samhexum

Based in Manhattan, Andrew C. (for privacy, he has asked us to use only his full first name) graduated from an Ivy League university and worked as an engineer for more than six years before going to one of the Top 10 MBA programs in the country. From there he got a job in finance, developing financial models for traders. At his day job as a vice president at a Wall Street bank, Andrew currently makes an annual $250,000 base salary with a yearly bonus of as much as $100,000. Yet since 2007, Andrew has also been an exotic dancer. “Although I did everything I was supposed to do, I never really felt fulfilled,” Andrew said. He first started moonlighting as a dancer for fun on the weekends. “It turned out to be much more enjoyable and I was much more passionate about it than anything else,” he said. “I would fantasize about what it would be like to quit my day job and to start my own show, but I just kept telling myself it wasn’t possible.” When he had a falling out with his dance employer, he realized he would have to start his own show — that’s how much he wanted to remain in the industry. Having signed a noncompete, in 2017 he launched a female stripper website, Exotique Girls, to grow his knowledge and experience. “I had no idea what I was doing. After I built the website I just sat there and did nothing,” he said. “A year and a half later I got my first phone call asking to book a dancer and I was so nervous I just hung up on the guy.” With time, Andrew gained the chutzpah to stay on the phone and book parties in New York City and other metropolitan areas across the country, and his female stripper agency became profitable. “I was able to use the profits to invest in the production, development and marketing of a male strip show,” said Andrew, who launched Exotique Men in 2021. Andrew eventually made the decision to start “quiet-quitting” and began doing only his necessary workload at his Wall Street gig. “Plus with the option to work from home, I was able to use my free time from my day job to focus on building my side hustle,” he said. When Andrew dances, he makes up to $1,000 a weekend. Though some weekends are slow, weddings and bachelorette parties help fill in the gap — he can work at a club and then do private parties afterward. Running the agency, which hires dancers for private events but also runs a show at Belvedere Lounge in the East Village, also helps keep his dream job lucrative. While you may be in no hurry to rock your birthday suit in public any time soon, Andrew has some valuable and hard-won insight into how to overhaul your job path. “There were no number of books, podcasts, self-help seminars, etc., that could have prepared me for [such] a career switch,” he said, while recommending taking “calculated action.” By that, he means calculating the amount of risk that you find to be comfortable. “For example, I didn’t borrow a ton of money and quit my day job right away to dive into my side hustle,” he said. “I took the necessary steps without burdening myself with unnecessary risk.” Working toward that career shift helps, too. “A lot of people I meet always talk about how they want to do this or that side hustle but they never take action,” he said. “It is important to set a goal and begin.” Andrew also lives by the ethos that you “treat your life like a business.” That means embracing the attitude that every waking minute has a return on investment. “It’s important to identify the things in your life that are providing a positive ROI and those that are causing a negative ROI. Doing extra at your day job and staying late with no intention of moving up in the company would provide a negative ROI because it’s eating into time that you could be spending working on your side business.” When changing careers, Andrew believes, people tend to give up too early, or to act inconsistently. “There has to be something driving you to want to make the radical career switch,” said Andrew. “There’s a deeper driving force than just doing it for the money.” People often create mental blocks similar to the one he had when he thought he couldn’t pursue the adult entertainment industry full-time, said Andrew, “but honestly if you can overcome these mental obstacles and break down your goal into smaller tasks and stay consistent then you should see results.” To that point, Andrew recommended building on small wins “to keep the momentum going and to remind yourself that what you’re doing is possible.” Failures along the way can be a hindrance, but they ought to be used as building blocks for future successes. “Male stripping has taught me to focus on finding solutions instead of honing in on the problem,” he said. “There were nights where we had to do the show in a small cramped room with music that wasn’t loud enough and the girls were complaining about their seats,” Andrew said. “We used whatever resources we had and we made it work.” Worried about your employer finding your side hustle? “Form an anonymous LLC,” suggested Andrew. Anxious about getting phone calls for your blossoming biz while you’re at work? “Get a free Google Voice number and have the calls go to voicemail and return them when you’re off work,” he said. Basically, find a way to make it work. “Many people will come up with reasons why their side hustle won’t work or why they can’t do it, but only a few will come up with solutions.” Andrew started moonlighting as a dancer for fun on the weekends in 2007. https://nypost.com/2023/07/23/wall-street-worker-has-turned-to-stripping-to-fulfill-his-dreams/

I suppose answering, "Yes, please, and do you offer gift wrapping?" would not have been appreciated.

