I worked here for a few...

I worked here for a few months while I was nearby at graduate school. It was my first time dancing and thought I'd give it a try. This was mostly the reason I let things slide or didn't complain, because I didn't know what was normal or not. First impressions were the appearance of the club. It's filthy, tiles and carpet are coming up, it's VERY dark with only a few black lights, two of the three poles are broken and can only maintain gentle force (so forget any tricks), the stage has numerous cracks and dents causing several girls to trip on stage and me to break one heel. The VIP room is dark, full of leather couches and has a huge industrial fan to keep it cool and having the dancers pass out because it gets very hot (how safe!). The "champagne rooms" are private and covered by a curtain. The waitress checks up on you, but so does a camera which is in EVERY room. I never did extras, but I didn't feel safe knowing that I was being recorded back there. I work at Cheetah now and we also have private rooms, but since security is professional we have no need for cameras. I didn't see the point of those besides poor management or motivations of a different kind. The club itself is small, but you can get around. It's one open room with a snack bar and one bar. The dressing room is awful, and I'm not a picky person. I just like walking in a room without nails sticking out of floorboards, holes in the tile and mold growing all over the ceiling. If you were to walk out in your shoes from the dressing room to the club, BE CAREFUL, the floor is full of cracks and holes and many girls fall back there on hard tile. Management is something to be desired. The house mom while I was there was Lawanda and another woman who was filling in whose name I can't remember. The only thing I remember is her coming in and saying she didn't want to be a house mom and if we needed something we might as well forget about it because all she knows is bartending. I didn't know the extent of house mom duties, but all I ever saw Lawanda doing was sitting in the back drinking, gossiping or eating. Sometimes she'd be out on the floor talking to girls. I understand that she was the only house mom and it's a lot to manage so many girls, but she didn't do much managing. I tipped well and thought that was the way to get "in" with the club but it didn't work. You're on your own. As far as customers they are mostly college guys and a few locals. You will have to hustle, but most of the guys come in drunk after leaving bars downtown and mostly want a free show. Toward the end of my time there, and what had prompted me to leave, was guys coming in making fun of the girls. Of course I don't condone this kind of behavior and stick up for my girls, but it was almost demeaning to be there. The management would hire girls who I knew were using, many were 1-3 kids in, one girl was 5 months pregnant (I SWEAR) and others had certain physical "abnormalities" which would make them easy targets to be made fun of. However, they are nice girls and talented. They've done things on the pole I've never seen any girl match and they are all hard workers. There was only one girl there who was "dirty" and she's been fired and banned. With their standards we were made a mockery of, and with a stigma of dancers already out there this made it even harder. Customers also get contact in VIP and Champagne rooms. Personally, I hated touching them, and they were also grabby at times. The other review said little to no contact, but that's not true. They expect, and you're allowed to, grind. Girls will spread their legs around their neck (with bottoms) and be allowed to grind. I haven't seen girls get in trouble unless they're undressed fully or going under clothes. Otherwise, there aren't rules. Their hygiene wasn't always the best and this made this harder. I wasn't comfortable, but to each their own. I should mention that I left this club because I had become unhappy and wanted to explore my options. I wasn't willing to compromise being happy to make "decent" money. Good nights were $300-$600 and I did well there (which happened a total of 6 days during my time there). You can't believe what all the girls tell you. The simple fact is that customers are broke college kids and old local guys. The rich guys go to ATL, so pickings are slim. When we would work on game days we were expected to work 12pm-2am with no break and not allowed to leave the club. I thought I would make bank on such a day but I found most customers would watch the game at other bars and then come into the club too drunk to spend anything. It was a waste of my time. My suggestion is if you live in the area and are looking to make really good money and meet customers with a higher income and standards, just make the drive to ATL a few times a week. Like I said, I'm at Cheetah, and yes, it's an hour drive but I never leave with less than $300 on my WORST nights and I never am expected (or allowed) to touch a customer or swing on a pole. The club is amazing, huge and all of the house moms address my problems and are STRICTLY professional. Still, Toppers in unique in its own way. The girls are sweet and it's a small place if you're looking for something local to pay the bills. It just definitely wasn't for me.