The Beginning of my Journey and some simple FAQ

Many of you may have stumbled onto this site by accident, be it from another site, Facebook, Twitter, a news outlet, Google, or some other source.  However you found me, welcome!  My name is Sam, and I am a professional snuggler.

If you had told me five years ago that I would become a Professional Snuggler, I would have blankly stared at you, shook my head, gone back to my construction project engineering work, and pretended that you never said that.

Yet here I am.  And I've told this story before on my personal blog, (which you can read about here).  Somehow, someway, this job was in line with exactly what I want to do to help people, and we get paid for helping them too.  I've cuddled for hundreds of hours since I started in this line of work, and it somehow fit into my life as a great and rewarding thing to do with people and for people.  It was rewarding to feel a client melt in my arms as I wrapped around their shoulder blades, see them smile for what might have been the first time all week for them, hear them say thank you many times before the session ends, and the hugs goodbye when they feel lighter better than before. Sure, this work has been rewarding not only financially, but it's been rewarding emotionally for me.

Of course, telling people that you're a professional snuggler brings up all sorts of questions from anyone whom hasn't heard of it before.  I can answer a few basic FAQ while developing the agency further, but you'll find that this FAQ guide will be useful to some first-time visitors that might not be familiar with what it is I do here at Snuggle with Sam, be it someone looking to have a snuggle session or someone looking to become a snuggler:

Q: Why would anyone look for this service?

A: I've seen multiple reasons why in various different people. The people I find that benefit from the service the most are those that feel isolated or misunderstood in some shape or form. These may include, but not be limited to: people with mental illnesses, people on the autism spectrum, overworked professionals, people with hard family problems going on, people coping with a divorce, people that have anxiety issues, people that experienced some kind of trauma, people that recently moved and don't know anyone here, people that have been single and lonely for a long while. These come in all shapes or forms, but I also often get people that heard about professional snuggling and are just curious to see what it's like, and that's totally okay with me!

Q: Where do you do this?

A: We our sessions either in our home, and in our client's space (be that a hotel or their home). When I first started, my very first session was in a hotel room (which you can read about in the link before the FAQ).  However, I have two male room mates that were aware that I did this in the evenings, and clients often prefer to come to you.  I was lucky in that when I started I had two male room mates that were aware that I did this and would keep alert in another room when I had sessions.

Q: How is it safe for you to do this?

A: Especially here at Snuggle with Sam, I screen all of my clients to see if the service is a fit for what they're looking to get out of it.  Oftentimes they are a fit and I will begin the scheduling process. Additionally, what we do here at Snuggle with Sam is we pair you up with an on-call supervisor for you to check in with before and after sessions to make sure that you are okay and safe. Those supervisors know exactly where you are for your session because you'll tell them where you are before each session, and should you need help or they do not hear from you after your session should have ended, your supervisor has the local police phone numbers on hand to reach out to.  Your supervisors are also your guides in training should you have questions are you gain more "field experience," as I like to call it.

Q: Do you get people in relationships? How do their partners feel about that?

A: Some clients feel obligated to tell me if they are married or they have a significant other, but it honestly makes no difference to me. Oftentimes they only tell me this as a preface to some kind of gap in intimacy they're having with their partner, which makes them feel misunderstood and lonely, hence why they seek out our service.  We're not having a romantic nor sexual connection in this. It's purely emotionally and mentally fulfilling, and I'd say it's almost the same as making a point to tell a massage therapist you're working with that you're married. It makes no difference. We still have work to do with you, and it's for your health.

Q: What kind of person are you looking for in professional snugglers?

A: Someone that is open-minded, clear and assertive in what is okay and what is not okay (consent is EXTREMELY important).  Someone that is a great active listener and asks good questions.  Someone that has something unique about them to share with whomever they talk to.  Someone that can listen to someone's problems and can resist the urge to solve their problems (that's not what they need us for, even if it seems like that is the case).  Someone that is very body-positive and gives very warm hugs.  And, ideally, someone that is able to host in their home.  I will say this: women snugglers tend to be more popular than men snugglers.  However, I'm slowly seeing that change over time as the LGBTQ community comes into play in professional snuggling.

More FAQ soon. Thank you and hopefully you got some insights on what Snuggle with Sam entails.

Samantha Varnerin