Was I In A Cult? - S-Factor - PT1: “Pole Dancing to Solve the Patriarchy”

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

Meet the very funny and very bold Jessica Hopper, as she dives into her bizarre and unexpected journey into a pole dancing cult. Yes, a pole dancing cult at a studio called S-Factor in Los Angeles, CA. What began as a fun pole dancing class turned into an intense, all-consuming experience. Jessica shares her story of quitting her job, enduring rigorous and costly training, and grappling with the beginnings of the cult-like culture within S-Factor. With humor and honesty, Jessica reveals the highs and lows, the camaraderie and the disillusionment. This is just PART 1 of her illuminating experience. Thank you, Jessica. You are an absolute hoot, and it was so fun to have you on the show.  Support us and our show on Patreon  Follow us: instagram/TikTok @wasiinacult Follow Jessica: instagram: @jesshopperpole Have your own story and want to be on our show? Email us: [e-mail]

The views, information, or opinions expressed by the guest appearing in this episode solely belong to the guest and do not represent or reflect the views or positions of the hosts, the show, podcast one, this network, or any of their respective affiliates. There are a lot of things that condition us, especially as women, to sort of blame yourself for things that other people do to you. What was she wearing? Were you drinking? That kind of mentality applies to all the different parts of your life. Oh, you were in a class with this dangerous person. Why didn't you quit? You were working for this company and you saw that they were peddling bullshit.

Why did you keep telling people a class was great, right? And there is a sort of blaming and shaming, I think, that a lot of people take on and internalize and personalize. I know I definitely did that, especially when I was younger. But one of the major blessings of getting a little bit older is running out of fucks to give about that. I'm just like, yep, I'm here. I messed up. And let's talk about it. And, let's talk about it. Welcome to Was I Ina Coult, I'm Tyler Miesum. And I'm also Liz Ayacuzzi. You see, Liz, she's out today with a terrible throat infection.

So she's home in bed, but we may be able to get her to chime in once in a while, but it's mostly just me today with a terrible throat infection so she's home in bed but we may be able to get her to chime in once in a while but it's mostly just me today and this is where all of Tyler's fans rejoice. Liz wrote that by the way she put that in there and made me. Hi guys I'm sorry I'm not feeling great for this one today but Tyler you can handle all the snark can't you? I don't know Liz th if th if th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th you. th th th thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu-I thu-I thus, I thus I thi I'm to thi I'm to to to to to to to to thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th thi th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi tod tod tod tod today today today today today to today to to to to to today to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to today to today today today today but Tyler you can handle all the snark can't you I don't know Liz can I? Tusha. Apparently I can't. Now I just wanted to hop in quickly and say that this story is one that I was very excited about. I've known of this group for years I knew other women in this group. I even attended an intro class once myself because friends of mine brought me to one and I was an ex-gymist so the tricks triks triks triks triks triks tri- tri- tri- tri- tri- t. tru- tru- t. I tod- tod- tod- th. Oh th. Oh th- th- th- th- th- th- thu-today. Oh. Oh, th-I this th- th- th-I th-I th-I th-I th-I th. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I tode. I tode. I tode. I tode. I today. I today-today thi. I thi. I today today thi. thi. today thi. thi. thi. tooeeeee. thi. thi. thi. friends of mine brought me to one.

And I was an ex-gymist, so the tricks looked fun. I personally didn't sign up for any classes after all. So I guess I dodged a bullet there. Yeah and so when Liz said to me that we've got a pole dancing cult while I said, my goodness, it is official we've heard it all. Now, for those of you who are just joining, we on this show give those who are in cult or cultic environments a chance to tell their story and take their power back. And today's guest you guys she was an absolute joy to talk to. She's funny, she's smart. Did I say funny?

And she's so open with her story. We shared a few very special hours together. Okay, Liz, get out of here. Go back to bed. Take care of that throat. That's your moneymaker. But we do have some guests in the... I got the black lung. You'll be fine.

And as Ferris Bueller's father said, take a hot bath, wrap a hot towel around your head. Wrap a hot towel around my head. And then, make yourself some soup, get a nap. Okay? Okay. Have good luck today, Tyler. Be extra funny. Thanks Liz. Or just, just be a baseline funny that works too.

Great, great. Now, while Liz will not be here. I do have some guests in forget to smile. Now while Liz will not be here I do have some guests in the studio with us. Of course there's always Rob, our producer and our executive producer, Stephen Labram is joining us from Salt Lake City here in the studio. Greetings. We had a lovely was I in a cult party at the fabulous Sunset Marquis in Hollywood the other night. And Liz wasn't there which is why it was fabulous. Sorry Liz, we missed

you. We did miss you. This is like the Mean Boys Club. No girls allowed. Don't spare my life. Crucify. All right, great. Now that she's gone, what do we talk about? What do we want to talk about? Maybe the Beatles Revolver album, the Rise of ELO? Who wants facts and statistics? Here's one.

Did you know that butt load is an actual term for a quantity of alcohol? It's true. Butload is equal to two hogsheads, which means 130 gallons of beer. One butt load, 130 gallons of beer. So when someone tells you that they drank a buttload of beer last night, you can call them out and feel smug. Yeah, unless they actually did, then you can call 911 because they're probably dead. Or you should call AA. Actually, it's probably at least call AA. Thank you, Stephen. Now, Jessica actually joined Liz for this conversation here in the studio in Los Angeles, and this is part one of her incredible journey. It is happening Miss

Jessica Hopper. I always like to start with just you introducing yourself and maybe just what you're excited about being here today. Sure so hi I'm Jessica I started sharing my culty experience story a couple of years ago, kind of for two reasons, selfishly, as a way to process my own coming out of it on the other side. And secondly, and more important for everyone else but me, is just to call out the person that was the leader of this group because she is still out there on her bullshit, and to take accountability for the fact that I was complicit for a very long time. So let's go back to the beginning of Jessica's journey. Family

background, yes, so I was born in the Bay Area. I was the only child of my parents and then when I was seven they both divorced and they eventually each remarried and and had one more daughter. So I lived with my mom and my stepfather and eventually my younger sister. And so I go to my dad's for a month in the summer and he's working all the time as a traveling salesman, so I was left hanging out with my stepmother. And with her life at home being a bit unpredictable, the one thing that she could control was her schoolwork.

She was a... Straight A student. My idea was that if I could just be perfect enough, they would love me. That would fix everything. And the weird thing was that not only did that not fix everything with my parents, but when you appear to be perfect to your peers, it doesn't endear you to them. And so instead you're just that really annoying brainy kid. And the school that I went to was sort of known as a jock school, so being smart and being artsy was not going to buy me any social capital. So I had a handful of friends, but we were kind of like the outcast, the not cool girls. My mom put me in dance classes when I was like four years old.

I really liked them. I had always wanted to be a performer. I started modeling as a teenager. I was tall and skinny. Now Jessica didn't actually seek modeling out. But what happened is she once joined her mother on a random trip to LA where her mother was getting headshots for her real estate business card. The photographers saw a tall, skinny Jessica, and asked if she had ever thought of modeling and could they take her photos. And boom, just like that, she soon

had an agent. I of course I'm still waiting for my big modeling break. Any day now. You know how to get you into shampoo ad. This face sells dog food. I think I'll stick to podcasting. Like the end of my junior and most of my senior year of high school, I would just get my assignments from my teachers and one day a week I would come up to LA and go on audition. And eventually Jessica went to UCLA. Go Bruins.

That's my Liz impersonation. That's pretty good. Thanks. Try doing it with a Liz British accent though. Go Bruins. Or California co-Pruins. Yay. So I went to my first fall quarter.

