve never read a writer’s biography that couldn’t be mined for insights into a huge range of topics.
So if you lie awake at night worrying how long your freelance blogging career will last before you get found out and fired… take a deep breath and relax.
You are what you are. A professional writer.
And every good writer has some stories to tell.
Great article! People always try to scare bloggers with the whole “if it’s online, it’ll be there forever” thing — which may be true, but in most cases it really doesn’t matter. I always said I was never going to hide my crazy Burning Man adventures/pictures/etc., and I don’t think I’ve lost any clients for being up front about the “unprofessional” side of my life. Anyone who would care about it is probably not a good fit for my writing services anyway!
Exactly, Saul. 🙂
Really interesting to see this often shoved under the carpet topic tackled, and so professionally and fairly, too. Thanks for the mention! Love this post.
Thanks, Cara!
You may not have taken off any clothes while writing this (or maybe you did?) but you sure did “bare all” on a psychological level. Thanks for being so open Sophie! And thanks for letting us know that no matter your past, you’re the only one who can choose your own future.
You’re welcome, Daryl — thanks for totally getting it.
Thanks so much for sharing, Sophie! Your background is a brilliant example of intrepid entrepreneurialism and creativity. 🙂 You always inspire me to stiffen my spine and use my “issues,” such as social anxiety, to my advantage and for the benefit of others.
And you’re doing an excellent job of it, Aphrodite. 🙂 Keep on being you — as Oscar Wilde said, everybody else is already taken.
This was a great post! I love how open you are about everything. I think everyone probably has something hidden in his or her past, and that you might be surprised at which of your clients may have been in the business earlier on in life! 😉 After all, we can’t all start out rich and famous.
I’ve heard stories from some of my clients that they wouldn’t tell their own mothers 😉 so yep, you’re definitely right about that.
What a great way to allay the fears many freelance writers have, Sophie. 🙂 I hope you’ve put to rest the demons that creep up on them, unknowingly.
Thanks, Lorraine! And thanks for letting me quote you. 🙂
Any time! 🙂
Much kudos to you Sophie.
You are who you are with a unique set of life circumstances and knowledge to use in your writing. I am proud to feel I know you.
Proud to have you reading, Philip!
This is such an inspiring article, Sophie. 🙂 Honestly, I’ve never had a client ask about my past before hiring me. Most clients just look at my writing skills and bam! I’m hired. I daresay whoever judges you for your past and not for your writing skills is not worth working for.
Yep — it really doesn’t need to be an issue. Thanks, Mai!
Miss sophie your article is very inspiring. You have shown the truth that will strike as the limelight to the readers and they will easily analyze the subject which is likely to be focused.
Thanks, Ghufran!
“Before we go any further: you do not need to bare all for your clients!”
So glad I don’t have to “drop trou.” I love my clients but they don’t need a laugh that bad.
😀
Thank you for this refreshingly frank post, Sophie. You have a hell of a personality and it shines through here! I don’t go around blabbing about that unfortunate misunderstanding with the authorities in Venezuela, but I’ll tell the story if it’s relevant. In the light of your words, it seems it’s not a bad thing to have a writer with… unique experiences.
A story! A story! I’d love to hear that one sometime, Roberto. One of the many Spanish phrases I learned from watching subtitled TV in Mexico was “Las esposas no son necesarias” — so far, I’ve never had to use it. 😉
Great to see another inspired, no-nonsense post, Sophie. I decide to use my ‘past’ and wrote about death and grief for a national paper (great gig, but sadly a one-off), and wrote a novel about a year spent growing up in my 20s. We each have a unique story – who better to tell it?! (Would-be agents and publishers step this way…)
Damn that trigger finger!
Thanks, Derek. Where can people find a copy of your novel? 🙂
Hi Sophie. Scars & Stripes is unpublished as yet, but occult fantasy, Covenant, is out there. My blog has a link via Pinterest. You’re welcome to a review copy in epub or mobi. In fact, what the hell, so is anyone else on this forum is they’d care to email me – earthlight (at) btinternet.com
Great post!
It’s occurred to me that one of the benefits of freelancing is that you’ll never really have to worry about things like background checks or somebody stalking your old social media pictures for an excuse not to hire you. As long as your work is good, that’s all that matters.
I don’t think I have anything sketchy that would turn up anyways, but nice to know it wouldn’t influence my career much if I did.
Yeah, for most people it’s all business — results focused, and nobody gives a shit what you did ten years ago as long as what you do now works!
Hi Sophie
As one of your past clients, I just want to say well done for driving yourself forward sticking to your guns and putting yourself out there/here etc.
I have procranstinated so much, smoked too much herbal cigrettes to block out my frustrations and I really need to become as bold as you.
