Sex, Service &Survival: Air Force Amy on Reinvention, Recovery & Life Inside Nevada’s Legal Brothels

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What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show in association with Believe Network, the podcast that brings you stories behind the success. Today's guest is a true American original. From serving in the U.S. Air Force to starring on HBO's Cat House to becoming one of the most iconic narcotic females in Las Vegas, Air Force Amy is here to share the real story behind the headlines. Amy, welcome to the show.

Hey CJ, thanks for having me.

Uh, thanks for coming on, Amy. So Amy, you lived many lives— runaway, veteran, sex worker, and now madam. How did this journey begin? And what brought you to the Legal Brothels of Nevada?

Well, CJ, the way it began was way back in Ohio, and I was just a little teenage runaway. Well, actually had entrepreneurial spirit at the age of 8. We can get into that story later. I was trading panty shots in grade school for ice cream money. So it went way back. I noticed that the girls didn't like their skirts being pulled up and I said, "Hell, I'll pull mine up. You just give me that ice cream money, okay?" Wow. So then it turned into, you know, third grade boys and a little bit more action for cigarette money. And then, you know, everything catches up with me and I was getting in trouble and I just took off. I hit the road and I was hitchhiking around the country with big rigs. So it was really exciting back then. It was the '80s, the big trucker strike or convoy. I mean, we had convoys like 100 trucks and And I was working in the truck stops to just keep a little bit of money in my pocket so I could make choices instead of being stuck somewhere. So that's how that began. Now we're cruising across Highway 80 and I hear these catcalls from all these women from at the Mustang Ranch. And the driver's like, "Oh yeah, the beautiful women and palace." And I'm like, indoors? Sign me up. But I wasn't old enough. I wasn't old enough. So A couple more years, I joined the military and did really well. I had a decorated veteran. I did really well and had leadership qualities they saw in me, I guess, because I kind of didn't have a lot of fear. I had faced a lot of scary things already in my life, you know, and then I had to pull myself up by my own bootstraps. So I wasn't very dependent on anyone or anything. I was very self-sufficient, and then, and that allowed me to have enough room to help others too. You know, people can ride on my coattails. So anyhow, get out of the military. My last duty station was Las Vegas, was at Nellis in Las Vegas. And I couldn't get a cross-training, which meant they would train me in another profession in the Air Force, but they didn't let me. And they wouldn't give me a re-enlistment bonus. So my ultimatum was, fine, I'll just go down to the brothels. Oh, you can't do that. Oh yes, I can. That's what got me in the brothels. You need to go home to stay with your grandmother, not just join the Marines. So me and my ultimatums are very careful about ultimatums.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I started my journey 35 years this month.

Wow, wow, long time.

So yeah, yeah, it doesn't seem like it, you know. I don't feel like I've done anything for 35 years.

Wow, living a life. So let me ask you, Amy, what is legal brothel life really like beyond the sensational headlines and HBO glitz?

Legal brothel life, they're usually— the legal brothels are often uninhabited areas, right? No population, usually in an industrial area down a long road, no businesses around. The life is what you make it. It can be a big party, it can be an escape from your kids, it can be an escape from any number of things. What I usually say is that women that end up here, no one comes to work at the brothel because their life is perfect or going the way they want it to. They usually want a fix, some kind of quick fix, you know, and the self-esteem is gone. And I'm saying that not for every woman, not for every woman is that the case, but many times over. There may be an addiction, there may be a deadbeat dad, there may be any number of things. And with me, it was coming out of the military without any other career choices except carry a gun, you know. So that was my reasoning. And so you get in the house and then it becomes a sisterhood, right? It's like a sorority, dormitory sorority girls. And that's more like what the media are like, you know, what we would like you to think, right? And the truth of the matter, the women are catty. They're catty. Some can be really mean and some just are drunk and some are just You know, some are quiet and stay in the rooms. And the brothel life— ask me some other questions. I bet it is.

You don't have enough time to give us all the details of that. So, but let me ask you though, let me ask you this: what's a typical day like for someone in your profession? Is it more business and emotional labor than people actually assume?

