Episode 157 : Jessica Hopper

Life After MLM

Roberta Blevins

Society & Culture, Education

4.4 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2023

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

*This episode involves discussion of sex work, sexual assault and racism. Please use discretion when listening.* Jessica Hopper was introduced to pole fitness in the mid 2000's when she stumbled upon S Factor Studio and quickly became an instructor. Throughout her 14 years with the studio, Jessica witnessed countless abuses of power at the hand of the company's founder, Sheila Kelley. With compartmentalization and focusing on her students, Jessica trudged on until the company's reaction to the murder of George Floyd and the BLM movement couldn't keep her silent any longer. Show Notes: Stripped Down: The Undoing of Hollywood’s Favorite Pole-Dancing Studio - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hollywood-pole-dancing-studio-s-factor-allegations-1234961498/ A wildly popular pole dancing studio "irresponsibly preyed on women’s pain," a former instructor says - https://www.mic.com/life/the-s-factor-studio-is-facing-allegations-of-exploitation-racial-insensitivity-81080002 Not-So-Empowering: This Hollywood Pole Dance Studio Reportedly Caused 'Direct Harm' to BIPOC Women - https://www.theroot.com/not-so-empowering-this-hollywood-pole-dance-studio-rep-1847025002 Navigating the Cult-Like World of Fitness Classes, Self-Help Guides, and Groupthink - https://www.shondaland.com/live/body/a36832001/navigating-the-cult-world-fitness-self-help-groupthink/ Netflix's pole dance therapy film "Strip Down, Rise Up" exploits trauma & is fixated on male gaze - https://www.salon.com/2021/02/15/strip-down-rise-up-netflix-pole-dance-trauma-feminism/ Yes A Stripper Podcast - https://yesastripperpodcast.com/ Out of MLM - https://outofmlm.info/ Cultish by Amanda Montell - https://amzn.to/3Q7owx9 Dr. Steven Hassan's BITE Model - https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model/ Ponzinomics by Robert L. FitzPatrick - https://amzn.to/3q16oJb How can you help? Report false income and health claims here: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ Or go to: https://www.truthinadvertising.org You can also report to your state Attorney General's office! https://www.naag.org/find-my-ag/ Not in the U.S.? Go here: https://www.ftc.gov/policy/international/competition-consumer-protection-authorities-worldwide Support the Podcast! Join the Patreon! - https://www.patreon.com/robertablevins Buy me a Taco and leave a note! 🌮💖 - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robertablevins Follow on TikTok for Anti MLM content, education, and humor! - https://www.tiktok.com/@bertalikewhoa Follow on Instagram for visual show notes, FAQ, and updates! - https://www.instagram.com/lifeaftermlmpodcast/ Like on Facebook and join our show fan page to jump in on the conversation! - https://www.facebook.com/lifeaftermlmpodcast *Some links may be affiliate links. When you purchase things from these links, I get a small commission that I use to buy us tacos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Robert of Lovins, and this is Life After Emolim, a podcast where we worked
0:10.0	and the stigma of failure in an industry systemically designed for you to fail.
0:14.6	Join us as we dive into the real life stories of survivors, experts, and advocates
0:21.3	to debunk the common myths and fallacies of colts, scams, and multi-level marketing.
0:27.0	Hey, Hunbots and Hunbrows. It has been such a week and I am so happy to be sitting down and
0:38.4	recording this housekeeping for you guys. I don't know how the weeks just like keep zooming by it's it's really just it's wild you know it's just
0:46.4	wild. This episode was really great but I wanted to give you a heads up there was like I
0:51.6	really tested my editing skills because there was like a weird
0:54.4	audio like when it recorded back the two tracks were so different and so I did my very best to equalize them separately
1:02.3	so it took me a really long time. This is probably one of the hardest. very best to equalize them separately.
1:02.6	So it took me a really long time.
1:04.0	It's probably one of the hardest audio editing,
1:07.3	but it was actually really cool and challenging
1:09.2	and I think I did a pretty good job.
1:10.9	No, you know, like no fault of anybody's. It just it was weird when it recorded. But yeah, I had to really like pull out the big guns and like be super editor for the week and like learn like, learned something new.
1:24.0	It was really cool.
1:25.4	So a couple trigger warnings on this episode.
1:28.0	We do talk about the Pole Fitness Club S Factor and sort of the rise and fall of that.
1:35.0	And so in that we talk about a lot of different topics
1:38.4	that are kind of heavy and might be hard for people.
1:41.2	And again, if you get that little bit of feeling where you're like this makes
1:44.1	me uncomfortable skip it come back to it later I think it's an important topic but not everybody's
	...

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