Diving Deep with PAIGE SAVAGE
Updated: Nov 25, 2022
INTERVIEW BY MOLLY SIMMONS
Paige Savage has made her mark all across the country—in education, corporate America, as a content creator, body builder, and an elusive luxury companion. She’s strong, whip-smart, and offers an insight into the industry that is both deeply down-to-earth and compassionate. Petit Mort sat down with her to talk her latest ventures, personal healing, community building, and navigating the industry as a Black and Indigenous woman.
PETIT MORT (MOLLY SIMMONS)
To get started I was hoping maybe you could tell me a bit about you and your journey in the industry, and where you’re at right now.
PAIGE SAVAGE
I’ve technically been in the industry off and on since 2009. I started as a sugar baby in college. I didn’t really know what this world entailed. I was very ignorant of the bigger picture around it, or just how big of a world it is, and how there’s so many groups under this huge umbrella. Then I stopped sugaring when I went to grad school and I was on this whole “respectable” path and everything.
As someone who used to work in education, I was very passionate about it.. But something they don’t tell you is you’re choosing a life of poverty. My first job post-masters, the initial offer was $35,000. And I had to fight to get to $36,000. So while doing that I went back on Seeking Arrangement. You know how IG has its private communities and stuff? Well, I started talking to some people there and there was a provider that I met through there who told me maybe I should look into escorting. “Just go all the way.” She told me she had never seen someone who looks like me. At the time I was, I would argue, what people would call a “true” BBW. And I thought, “let’s give it a whirl.”
At the time, I was seeing somebody who was basically a client and I told him what I was fixing to do. He was really supportive about the whole thing, and he actually gave me my initial startup costs. Nothing was asked for in return, no extra time, nothing. That’s how I dipped my toe in. And then I worked in Dallas for a couple years under an old work name—I decided to change it because it just wasn’t me.
I had built a persona that I think was trying to be all the things I’m not—playing class politics and trying to not only overcompensate because I’m bigger, but overcompensate because I’m Black and I’m Indigenous, etc. So I decided to come back into the industry through OnlyFans, and I realized I was leaving a lot of money on the table. And on top of that, I just liked the autonomy.
In 2019, I left education, fully left the industry, and went into corporate. I worked in corporate America and actually really liked it. But then the pandemic hit in 2020. And that’s when I thought, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t sit on Zoom all the time. So I left in late November 2020, and then started doing sex work full time as a content creator on OnlyFans and then full service escorting.
PM
Wow. So your persona now – do you feel like it’s truer to who you are as a person?
PS
It’s much more authentic to who I am. But to get to that place took a lot of therapy. A lot of therapy. I think a lot of us “hoes” talk about our struggles and whatnot. And ironically, I did a natal chart reading months ago, and I found out that my Chiron is in Leo. Super fresh Leo. And she told me, you’ve really struggled with feeling inadequate a lot, haven’t you? And I was like, “oh my god, say less.” When she told me that it just reaffirmed all these other things that I have been learning about myself in therapy. So yes, my persona now is much more authentic to who I am. It’s refined. And of course it’s authentic with an asterisk, right? Like, you’re not getting all of me. I’m not putting it all on the table. But for the most part what you see is what you get.
PM
So how do you navigate deciding what you share with clients, what you share on Twitter and on OnlyFans? What parts of yourself do you keep private?
PS
I go with what feels right – kind of an intuitive thing. I try to look at it like—if I share this? Is it really gonna bite me in the ass? If I feel like it will, then I won’t share it. When I think about certain things—like my fitness journey I’ve been on and this pursuit of trying out bodybuilding, I think it’s totally fair to share and it’s an important piece of who I am now., It is part of the reason I’m in such a good place. Not only physically, but mentally. My well being is just something I’m super passionate about. And to some extent, and maybe this is something else I need to unpack, is as a bigger person there’s this need to validate. Just because you’re bigger doesn’t mean you’re unhealthy. Unfortunately, I work in an industry where all they can see is me and what I put out there, so I guess in another way I’m playing class politics, for better or for worse. I digress. I ask myself, does it intuitively feel good? Do I feel like I’m oversharing? If I don’t get the negative vibe that I am, then I just share it. In terms of clients, though, in general I would argue I’m actually a very private person. More so than people think. I think I’ve found a really great line of having people feel like they know so much about me. But in reality, it’s like, no, you don’t know, there’s so much you don’t see.
