The Most Valuable Resource for Starting as a Professional Cuddler (Hint: It's not a book or a course)

This content was originally published on June 4th, 2019. As of publishing on this blog, we are in the middle of a global pandemic and Snuggle with Sam does not condone actively working with clients in person at this time.

You are, in fact, the most useful resource you have for anything new you start.

If you're reading this blog, you probably were hoping to learn something from me about getting started as a professional cuddler, seeing if you really have what it takes to be a good one, or you're looking to grow your practice.

And I can help you with all of those things, for sure. But I want to introduce you to someone that will most likely be way more useful than I ever can be.

Would you like to meet them? If so, there's only one thing you need to do...

Look in the mirror.

The most useful resource you have is you.

Yes, you. You powerful, compassionate amazing human being you. I might not know you that well, but I'm willing to bet that if I sent you this email you're more of all of those things than you probably think.

See, I can point you to the tools to get started (and don’t worry, I gladly will).

I can tell you how to write your profile on different cuddle directories you can put yourself on so it attracts who you want to.

I can give you tips on how to feel more safe while doing this work (which, by the way, I get asked all the time if it's safe to do this work. My opinion and experience is it is).

I can tell you how screen potential clients, how to handle clingy clients, clients with special needs, and how to determine if a client should be a friend or if that will just put more stress on your personal time outside of work (I've seen it happen both ways).

I can provide resources for setting up your cuddle space, how to make a budget to maximize profits from your cuddle practice ethically and invest in a way that helps it grow.

But none of this matters if you don't do anything with the info I give you. And too often when someone reaches out asking to get on the phone with me on how to get started, that’s exactly what happens and that’s why I charge a decent price for it now. If you’re going to ask to open my brain, I’m going to ask you to open your wallet.

Besides, if you’re asking me how to get started, you’re probably not asking me to tell you how to since that’s an easily Google-able answer. What I find most people are really looking for when they ask me questions about starting as a professional cuddler is permission for themselves to start.

If you're looking for permission to get started doing professional cuddling, here it is. It's still really easy to just get started by Googling a few sites and putting yourself out there on at least one.

(Disclaimer: I certainly recommend doing a little more of your own research especially so that you feel good and safe doing this work, but getting started right now and learning what’s there and how it works is still something you can still do)

Will you be making a full-time income right away? Probably not. I was able to pay rent after about nine months without trying around my fulltime job, but I had a lot of advantages going on during that time too. Your mileage may vary.

Will you make mistakes? Oh yeah. Hell, I still make mistakes! Your mistakes might be a bit more beginner than mine are, but if you're going into this with good intentions and some background in supporting people's mental health (either as a career or just with friends), you're already going to be a better starting cuddler than half the people that are signing up right now anyways.

Will you be able to move past your mistakes and grow and be a better person overall for making those mistakes? I sure hope so.

Some learn from their mistakes and decide it's not good for them to stay in professional cuddling. I respect that decision and value that you're honoring your own needs. There is nothing wrong with trying something and deciding later you changed your mind.

Others decide that they want to learn, experiment, adjust, and be better and show up better for their clients.

That might be you right now, and that might be why you're here. You're looking for more info to grow your practice.

And for those in that camp, I can provide that for sure!  But again, that person in the mirror you see is going to be the deciding factor on if you take action or if you're persistent with moving forward.

I can't build your practice for you. (I mean, I could, but I'd charge you six months worth of my living expenses to do it and it's honestly more cost-effective and less time-consuming to do it yourself. Also I really don't want to do it) What I can do is make suggestions and coach you to decide what's the next best step for you.

What happens after is up to how you use the best resource you have...aka, what you do with it.