A professional cuddler explains her line of work

After hearing about a woman selling cuddles for her job, KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson had a lot of questions, so he invited professional cuddler Samantha Hess to join the show.

Hess tells Dori the process begins with a 45-minute free meet-and-greet with a new client. After the meet-and-greet she is available to go out to where the client wants to hold the session.

“I do travel all over the place. I go to movie theaters, to my clients’ homes, in the summer I do parks, and we’ll be opening a retail location very shortly,” says Hess, who is based in Portland.

Each session is customized to the customer’s preferences.

“So if you prefer that I wear fleece pajama bottoms or yoga pants, a different color shirt, certain makeup or scents. I personalize the session to you,” says Hess, who also prepares music for the clients.

“I’ve got a cuddle mix ready to go and basically we just cuddle. I have lots of different positions and it’s guided by you, whatever you need and it’s 30 to 60 minutes of that, specifically in a platonic, fully-clothed manner that allows you to feel loved and accepted.”

Clear boundaries are set up so that no one in the session crosses any lines.

“Basically touch is acceptable anywhere it would be OK to touch a child, that keeps the boundaries pretty clear,” says Hess. “I will touch on my clients, their hair, their head, their shoulders, arms, hands and mid to upper back.”

Hess says she got into this knowing there are many times and places in people’s lives where they need this kind of attention, and just don’t get it.

“So I’m here to kind of start the progress forward and make sure that people have access to that, and I’m working on building a community of people that understand and grow together to build a better world.”

Learn more about Hess’ cuddle business at cuddleuptome.com.