And then I got offered the opportunity to work with a modeling agency in Japan. So I skipped winter quarter and I went to Japan and my agent called me and said Do you want to go to Australia? And I said let me get my bag. And then I was just off to the races. I was modeling full time for several years. I just had I didn't go back. A predecessor to all of this becoming an opportunity for me was was around the time I was 15. I developed I I I I I I I I I I I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I skipped th. I skipped th. I skipped to to to to to to to to to skipped to skipped the to skipped to skipped to skipped to skipped to skipped to skipped to skipped to skipped to skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I skipped I didn't to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the te te te te te to te to to to to to the te to the te te te te to te. te. to to to te. to to to te. t all of this becoming an opportunity for me was around the time I was 15 I developed one hell of an eating disorder and the modeling did not cause it. I want to be very clear about that but it did not offer any reason to get healthy. Yeah, not having anywhere to fit in my upbringing took me to this place where I wanted to be perfect and where I wanted to have some sort of sense of control and I now know from having done

research and again lots of therapy that when you feel like you have no control over your life it often manifests in you taking it out on yourself because that is the one thing that you can control. And so in my case it was taking it out on my body. Well, and then then then then then then then then you then you then you then you then you then you then you then you then you then you then you then you then you thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the thi thi the thi. thi. the thi the thi. thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. theat. theat. the. theat. toe. toe. to. to. to. to. to. to. my body. Well, and then you realize that these images are held up as these are the unattainable beauty standards, but honestly, it's like they're not attainable for us either. Right? Have you ever met a model without an eating disorder? Yes. Yes. Some people just have crazy high metabolisms.

There definitely were a lot of people who did. There are a lot, I mean, there's a reason why models are notorious for smoking. It's an appetite suppressant. I used to make jokes that I was the world's only non-smoking model, but I basically had an ivy drip of diet coke to stave off. Fill your stomach with bubbles. She did have quite the burgeoning modeling career, with some prominent clients, some great campaigns, and a magazine cover or two.

We will have a few of these on our Instagram. But when you look at these photos, or for that matter, any high-fashioned photo, you might wonder, how exactly does one get that supermodel, morose, deep-thinking, thousand-yard stare. I need Liz here to give a terrible joke for that, but... We miss you, Liz. I used to joke, I'm like, go stand over there and look like you haven't had a thought or a meal in about three weeks.

Perfect! Here's money! Um, and I know it made me a snappy bitch to be around because I was hangry every moment I was awake for about a decade and a half. Then I probably would have worked more. Like I know understand that when you were hired as a performer you have two jobs. Perform to the best of your ability and make everyone on set eager to work with you a second time. And boy, howdy? Do I wish I had learned that at the beginning of my career and not many, many years in. And so her career abbed and flowed like many in her industry. You know, because again I was still

deep in my eating disorder for many years that if I had stayed in that life I probably wouldn't have survived because I wouldn't have gotten healthy. Heavy shit. So how did you get healthy? Pole dancing? And we'll be right back. I mean it's sick around guys. It's about to get good. Yeah. You thought all that was a roller coaster. Hey cat mommies and daddies. Okay now we know you're obsessed with your cats, we've

seen your camera roll, it's like 90% cat picks, but let's all be honest, what is the worst part of cat ownership? The litter box. Yeah, or at least it was until I found the litter robot and I gotta be careful. I don't really want to oversell a place where cats poop. I know, but you are obsessed with this product. I actually kind of love it. We talk about it all the time. We show it the neighbors who come over. It's one of those things that you didn't know you need it until you have it, if that makes any sense.

It's the AI that we actually need in our lives, guys. Yeah, this thing is is is is and I know every cat owner listening would agree. It has self-cleaning technology so it automatically cleans after every use. Your cat always has a fresh bed of litter and your friends won't think your house smells like, well touch it. Always a plus. Yeah, and litter robot, it'll even send a notification to your phone when it needs to be emptied, which, believe it or not, is only like once every couple of weeks. Unbelievable. A couple of weeks? Didn't you?

You use... Normally it's every day. Before a litter robot, it was every day. That's amazing. That's crazy. And it also provides data and insight so you can stay on top of your cat's health. Yeah, in fact I can get on it that I that I that I that I that I can get on that I can get on that I can get on that I can get on that I can get on that I can get on that I can get on that I can get on that I can get that I can get on that I can get that I can get on that I can get on that I can get that I can get that I can get on that I can get that I can get that I can get that I can get that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can't. that I can't. that I can't. that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can't that I can get that I can get that I can get that I can get that I can get that I can get that I can get that I can get that. that. that I can get that. that. that that that today. today. today. today. today. that that that that that that that that that that that our cat is 12.4 pounds. Time to diet, Buzzy. I've joined over one million happy pet and pet parents who've upgraded to litter robot and it actually makes having a cat fun again. I can see

why. As a special offer to listeners of the show go to stop scooping. to col. And enter promo code cult to save an extra $50 on any litter robot bundle. That's an extra $50 off any litter robot bundle at stop scooping.com slash cult and enter promo code cult at checkout. Stop scooping dot com slash cult. Enter promo code cult. Your cat and your house guests will thank you. Hey listeners, if you're on the lookout for True Crime Stories told from a fresh perspective with nuanced depth and detail, we have a new show for you. Yeah, check out Murder True Crime Stories, a Crime House original podcast. From the shocking Chandra Levy case and infamous Tylenol murderers, to the tragic deaths of

the clutter family, each episode focuses on a famous solved or unsolved murder case. Listen in every Tuesday as the show dives into the darkest corners of true crime, unravelling narratives, examining compelling clues, and most importantly, seeking the truth. What sets murder true crime stories apart is the focus on humanizing the victims seeking the truth. What sets murder true crime stories apart is the focus on humanizing the victims and the effects their deaths had on their families, friends, and community. We'll always leave with the knowledge of why their stories need to be heard. There's a story behind every murder but is there an ending? New episodes of murder true crime stories

release every Tuesday. Just search for Murder, True Crime Stories on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, we're back. You know, I am feeling the pressure of this. I didn't know I had to do this whole episode solo. And I feel a bit like Simon without his garfunkle. Phil without his dawn, Hall without his odes. Liam without his knoll, Sonny without his share, Dave without his Annie. Hi Tyler. Oh, oh hey Liz. Sorry I called you Garfunkel. I thought you were sick.

I am. This is your inner conscience talking to you, Tyler. Telling you you're doing a great job and to just keep going. You know when you get nervous, just look in the mirror, run your fingers through your blonde locks a few times and say, I'm a man, I can do anything. I'm a man, I can do anything. That's right, again. I'm a man, I can do anything. Again!

I'm a man. I can do anything. Again. I'm I'm a man. I can do anything. There you go. You've got it. Thanks, my conscience in the name of Liz. Back to Jessica. Unfortunately, we do not have the time to tell all of her incredible story, but it included traveling the world as a model, a couple years in Japan, a few years in Italy, not eating tearmes. Blaspany. A few months in Australia with thim- thi-tim, thi, thi, thi, thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I th. I I th. I th, I I th, I I I I th, I I, I I, I th, I I I th, I I th, I I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I'm th, I'm thi, I'm thi, I'm a thi, I'm a thi, I'm a thi, I'm a thi, I'm a tha'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a'a, I'm a thi, I'm in Italy, not eating tearamisu. Blaspeny! A few months in Australia with no Tim Tams or Meat Pies. Criminal! Anyways, at the age of 25, Jessica was ready to stay in one place for a bit and perhaps try a bit of acting. So she moved back to La La La La Land, home of Sunshine, ghosting, film executives, and a gridlocked 405, otherwise known as the

Promise Land. Once I was back in LA, started taking an acting class and I was young and cute in my 20s and a push-up bra. I was literally just a sight gag and you're like, oh you're gonna be a nurse, hey nurse, more suction. Yeah, so obviously I needed a day job because acting and modeling it's not steady, especially when you're just trying to get started. So I started working in commercial casting just as the casting assistant, which is the lowest person on the totem pole in which you just blame the person below you for anything that went wrong.

