YAS Work is an advocacy, media and consulting company centring the needs, knowledge and expertise of strippers and sex workers. When I heard that the company was trying to change the way pole dance is represented in events and entertainment, often appropriating knowledge generated by strippers, I knew I was dying to know more.
Many people in the pole dance industry are now starting brands, joining or creating events. And I’m not sure about you, but when people ask me to perform or partake in certain campaigns, events or content creation I always panic. I wonder: should I be taking up this job? What are the ethics of doing that if so?
For all these reasons, I was looking forward to finding out more about YAS Work, especially because one of its founders is OG stripper AM Davies, one of my great inspirations in my work against censorship, thanks to the work they led when we began collaborating in 2019 via global, digital anti-censorship campaigns. Part Q&A and part reflection, I hope this interview can be a starting point for those in the pole dance entertainment and events spaces to consider different ways of working.
Pole dancing, its origins and its connected economies
If you read this blog, I am sure that by know you know that pole dancing is an art and a sport that was created and popularised by strippers – more on this here. We’re now a long way since the early 2000s, when the first pole studios opened up and pole dancing became the latest fitness trend: pole now is an economy and an industry of its own, with new studios popping up in every corner, instructors launching their online platforms (which have been booming since the pandemic), and pole dancing related content creation becoming a lucrative branch of the creator and gig economy.
Increasingly, pole dancing appears as a form of mainstream entertainment outside of strip clubs. Artists in the likes of Rihanna hire dancers for their music videos, Snoop Dogg, Lana Del Rey, Steel Panther and more recruited them for their gigs, while brands, cabarets and movies are featuring pole dance in their productions. But what kind of pole dancing is it, and is it really true to its origins? And should professional pole dancers and/or hobbyists with no experience in the strip club be taking on these jobs?
I’ve been grappling with these questions for a while. This is where YAS Work comes in.
(Blogger On Pole): Why did you launch YAS Work and YAS Veterans?
(YAS Work): The inspiration really came from Yes, a Stripper Podcast, which I launched in 2020. Before that, I was working in the nonprofit sector with Strippers United and the Black Sex Worker Collective—doing the podcast on the side. Eventually, I thought: “Why not turn the podcast into a nonprofit and expand it?”
That’s how YAS Work was born. Now, it’s an umbrella for our programs: the podcast is one, and the other is YAS Veterans — a platform for sex worker consultants.
How do you see your role in event consulting — say, if someone wanted to hire a pole dancer but not a stripper?
If you’re asking how we consult on projects like this, we step in when hired to advise. That might include questions like: “Who should we hire for this scene?” or “How can we depict sex workers respectfully?”
Our focus is on sex worker representation broadly, but we’re especially passionate about consulting on pole dance events — where stripping is often appropriated without credit. We would never force our way in, but we will speak up if we see events misrepresenting or excluding sex workers without involving consultants.
Should non-strippers be hired to pole dance in events or for various media representations?
It depends on the context. If an event or project wants performers who dance or present like strippers, then actual strippers should be hired — period.
Pole dancers who are strippers deserve the first right of refusal. Many are more skilled than non-stripping pole dancers, but they’re overlooked because of stigma. It’s time to change that.
Are you an agency as well as a consultancy? Why?
No — we’re not an agency. Agencies focus on long-term management of talent. We focus on education and advocacy: raising awareness through media and consulting. Our mission is to reshape public understanding of sex work, not manage performers’ careers.
What would you say to a project coordinator who hasn’t considered consulting YAS Veterans?
I’d start by asking: “Why wouldn’t you hire a consultant who understands what you don’t?”
People often say: “It’s not in the budget.” But it should be. When Hollywood made Interstellar, they hired a scientific consultant to ensure accuracy. If you’re serious about quality and representation, hire experts. It’s no different for projects involving sex work.
What are the challenges of running an educational and activist platform?
There are many.
Being a sex worker-led educational platform means we constantly have to self-censor. That’s part of why we changed our name from Yes, a Stripper to YAS Work—so we could remove “stripper” from our handle. Even getting a bank account has been a struggle. We’ve been kicked out of one bank, ghosted by another.
Advertising is tough too. Everything has to be coded, or it risks being flagged or banned. On top of that, the world is overwhelming right now. People are distracted. Donations are down. Federal freezes have made private grants more competitive.
But we keep going — because we love the work. Growth is happening, and the community is strong.
Why do you think people still deny pole’s origins, despite all your educational efforts?
Whorephobia, like racism or xenophobia, is rooted in fear and conditioning. People are scared of what they don’t understand. They’ve been taught to conform, and unlearning that takes time and intention. Some people don’t even realize they’ve been conditioned — until they start asking questions.
You made a powerful video about being a “recovering whorephobe.” How can people begin to unlearn whorephobia—and forgive themselves?
Start by listening to sex workers. There are so many who break down harmful myths on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Then, reflect: Why does this make me uncomfortable? Is it a belief you truly hold, or something you were taught?
And forgive yourself. Every day.
We live in a confusing, chaotic world. We’re bombarded with pressure — to be normal, to do the right thing, to not mess up. Of course we’ll get things wrong. But if you’re actively trying to unlearn and do better, that matters. If you’re trying for others, you’re also trying for yourself —because we’re all connected.
Just start. Unlearning takes time, but it’s worth it.
What’s next for YAS Veterans and YAS Work? How can people support you?
Our next steps include outreach to larger production companies, writers’ guilds, and creative studios to let them know sex worker consultants are out here — and available. We want to grow our roster and continue to center independent consultants.