And if you're interested in France's bacon...

When my mom saw or tasted something unpleasant, she'd say "FEH!" That was more than a few steps down from meh. If you were talking with her and paused at any point leaving the word "So" dangling (as a question 'So?', or for dramatic effect 'So...'), she'd say Sew, Sew, Sew your pants

Right-hander Domingo Tapia was designated for assignment today by the Padres. The Brewers announced the selection of Sal Frelick’s contract. Raimel Tapia was designated for assignment in the corresponding move. They're unrelated, AFAIK, but BAD day for the Tapias of the world! By the end of the 4th inning tonight, everyone in Washington's lineup had a hit and a run scored.

Celebrity crush Retired TV news anchor confesses he'd love to date Martha Stewart and smoke pot with her Former TV news anchorman Bill Boggs is single and ready to mingle — and smoke weed — with Martha Stewart. My thought when seeing this? 'After you've been married to Tara King of THE AVENGERS, I guess the average woman seems boring, huh?'

Not really a recipe, and not sure if it's no-fail, but I think it might not be: I was putting together an online grocery order and was reading the nutrition facts for Stouffer's Roast Turkey, which also had the cooking instructions: Microwave (1100W): Cut film to vent. Cook 22 minutes on high. Stir both sides of the tray and re-cover. Cook again 22 minutes on high. Let stand 1 minute to complete cooking. KEEP FIRE EXTINGUISHER NEARBY.

Jeremy Allen White goes for shirtless run I gave up on SHAMELESS after about 5 years. I couldn't stomach Frank anymore.

Carlin Glynn 'Sixteen Candles' star dead: 'Best Little Whorehouse' Tony winner was 83

Langone family's $200M gift makes NYU med school tuition-free forever Yeah, but it's the cost of textbooks that'll kill ya. And does this gift cover the cost of courses in illegible handwriting?

Bodybuilder dead after 400-pound weight breaks his neck Jeez, what did the guy ever do to that weight to make it so mad at him? Firearm safety instructor accidentally shoots wife dead then turns gun on himself Fishing instructor jumps overboard after accidentally harpooning wife Brain surgeon wears metal collar in MRI tube after accidentally lobotomizing wife.

Rose and Ernie’s weekend starts out wonderful, and after a while, Ernie confides in Rose that he’s impotent. “Impotent? Are you sure?” “Oh, Blanche, what would you have done, asked him to prove it?” -Blanche and Dorothy

Jaguars coach comes out as gay in first for US pro sports Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength coach Kevin Maxen came out as gay on Thursday in what is believed to be a first for a male coach in U.S. professional sports. Maxen, who has been with the Jaguars since 2021, told Outsports he made the decision to come out in hopes of inspiring others while being true to who he really is. “I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” Maxen told Outsports. “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else.” “I want to be vocal in support of people living how they want to live, but I also want to just live and not feel fear about how people will react.” Maxen has been involved in football for several years, playing for Division III Western Connecticut State University in college before working as a strength coach at Baylor and Vanderbilt. The strength coach said that he had wrestled with his sexuality in college but is hopeful Jaguars players will react positively to the news. Maxen told Outsports his accomplishments inside of football should quiet the doubters. “I have a pretty good sense of humor,” he said. “So a lot of the guys I can joke with and not take anything personally." Maxen said that being around staff and players on the team led him to his decision to want to come out. He saw others inside the organization introducing their families, and this made Maxen want to be able to do the same. Maxen said he’s been dating his boyfriend, Nick, for over two years, and said he felt guilty that he couldn’t share that part of his life and struggled to reconcile those feelings. In February 2022, Maxen reached out to Carl Nassib, who became the first NFL player to come out a year prior, as he decided on how and when to come out. “For a while I had such an anger for myself and hatred that I thought was from a fear of what others might think about who I am,” Maxen said. “But that wasn’t it. It was an anger and hatred of myself because I put myself in a life where I was living by other people’s rules and not by my own. “And I was right to be angry at myself for thinking that I had to live in the image of anyone else.” Jacksonville’s director of player development, Marcus Pollard, had positive things to say about Maxen. “In an environment that is diversifying, it is a privilege to work alongside Kevin who is hardworking, dedicated and thriving as a strength and conditioning coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Pollard told Outsports. Maxen said he’s been with his boyfriend for two years.