WHEN YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWING GOES UP OR AS YOU START POSTING MORE EXPERIENCES, PEOPLE HAVE THIS NOTION THAT IT’S ALL YOU ARE.
PM
Where’s your Scorpio placement?
PS
You know what, honestly, I can’t remember. But it’s a nice one. I felt like it was nice when she told me.
I think there’s an allure in being slightly elusive. I’ve also built it into my branding of being slightly “enigmatic.” It’s something where I’m going to give you just enough to be like, “she seems cool. She seems interesting.” But if you really want to get to know me, you’re gonna have to book me. The other reason why I’ve really tried to find where that line is for me is because I’ve watched so many relationships in this industry implode. I don’t want to sound jaded, but I think we have to allow people to earn our trust. I think we have to realize that just because I’m a provider and person B is a provider doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to mesh. I guess I’m slightly jaded in that regard. I’m that provider who kind of does their own thing, kind of stays to themselves now. That’s another reason why I’ve tried to toe the line on what I share and what I don’t share.
PM
I think that’s good. That’s about having good boundaries, right? I don’t have to give every part of myself up at all times.
PS
For me, the fitness stuff is not only personal, but it’s also business, which is why I feel comfortable sharing it. I’m hoping to start another business. And that’s personal, but it’s also business. Fitness is something I feel comfortable sharing, but in terms of my actual personal life, people wouldn’t know unless you actually know me.
PM
I think as sex workers, especially, it’s important to find community among other sex workers. But you’re right, just because you’re a sex worker, and I’m a sex worker doesn’t mean that we’re gonna be best friends. There’s also a difference between standing in solidarity with you versus being your best friend. Those are two different roles.
PS
Yep. I think for me the other aspect is I needed a hard and fast boundary. When I did put myself out there a lot—I didn’t get burned but got frustrated with the conversation centering around work 24/7. I want to have friendships outside of the industry, with people who aren’t in my industry, where I’m learning more about your business which is different from mine and that for me feels so much more fulfilling. Because we’re talking about different things all the time, and the conversations are uber productive. And that’s not to say conversations were not productive with other providers, it’s just in my experiences, it felt like there was always some under layer of competition, and I really just didn’t want that anymore. I didn’t want that pressure of wondering if I’m good enough to be sitting at this table. Am I only sitting at this table because I’ve reached what people may think is success, because, for better or for worse, when your social media following goes up or as you start posting more experiences, people have this notion that it’s all you are. Doors previously closed are now open. There was something about it that just felt inherently gross.
PM
Twitter and social media are such a small and specific facet of the sex industry and sex working communities. I have found that what goes on on Twitter can be very toxic. So I focus on maintaining relationships outside of the social media sphere.
PS
Yes. For me therapy’s been a big thing, understanding what my boundaries are, and how I implement those. On top of that, I’m learning that I also have a competitive streak. For me, competitiveness has been one of my toxic traits, which has been great in athletics and in other aspects of my life. But when it comes to sex work, you got to learn how to pump the brakes. I just recently started getting back involved with my community here in Minneapolis with with fellow sex workers. It’s been interesting because it’s a totally different vibe. This time it’s healthier – it’s just me and this is what I’ve got going on. If you need help, cool, I’m here for you. If not, great.
PM
So you are in Minneapolis—I also noticed your Twitter posts about water being sacred, and you mentioned earlier that you were Indigenous. Are you involved in any of the pipeline protests or the water protectors?
PS
So talk about aspects of my life that I don’t share, right? Advocacy work is important for me. But it’s not something that I put to the forefront because I feel like that will take away from it. Oftentimes people hear what I do for work and then the conversation shifts from what is important to what I do for work. So I do advocacy work, but I choose to do it in a way that is much more quiet. Since I’ve gotten older I’ve always preferred to be in the background rather than the foreground. I’m at a point where I don’t need the lights, the camera, the action. Which I’m really thankful for. But yes, I am Indigenous and water is super important to me. It amazes me how out of touch people are with how important water is. Think about it, it is the basis of human life, our bodies are primarily water. It’s how we’re created and how we’re formed in a woman’s womb. Water is so innately a part of us and we’re so blasé about it.