And I worked freelance. And I bounced around different offices, depending on who needed an extra assistant that day. So what started off as a really good flexible job to learn about the industry from the other side suddenly turned into, I am helping other people do what it is my dream to do and I'm unable to pursue my dream because of it and it just started to wear on me. And at that point, one of the offices that I used to pass through, sort of on my freelance route, the casting associate comes bounding up to me one day and she's like, I'm taking a Poldy

Anseen class. And I was like, I literally don't have a picture in my head of what a pulled an ensue. I just knew it wasn't for me. And she was, you, and she, and she, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I was, I, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, th. I was, sort th. I was, sort sort sort sort sort sort sort sort sort, sort sort sort, sort, sort sort sort, sort, sort, sort sort, sort, I was, sort sort sort, I was, I was, sort sort sort, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, th. I was, th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm sort of, th. I'm sort of, I'm sort th. I'm sort th. up a brochure on the wall and she was always trying to tell people about it and I was just like, aha, that's her thing, pat her on her head. Ugh. Walk away quickly. And then the next time I found myself back in that office, however many months later, same colleague comes up to me and she's like, I'm going to become a teacher at the pole dancing studio. And I tho, I th. I literally, I literally, I literally, what? You can change your job? But I'm already unsuccessful at one job. Why shouldn't I be unsuccessful at two forever? It just started to percolate in my brain. I was like, again, I have no mental image of what this class is, but I found out that they did a once a week intro class for like 20 bucks, that you could go check it out. I. I. I. I. I. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi. thi. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th. I was always looking for a new way to burn calories,

still deeply anorexic at this point. The studio in which her friend went on and on about is called S factor. And so I went and I took the class and they took you through this workout that was sort of dancey, sort of yoga-ish. I remember being really unfamiliar in my body and I literally could not wrap my brain around what they were asking me to do to the point where I just like laid there and waited for the next move. And then at the end of it, they did the teacher demo. You know, everybody starts off in the intro class but we're going to show you where the movement can eventually go. And so they take the lights down. the. And their. And their. And their. their, their, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th. th. th. th. th. th. I, th. I, th. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, the, the, the, the, the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. their, the. the. I was, th take the lights down and I'm pretty sure it was like a song

by the prodigy so it was like boom boom boom boom boom I think it was smack my bitch up for some reason that's what I remember it as that might be apocryphal but. Side note here I'm gonna break in the video for Smack My Bitch Up by the prodigy is one of the greatest music videos ever. It's fun, it's texy. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. to be to be to be to be to be to bea. to be to be to bea. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea. to bea. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. toe. the. toe. toe. the. the. the. toe. toe. th and there is a fantastic twist at the end. But it is rather risque and you will not find it on YouTube, nor will you find it on MTV. For that matter, you won't find any videos on MTV. And for that matter, I don't even know if you can find MTV anymore. It is 24 hours of ridiculous. It is 24 hours of ridiculous.

It is ridiculous. 24 hours of ridiculousness reruns, which is a show I've never turned on. I couldn't tell you what it is. Getting of itself is ridiculous. But I think they played Smack My Bitch Up on TV too. The censored version, the uncensored version of Smack my Bits Up is remarkable. It truly is a great video. But don't watch it if you don't want to see nudity. If you do want to see nudity, thity, thi nudity, thi n n nn, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th- th- th- th- th- thi, thi, th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th- th-a, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, thi, thi, thr-s, thr-s. thr-s. thr-s. thr-sanananananananananananan. thr-s. thr-s. thr-s. thea. thea, the. you can watch it. It's one of the places on the internet that you can find nudity. Yeah. Wait, there's...

New the internet. Oh, Tyler, I have some stories for you. Chase my picture, smack my picture. And so this group of women did this dance and it was mesmerizing. It was utterly mesmerizing. It was utterly mesmerizing. Their movement was so fluid and yet they were so strong and it was so impressive. It was like looking into another world and I literally was like I will never ever be able to do even 10% of what I just witnessed, but boy it looks like fun to try. So I signed up and I got into it and eventually, many months down the road I slowly started

to pry my brain which had been vice-clamped on to an obsession with what my body looked like to starting to be excited by what my body could learn to do. And eventually she did become a pretty damned good pole dancer but that's not necessarily the only reason that's not necessarily the only reason that she stuck around S Factor. One of the good things about being at S Factor is all the people that I met there, like the sense of community, not just the teachers and staff members, but like the students. LA is a city where it's such a hard place to meet people, especially when you

first move here. And the fact that you could do go to the same class, same day and time every week, is it's the same group of people, so you start to get close to them. It became a very big part of my life. Look, I get it. I did CrossFit for a few years, and it gave me a great community as well as pretty good abs. And there are many who might claim the the the the the the the that the that's that's that's the that is culty. So remember, it's not just the group nor the exercise, it's typically the leader that pushes something into cultic territory. When I started these classes, like I said, it started just because I

thought it would be fun, but S-Factor had this sort of larger messaging attached to it where it was somehow mission-. I got to admit I knew nothing about pole dancing before this episode and I'm still a bit confused about this entire thing. It's just pole dancing right? You learn how to dance on a pole, maybe a lap dance on a chair or whatever. I don't know so how can there be messaging attached to something like that. So I think if I could explain a little better how the basic concept of a technical dance class turned into something that was very woo that then snowballed until it went completely off the rails is that

S-Factor's focus was never really on the pole trick part of the pole dancing. It was more about teaching you how to freestyle. From the very beginning the movement was sort of geared to getting you to kind of tune into what your body wants to do with however you walked in feeling today and whatever the song that's playing is making you feel how do you want to move. When the bass booms can you feel your body pushing through that base? And then you sort of take that into walking around the pole and walking across the room.

And then all of a sudden you stop yourself and you would say, you know, did you feel the teat, theymeat, the tree, to th.......... to feel, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their, their, their, their, their, their base. their ba. their, their, their, their, their ba. their ba. their ba. their ba. their. their, their. their, their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their ba. t t t t t t t t t to to to to to to to. to. to. to. to. t t t t t t t t to the side, did you feel like you could have gone a little further? Things like that, to sort of get you to an embodied movement and sensual in the sense of in touch with your five senses. What's the end goal? But it's because like, you're all adults. You're all just like, solving patriarchy. That's the end goal. Solving patriarchy.

thoeake. Like, how is this changing the patriarchy? There was no succinct explanation. It was a lot of word salad. But essentially, she's like, by helping you find your embodied power and your sensuality and your sexuality and having a better relationship with our bodies. Once every woman does S-factor, then the world will really change. Hey Tyler, you ever wonder what's going on in your cat's mind? I mean, not really. He just looks at me with a permanent stink eye, followed by, hey, pal, where's that ball of string?

