Candid Accounts of Sex Workers’ Decisions to Enter Sex Work

What is(was) your professional/stage/working name?

Marley Wise, and currently Adriel Angel

What city(ies) do you work in now (if you’re still working), or did you work in (if no longer working in the sex industry)?

Denver, CO (I tour through the Rockies, Sturgis, Las Vegas and anywhere I get enough interest!)

How old are you now? 25

At what age did you engage in your first professional sexual experience?

23

Describe your first professional sexual experience, including what happened, how you felt, what you were thinking, how you felt afterward.

I feel like I had several “firsts”.  I was first looking for a sugar daddy.  I really liked my “first” there.  He was very smart, kind and affectionate and we went on several dates (nice restaurants, theater, etc., before we ever had sex.  I couldn’t believe he would pay me several hundred dollars to eat dinner with him!  I loved it.  Our schedules didn’t click for a long-term thing but once I got into the escort biz officially, he wrote my first review and that helped my reputation considerably.  We still keep in touch.

My second “first” was answering an ad on Craigslist.  I did everything wrong – had the guy pick me up from my house and take him to his!  Yep!  A little naive!  Turns out he is a local reviewer here that gets “newbies” off CL before they become official escorts and tries to offer his services as “manager”.

My real official first as a real escort was after posting an ad with cell phone pics on backpage.  I got a call at 2am.  I spent 30 minutes putting on makeup and getting all dolled up.  When I got to the house, he explained he was staying with a buddy and took me downstairs to a basement bedroom.  It was a 30 minute call but was all said and done in about 10 minutes.  He tipped me and I was on my way.  I couldn’t believe I had made a whole week’s pay in 10 minutes in the middle of the night!

At what age did you entertain the first (serious) thoughts of going into sex work?

At 23 when I filed for divorce from my husband of 5 years and realized I didn’t have any work experience or education to get a good enough paying job to support myself and my two children.

What made you decide to enter the line of work you’re in?

I moved to Denver during my divorce and found a good job at a private school.  However, what I make in 30-45 minutes now is what I would make all week at 30+ hours at the school.  I started escorting from 10pm to 5am to make ends meet, and was working at the school, going to college full time and taking care of my kids.  Something had to give.

I found this business to be incredibly empowering.  I am my own boss, I set my own schedule.  I can work as much or as little as I want or need.  I can be home with my kids and have time for school.  I meet a lot of wonderful gentlemen and have made some wonderful connections and gotten a lot of business advice that I find very valuable.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

Meeting people I would ordinarily probably have no contact with.  Making connections that benefit both people (you never know when you may have something another person may need and vice versa!).  After an appointment, I feel accomplished and independent.  I know that I am not relying on my ex or my family or the government to support me.

What do you like the least about your work?

Men that truly see women as an object.  I have heard some absolutely degrading comments.  Thankfully, I have had great luck – and I say luck because there are a lot of times something could have gone horribly wrong – safety or legal-wise.

Does your family know what you do?  If so, what do they think?

NO!  I am very careful about what I do and my family has no idea what I do.  I come from a small town and extremely conservative family.  My dad councils sex addicts!  I could never tell them what I do, however I don’t think I would stop if they were to find out because this is how I am reaching my goals and they are certainly not going to give me hand-outs.

Do you have a spouse, partner or significant other, and if so, do they know about what you do?  If so, what do they think?

My ex-husband doesn’t know but has made suspicious comments.  Thankfully he is enough of a mess on his own that his own life gets in the way of bothering me too much about mine.  In my opinion, he does not have contact with his children nor does he support them so I am doing what I need to do to be the best parent and give my children the best life they can have.

I had a boyfriend for the past year – he is the one that suggested I post on backpage.  He was ok with it, however, he became more and more of a leech and expected me to pay for everything since he knew how much I was making.  It finally got to the point that I realized I was nowhere near accomplishing my goals because I was being bled dry every month by him.  I told him to move out and I was no longer supporting him.  Needless to say, he didn’t like that and is still hoping I will “pull my head out of my ass” (ie realize I miss paying his phone bill) and get back together.

At this point, I am really just trying to stay focused on meeting my goals so that I can leave this business before I am forced to quit.  If I have to wait several years to have a real relationship again, then so be it. I don’t belive in lying to your SO about what you do when you are in this business and there aren’t many guys that would be okay with being serious with someone in the biz.  I understand that and I’ll wait for the right one and get my money now!

How much longer do you think you’ll do what you’re doing now, and what are your plans for when you quit?  If you’ve already left, what made you decide to leave and what did you decide to do for work when you left?

I plan to stay in the biz for 5 more years.  I am learning about investments and starting businesses and hope to do much of both over the next 5 years to set me up financially so that I can retire from this business and still have income for many years.  I plan to save up for a house, finish school, etc in the next 5 years.  I am still debating whether I will entirely leave the business after 5 years or if I will just stop advertising and marketing at that point and keep several of my favorite regulars!

Describe your educational background.

I have my AA and am working on my Early Childhood Education degree.  Eventually I would like to develop curriculum for pre-school and kindergartners and work with special needs/at-risk students on a one-on-one basis.

If you had to go back and tell your younger self (mid to late teens) that you’d be doing what you’re doing now (assuming you’re still working in the sex industry), what do you think your younger self would say about it?

Wow!  LOL I wouldn’t have gotten married, etc., etc., I would have put all my energy in this way back then!

What advice would you give someone who was looking to get into your line of sex work?

Get all the advice you can.  I went into this rather strangely and naively.  I wish I knew then everything that I know now, but that’s how all of life is I suppose!

Do your research, ask an experienced provider to “tutor” you!  While escorting is considered “sex work”, the girls that have the best clients and make the most money understand that escorting is not just about the specific act of sex!  It is the intrigue, the anticipation, knowing how to draw a man in, get him to open up and confide in you, show him you are more unique than any other woman he will ever spend time with.

Keep a journal – you never know when you’ll decide to write your memoirs.

Take time for yourself, it’s easy to get greedy when money is easy, but you’ll burn out fast if you don’t take time for yourself – this business is mentally, physically and emotionally draining if you do too much too fast.

Oh, and don’t be a slut in your personal life – once you find something you are good at, never do it for free again!

Adriel’s Professional Site:  Denver’s Naughty Angel

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