Oh yeah, it's a lot of emotional labor today for me. And for the last 20 years, my business day has been more online than social. We don't have the foot traffic like we used to have once we went online. There was Craigslist and these other platforms where you have a girl come to him and they have reviews and a lot easier than all the steps it takes to get to a brothel. So my day consists of get up with my text messages, right? And answer the text messages, look at my emails, answer my emails. I'll get, I mean, not that many really, maybe 6 new emails a day where it used to be hundreds. So there's not even that much traffic on our websites as there used to be. So, but it's like being an insurance agent. You know, you follow up on your leads, follow up, I say follow up 3 times and then put them in, then take that address to a newsletter, you know, and keep it for a newsletter account. So follow up 3 times, and it takes about a minimum of 10 emails back and forth to get a gentleman to come out and see me. And that's from anywhere in the country. We get gentlemen from all over the country. So here we are, just these girls, most don't have college education and just from all walks of life., and I teach them how to curate emails, auto-replies, FAQs, canned replies. And so we get a guy from point A to point B without him even knowing how much it costs or what he's gonna get. We got this brothel rule that we can't give you prices. And most time we say that it's per law. And the truth of the matter is If one girl gives you a price, then he's gonna— the guy's gonna shop and price shop around until he gets someone. Well, so-and-so said she would do this. Well, so-and-so said she would do that. So he would just price his way down to nothing, you know. So we just don't give prices, and there's just too many variables, you know. Without even seeing you face to face here, there's still going to be too many variables once we get— once we get face to face in person. So it's just hard to there just aren't like straight across the board prices. So, and you have to get, like I say, you get someone here, you have to move a guy from New York City, get him to come all the way out to Las Vegas, and then another hour out to come see you, and they're scared to death. And the truth of the matter is that mostly what we see are, um, I say that we make a wish for the socially inept, is what it boils down to. We're not getting famous athletes, you know. It's— we're doing a service for people that otherwise lack the social skills or to, uh, get laid. Point blank.

Point blank. Hey, I like, I like your honesty. So let me ask you, uh, Amy, what is the competition like, you know, with— as far as brothels? I know you got nightclubs and things of that nature. So what is the competitive nature there like, you know, just like All the casinos competing against each other. So how's that?

As madam, I'm doing more publicity and media, and my competition are two brothels about 50 miles away.

Mm-hmm.

And we're like apples and oranges. So where I'm at, it's like a little oasis in the desert, and the girls have many, many, many freedoms. There's— it's not locked down. We close for some hours of the day. You choose a shift. You work, you don't, it doesn't matter. You know, you're a woman. What I say we are is a shopping mall, and each girl is their own storefront, and she's allowed to operate that storefront any way she sees fit. Whereas my competition, we call them pussy prisons, and they lock you down. You can't leave, you can't do this, you can't do that, and they're just very, very, very strict and unnecessary rules, except for the fact that the two other ones are side by side And they compete with each other and they think the more they hire more and more girls trying to find an Air Force Amy. It's like one in a million. Okay. So I can see keep trying and trying and trying and trying. But the truth is you're only going to get a handful, a spattering of women that really want to treat this as a business and do it as a career and take it seriously. A lot of other girls come in from the strip clubs or escorting. They think there's going to be more traffic and they don't understand it's going to be so much more work. But I do try to prepare the ladies that are coming in and say, you need writing skills. If you don't have writing skills, you're lucky now that we have AI can write for you. So it's a communication business is what it is. You have to have those communication skills before anything else.

That's not like that.

And the competition— a lot of competition inside the house.

So, so hey, let me ask you this. You touched on it earlier about being in the service and things of that nature, the rejection, and you know what led you to where you are now. When you were in the Air Force— thank you for your service, by the way— how did your military background shape your career and your identity now?

