The brothel manager discovers the unexpected truth of the sex work industry

A manager of a legal brothel has revealed a surprising side of the industry that many have no idea about.

Catherine De Noire regularly takes to social media to share the behind-the-scenes of the brothel she runs. She never reveals exactly where it is, only that it is one of the largest brothels in Europe.

Speaking to news.com.au, she revealed she was studying psychology with plans to become a therapist.

That’s when she discovered neuropsychology, which examines the connection between thoughts and brain structures and what shapes them.

“I discovered this field and it was amazing. I have always had this passion for research, my father is a researcher. I thought it was my career,” she said.

One night, she discovered a letter from a brothel manager. It was called They call me Pimp, but I protect women. In the paper, business, the way women are treated and legalities.

“It basically said how this business is the same as any other business,” she said.

“It got me thinking. I finished the article and said to myself “I want to do this”. This is my dream job.”

De Noire had no experience in sex work. She decided to track down the company the newspaper’s author worked for.

“I wrote him an email. I told them I didn’t have any experience. I was 22 years old, I had no experience in managing people. I didn’t even have my degree,” she said.

“The company, at the time, only employed managers with psychological qualifications.”

A few days later, human resources called him for an interview. Finally she was offered a job.

“It’s been eight and a half years now,” she recalls.

De Noire revealed the moments that surprised him when he started.

“I remember, I was standing in front of the building. I was wondering, would they be like ‘proper tutus’? Would they have been wearing fake fur, these kinds of stereotypes,” she said.

“But when I walked in, everything was very normal. There were receptionists, security, the HR department, the IT department and a marketing department.

“I thought this is a normal company. The owner is such a sweet guy. If you saw it, you would say it was very beautiful.

“That was the first shock.”

De Noire also had a lot to learn, saying it was difficult to be seen as a manager because she was only 22 years old. She said some of the women she worked with were older than her and sometimes needed a mother, a friend and a boss.

“It’s very difficult to balance that,” she said.

De Noire is not the first person to speak out about the extremely corporate side of the sex industry. Angela White, an Australian adult star, said it was no longer a “dodgy” industry.

In reality, the porn industry – outside of filming a scene – is filled with extremely corporate compliance checks that Jim from accounting can relate to.

“A lot of people still think it’s a dodgy industry, when in reality it’s very corporate – there’s so much compliance,” she told news.com.au in 2024.

“There are so many documents.”

The documents White refers to include 2257 – which makes performers verify their ages and names to prevent child exploitation. Before each scene, each performer must show identification to prove they are of age in the video.

Then there’s a checklist of boundaries that includes every sexual act you can imagine, which the performers go through along with a model liaison.

“We go through and say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ask for clarification,” she said, adding that this exercise can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, she revealed.

She said that even if you’ve performed with someone countless times, it’s still vital to do the checklist each time as boundaries can change from day to day.