I mean, that's the thing. If something's off with your cat, you'd never know. That's why I'm so excited about pretty litter. It's like a mood ring for cats. But pretty litter has ultra-absororbent crystals that trap odor instantly, so no more stinky cat bathroom smells. Thank the dog heavens! Yeah, and the crystals, they last up to a month, which means less scooping and less spying,

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Yeah, Lauren, you really need to tidy it up, sister. Now you might get laid. Hey! Why are we picking on on the cat's health and keeps odors down. You and your cat are going to love pretty litter as much as we do. So go to pretty litter.com slash in a cult and use code in a cult to save 20 percent on your first order and get a to free to t.. to to to to t. t. to t t t t t t t t t t t t to tidy to tidy to to tidy to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to tidy tidy to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to you to to t to t t t t t tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy tidy to to tidy tidy to to pretty litter as much as we do. So go to pretty litter.com slash in a cult and use code in a cult to save 20% on your first order and get a free cat toy. Yeah. Meow. That's pretty litter.com slash inault.coat.coe in a cult. Terms and conditions apply C-site for details.

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You know why men don't pole dance? Why is that? Because they prefer ballroom. Ball room. All right, now it seems like a good time to back up a bit and explore how this particular studio that Jessica found herself so entrenched in came to back up a bit and explore how this particular studio that Jessica found herself so entrenched in came to be. To start, the name S factor, why S factor? It's for the curve of the woman's body. It has nothing to do with it. It's the fact that it's the initial of the bitch who founded

it. And that particular person is, capital S, Sheila Kelly, an actress. Now mind you, she is somewhat accomplished as an actress. She was actually in singles. The Cameron Crow film, everyone's seen that movie. Remember the woman who was trying online dating, Debbie Hunt? You remember her? Oh yeah, I love that. It's a great scene.

She's only like the next Martin Scorsees. The woman who went in to get her online dating video done, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, thi, thi, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, that's that's thi. She's that's thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.aa. She's, thi. She's Course Seas. The woman who went in to get her online dating video done, That's her and she also did some other films you've certainly never heard of like mortal passions too to that too that to that too not yet. She also did 52 episodes of LA Law, 52 episodes where she played Gwen Taylor and don't ask me to tell you anything about that show because I never saw it. But I will play you the theme song because it's pretty bitchin'. Is that good or what? A little sexy saxophone coming in, starting it off. That's raspy. Yeah, that makes me want to work at a law firm. LA, circa 1989. Double-breasted suit, Paisley Tie, Porsche.

Quayloods are still in. Argyle socks. Two-tone Rolexes. Oh, once I get the kinks worked out in my time machine, I am going back. So the background story that I was told, Sheila Kelly is an actress. She made a movie where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where she. That that she. That that she. That that she. That that she. That that she. That that she. That that she was. That that she was. That that she was. That that. That that. That that that that that that that that that's that's. That's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. That's. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. background story that I was told, Sheila Kelly is an actress, she made a movie where she was going to be playing a stripper. And so as part of research for that movie, she went to some random strip club, like the middle of the day on a Wednesday or something, sat there and watched the women dance

and basically was like, this is so incredible and so beautiful, I have to share this with the world. This is all her telling, I have no idea. So she made this movie, it was called Dancing at the Blue Iguana. The film Dancing at the Blue Iguana from the year 2000, starred Darryl Hannah and is quote, a non-clamorous portrayal of the lives of people who make their living at a strip club. It's not worth watching. But here are a few seconds of the trailer, which is also not worth watching. Step inside the gloomy one where the music, the lights, and the women will overwhelm your senses.

That's where she learned to do the movement. She put up a pole in her house because she wanted to keep doing it. And her husband thought it was cool. And then all the other moms in the carpool wanted to learn what she was doing because they thought she was glowing. And it was all of her Hollywood friends. And one of the moms that was doing this with her was a well-known person who hadn't been in anything for a while, which was Terry Hatcher, who like six months later got desperate

housewives and went on this huge press tour and mentioned that she did S-Factor to stay in shape on Oprah and then Sheila was on Oprah. Sheila Kelly is back to show us how to work the pole. So you never want to move on the beat of the music. You don't... You never want to move on the beat. You want to go under the beat. You want to move through sensuality and stretching. Get the breasts out into the world, get that butt out into the world. You really want to be proud of this beautiful body that carries you through life. And then you know once the Oprah thing happened She opened a studio and that was what started the snowball

Really growing we're starting with a very popular technique called the S-factor created by actress Sheila Kelly the S-factor is Hollywood's hottest and sexiest fitness trend. Why is it called the S-factor? the S-factor after the shape of a woman's body? It has Poll work it has lap dances and it has all th has all th has all the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. ths the ths ths tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the the the tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho-s started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started started the s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s tho tho-sss tho-s tho-s tho-s tho-s, tho-s, tho-s, thoa, the s-s, the s-s, thoa-s, thoa-s thoa-s tho- called the S factor after the shape of a woman's body. It has pole work, it has lap dances, and it has all kinds of fun things for women to play with. It's incredibly empowering and confidence building. She wasn't the first person to the best of my knowledge. Was a woman from the Pacific Northwest named Fania, I think Mundi. I apologize. You are correct Jessica it is Fania Mundy which is a probably her real name however there is some debate

about whether she is actually the originator of the stripper pole being used for exercise and not as a way to put yourself through college. That was a joke but in actuality one and three strippers or exotic dancers I believe they prefer to be called is actually using the money to put themselves through college. Do your own research for that? How did you come up with that statistic? It is a small sample size, but it is actually one in three dancers. Paying for Arizona State University tuition, one dollar at a time.

Go sundevils. Also one in ten, exotic dancers is married. So, back to Fania. She was a stripper who started to teach strippers how to do better pole moves and it kind of took off from there. Sheila was one of the first ones in LA and definitely one of the more high-profile mainstream ones, but the industry took off as a workout method in the mid-Otots just as I was getting into it maybe a little bit before.

Okay, so I'll admit it has been a very long time since I've been in a strip club. Uh, yeah, since lunch? Okay, the lunch at the Wild Horse is actually pretty good. They have a 799 buffet. It's all you can eat meat loaf from 12 to 2. And I've never been to a pole dancing class. So what exactly happens at S Factor? Classes at the time were two hours. You start off with the warm-up anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour long. And then there's poll time.

Learning something new. You're practicing things that you've learned before that you haven't quite mastered yet. And then there's dancing, the beginners dance routine. You add in a poll trik trik trik tric tric tric tririririririririririri. t. to to to the. to th. th. th. the th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. to to to the to thi. to to to to to to to th. to to th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. I I I I I. I, I, I, I, I, I've th. I've th. I've th. thi. thin, the. the thea. thea. tea. tea. tea. tea. add in some stuff on the lap dance chair, but you're kind of repeating it over and over again, but always to like different music. The rooms are very dark, there's no mirrors, very unusual for a dance studio, which again was always described as a way to take away that sense of self-consciousness. It leads you to a place where basically you just put on a song and see what happens. The teacher is calling out the moves, but even though you can hear her, you're not really listening, right? Your body kind of gets into it.

She doesn't really need to use the brain anymore. They called it body-led movement. And the way that movement classes tend to do, you know, emotions come up when you're moving your body, which is a thing that can happen. Once you break away from dancing the routine, which happens somewhere around six-ish months in, then you start individual dances where you're bringing a song, you're putting on whatever clothes you want to wear, or just wearing the clothes you warmed up in, although that was kind of frowned upon. It was like, why aren't you putting more effort in to explore your erotic creature is what they called it. Okay, you'll hear this term erotic creature popping up throughout the rest of the episode. Please make note of it, because it's stupid. It is a stupid, stupid term.