My military background, I think I've always been driven and always been a winner, driven to be a winner. And the truth of that matter is that I was just looking to be loved. My dad was very competitive. He was first Airborne, Golden Gloves boxing, Toughman's competition. He was CY football coach and it was just win, win, win, win, win. And just from that day and age, in my generation, it wasn't like all lovey-dovey like the millennials. No, there was nothing soft about that generation. Okay? Do or die, you know, it was do or die, and there were consequences, you know. So, um, I learned though to be content to win because that's when I for sure could get acknowledgement. Not so much love, but acknowledgement that I did something good. So I'm operating on that type of platform within my own mind frame throughout my whole life. So of course in the military, I just, I, you know, was a go-getter and a volunteer. You know, some people will tell you don't volunteer for anything, but my volunteering in the military got me some really cool jobs that no one else had ever done, no female had ever done. So I had a lot of accolades for that. And how it prepared me for this industry is I was accustomed to living in close quarters with other females, like in the dormitory, working alongside a lot of different people, being able to relate at all levels. So I could relate to an airman, or I could relate to a 4-star general. I gave state briefings to high-risk personnel. So I became very accustomed to being able to relate at all levels and come to your level to relate with you. So that prepared me quite easy for this industry, meeting all kinds of different people from all walks of life. So I make people feel very, very, very comfortable with me, immediately feel a comfortable vibe that I'm humble. I'm not out here to kid you. Don't be scared. We're the same. You know, we come from the same God, you know, we're all good. So just make people feel comfortable with me. And dealing with a bunch of women, most can't be.

Yeah, I can imagine how that already is.

Sometimes. What? You know, so I just posted a funny, real funny meme on my Twitter today. It's this chicken thing. You talk too much, shut the fuck up. It's really funny.

Uh, boy, you crazy. You crazy. Um, your father, you know, I had to go back to what you said about your father. That was kind of, you know, he was a butt kicker, huh? He was a boxer, a coach, and yeah, and all these type of things. So your father didn't play. And then, uh, So I just wanted people to know too, just in case they missed what you said, you're not only dealing with a madam, you're dealing with a madam with some brains on her head because she said that she was giving like the layouts and the plans and everything to generals in the army, man. So kudos to you. You're not just dealing with an average brothel madam right here.

Switching on that, let me tell you how it went down for me to come in here as a madam. My first day here 3 gals quit the day before I got here. Another gal quit within the first week. Another 2 gals quit. And the ones that are dug in so deep with their heels are the ones I'd rather quit.

I'm getting so much pushback.

I'm getting pushback from all over, all around, right? So I told them we have what we call a tea party, but it's a sales meeting, right? And so we had a sales meeting and it was these girls just coming at me and they didn't want this and they didn't want that. And I said, let me tell you something. Let me just tell you something here. I got to where I am, who I am and what I am in spite of and despite of many people that are way more powerful, way more influential, way bigger, with a lot more money than anybody here. I eat working girls for breakfast.

That's what you told him, and that got him in line, huh? Like that will wake you up.

See, like that will— do all you want, we're still gonna move ahead. I'm rocking ahead with this. I got a plan and we are moving forward with it.

I feel you on that. Hey, if I got a plan, I'm moving on, son. I'm not letting nobody get in the way. Either you gonna get on this train or you're gonna get ran over.

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Music style, music store. So let me ask you, Amy, let's talk about HBO's Cat House. How did that opportunity come about? And what impact did it have on your business and your brand?

So the HBO show, actually, I just met with the original pitchman, George Ciccarone. He was a journalist for E! Entertainment Tonight and E! and a couple other things. Real, very, very pretty, pretty handsome guy. And he was on tons and tons and tons of journalism. And he came to Dennis before I ever got there. 5 or 7 years before I ever got there. And I just saw the original, original clip that he put on VHS tape that was sent to HBO. And it's dark and it's just, it's really, it's nothing that the actual show came out to be. So they sent this pitch, this sizzle reel to HBO in New York City. And at the time HBO had different, well, they still do have different departments. There's sex, there's sports, there's this, there's that. And so this sizzle got sent to their sex department. And because she was doing a diva something, you know, but this woman was the most asexual woman you ever saw in your life. Patti Kaplan, there was nothing. What does this woman know about sex? Not a thing. Tell me. But so it sat on her desk for like 5 years and she was cleaning up or something. Somehow it fell on the floor. It was just kismet that it got picked up and they came out and they thought that— so they were going to shoot a documentary and they thought it would take about a year or more to get the footage that they needed because we were going to do first time ever live negotiations from a brothel. And like I was telling you earlier, nobody gets prices unless you come face to face. So this was like a huge first time ever live negotiations inside a brothel. So we knew they were coming. And we set up hidden cameras. But mostly we just called our clients and people that we knew to participate in the show. So these reality shows, they're scripted. It's central casting. Okay, but we don't get SAG wages. Okay, so they don't— a documentary has totally different guidelines than any other show. So when reality TV came in, that's just a winner winner chicken dinner, don't have to pay us, you know, small cameras. Low budget and big returns. So they got their first episode and took it back and it aired. Now let me tell you how we got so, so popular. Our first episode, the documentary aired immediately after the last episode of The Sopranos. And back then that was big time. Okay, so this was big time. Yeah, the most viewed documentary in the history of HBO and still to this day. So it was winter. And they came back, they would come and so they would do another episode and maybe 2 episodes would air per year, maybe 3. And we did 16 all in total over the course of 18 or 16 years. And they ran the reruns and it was just, it was very, very popular. It was late night TV. That's when Showtime was, was doing R-rated porn and HBO and And there was a lot of sex on TV that you could get on cable TV, and that all went away completely in like 2018. And something happened with it. I think it was maybe Sars, something happened in our country, dude, that everyone just— and even to this day, and you know, we need a sexual revolution because it's getting shoved under the rug. You can't even say the words, you can't even type the word sex on Twitter. People are writing S with 3 and an X like The algorithm doesn't know, but I mean, why are we doing this? What is wrong with it? What is wrong with people? Sex is good.

