I worked as strip club waitress due to hardship, says female barber

Janeth Alexander, a 23-year-old female professional barber, says hardship made her to consider working as a waitress at a strip club in the past.

Alexander brought the revelation to light in an interview with BBC Pidgin.

She explained that her stint at the workplace, however, came to an end following a face-off with a man who spanked her bum.

Alexander said following the encounter, a male client who usually visits the facility to help inspect their POS machine had enrolled her for a barbing session after she explained what happened to him.

“When people see me inside my store, sometimes they always think that I’m a big girl living in affluence. But they don’t know that even where I’m sleeping, it’s someone’s shop,” she said.

“Even where I’m currently using for my work, it was as a result of loan that I was able to make it possible. I used to work at a strip club before based on the challenges that my family and I faced in the past because of accommodation issues.

“I worked there as a waitress. I didn’t like the work itself but I had to do it because of the situation of things to enable me to pay some bills.

“One day, a customer spanked my bum and I replied by hitting his head with a POS machine because I couldn’t stomach such. But my boss at work then started shouting at me that I should know customers are always right.

“It was at that point that a man who usually comes to inspect our POS machine saw me and asked what happened. After explaining what took place, he enrolled me for barbing training that led to my eventual emergence as a barber.

“It was the man who enrolled me for the barbing training that linked me up with the person who gave me a loan to start up this business.”

Alexander also recounted her experience dealing with advances from her male clients.

“Doing the work of a man is not easy, but it’s something that I’m committed to, so I won’t give up. Sometimes, the way they (males) address me when some guys come around, they are always in interested in getting my contact and wanting to know more about me,” she added.

“Some of them would ask if I could go out on a date with them, others will also ask for a relationship but I know how to handle the pressure.

“I usually make them understand that it’s all about business and that if they truly like me, they should connect me with customers and give me jobs that will bring more money before I give in to their advances.

“It’s basically a trick to handle the situation. Most of them don’t usually buy that idea so they back out because they believe that I’m lying. There are some that actually connect me with other jobs too in the process.”

She also talked about her efforts to groom other young girls in the profession for free to ensure they are meaningfully engaged.

“So far, I have trained about 15 girls for free. It’s my own way of also impacting others positively having also benefited from the generosity of others,” she said.

“I’m doing this to enable them to become responsible and be able to feed themselves and their families tomorrow. In spite of the challenges that I have faced, I refused to give up because I feel it’s a journey that I have started and have to finish it.”