Eventually you start bringing in things like the stripper shoes, the six inch and plus platforms. They would do like what they call play clothes assignments so that you're figuring out like to wear. And it could be anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi the the thi the the thi' the thi' their their their their their tho the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. I' the. I' te. I' te. I' te. I' te. I' te. I'e. I'e. te. te. te. te. te. t you're figuring out like what does your body like to wear. And it could be anything from like this week's assignment is like a bombshell, dress up like a bombshell. Again, you're always getting post dance feedback and you're constantly evolving because of a goal you have that separate blah blah blah, blah, no matter how hard and how long you do the work you never finish. There's no end goal. There's no graduation. No graduation. No end end. You just keep taking class, after class, after class. Now it is starting to sound culty. And Jessica, well she just wanted to learn how to dance, maybe burn some calories along the way, but at the same time the instructors were selling her on a better life. A better life through pole dancing. There are these threads th th thuards thuards thuards the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. No the the. No the the. No the. No the, no end the. No end the. No the. No the. No the. No the. No the. No the. No the. No th no th no th no th no th no th no th no th no th. No th. No, no th. No, no th. No, no th. No th. No th. No th. No th. No th. No the. No the. No the. No the. No the. No the. No the. No the. theateate. theateate. theate. the. theate. the. the. the. the. No the. No were selling her on a better life. A better life through pole dancing. There are these threads of truth that they're spinning into a whole cloth, right? And first you're sitting there and you're like, yeah, that makes sense.

That sounds good. And then there were things that could be used for negative because at the time it felt so positive. because at the time it felt so positive the first day of your beginner level one class. Everybody sits in a circle, but they'd be like, so you're gonna tell us your name and then tell us why you're here. And we would get the spectrum of, you know, my friend was taking class and told me about it and it sounded really fun

to, I'm here because Ithis way that feels and is really revealing and really vulnerable. And you instantly are kind of like, I have empathy for this human. I care so much. I'm so sorry that happened to you. You feel connected. And it was a term I was totally unaware of at the time is trauma bonding. Where right away you you you tha tha tha tha tha tha've all chosen to be in the same room at the same time. How does it slowly take over your life? It was made to seem like this is your only safe outlet for this and also you can't do without this, right? The world is so

against us as women, white women who can afford this class, that you just, you have to find this safe space where you can come... the same. the same. th th th th th th th th th th. th. th. th. th. th. T. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi. How is thi. How thi, how thi, how thi, how thi. How, how thi. How, how thi, how thi, how thi. How, how thi. How, how thi. How thi. How, how th. How, how th. How th. How, how th. How, how th. How, how th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thr. thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown is thrown is thrown is thrown is thrown is thrown is thrown is this class, that you just, you have to find this safe space where you can come. There was this thing where it was like, you know, I just, I can't go that long without dancing these emotions out of my body. If something major happened in my life, I'd be like, God, I have to get into the studio and dance it out. Nobody seems like is to be an actual stripper to go out into the world and make money from this. Yeah, I would get that question occasionally, like, do you guys get a lot of strippers here?

And the party line that I was given at the time was, well, no, you know, strippers are all about the external and we really like to go internal here and strippers don't like to go deep and confront their emotions so they're not comfortable taking our classes. I am so horrified that those words ever came out of my mouth. What a way to just further kick sand in the face of the people without whom there would be no pole dancing. We're de-stigmatizing it, which means we have to make sure that everyone's really aware that is a gigantic, fucking stigma around it. And it's it, and it, thi it, thi th, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, and stigma around it and it's the achy sex workers.

Hey y'all it's Savannah Chrisley and I've got a new podcast titled Unlocked. We're creating a space for people to truly be vulnerable. You're used to seeing me having to have this picture perfect bow on the life that I live and frankly that's not who I am. I'm a little wild, I'm a little crazy, and I love really, really hard. I really hope that you'll join me every Tuesday as I bring on friends, family, and some guests that I'm pretty sure you're going to recognize. Listen and follow unlocked now on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app. So Jessica, she's getting better at polling. Is that what they call it?

Polling? Probably polling. That's what I'll call it. And in her classes... I started as a student in 066 and then about six months in, as I was realizing that I just hated my casting job. It was just a grind. And right about that time, S-Factor put up to poster in the lobby that said, we're doing an evaluation for teacher training soon, where they were going to take you through your moves to see how you moved, and then they were said we're also also also also to to to take you through your moves to see how you moved, and then they said, we're also going to give you adjustments and we're going

to see how well you take correction. What the evaluation was was essentially a free class, and classes there were expensive as fuck. For eight classes, it was $440. I couldn't afford it at the studio. So let's answer the phone, fold the t-shirts, you donate a couple hours and you pay for half your class. And I was like, free class, fucking it. They're never gonna take me. I've only been here six months, but free class.

And so I went to the class, and that was one of the first times I saw Sheila, who's sitting in the corner'm like, bitch, everyone knows it's yo. Like, it's completely intimidating that you're here. But whatever, I did the class, and then I got an email from them a couple of days later, and they said, congratulations, we'd like to offer you a spot in teacher training. And my first response was like, no, you made a mistake. The fact that they wanted me. I mean, I've been auditioning by now, and all you get used to hearing is no and then there's somebody they're telling you yes we want you it was incredibly seductive. Did you know know why they picked you? I definitely looked the part like all of her teachers you know I was in the sight gag phase of my career I was a skinny little blonde

girl and so I thought well gee I hate my casting job and I barely make enough money to survive so what I should do is quit that that that that that th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th that th the that that that that the the th the the the the the the the the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the the the the the to the the an to the an theeeeeeeeeeeeeeee an thee the the the the my casting job and I barely make enough money to survive, so what I should do is quit that job and pay $4,500 for teacher training. And I have since learned illegal, because you're not allowed to charge someone to learn how to work for you. That's illegal in the state of California. She's actually correct, but of course at the time she didn't know that. And the purported wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins wins the thiii thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. to to to to to to thi. thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to too. too. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. tooooooooooooooo. to to to to to to the time she didn't know that. And the purported wins on the other side of teacher training were enticing. And after all, she was specifically chosen, remember, so she scraped together some checks, some credit card payments to rise in the ranks of S-factor. The student shall become the teacher. And we have arrived at teacher training.

Are you still here, Liz? You're still here. I just, I should go. I should go to bed. Yeah. You haven't had that hot bowl of soup yet. I do have this weird towel on my head though now. Feels good, it does feel good. Harris-Bueller's father was right. It was this big group. There was like 20 odd of us. The schedule for teacher training at that time was bonkers. It was three days a week.

The long day was like nine or ten hours, and the short days were six hours of physical training. Learning all the curriculum, learning all the the the the the the the the the the the the the the poll tricks, and then just mock teaching on each other. I don't know how I got through it physically except to say that like I barely did, and between teacher training and work study, I may as well have just set up a cot in the lobby, like I was there practically 24-7. It's just completely immersed in this world. Was it hard the physical th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thi, I thi, I thi. I thi. I'm thi. I'm thr. I'm thr. I'm toge. I'm toge. I'm th thr. I'm thr. I'm thrown thi. I'm thi. I'm thi.? Oh, utterly exhausting. And still had all of the issues around food, and so I was trying to get through this grueling schedule. But perhaps there is one silver lining to this experience. There was a day.

I realized I was lightheaded. I was so out of fuel that I was starting to feel like I might faint. And then my brain said, there's a Starbucks across the street, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, th, thi thi, thi, the street, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, was, was, was, was thi, was thi, was thi, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was th. Was, was thi, was thi, was thi, was thi, was thi. Was thi. thi. Was thi. Was thi. Was thi. Was thi. thi. Was thi. Was thi. thi. thi. Was thi. Was thi. Was thi. Was thi was starting to feel like I might faint. And then my brain said there's a Starbucks across the street you can get a sandwich there. And so I laid there for as long as it took me to try to decide if I was going to stay out loud to another human being that could hear me words that approximated, I need food because at the time I would rather have stripped naked in the middle of Wilshire Boulevard than th... th. th. th. th. You th. You th. You th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi. I tho, thi, thi. And, thi. I'm tho, the the the tho, the the the the the the, the the, the the, the the, the th. the th. th. th. th. I th. I, th. th. I, th, th, th, th, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thr. And, today, today, today, today, throwne. And, throwneeeeee. And, they. And, the thi. rather have stripped naked in the middle of Wilshire Boulevard than done that. You don't want to take Wilshire this time of day anyways. I would go up the San Vicente. It connects to Burton and then you get on the two. It'll hook right up to the 405.