I think the other reason I get so fired up about it is because we’re getting to a point now specifically – I can’t speak for other countries, because I’m not well versed in Indigenous issues in other countries. But in the United States we have signed over 350 treaties, and have broken every single one of them. With my particular nation, my tribe, we have treaty rights, and we also have treaty rights that give us off-reservation rights. And part of that means if the things these corporations are going to do impact our way of life or culture or anything like that, we have the right to stop it.
For my people, water is super important, because during our migration from the Great Salt Sea over to the Midwest one of the prophecies was that you will settle where you find food that grows on water. And we found it. This was one of our prophecies. It’s amazing to me how something that is so culturally relevant can be treated like it doesn’t matter. As I’ve gotten older I’ve had more of an appreciation for my culture and water—what it means and what it does. It’s amazing to me, I think one of the most beautiful things.
This is a side note—my mother’s Indigenous but I didn’t grow up super Indigenous because my mom was pulled away from it. We didn’t get to learn our language or any of those things but as we got older, and as she got more involved in it and became an official member of the tribe and whatnot, I did as well. Something I have learned from my community, from my tribe and our elders is that one of the beautiful things about The United States is this sense of individualism. It’s great. It really is this whole notion of manifest destiny for your own damn self. But it’s also one of our biggest flaws. One thing I learned from my Indigenous community is that everyone has a role to play in the group. It’s about the community. If one of us isn’t good, then all of us aren’t good. We all have a role to play. It’s just sad to see where things are right now.
PM
Totally agree that these issues are more important now than ever and don’t get enough consideration. Please go on…
PS
I think people need to understand that they need to pay attention to what’s happening with the pipelines and water rights and water protectors and land protectors. There’s a potential court case, I can’t remember if it’s going before the Supreme Court, but they are planning on challenging ICWA (The Indian Child Welfare Act)—which gives priority to Indigenous family members orphaned children as opposed to adoptive parents outside of the community. It says that if we can place them with family members, then they can stay with their tribe, because the colonizers have taken our children for so long. If the Supreme Court were to repeal ICWA then that means it’s gonna repeal certain parts of tribes’ treaty rights, which means they might be able to just start putting down pipelines without even having to consult the tribes anymore. That’s what people don’t realize—there are bigger pieces at play. That’s why we need to pay attention. I don’t know why we don’t want to take care of our land and our water. Our land and our water are also a part of our community, and we are actually 100% reliant on them.
PM
A lot of things come back to the community, and back to our ability to build solidarity with other people, and entities. I think that building community requires deep internal work, and like you said, therapy has been really important for you. I feel like until we do that deep internal, healing work, it’s a lot harder for us to build outward community and external solidarity. In this world, whether it’s advocacy or sex work, we’re often forced to confront internalized beliefs about ourselves first.
What was the process of relearning who you are in order to achieve your goals or find success and happiness and growth?
PS
For me, it’s required thinking a few steps back and humbling the fuck out of myself. I have made some mistakes in this industry. They’ve been mistakes that have impacted other workers. I had to realize that it all came out of a sense of insecurity, a major insecurity about who I am as a person—A lot of not feeling worthy enough or good enough.
At the end of the day I recognize the bridges I’ve burned are burnt – it is what it is. I made my bed, I get to lie in it. In 2020—specifically the summer after George Floyd—I just realized there’s a lot of stuff going on internally that I needed to unpack and work on, and not fix, but heal. I think words mean things and I think there’s a distinct difference between fixing and healing. So I’m just working on healing myself and recognizing that hurt people hurt people.
With my personality type and the way I grew up – I had a wonderful mom and I had a wonderful stepdad who to me is my dad—but I was forced to grow up really fast. I was forced to be the rock in my family and it meant that when trauma happened or whatever I just had to take it, keep it pushing.
I really had just packed a lot of shit in within 28 or 29 years. The pandemic forced me to really look at a lot of things because I did a lot of deflecting and a lot of projecting and a lot of making excuses. So sitting down and realizing—no, homie, you’re the root of the problem. You are the root of every single issue you’ve had.
I’ve definitely had to confront some of those internalized beliefs and come to the conclusion that you have to find a way to channel that energy. It’s another reason I started bodybuilding because it was time for me to channel that competitiveness, time for me to channel those feelings of not being good enough and putting it into something that is productive and useful. It’s totally changed my life, because it’s given me a community that I really needed. It’s given me friends that I didn’t know I needed, and it’s given me a way to heal more so mentally and emotionally than physically, ironically. I’ve definitely had to approach those internalized beliefs and stare them straight in the face and realize they’re never going to go away. But how can we mitigate the noise they make?
