LIKE many teenage girls, Naomi Swartzentruber snuck out, met boys, drank, and smoked behind her parents’ backs.
But where most might receive a slap on the wrist, for Naomi, raised in a strict Amish household in Michigan, defiance felt like treachery.
Naomi Swartzentruber grew up in a strict Amish home
She swapped her conservative life for a stripper’s pole
At 17, the rebellious teen escaped her community in pursuit of a life without restrictions.
Just two years later, she found herself gyrating on a stripper’s pole in front of gawping punters.
Recalling the exhilaration as she tossed off her clothes, Naomi said it was the first time she felt in control of her body.
Little did she know that night would mark the beginning of a lucrative 20-year career in adult dancing.
In an interview with The Sun, Naomi, 45, and mum to a four-year-old, shared details of her life after escaping one of the most conservative Amish groups, the Swartzentrubers.
She said: “I was extremely worried about my family, about leaving them behind because in the Amish, when somebody leaves, they almost treat it like a funeral.
“Some parents have even said they would rather have their kids be six feet under than to leave. It’s such a big deal.”
REBELLIOUS SPIRIT
Naomi’s curiosity about the outside world developed at 13 when a non-Amish family moved in next door.
She began noticing the daughter’s clothes, painted nails, and her collection of toys that Amish children were forbidden to own.
“I fantasised about having these things,” she said.
Aged 17, she swapped curiosity for outright rebellion, smoking, drinking, and having sex with “English” boys – the Amish phrase for an outsider.
After months of sneaking out to parties and listening to music – all banned in her community – Naomi was caught by her parents one Sunday night.
That dreaded moment would change the course of her life.
With a taste of the outside world and its freedom, she began to consider leaving her community altogether.
She said: “I realised at that point that probably the best option was for me to leave. But then I just had to plan, like, when am I going to leave?
“Where am I going to go? What am I going to do? There were so many questions, and I really didn’t know the answer to any of them.
“There was also this guilt that would tear me apart almost.”
But despite the fear of leaving her family, the desire for freedom ultimately grew stronger.
ROAD TO FREEDOM
It was then time to hatch a plan.
Brimming with nerves, Naomi sought the help of one of the English boys, Kevin.
He agreed and offered her a place to stay on the condition that she helped look after his sick mum.
That night, she packed a shopping bag with a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, and a toothbrush.
But when she went downstairs, her sister was standing in the doorway.
She recalled: “She wouldn’t go to sleep because she wasn’t going to let me run away, because our family would be too upset.
“I felt sad and mad because she spoiled my escape plan, but I also understood her.”
As she listened for her sister to eventually drift off to sleep, she knew it was now or never.
She said: “I climbed on the roof. I put my feet on the windowsill, and I hung on the roof, and I jumped down. And I took off running.
“I finally stopped to catch my breath. And I was like, what am I going to do?
“I just ran away. I’m barefoot. I don’t have a key to get back in. I have nowhere to really go.
Naomi grew up only wearing Amish dresses made by her mum
She grew up on her family farm in Michigan, where modern technology was shunned
Naomi left her community when she was 17
“I hid in the granary until 5:30am
“When my dad and brothers called the cows, I realised I had to leave, so I ran to the woods to hide.”
After some time, Kevin and his wife, Christine, picked the shaken teen up and drove her to her new home, where she got her first taste of the outside world – literally.
Naomi said: “They brought stuff out to make a sandwich, and I was shaking and so shy.
“It was really awkward, kind of at first, because I was in this new place with these people that I barely knew.
“The Amish have open-face sandwiches; they just take one piece of bread to make a sandwich, so that’s what I did, and they laughed.
“They said, ‘You know you can have two pieces of bread’. And that’s when I realised, I have a lot to learn about the outside world.”
This would be the first of many culture shocks.
She recalled once, Kevin’s wife took her to Walmart to buy clothes.
Having only ever worn Amish dresses made by her mum, she had no understanding of style and had never set foot in such a large store.
“It was just overwhelming. I just froze. I was so scared I didn’t touch the clothes,” she said.
The teen felt even more uncomfortable in the feminine hygiene aisle, buying pads.
In the Amish community, menstruation is taboo – women use rags and keep their periods secret.
She said, “I wouldn’t pick them up in the store, because it just felt wrong. So she was like, ‘You won’t touch them’.
“I was like, ‘I can’t buy it, I can’t like it’. That’s what freaks me out. So she put them in the cart and then on the counter.
“It was just too much for me even to touch them. I don’t know why it was so strange.”
DARK REALITY
Naomi spent the next two months caring for Kevin’s elderly mum inside an isolated, cluttered farmhouse at the end of a dirt road.
Just 17 at the time, and far from friends and family, she recalled a slow shift from excitement to increasing loneliness and homesickness.
And matters soon turned dark when she moved in with Kevin and Christine.
She said: “He started sexually abusing me. I felt trapped because they didn’t want me to get a job. He said he would support me financially, and I didn’t know how to say no.
“It was so hard because his wife was like a mom to me, she was so kind, she helped me.
The teen became a stripper to pay her bills
She ended up stripping for 20 years
Naomi said getting on stage was empowering
“I felt horrible and so guilty, but I worried that if I told her, I wouldn’t have a place to live.
When Naomi turned 18, she ventured into the world of work, spending a stint at Burger King before meeting an “amazing” man.
But soon after moving to Minnesota with him, the couple split, leaving Naomi heartbroken in a new state with few friends and earning less than $10 an hour.
STRIPPING TO SUCCESS
Growing increasingly worried about how she would support herself, a close pal suggested becoming a stripper.
“I was speechless,” Naomi said.
One night, her friend drove her to a bar where Naomi saw a naked woman stripping onstage.
Moments later, she spoke with the manager, then was tossed into a changing room and handed a neon pink bikini.
She said: “There were so many emotions. Before I really knew what was going on, they pushed me through the door onto the stage.
“They said that in the first song, I had to take off my top and shorts. By the second song, I had to be naked.
“I thought about my family, and I thought this is horrible. I’m definitely going to hell.
“But it was also exciting because everyone was cheering and clapping.
“I did it. I got completely naked, and I felt empowered and overwhelmed. I was always taught not to show off my body, but it was the first time I felt like I had control.
“It was so exciting, and I gained all this confidence.”
For the first time in her life, Naomi felt independent, as “all those chains” that had been holding her back were finally broken.
What followed was a 25-year successful career before Naomi decided to leave her pole-dancing behind during Covid and after the birth of her baby in 2021.
She has since written a memoir about her life called The Amazing Adventures Of An Amish Stripper, which she said was a healing experience.
And she now devotes her time to keeping her 400,000 TikTok fans delighted with Amish-inspired household hacks.
Naomi has even rekindled her relationship with her parents, who are aware of her book “but have no desire to find it or read it.”
Looking back on her past, Naomi told PEOPLE last year: “I don’t regret it because all the experiences that I’ve had in my life have made me the person I am today.”
She had to grow up quickly in the outside world
Naomi is still in touch with her Amish family
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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