Well, I don't know if you take the 405, then you're because like honestly the 10 at this time of day, it's reverse commute and like what better way to spend your day than that? Liz, Liz, Liz, you're sick. Tyler, you can't set me up for a Californian's impression and expect me not to magically appear for it. Bowl of soup, Liz. I know. Okay, I'm leaving. I'm leaving for good. I got up and I walked real quietly over to the trainer, I was sitting there, you know, watching,

and I just sort of whispered in her really quietly, and I said, I think I need to go get a sandwich at Starbucks and she was like, okay, just hurry back. And I was stunned. And I got my wallet out of my purse and walked across the intersection and got a sandwich and ate it and came back and rejoined the class. And I had this flash of thought, which is if you do not put more fuel in your body, you will not make it through this process. It will kill you. There was a day where I called my then boyfriend at the time in the studio, was literally

right next door to a jack in the box. And I called him from my cell phone. I was outside and I was sobbing about how badly I wanted to go next door and get a milkshake. And he was like, then go get the milkshake. She says then boyfriend, because this man, well, he sticks around and turns into something more. So yeah, something about the sandwich from Jack in the box was like sliding the paper under that I I that I th............ I I I I I I th. I, the, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, I, I, I, I, I, I the, I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I was, I th. I th. I was, I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin, thin, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thin, th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the th sandwich from Starbucks and the vanilla milkshake from Jack in the box was like sliding the paper under the door that I then used to slide the wedge under the door to start to pry it open. How did your eating

disorder evolve? It slowly started to ebb away as I realized that I needed more fuel in my body to physically do what I was asking it to do. Looking back on it, I the that. I the that. I th. I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I that, I the that, I the that, I the the the that, I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the that, the paper the paper the paper the paper the paper, the the paper, the the the the the the paper, the paper, the paper, the paper, the paper, the paper the the the the the the the the the the the the that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, the the the thate that, to physically do what I was asking it to do. Looking back on it, I replaced reluctance to eat anything with the teaching was definitely still a fair bit of compulsive exercising. I remember talking to my therapist at the time and being like, I wish I had a problem with alcohol so I could not go to the bar. Or I had a problem with drugs so I could not buy drugs, but you've got to fucking eat to eat it it it it it to to to to to to to to to to to to to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do it to do to to do to to to do to to to to the the the the the to do it. the thu to the thu to to to to to the to to to to the the. to theuk. to the the theuk. the the time and being like I wish I had a problem with alcohol so I could not go to the bar or I had a problem with drugs so I could not buy drugs but you've got to fucking eat your social life goes to shit when you never want to eat when other people are around. So much of our socializing revolves around food. I guess you find yourself a dance class. So 4500 bucks later many weeks of exhaustion and 38 pole burns on her inner thighs.

That may not be a thing, by the way. I just made it up. Jessica was hired as a teacher, an official S-factor teacher. And the reward for all of this? Well, it was pretty huge. If you got hired, you got a tank top that said the teacher across the back of it. I used to call to call to to to to the the the to the the to the the the th. I used th. I used the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to tho, to to to to thi. thi. to tho, tho, tho, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, tho, tho, Jessica, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. too too too too the too too too tooo tooooooooooooooooooooo. the. Soe. you got a tank top that said the teacher across the back of it. I used to call it my $4,500 tank top. And then there was a while where they started giving a pack of five tank tops to the people who taught at the front desk. And I was like, what the fuck? I had to pay. I got one.

And I paid $4,500 for it. She's getting paid and you gave her five? I was so upset about it. And the other teachers are looking at me like you should really be over the tank top thing by now and I was like I'm still paying it off I'm not over it yet. So how much were you getting paid? So the beginning rate for teachers was $65 for a two-hour class. As I was there at the company longer and longer not only did the price of training train train train train the train thane the tha th. I th. I th. I th. I the the. I the. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I was the the the the theck. I was the thea' the. I was thi. I was the. the. thoes. thoes. thoes. th. th. th. th. th. I was the th. I was the th. I was the th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was. I was the. I was the. I was te. I was tode. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was today. I was there at the company longer and longer, not only did the price of training creep up, I think it was $5,000 in change by the time I finished, but the teachers salary got whittled down and down and down. I think by the time I finished, it was like 40 bucks a class. It might even have been 35.

How many classes a week? I used to sub my ass off, so I would average between between to ten classes a week. You guys gonna help me do the math on this one? She's teaching ten classes a week at $65 a class times 52? Anyone? It's about 30,000 dollars. Thank you, Stephen, our executive producer. $30,000 a year.

A scant, $30,000 a year she's making. Yeah, we're still struggling to get by. Liz. You would be very proud of me I am refraining from the very obvious stripper jokes. Good boy, Tyler, good boy. Thanks, Liz, conscience. Okay, so Jessica was now a full-blown teacher, as evidenced by her very expensive tank top. She was moving up the ranks and like everyone, hoping to impress the Queen B. Sheila was almost never there, even though she had an office upstairs from the LA Studio,

they cut up the corporate office, which she later rebranded as the mother ship. What was she so busy doing? Keeping herself exclusive. Sometimes she would leave for acting jobs, but from what I understand in the business, she has a reputation of being who she is, which is a complete pain in the ass to deal with. For the bulk of the time that I worked there, she had a recurring role on Gossip Girl

because her best friend was the showrunner. And th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi thin, thithat I worked there, she had a recurring role on Gossip Girl because her best friend was the showrunner, and then she got a role on The Good Doctor playing the wife of her actual husband, who was the second lead on that show. Yeah, well, don't forget the wonderful role she had in the film's Blind Justice and Bloodworth. I still enjoy watching those on VHS the way the Good Lord and Blockbuster intended. Rest in peace. I don't think I ever returned Bloodworth. She got a several episode arc on Lost, which my husband was super into and he got me into. Oh my god. Spoiler alert, her character gets her throat cut, and I've never teared so loud for a television program.

I'm sorry, it's such a bitchy thing to say. When did you first meet her? The first time I felt like I met her for real is I was still in teacher training and one of the teacher trainers was having a pool party at her house on the West Side and Sheila and her husband came by and Sheila she used to do this th... th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. It th. It to do to do th. It was to do to do th. It was to do to do to do th. I to do to do to do to do to do to th. I was the. I thi. I was to th. I was th. I was thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's, th-s. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. I th. I th. I to be to be to be to be th. I, th. I, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, the. I, the. I'm theat theat theat theat theat theat theat thr-I. thr-I. I'm theat theat Sheila and her husband came by and Sheila used to do this thing it was a big part of S-Factor is you would eventually get to a point where you were doing free dance and she would read your body and tell you what your body was trying to say that you were unable to say. They called it your erotic creature. So I had had an experience where Sheila was body reading us as trainees. And whatever song I had brought to dance to,

it quote unquote wasn't working for my body, right? I wasn't freely flowing through this movement. I was really stiff and I wasn't finishing my movements. And what she told me to do was to dress up like a Catholic school girl and to bring back no doubt song, I'm just a girl. Pigtails, plaid skirt, the works.. And so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so, and so I. And so I, and so I, and so I, and so I, and so I, and so I, and so I, and so I, and so I, and so I was, and so I was, and so I was, and so I to to to to, and so I to to to to to to to to to to, to, to, to, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the the the the the to, the the the the the the the the the the to, the to, to, to, to, to to to to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, the just a girl. Pigtails, plaid skirt, the works. And so I did because she was this wise person who created this movement. Sounds quite empowering.