Okay, Air Force, Air Force, Amy crazy. Well, she on what I take. So let me ask you, Amy, like I say, we're not dealing with just somebody, a madam right here. We're dealing with a professional woman. You're a coach, a counselor, an advocate for sobriety and mental health. How have you overcome addiction and trauma in an industry that many associate with that they struggle in this area?

Okay, so as far as drugs go, Dennis would say, you know what, there's drugs in every industry, which of course there are here too. Like I said, you know, people come— no one comes to this door without— if their life is absolutely rosy. Are there addictions? Yes. Is there alcoholism? Yes. Is there other things? Yes. Me myself, I was introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous while I was still in the military, but it didn't take. And it takes what it takes, you know. Alcoholism is the only disease that has to be self-diagnosed. So no one else can tell you that you're an alcoholic. You need to stop drinking. You gotta believe it in your heart and soul, know, and do everything it takes that prescribed by certain programs that we usually— it's anonymous and they just say a friend of Bill, you know, and that works for me in my life and maybe not work for other people, but it works for me. So I like— something else I learned in the military is to lead by example. So become an example that, hey, I can still do this job clean and sober. And I even tell the ladies, if you have to take a drink or a drug to do this job, this job isn't for you. Get the hell out, go do something else. You know, if you're doing— if you're, uh, here so that you could drink and drug on the job, you know, I don't have any girls.

Wow, wow, back to that point again. So let me ask you, I thought the ones that dug in that you did, they should have left, was done with you. They They left you too, huh, boy? You crazy. Um, so you've worked with people from all walks of life. You have learned about men, women, and what people really want when it comes to sex, connection, and acceptance. So what would you have to say about that?

Well, everyone's looking for, you know, the hierarchy needs, and that's to be accepted and to be loved. Food, clothing, shelter, got all that. But acceptance and to be loved, you know. So those are the big things, and we're just losing that to such a degree with social media. People can hide behind their keyboard, become trolls, and get away with terrible behavior. And women are very guilty of it, a terrible behavior towards men nowadays. It's, you know, how much money you make, how much money you make, you know, these guys. Yeah, these poor guys, you know, the gentlemen today just don't stand a chance. I'd say the only other places to meet women in person would be, say, to develop a hobby that requires— not online, not gaming— something that requires you to interact with women doing the same thing that you like. Okay, so, so it's a social issue. I see men— what was your question again?

Like, uh, like, what have you learned about men and women, which you touched on? You say men don't stand a chance. And what people really want when it comes to sex, connection, and acceptance?

Well, you know, it used to be what people would want and request from me in the brothel would be what they saw, what was popular in porn. So when we went through the max hardcore phase, oh, they want to slap your ass, they want to choke you and pull your hair. That's not going to happen. That's CMT and the film.

But no, this is not real life.

Not real life. Okay, this is not what you're supposed to do. Don't fucking smack me on the ass. What the fuck you did for real? Yeah, so it kind of goes with what the norm in porn is. And now, unfortunately to say, it's little— I mean, like, not even like Britney Spears kind of schoolgirl, but as young as you can get. Real, real, real young, like an 8-year-old look.