If there’s one thing the St. Paul Saints know better than baseball, it’s pigs. When former team president Mike Veeck was taking a walk along the Mississippi River, he came across a historical marker that read: "St. Paul, formally known as Pig’s Eye Landing." Named after an old French trapper called Pig’s Eye Perrant, Veeck saw this history and knew he had to incorporate it somehow into the Saints franchise. So he sent a St. Paul staff member on a mission to find a pig to become the team's live animal mascot. The quest went all the way to Wisconsin, but eventually, the team struck gold. “That was really the first contract ever signed by the St. Paul Saints,” team GM Derek Sharrer said. “It wasn’t a player. It was a pig farmer.” For the past 30 years, the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate has engaged in the unique tradition of a ball pig who delivers baseballs and sports drinks to the home plate umpire, often with wonderfully punny names like 867-530Swine, Notorious P.I.G, Ham Solo, Kevin Bacon and SlumHog Millionaire, chosen by St. Paul staff via thousands of fan submissions. But as is the case with many long-standing rituals, sometimes changes must be made. The Saints, formerly an independent ballclub, used to only play a handful of home games that required a ball pig’s presence. As a Minor League franchise, they have 75 home games to play, and in the span of 150 total games, a pig will grow from 1 pound to over 300, at which point it becomes unmanageable. To accommodate this, the pig farmer recommended the team have two pigs, so the club decided on a first-half and second-half pig. Since the Saints now announce a new pig midseason, they recently conducted an in-game contest on social media in which fans submitted name suggestions and the staff picked a new one on the spot. So what’s the name of the 2023 second-half ball pig? None other than Squealon Musk.

HEAD OVER FOR DINNER AFTER... The Kiwanis Club of Glendale is continuing its annual tradition of hosting a summer street fair along the busy stretch of Myrtle Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and Forest Avenue on Sunday, July 23. Vendors and local businesses will provide fairgoers with prizes, free giveaway items and key community-building conversations. There will also be various games, activities and entertainment for kids to enjoy during the fair, which is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. AND/OR... The Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District will also host its Ridgewood Farmstand event on Cypress Avenue between Myrtle and Putnam avenues from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 22. The farmstand is also available every weekend in the summer.

Shouldn't the hot duck be the one being splashed with cold water, not you?

So brevity runs in the family? 😇😁😜

Ehh... you've seen one member, you've seen them all.

A couple of indelible Junior's memories: 1. We were sitting at a table by a window that faced the gymnasium/theater when I saw the first waterbug I'd ever seen, on the floor. FUN! 2. I still have the toolbox & tools my dad found on the sidewalk as we walked back to the car after my family ate there one night, which we often did when I was a young'n. Somebody must've been working on a car then forgot it because it was by the curb. BTW, Brooklyn's tallest building is being built next to Junior's, after they turned down beaucoup bucks to sell & move nearby.

Connecticut McDonald's slammed for charging $18 for Big Mac meal not even if it were served by oiled up muscular lovelies in speedos! (full disclosure: this is at a highway rest stop, which are not usually known for bargains)

US Stock Rally Plows Forward Amid Peak-Rate Bets US stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered cooling inflation in the UK and looked ahead to a kickoff in tech earnings due at the close of New York trading.