A former exotic dancer finds her voice and tells her story

Christine Macdonald lived a drug- and booze-fueled fast life as an exotic dancer in Waikiki, Hawaii in the 1980s and 90s. Before you think that you can't relate to her life, think again: Christine's story is one of survival, struggling with feeling "less-than," craving acceptance and fighting to fit in. She says you have a lot to learn from a story like hers.Christine Macdonald is the author of Face Value: From Working the Pole to Bearing My Soul (2022), a memoir that, with characteristic humor and biting truths, chronicles her life working as an exotic dancer—and the childhood and teenage traumas she was running from. Christine was diagnosed with a rare, severe skin disease called acne congloblata at age 13, which left over 80% of her face scarred. The trauma she endured in her young life led her to the underground world of adult entertainment where Christine spent nearly a decade trying to find her self-worth.Her work has appeared in Salon, The Good Men Project, and Anaheim Examiner, among other publications.In this interview, Dave and Christine explore:How the initial "vanity project" that was telling her story evolved into an opportunity for real healingWhy stage work appealed to someone who was overcoming traumas and chronic feelings of powerlessness and rejectionThe power of personal therapy to guide her healing journey, which allowed Christine to finally tell her storyPlease rate and review our show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to help other listeners find our work!Want to get in touch? Leave us a voicemail Support our partners and affiliates for exclusive discounts:Fathom Analytics: Get beautiful, secure website data without trading your customers’ private browsing data to Google and FacebookFlywheel: Seamless WordPress website hosting on US-based serversHover: Register domains with ease. Save $2 on your first purchaseMailerLite: A lite, powerful, affordable email marketing platform with premium plans starting at just $9/mo.Sanebox: Take back your inbox with machine learning to automatically organize your emails. Save $5 when you join.Trint: Turn recordings of meetings, calls, and interviews into transcripts with 99% accuracy.Affiliate Disclosure: Our show is listener supported through affiliate and partner links. By clicking one of the above links and registering or making a purchase, we may earn a small commission, which helps pay for the costs of our show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.