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CHAFING at the strict rules that had her sneaking around, one woman left her Amish community behind at 17 — and spent the decades since working as a stripper.

From the pasture to the pole, Naomi Swartzentruber told The U.S. Sun about beginning her long career as a dancer and how it shaped her into the woman she is today.

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Naomi Swartzentruber, 43, was born into a strict Amish community, called Swartzentruber Amish, where her father ran a sawmill on a farm.

Raised in Michigan, she currently resides in Coolidge, Arizona, living a life that’s a far cry from her upbringing.

When she was 17 years old, Swartzentruber ran away and never looked back.

As she struggled to make ends meet, she found herself entering a career path that many people from her religious past would look down upon.

She ended up fiding excitement and confidence as an exotic dancer and kept doing it for the next 20 years.

SIMPLE LIFE

Swartzentruber admitted that she was always a bit of a rebel and thought about leaving her humble beginnings for years.

“I had a camera and a radio that I was hiding,” she told The U.S. Sun.

“I also started sneaking out with the English [non-Amish] boys. One Saturday night I got caught when I was almost 17.

“I always wanted to run away, but I didn’t know where I was going to go or when.

“After I got caught sneaking out by my parents, I was like, ‘That’s it. I’m definitely going to run away.’

“I didn’t want to sneak the rest of my life to have fun.”

It wasn’t until a random weekday morning that she started to figure it out.

“One morning, I was picking strawberries and this guy that would deliver logs to my dad’s farm came to the garden when I was there picking them by myself,” she explained.

A light bulb went off in her head.

“I just blurted it out. I was like, ‘I want to run away and I want to live with you,'” she said.

At first, the man called her crazy and was worried about the wrath of her father.

“I was like, ‘I don’t care. I just need your help. Please help me,'” she added.

After Swartzentruber’s relentless pleading, he eventually said he would think about it and give her an answer in seven days.

As expected, he came back and said she could live with his sick mother who had dialysis three times a week.

“Then, it was just finding the right time but it never seemed to come,” she said.

I’m very stubborn.That is what kept me going because I was determined to make it work. Because that’s all I thought about for so long.

Naomi Swartzentruber

Exactly a week later, the opportunity presented itself and she ran away with that man in July of 1997.

“It would be 27 years this summer that I left on a Friday,” she said.

HARD TO HANDLE

The transition wasn’t easy for Swartzentruber, and she wasn’t prepared for what it would entail.

“I didn’t know he was married, but I didn’t run away because I wanted to be with him. I just wanted to run away. I just needed a place to stay,” she explained.

“It was very hard at first because I was used to being around my big family, and this lady I was staying with went to dialysis three times a week.

“I was alone for hours on end. I was so lonely.”

“I’m very stubborn. That is what kept me because I was determined to make it work. Because that’s all I thought about for so long.”

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It took a bit of time before Swartzentruber “fell” into nightlife as an exotic dancer.

“I had a limited education. I only went to eighth grade. That’s what the Amish do,” she said.

Soon after she left the community, she got her first boyfriend, and after she turned 18, they moved to Minnesota in August of 1998.

By March of 1999, they had broken up and she was completely on her own for the first time.

“Now, I have to pay for everything. I moved into my own apartment. I was working at a factory, but I wasn’t making that much money,” she admitted.

I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. That’s crazy. I thought dancers were bad.’

Naomi Swartzentruber

During her down period, she reconnected with a local friend who was also ex-Amish and asked for financial advice.

The other woman told her that there were “lots of ways to make money” and admitted that she was a former stripper herself, which shocked Swartzentruber.

“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness. That’s crazy. I thought dancers were bad,'” she said.

The woman invited her for a few drinks and a girls’ night out on a Friday night.

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They pulled into the parking lot of a place with a pole on the outside with the silhouette of two women spinning.

Swartzentruber quickly realized it was a strip club.

Immediately, she wondered why the other formerly Amish woman brought her there.

It was so overwhelming, but at the same time, there was a part of me that loved it.

Naomi Swartzentruber

She told her to relax and keep an open mind because they were just going to “look and have fun.”

The 19-year-old didn’t know that there was already a plan in motion.

DANCING DESIRES

“When I walked in, there was this naked girl on stage looking at me and smiling. I was completely freaked out,” she explained.

“Before I knew it, the manager came and talked to me because she left. I thought she went to go to the bathroom. I guess she talked to him.”

They talked a bit in his office about a potential job opportunity, and he said she was more than welcome to work at the venue.

At the time, she didn’t know that her “super-secretive” ex-Amish friend had set it up all along for her to do a quick sensual dance on stage.

While she sat at a bar, three strippers came and made small talk with her for a few minutes, before they dragged her to a dressing room, “stripped her clothes off,” and changed her into a hot pink bikini.

“It was so overwhelming, but at the same time, there was a part of me that loved it. It was really easy to make $55,” she said.

She danced the next night and for the next 20 years.

Sometimes, she made as low as $200 and as high as $1,000 from a few hours of work.

If she made $300 to $500 in one night, then that was a “good average.”

I went through some dark times, but it made me stronger. It got me to where I am.

Naomi Swartzentruber

Swartzentruber danced until the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, which started her venture into content creation and a popular TikTok account.

Now, she’s a book author who lives with her long-term partner and is the mother of a baby girl.

Her memoir, The Amazing Adventures of an Amish Stripper: An Erotic Memoir, $17.19, details her ups and downs and is available on Amazon.

Swartzentruber is proud of her life story and wants others to recognize its lessons.

“I went through some dark times, but it made me stronger. It got me to where I am. I found what I was looking for – peace, happiness, and freedom, ” she said.

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