Definitely crushing the patriarchy with that outfit choice. That's I'm doing that. Liz were here, that's what she'd say. But look, in the early 90s, the So Cal rock genre had a few really good songs and I'm just a girl thia thia thia thia.... the th. th. I th. I th. I the th. I th. I th. I to th. I to the th. I to the th. I the th. I'm to the the to to to to the that. I'm to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the work. And the work. And the work. And the work. And I the woed. And I th. And I. And I. And I. And I. And I. And I. And I. And I. And I. And I. And I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I'm. I'm. I'm to. I'm to. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm today. today. to. today. to. th. I'm. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. the So-Cal rock genre had a few really good songs, and I'm just a girl as one of them. I listen to the morning, you get pumped up. But if you really thought that this song aligns with cutesy pigtails and a plaid skirt a la Brittany Spears, oops, I did it again, then you don't at all understand what the song is about. When Stefani should smash you in the face, Sheila.

Oh, I was just not in the tongue. And I was so mortified by the outfit I was wearing and I hated the song. That is just not me. And they have this big armchair that they used for lap dances. It's called the lap dance chair. And I was so embarrassed, I literally tried to crawl under the lap dance chair to like curl up in the fetal position and hide.

And when I finished, she was like, it looked like you were trying to hide. And I was like, yeah, I fucking hate this or something I'm sure I didn't say it that forcefully. But the lore around the studio is Sheila always reads everybody's bodies perfectly. And so I bounced up to her dumb little naive bunny rabbit at this social party and was like, yeah and she read my body wrong. She had no idea what I want. Isn't that funny? Ha ha? And I bounced away and I probably put a target on my back in that exact moment that never fell away because I dared to to to ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch to this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this th. this this this this th. th I this this th I this th. I this this this the the this thi thi. I thi. I thi. I this the thi. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the theck. I cauc. I canauc. I canaucolucing. Ic. Ic. Ic. I canc. Ic. Ic. Ic. I can't teck. I woeck. I the target on my back in that exact moment that never fell away Because I dared to challenge her publicly About her supposed genius and I had no idea like it came back to me?

Because I was trying to put it together. I was like, why does she fucking hate me? But for years Jessica stayed dancing and teaching as her personal life continued to evolve. A couple years into teaching, my husband and I got married, and then five years after that, we had my son, and I absolutely had plenty of moments of true believerhood, but I think I always had just enough of like some body part touching the edge of the pool in case I suddenly felt like I needed to get out. Um, that being said, I didn't for a very long time. Oh, just one more lap.

What? I'm already wet. One more lap. But something was still off for Jessica. I mean, didn't she have another dream? What about her modeling and acting? It had taken a back seat right before her eyes. It seems the promises that S-Factor had made weren't being delivered. What I started to realize was that like, say all the actresses that I knew at the studio, they weren't booking series regular gigs. All the people who were writers weren't suddenly getting their screenplays option, right? Like people at S-Factor, nobody was suddenly having everything in their life.

But it was like that thing where it's just over the horizon. If only you would surrender a little bit more to what I want you to do. And well, that's what cults do, just a little more, just a little longer, and soon what Sheila wanted them to do was no longer just come into the studio. So initially it was just classes and then teacher trainings. And then it started in 2009, she took one teacher to Scotland to a Tony Robbins event because when you think you're a feminist thought leader, who you really reallyto align yourself with is the super non-problematic for women Tony Robbins. Self-help guru Tony Robins is being accused of sexual misconduct.

Former female staffers and followers have accused him of inappropriate sexual advances and two other former assistant said Robins expected them to work alone with him while he was naked or in the shower. Super cool! As a not cool guys, damn my snarky is just not good enough. It's not snarky enough. Come on, Tyler. Come on, Tyler. Remember what Liz said? Remember what Liz said? You're doing great. You know when you get nervous, just look in the mirror, run your fingers through your blonde locks a few times and say, I'm a man. I'm a man. I'm a man. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th th th th th th th th th th th the the the the the the the the the their their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th th th. th thi thi the thi t tha tha tha tip tip tipe tipe tipe tipe tipe than than' than' than' than' than' than' than' than' times and say, I'm a man. I'm a man. I can do anything. I can do anything. Great. OK, Tony Robbins and Sheila. And this is where it stopped looking like class. So they started doing these retreats, and she would take a group of teachers.

The retreats would be anywhere from San Diego to New Orleans to the coast of South Carolina. I was never asked to go. It was always the inner circle that started to coalesce around these retreats. But she would really get into people who want to go deep with me are going to come to these retreats. And by go deep we mean pay $5,000 just for the content. Like if you have to get a plane, it doesn't include that. If you have to get the hotel, it doesn't include that. I was like, honey, my last big vacation was with my husband, was with my husband.

We went to South America for a week and a half. It cost us $4,000. And I got to have sex with my husband for that whole week and a half. Like, what are you trying to sell me, girl? Honest to God! No word on whether or not she got a tank top with her South American trip. So the retreat started in 2009. I finally got asked to teach one in 2016, and I was like, I've been just proved prove that I can be a good little soldier soldier thol on the inside of this thing and she will start bringing me on these retreats more regularly and I'll get to go some of the cool places like Hawaii and Jamaica. I was like the money opportunities must be at these retreats because if you're working

for five days you must get paid for five days right and you're getting a whole $500 stipend for it. Also illegal it's not minimum wage. And then they are working these students from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Which means they're working the staff from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Oh yes, just another instance of a group, skirting labor laws by paying stipends. Stephen, you're a smart man who handles business. Stipens, legal or no? They can be legal under the right circumstances.

And those circumstances are? When they are due to the employee or the contractor named on the dotted line. Sexy. Yes, stipends are typically reserved for interns, apprentices, clergy. Usually it's a way to cheat people. Yeah, usually it's a way to cheat people. The first morning I was there for the big group talks. They called them Sheila talks. And of the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thus th. thus thus thus thus. thoes thoes thoes thi. thi. S. S. S. Sipes. Sipe, th. Sipe, th. S stipends th. S stipends thoen thi. S stipends thi. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. thi. t. t. tipe. st. st. st. st. st. st. st. st. st. st. st. t. S. t. S. S. S. S. S I was there for the big group talk, they called them Sheila talks. And of course we want our listeners to experience a bit of the Sheila talk too. This particular one is entitled The Three Languages Your Body Speaks. The body is a living, breathing, thinking, feeling genius.

As I said before, we just need to shut up and listen to what the body is saying. So emotion is the language that the body is the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the shut up and listen to what the body is saying. So emotion is the language that the body speaks through as well as sensuality and movement. Those are the three languages that the body speaks. The three languages my body speaks are hungry, bloated and full. And when's dessert? It's all that meatloaf. Mmm, how you got me hungry again. We all that meatloaf. Mmm. How you got me hungry again? We are definitely getting meatloaf. I think Liz needs a meatloaf care package

delivered to her home? Yes, let's bring Liz a feel-better meatloaf bouquet. Here's the problem though. We're in Beverly Hills and there's at least 50 great meatloaf places here. Yeah and we're hitting all of them. For meatloaf hopping today folks. Let's see if we get a meatloaf sponsor. I had been told by the head of the teacher training department you're staffing the room. So what does that entail? And she's like, well you just stand in the back and if you see anybody start to have an emotional reaction, you're gonna go over and help move them them them them them th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the back and if you see anybody start to have an emotional reaction, you're going to go over and help move them through it. The studio called these moments shatterings and Sheila swears up and down it is physiological. It is muscles in the body releasing as you are having some sort of emotion being processed

through your body. And they had a protocol for helping people through shatterings and it was like let them know you're there place your hand on their shoulder you know speak to them in a soft voice and then you're supposed to try to get their body moving because if someone is standing there and they're starting to cry you don't want to let them collapse into a puddle or far worse, like a seizure or something. Everyone is standing and doing some kind of exercise with Sheila and she's talking to people about the patriarchy and the emotions in their body and some bullshit. There are ten iconic body emotions that form and shape us and that move through us.