I was dating this guy—he was part Choctaw, and I went to visit him on his reservation. And his grandmother took one look at me and she grabbed me by my face and she said, “too many mind.” And I thought, what the hell? She’s said, “you have too many minds.” And I thought, what the hell does that mean? She said, “you are black, and Indigenous and white. You will never ever be able to see the world from one point of view, you will always see it from all these different points. You are stuck in the middle, which is great, because you can help bring harmony. But it’s also going to be something that is constantly going to pull at you.” And it’s totally true. Constantly. You can see everything playing out. It’s fun, though. It’s an adventure. Life is an adventure. I wouldn’t trade my place for anything, honestly. I’m thankful for that.
I’VE DEFINITELY HAD TO APPROACH THOSE INTERNALIZED BELIEFS AND STARE THEM STRAIGHT IN THE FACE AND REALIZE THEY’RE
NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY.
PM
Wow, that’s really beautiful, and such an important journey that everyone has to go on.
What are you really excited about right now?
PS
Since I started the second phase of my fitness transformation journey, I did not realize that it would also inspire other people. I think one of the most beautiful things about doing this and documenting it is the clients. I’ve inspired people who have just seen me doing what I’m doing and realized that they want to do it too. That to me is just amazing. And there were a lot of people who told me that if I ever became a coach they’d want to work with me. And other sex workers were messaging me telling me to please let me know if I ever become a coach. So I decided to pursue some certifications to do personal training and nutrition. I also got a certification in non-invasive body contouring.
PM
Can you explain what that is?
PS
With non-invasive body contouring, we’re using different sorts of technology like ultrasound waves, radio frequency, infrared light, and whatnot to work on subcutaneous fat, not only to minimize it, but to also work on getting rid of cellulite. If you do it enough you can get rid of it and also contour your body how you want to. People always ask me if it’s permanent—if you want it to be permanent you have to keep going back.
PM
Exactly – not even lipo is permanent, you can gain weight back at any time.
PS
I always say that lipo was permanent in that spot. Like you said, you can gain weight, and you can gain weight in other areas. But you look real off. I say this as someone who got lipo and gained weight, and I was like, Ooh, girl. But I really love non-invasive body contouring. I’ve had some clients with body contouring who are a little bit bigger, and it works. But that’s because they’re also doing, and I hate to say it, but, the “right things”—they’re doing the correct follow up. I always tell people with non invasive body contouring you need to be willing to follow a style of eating that works for your body. You also need to be working out a couple times a week. Otherwise, you’re just throwing money at me for no reason. I can contour 15 or 20 pounds, but if you have 40 or 50 that’s going to be difficult for me.
I’m currently looking for a brick and mortar location and I plan on offering sliding scale—particularly for sex workers, because we work in a business that’s so focused on aesthetics and I know our income is so up and down.
I’m super excited about that, and it means my time as Paige Savage has become less available. So this whole elusive thing is becoming more and more real. A client once told me: “you’re such an enigma.” And I thought, man, get ready. And that’s how I want it to be.
I grew up in the Midwest and the South. My family in the Midwest was very much working poor and had to work really hard to get where they are. My mom didn’t really know comfort until my dad passed away. Which is sad, right? Someone had to die for her to feel 100% financially secure. My family down south is—I won’t say affluent, but definitely upper middle class. So I know what it’s like to see both sides of it. But I primarily grew up in the Midwest and I know what financial insecurity is like. So I always said I love sex work and I’ll stay in it as long as I can. But it’s not going to be my primary form of income if I can help it.
PM
There’s a lot more freedom when it’s not your only source of income.
PS
I never thought I would feel this sense of financial freedom or this version of success. So it’s really nice for me.
PM
Is there anything you want people to know about you?
PS
What do I want people to know about me? Honestly, it’s more so I think we as a community need to be more understanding. That’s a big thing for me right now is as I sit back and watch things. After my dad passed away, I turned into him. I decided I’m not gonna talk as much. I’m gonna sit here and be very stoic and watch everybody. And as I watch things, not only in our community—in the world; I feel like sometimes we don’t give people even an ounce of grace.
PM
People make mistakes. And I think it’s important that we give them the opportunity and the room to grow.
PAIGE SAVAGE INTERVIEWED BY MOLLY SIMMONS PHOTOS BY BLACK LOTUS