Match with as many people as you can on dating apps. Exchange a few messages with men before asking for money. These are some of the tips that Autumn Johnson, a now year-old social media creator who is the central subject in the new documentary Sugar Babies, shares with people hoping to follow in her footsteps.
The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. When the film begins following her, she is 18 and struggling to pay for her college tuition. She lives in Rustin, La. Everyone has a side hustle, from waitressing to renting out trailers β hers just happens to be providing digital companionship to men who pay her for it.
I had a sense that behind that screen, there was a whole world to uncover. Rather than stitching together the stories of several sugar babies, Fleit zeroed in on Autumn β her close-knit friends and family and their everyday lives hustling to make money while still having fun.
It makes it abundantly clear how difficult it is to get by in a rural area, where jobs are limited and the ones available pay very little for tough physical work. Legislation by local lawmakers was rejected year after year. The pressure to earn enough to make enough money to survive in this rural community is constant.
They want to horse around, play volleyball and splash in the lake. She offers tips to other women hoping to get into that line of work, charging enough to get started running their own businesses. She also recommends using various apps where women can sell used underwear, bathwater and lollipops for cash.
