What Makes a Great Professional Cuddler?

At least once a week someone asks me how they can do professional snuggling. When they find out I've trained people, they want me to take them on now. Often times people think it's very easy money and getting paid to lay in bed sounds like easy money to them.

But not everyone is going to be a great professional snuggler. At the same time, to be a professional snuggler you don't have to do anything outlandish or extensive right now (as of this writing).

In fact, to talk about what makes a great professional snuggler, I need to talk to you about what you don't need to be a professional snuggler:

1. You don't need a psychology degree or massage license. In fact, you don't need to go to school to do this. You could technically start calling yourself a professional snuggler tomorrow if you wanted to (And there are people on Tinder that do, but that's not the kind of snuggler I'm talking about here).

2. You don't need to be a woman. Though women tend to have an easier time finding and booking more clients, men cuddlers and other gender identities can work in this field and have done very well. In fact, one of the first podcast interviews about a cuddler that I heard was from a man.

3. You don't need to take off your clothes during a session.  This I cannot explain enough. One horror story talks about someone that stripped to her bra and panties because the client requested it and she thought it was expected and normal. This is not. Sessions are fully clothed for both you and the client.

4. You don't need to do this fulltime. I didn't when I got started. I worked my client schedule around a 55+ hour a week job. I worked maybe three hours a week with clients.

5. You don't need your own place. Many of my clients prefer to come to me, and I live with two guys in Boston (they know I do this, and so does my landlord). Check your lease if you rent to make sure you can do business in the home, but otherwise this isn't a limiting factor.

6. You don't need to feel weird about it. This is the best job title if you ask me, but not everyone gets it when you bring it up. If I'm talking to someone and I don't feel like getting into what I do for work, I tell them I work with people in a familiar therapeutic environment (which is true-- the home is a familiar environment). They don't usually question more after that.

7. You don't need to buy mace. I've carried a small striking stick with me for the past year just because my family wanted me to, but the best security I've had is twofold: the screening process I do (even when I worked for a national agency I created my screening process to see if it's a client that could follow the code of conduct) and the remote security person I reach out to at the beginning and the end of my sessions. Simply slipping into conversation that I need to check in with my supervisor on the phone when I see my client has been the best security, and my clients respect me more knowing that I'm keeping myself safe.

So those are the first few things to keep in mind. So what makes a great snuggler?