We have hundreds, if not thousands of words for them, but they all distill down until these 10 physiological emotional energies. And so my team lead taps me on the shoulder, part way through this first morning talk, and she points to a woman. And I go over to this woman, and I place my hand on her shoulder, and I'm like, hi, I'm here. Can you take a deep breath with me. And this woman said, I am a world famous medical specialty that she stated.

People keep coming to me because they think I can save them and they just keep dying. And what I had to offer this woman was deep breaths and hip circles. And I knew in that moment I don't fucking belong here. I have no business attending to this woman in this moment. And you up on the stage have no business putting her in this moment. Again, you're teaching a dance class. And that was the very first morning. And then it was, I think, the second to last afternoon. I was like, I'm gonna go see what's going on in the ballroom.

They're doing some kind of activity. And all of these women were doing the emotional the emotional, the emotional, the emotional, the emotional, the emotional, the emotional, the emotional, the emotional, th., thio, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, have no tho, have no tho, have no thus thus, tho- tho, tho, have no tho, tho- tho- tho- thus thus thus thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, thus, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, I tho, I tho, tho, tho, tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho thoo tho tho tho tho thoo tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the second to last afternoon. I was like, I'm gonna go see what's going on in the ballroom. They're doing some kind of an activity. And all of these women were doing the emotional, moving, and dancing. But what they had taken, this kind of like white tape that you put on your body and then you wrote on it, whatever the injury was to that part of your body. Again, what dance class class class asked you. And I saw a student who I knew, and she had a piece of tape literally across her pelvis that said it hurts, and she was sobbing. And I just sat there and I was just like, what is this dumb bitch actress who read a book think she's doing. She has no background in any

movement modality, let alone trauma awareness, let alone any kind of psychology. She has no background. She claims that she's done all this research and that she's self-taught because she's a voracious reader. Bitch, you don't know. And so got home from the weekend, and my brain was ricocheting around my skull with the things that I had seen her do and how inappropriate they were. And I called one of my friends, a fellow teacher,

who'd been on a lot of the retreats at that point, and I was like, can I come over, and can we just have some tea and can we talk? Because my head is spinning from this weekend and I'm trying to process it. I drove her house. And I said to her, based on what I saw this weekend, I cannot believe the extremely invasive psychological shit that Sheila is doing to these people, whether or not they thought they agreed to it.

I cannot believe there haven't been psychotic breaks, and my friend's response to me was there have only been five. And that's when I found out about the 5150 holds, the people who were hospitalized against their will for 72 hours. Remember when Britney Spears got taken away? That was a 5150 hold. 5150 hold. This is not to be confused with the Van Halen album 5150, which for our avid listeners there is a cult theme song in that album. No, the 5150 hold originated simply from the section number of a California state law that pertains to the involuntary treatment of quote mentally disordered people. This allows certain professionals to initiate a 72-hour observation period

for mentally distressed individuals in approved facilities. It allows emergency holds to be placed to be placed to initiate a 72-hour observation period for mentally distressed individuals in approved facilities. It allows emergency holds to be placed on anyone who is a danger to themselves or others. Now the primary reason this law is somewhat known is because in 2008 during a tumultuous period in Britney Spears life she was placed on lockdown for a mental evaluation after the pop star locked herself in a room with one of her children at her LA home and refused to hand him over to ex-husband Kevin Fetterline. It's quite a serious action to evoke the 5150 hold so if that was

used on anyone following one of these erotic creature retreats. Well, they must have been doing some serious shit there. And as far as I know, yeah, at least five people, I know people are locked away behind NDAs and aren't allowed to tell their story because they got paid to shut up and go away. There's just enough about this out there on the internet, or at least there was until shit really went haywire. And so my resolution at resolution the thue thue the thue thue thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thus thus thu- thus thus thus thus thus. And thus. And thus. And thus. And thus. And thus. And thus. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. I th. I thi. I the. I the. I thus, thus, I thus, I thus, I thus, thus, I thus, thus, I thus, I thus. I the. And, and so my resolution at the time was I'm never teaching it a retreat again but I will still stay here and I will still teach class because class is fine, class is nice, I don't do fucked up shit in my class. Pretty shortly after the retreats became a regular thing like people started talking about,

is this getting culty? Is Sheila making a cult inside of S-Factor? Well, well, well, the cult starts to rear its ugly head. But you figured that would happen, I mean, this being a show about cults and all. And I know we end it just when it's starting to get good. Great. But we will be back next week with the pole dancing cult climax. And Liz will be back as well cured of her crippling illness. So I can go back to my safe space of male rock and useless facts. Speaking of which, did you know the traditional pole dancing originates from two specific traditions, Chinese pole and Indian pole. Malikum

is the name for an ancient Indian sport that dates back to the 12th century. It involves performing aerial yoga and gymnastics on a wooden pole or cane. There was no cover charge. And that's all for this week. Here is a clip of next week's Jessica, part two, where the cult gets culty and culty and then cultier. And we walked into the big studio and there were three dudes sitting in the lap dance chairs. Each of us was in front of a guy in a chair.

And she's like, these are A men. These are evolved men. They celebrate the feminine. We had no idea what their credentials were. And I sat there, and I didn't know what I was going to do, sitting in front of this dude I've never seen before, and we were supposed to dance for them. We heard was Ina Colt would like to thank Carly de Daunder. She's a fan of the show, and she sent us some fine samples of her salts, sugars, and

peppers. It's called Noble Smokeworks. My favorite is a whiskey-barreled smoke salt. You can find it at Noble Salt.com and keep barbecuing. Can add it to Meatloaf. And thank you to Kelsey Connolly, Cora, Peeb, and Kendall Smith. These are our newest Patreon supporters. And thank you to all our Patreon supporters. Your support really helps us, we are grateful. That meatloaf doesn't pay for itself. And thank you to all our Patreon supporters. Your support really helps us. We are grateful. That meatloaf doesn't pay for itself. Was I and a Colt is written hosted and produced by me, Tyler, the Hook and Arch Miesom and Liz shoulder rolled dismount, Iacuzzi,

sound design and edit by Rob Slinky Cat. I'd like being the Slinky Cat. If you haven't guessed it, these are whole dancing terms. Oh, I thought you just just kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind kind to just just just just just just just just just just just just just just just to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the to the the to the the to to to to to to to to the the the to to to to to to to to to the meat. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to to the to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. tho. the the. the the. the theat. the. the. tho. the. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. tho. to. the slinky cat. If you haven't guessed it, these are pole dancing terms. Oh, I thought you just kind of noticed the way I was threatening the room this morning. Yeah. Our social media is done by Shannie Gemini-Plank Payton. And our executive producer is Stephen, the one-handed split-heel pose, Labram. Labra. You don't want to know why I have to the the tha th Para, and our video engineer is Gabby, Bow and Arrow

rap, so let's wrap it up, bitches. Bitches. I don't either, that's right. That's a Liz thing. Let's not say bitches. Wrap it up