P.s have you any more of those pictures? joke 🙂 You have brightened up my day.
Thanks, Anthony!
P.S. The secret is to hold off smoking herbs until *after* you’ve done some work. 😉
Fantastic article! This is a hugely inspiring post for every freelance blogger (even for me, who doesn’t really have a past outside of freelance writing). I love your story and how you’re so proud of it!
Thanks, Alicia. Yep, I’m living proof that you can get your foot in the freelance writing door with pretty much *any* kind of experience!
Hi Sophie,
I’ve a feeling you’d not get writer’s block if you were writing fiction either:)
I have some “secrets” too, but some of them are ongoing. Although none would make a lot of eyes bulge, I still don’t feel comfortable enough to bare all, so to speak. The problem is, if I did bare all, I’d probably enter a few writing markets I haven’t been able to before. The weird thing is, for me, it has always been better therapy to share bits and pieces rather than everything all at one. I’m tempted to. I’ll share if I decide to take the leap and own everything up:)
I’m actually kind of fiction-averse. I love reading it, but I haven’t tried to write it since my teens (and what I did write was awful).
You don’t have to engineer a “big reveal” of all your secrets at once. Bits and pieces at a time is a more effective way to use your history in your writing — I left a lot out of this post because I only needed a few examples to make my point. 🙂
Love.
🙂
Your story is really a food for thought for many out there. What really matters is where a person currently stands. Past always comes with unique experiences and ultimately everyone moves forward. Being bold to embrace the enriching experience sets the tone of one’s success and there’s nothing like it.
And obviously if someone is not ready to accept the way one is, there’s no point of working with them.
Thanks
Sabita
You got it, Sabita. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
You never mentioned burlesque in my interview!! LOL I guess I should have done better research.
And here I was thinking because I had a mental breakdown in college or I’ve been fired was considered off-putting. But I’ve publicly written about both, so I guess I’m getting better. 🙂
This was awesome. How much would it cost you to get you to the states? LOL
When I plan a trip to the US, Willi, you’ll be one of the first people I tell. 🙂 Mental breakdown in college? You can squeeze a whole bunch of articles out of that experience!
Sophie, your advice to Williesha opened another eye of mine pertaining to many past experiences. 🙂 I never thought about them to be described in an interesting and thought provoking way.
I better get on them now and I think I can use them for guest posts as well.
this post is awesome! i truly believe that writing is a deep art that many people still do not understand. the more life experiences you have, the more ideas you can write about especially on a niche that you care about. that’s why it takes time for many writers to produce a story, let alone an article that tells so much about a certain topic.
thanks for sharing this with us, Sophie.
I’d like to have had the body to be a nude model when I was younger. Dominatrix? Yes, I do rather feel that I’ve missed my calling in life, but hey ho. I suppose there are some similarities with working in HR… 🙂
Ha! I’ve met some HR people who could really crack a whip. 😀
Same here…I’m more like the “before” photo! I might be cute in person, I don’t know, but I hate the way I look in pictures. That’s probably one reason I don’t have a headshot yet.
What an amazing read, Sophie! I needed to hear this today!
I am so behind in commenting (sorry for just getting to this now!) but had to tell you how much I’m in love with this whole post. Everyone in the world has a past, things they’re both proud of and less than happy to have done. Including all those big corporate bosses who fire people over their Facebook posts. The best thing about being self employed is that it doesn’t matter who you are and what you do as long as you do the work and bring the results you promise to clients. Anyone who judges based on anything other than those results isn’t a client worth your time anyway.
Kudos to you for never compromising yourself!
Thanks, Jenn. We live in a world where the former U.S. president “didn’t inhale”. 😉 I figure that means we freelancers really don’t need to worry about our backgrounds so much!
Sophie, your post has me breathing a big sigh of relief! Many thanks.
I’m still learning to be brave about putting my real self online. I’m a paranoid woman who probably has a few bare photos of myself out there, but I can’t let my fear of being seen for who I am ruin my writing career before it even starts.
Maybe someday soon I can stop simultaneously trying to sell all that erotica I wrote without letting anyone see it!
That’s quite a Catch-22! It’s beyond me why people try to separate erotica from the rest of life… I guess there’s a trope of “the erotica author who wears lingerie all day in her sex palace” that makes people fear you can’t be erotic (even in your spare time!) and still be professional too.
This post made me so happy 🙂
I am in love with this post. Seriously. You made me come up with a secondary blogging niche since I know all about social anxiety (since I have agoraphobia on top of claustrophobia). Thank you for giving me that boost of confidence, Sophie.
Great article. I think nowadays it’s hard to impress/shock someone with something on the internet, but it’s a good message to pass to the newbies as they are often terrified by every little snag at the beginning of their freelancer careers.
Thumbs up 🙂