Wow, you're right, man. Do not stand a chance if we think it like that. Oh my goodness, that's crazy.

You know, but it makes you wonder, makes you wonder, the 300,000 missing children, who's paying for this? Who's buying this? Where are they? You know, so that's a whole nother issue. I have a site, Air Force Org, going up that touches on, that explains sex trafficking, human trafficking, and I have real close ties in the recovery arena of sex trafficking victims. And so I have signs up here just like you see in the bathroom in the airport if you're a victim of sexual trafficking and call this number. But, um, so when I say people want the most, no matter what you're selling, is someone to be nice to them and a good deal. So just be nice to people and make them think they got a good deal. They thought they got a good deal.

She said that's crazy. She said, well, I tell you, some kind of businesswoman. So, Avery, I got this game. It's called, uh, Quick Fire Round, and I know you not ashamed to say this, and you will speak the first thing that comes to your mind. And so I'm gonna ask you 5 questions and just say the first things that come to your mind, okay? You ready? Ready, ready, ready.

One word.

One word to describe the legal brothel world.

One word would be regulated.

See, see, I like this guy because it even keeps those that can spit them out just like that a little bit stuck. It gets them every time. Most surprising things clients want that isn't about sex?

Um, cuddling.

Best tip you ever given someone about confidence or connection?

Put yourself out there.

Yeah, of course.

Was that one word?

No, I'm just saying, of course, when you put yourself out there. All right, most misunderstood aspect of your job?

That we're dirty.

One thing, one thing you love about—

okay, I'm a germaphobe. You do anything, you do this for any number of you know, days, and you're gonna be coming through.

Oh man, she said we dirty. One thing you love about what you do?

Orgasms.

I didn't— what'd you say?

Orgasms.

There you have it from Amy, from Army Amy. On that note, Amy, thank you for keeping it real and raw. Amy kept it really raw today, y'all. Straight up, straight up. The lady from the cat house. Hey, so, uh, catwalk, catwalk, catway. She did it all. Your story is proof that success isn't just about reinvention and how purpose can come from the most unexpected places. If you're listening and want to know more about Amy's life, work, or upcoming role as Madame at Alien Cat House. Matter of fact, hold up, I must have missed that. What's that?

Alien Cat House? It was a Dennis Hof property until 2018. It's attached to a gas station on Highway 95. There's one on this side of the road, one on that side of the road, and you have to stop between here and there, between Reno and Las Vegas, to get gas. So the gentleman that bought it from Dennis, he wanted just the gas station. Right? He has truck stops, gas stations, hotels all over the country, but he wanted this location for the gas station, and the brothel came with it. Okay. Wow. So, so this is one of Dennis Hoff's property that he bought from Joe Richards, which was like 23 different real estate entities, plus, plus, plus. And Dennis came in and did all the remodeling, renovating. The new owner came in and gave it a new logo. And look. And I thought, at first I thought, am I gonna sell alien sex? There's nothing sexy about an alien. Nothing. But you did it. But you know what, now it's like the space theme, outer space theme, SpaceX, NASA, it's very relevant. And I'm having so much fun with it. I'm doing celestial showers room, I'm doing a nebula room, I'm doing alien abduction room.

You know, so I'm having a lot of fun with this.

Really fun.

All right, thank you for letting us know about your upcoming role as Madam at Alien Cat House. Follow her online, check out our interviews, or just Google Air Force Amy, and I guarantee you'll find her. As always, if this episode moved you, surprised you, or gave you a new perspective perspective. Subscribe, rate, and leave a review. We're here to tell real stories, and we appreciate you being on the ride with us. Big things are coming. G.I. the State's Capital is launching soon. We may have Amy in one of the brothel rooms. Check out G.I. We'll talk about it more on Planting Seeds with CJ. Stay locked in and follow your boy at CJ Moneyway Johnson for all updates. Until next time, Keep growing, keep evolving, and don't be afraid to write your own damn story, as Air Force Amy would say. Hey, this your boy CJ Moneyway with my girl Amy— I mean, Air Force Amy. We out of here. Peace. You've been listening to the CJ Moneyway Show, with real stories, real lessons, yeah, and real perspective come together. Remember, move with patience. If you like the show, please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.