Let’s call him Sam — I don’t want to out him on the internet.

A former client who had managed to stay in my mobile contacts long after I quit working in the sex industry, Sam was a guy whom I’d kept in my orbit because I thought spending time with him was ‘easy money’.

Wealthy enough not to blink an eye at my asking price, he wasn’t all that demanding in the bedroom and had great taste in restaurants.

In fact, there was a long stretch where we didn’t even have sex, meeting only for lunch and flirtation.

As a high-flying chief executive of multi-million dollar, privately owned company, he was so accustomed to fine dining that it bored him.

He took pleasure in feeding me at the best establishments in town, savouring my appreciation — and enjoying the eyes of the maître d' and other guests as they watched him walk in with a much younger woman.

Sounds like a sweet gig, right?

But it was slowly killing my soul.

Deep down, I knew I was worth more than a piece of arm candy to bolster a middle-aged man’s fragile ego.

I knew that I had gifts and talents beyond making charming conversation, feigning attraction to older men and putting up with all manner of cringe-worthy verbal indulgences.

I wanted to go out and eat at a fancy restaurant on my own dime, and earn enough cash through so-called legitimate means to pay my bills.

But I was afraid.

Afraid that I wasn’t up to the challenge of working in the ‘real world’ and terrified of experiencing the financial struggles that I’d grown up with.

Worried that even though I was well educated, I didn’t have the right experience to break into my industry.

That fear kept me stuck in a pattern where I reinforced the very illusion I was so afraid of: That I wasn’t capable of looking after myself.

Even when I got an amazing foot-in-the-door job in my field, I convinced myself that the only way to keep myself financially comfortable was to keep Sam in my life.

But the more I leaned on him to help with expenses that came up, the deeper the hole of helplessness I dug myself into.

It was only after doing a heap of personal development work that I realised this pattern, and found the strength to say goodbye for good.

That was the beginning of a major uplevelling of all my beliefs, habits and projections around money.

Sam was understanding when I told him I couldn’t see him anymore.

I haven’t spoken to him in years, and since then I’ve built the most amazing career — not to mention a loving, committed relationship that just would not have been compatible with having him around.

I found an incredibly effective system for managing my cash, which enabled me to pay off all my credit cards and start paying for splurge items like massages, new clothes and holidays with actual savings.

Thanks to a huge spiritual, emotional and mindset shift I doubled my salary within just two years, achieving the same level of income as if I still had a sugar daddy.

Firing my sugar daddy set me on the path towards meaningful, fulfilling work and financial freedom.

I am finally being rewarded for my innate gifts — not the physical ones that will fade with time — and earning more money than I ever imagined was possible.

Now that I’ve achieved my career goals, I want to help other women like me do the same — that’s why I’m building an online community of amazing, strong, powerful women who are the journey towards freedom.

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