We also hope pole dance studios and event producers begin hiring consultants to ensure their events are safe, inclusive, and rooted in authenticity. It’s not just about accuracy — it’s about showing up in solidarity with one of the world’s most marginalized communities. So ideally, when a dancer/actor is hired [from a non-stripping background], they could hire a consultant to help them navigate this new territory.
If you’re depicting sex workers, hire sex workers.
A word on the YAS Work Team
I asked AM to tell me a bit more about the YAS Work team, and because they are often too modest, or don’t like centring themselves, they didn’t tell me anything about them – so I’ll do it for them.
The first time I ‘met’ AM, whom I’ve actually never met in real life, was through the United Pole Artists account, which they created and then sold to the current owners. They were also one of the two strippers teaching RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 2’s contestants how to pole for a challenge. They are a staple of pole and stripping history, thanks to their years spent dancing in clubs in the US and their advocacy for sex workers. Because of this, they spent years working in the non-profit sector through the Strippers United union and the Black Sex Workers Collective, and they founded their hugely educational podcast, Yes A Stripper, which I strongly recommend subscribing to.
Personally, I am sure we wouldn’t have gotten an apology from Instagram about shadowbanning – and as such, a crucial admission that shadowbanning was taking place – without AM, who fronted a crucial petition at the time. Without them, we wouldn’t have the #Everybodyvisible campaign, which they took on board through creating and funding the website and gathering different collaborators as we finalised our demands. These campaigns raised awareness about censorship breaking down barriers between sex workers and civilians, and even gaining mainstream attention via Dita Von Teese, Spencer Tunick and even an acknowledgement from Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri.
AM did all of this while going through a series of life-changing operations that led to the amputation of their leg.
AM’s extensive experience isn’t the only one informing YAS Work, which is made up of people they have worked with for years, including:
- NatsHoney (Vice President) has been AM’s friend and collaborator since 2005. She was a sex worker and a stripper since the early 2000s, and she is now the president of Strippers United. Nats has been at the forefront of the pole dance community as one of the first pole dance instructors outside of the strip clubs in Los Angeles, and was a producer of pole dance events, such as California Pole Dance Championships and the National Aerial and Pole Art Championships.
- Daisy Ducati (Secretary) joined the Yes A Stripper podcast as a host in 2021. She is a stripper and an award winning porn actor, including Niche Specialty Performer of the Year three years in a row. She was one of the founders of the BIPOC Adult Industry Collective, which is a resource to financially empower and provide support services for BIPOC sex workers through mutual aid and education
- GiGi Holliday (Community Director) brings incredible energy and insight from the communities YAS Work serves. She is a sex worker and burlesque performer, and she is currently the president of BurlyCon. Her performing career means she has stories galore about the history of burlesque and how it’s intrinsically tied to sex work.
- Makenzie Mizell (Technical Director) is the reason the Yes A Stripper podcast exists at all: they found AM and asked to produce something together, and bring technical awareness from an established career in podcasting.
- Emily Cipriano (Treasurer) is a long term friend of AM’s, a former award-winning stripper and former pole dance studio owner. She is local to where YAS Work is headquartered and allows them access to the community, including finding sponsors, grantors and donors.
- Onyx Sachi (Podcast host) is the YAS Podcast’s fourth host, together with Daisy, GiGi and AM. She is an award-winning stripper, the creator of Skripped Down and owner of Chromegeddon, two major pole competition events for pole dancers and sex workers.
AM says: “Each of these folks has played a significant role in shaping YAS Work, either through the podcast or our fundraising and advocacy work. They’re all current or former sex workers, and professionals in and beyond sex work. Without their support, YAS Work wouldn’t exist.”
Where does this conversation leave pole dancers?
AM’s considerations can be applied to more than recovering from whorephobia and to the pole dance world: they can be crucial to advocacy and political engagement in general, particularly in our fraught times. And rather than being seen as a way to exclude pole dancers from profiting from an art they gain from and give a lot to, YAS Work’s values and remit can be a way for pole dancers and businesses hiring them to hold themselves accountable towards creating better entertainment. Dancing contains multitudes: just like we may book an instructor with stripping experience to teach us how to strip while also booking a trickster to teach us a flip, there should be room for both pole dancers and sex workers in media depictions and events. This means that when we’re hired, we can involve them (or any stripping consultant) directly to ensure we are correctly representing our practice.
The issues in our industry arise when strippers and sex workers are always routinely excluded from jobs due to stigma, or because their expertise is underestimated and undervalued.
The irony is that this happens to pole dancers too: too often, as Cutie Whippingham of Blackstage has argued, events hiring dancers are not aware of and prepared to pay for the equipment and skill needed when prepping for events and shows. This means that people who perform pole shows are under-paid and under-valued. Because of this, companies like YAS Work make an important case not just for hiring sex workers, but for valuing, platforming and centring sexual entertainment and expertise in events and productions that profit from adjacency to the sex industry without giving back.
It is of course not always possible for people with lived experiences of stripping and sex work to be ‘out,’ meaning it’s not our job to force them to tell us about their jobs in order to be hired for events. But hiring people that have learned the tricks of the trade through years of experience makes perfect sense, and should be a step in the direction being taken when hiring intimacy coordinators and other experts.
Find and support YAS Work
- Visit: yasveterans.com to learn more and spread the word.
- Shop: YASStore.Shop where they sell items for sex workers, fans and pole dancers. That’s a great way to support their work and other sex workers’. All money is distributed directly to sex workers and to the org.
- Donate: YAS Work.
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