We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ash Miller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ash below.

Ash, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Some might question why I selected this question – as I am not the one who came up with the idea at all. The Cupcake Girls became a nonprofit back in 2011 and I had no idea who they were. I wouldn’t even hear about them until 2023 – 12 years later. Instead I am going to give the you my “why”: why this organization, why now, and why I stepped into leadership in a big way.

Summer of 2023 saw my spouse and I move from Los Gatos, CA (near San Jose in the San Fransisco Bay area) to Las Vegas for a change of pace, a change of scenery, and to step into our lives together as a couple. We had each lived in the Bay for over a decade (13 years for me, 17 for him) and our lives had independently gone through a range of things before we came together. 2020 changed our lives in ways we may never fully understand. Our social groups shifted – people moved away due to cost of living or loss of jobs, people found new hobbies and released old ones, like many of our peers we made shifts in our habits, our patterns, and our lifestyle as a whole. Several years later we opted for Las Vegas, NV. We had a community to turn to by moving there – several of my spouse’s best friends of 15+ years had moved to the region 4-8 years before we did. A wonderful group of artistic, open-minded, hard working, and diverse humans were a welcome shift to the years of isolation we had been living through previously.

It was a backyard BBQ and pool party where I would be introduced to The Cupcake Girls for the first time. A conversation was happening about sex workers rights and the risks involved in being any part of the adult entertainment industry and a dear friend mentioned that I should look up the nonprofit she had been volunteering with. Now is probably a good time to note that in 2023 I had been in the adult entertainment industry for over a decade. I applied to become a volunteer and by October of 2023 I was the Event Lead volunteer for the Las Vegas office. It was one of the few times in my life I didn’t have to think twice about including my industry work as a part of who I am and what I do when those questions came about. Being able to assist an organization that didn’t ask me to hide that part of myself and welcomed the conversations was amazing. It also gave me the opportunity to get to know more of Las Vegas and the people that call it home.

Spring of 2024 I was encouraged by the same friend who had suggested The Cupcake Girls in the first place to consider applying to be on the Board of Directors. As fate would have it that very friend… she had gone from being a volunteer to accepting the role of NV Operations Manager in early 2024. I had actually been spending my time with her freshly adopted baby so that she could work 2 days a week in the office. Joining the Board of Directors in July of 2024 would change the direction my life was heading. I spent over a year serving as both the Secretary of the Board and as the Events Lead in Las Vegas. This was not only a new experience for me – but a new one for the organization as well. I had the unique perspective of actively serving as the bread in The Cupcake Girls sandwich. As a volunteer my support was the bottom slice of bread, serving as a base to the work. As a Board member my support was the top slice of bread, serving to give guidance from a bigger picture perspective.

In July of 2025 the organization faced a time that felt unique to most of us experiencing it – though really The Cupcake Girls had been through major transitions before. Both of our previous Co-Executive Directors were transitioning on, one we had been lightly planning on for months. The other was urgent in ways that many didn’t see coming. The Board agreed with the suggestion from our Co-ED that had served the organization for 13 years (she started as a volunteer and grew into different roles in the organization over time) and I was voted in as Interim Executive Director. 2 more staff transitions would be announced shortly after the news was received that both Executive Director’s would be stepping into roles outside of the organization.

When I said yes – it became the first time in The Cupcake Girls 14 year history that leadership would be someone with publicly known lived-experience. It would be a first for me that didn’t feel all that possible when I entered into the world of sex work, that I could be the Executive Director of a nonprofit and not walk on eggshells about my work (past and present). To be able to use my experiences in a way that improves not only my local communities but larger communities across the globe to make an impact in the lives of sex workers and trafficking survivors is something I am proud to be doing. The team I work with is phenomenal and we are bringing structure and getting clear on not only who we serve but how best to show up for them. 75% of my staff are current or former sex workers or disclosed trafficking survivors. We are lifting up the voices of those often left out of the conversations. We are not only making opportunities for our peers and counterparts to be in the room where it happens but to have an active seat at the table. We continue to provide care with an emphasis on sustainability while directly tackling common barriers including but not limited to: stigma, prejudice, and rampant misinformation.

Ash, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The Cupcake Girls is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with branches in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Portland, Oregon, that supports people nationally working in the sex industry and those affected by sex trafficking. Our goal is to help each person reach their goals by offering respect, care, and connection. We are not a crisis organization which is to say that we do not provide in-house services, are not a shelter of any kind, and do not provide extrication from harmful environments. What we focus on is connecting folks to the resources they need to achieve greater success in their life on their terms.

We ensure that everyone receives support tailored to their unique needs by building strong relationships and offering a wide array of referrals, including medical and mental health care, career support, educational resources, safe housing options, and support groups. Our program participants have 3 different and distinct programs they can utilize. Our referral program is there for folks who have 1-2 direct needs already identified before they reach out to us. Common examples of referrals we often provide here include: mental health providers who are both trauma informed and sex work informed; connections to family lawyers offering pro bono or reduced rates, and connections to immigration lawyers offering pro bono or reduced rates. Our advocacy program has folks working with us for 6months – 1 year. Our trained advocates work alongside program participants to provide wrap-around support as they work on 3-5 S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). Participants will meet with their advocate virtually or in-person weekly to bi-weekly over the course of their time in our Advocacy Program. Our third program is our Mentorship Program where participants meet be-weekly to monthly for continued support without an emphasis on S.M.A.R.T. goals. This program is great for participants looking to connect to community without having to have a specific end-goal in mind.

As an organization we focus on meeting folks where they are – from our program participants to our Board members; our volunteers to our staff. We aim to educate the general public, adjacent communities, and our own communities around topics like: the decriminalization of sex work; that sex work and sex trafficking are not the same; trauma-informed intake practices for professionals that support survivors of sexual assault, trafficking, and domestic violence. We believe strongly in a focus on community care, collaborative partnerships, and the necessity of lived-experience for those in leadership or decisions making positions.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

In the nonprofit sector there is a particular challenge in maintaining high morale. Nonprofits exist to serve the public good by addressing community needs that are not fully met by the government or the private sector. They operate for public, community, or mutual benefit. While many struggle to think of nonprofits as being a business it is key to remember that they are indeed a business – just one where any surplus revenue is reinvested into the organization’s mission rather than distributed to owners, stakeholders, or founders. I like to say that one of the main things in common between anyone who works for a nonprofit is that their passion is what brings them in the door (and often what keeps them there through the hard times).

There’s a funny thing about passion though – it can bring a lot of energy. Without clear guidance and guidelines around how best to funnel that energy into the work any nonprofit can quickly become disorganized and chaotic. Giving a team not just a solid plan but presenting it in multiple ways allows the whole team to be on the same page. It gives everyone a pathway to healthy boundaries and accountability. It allows everyone to really bring themselves into their role and expand within it to make it their own. Keeping the communication open, the guidelines where everyone can see them, and clear guidance allows a team to bend and flex as circumstances dictate.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Here are some of my go-to resources that influenced my management style and organizational philosophy:

Books –
Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers’ Rights by Juno Mac and Molly Smith : providing history, information, and an engaging approach around an often taboo topic that brings readers from different sectors into the conversation with care and clarity.
Radical Candor by Kim Scott : A management style that focuses on providing genuine interest in ones team as individuals while also providing effective and constructive feedback. Being both kind and clear when providing praise or criticism, aiming for collaborative results without being a jerk or a pushover.
Permission to Speak by Samara Bay : A powerful toolkit around public speaking keying in on ways to use tone, speech patterns, timing, and ways to craft a narrative to deliver concise messaging.
Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change by Stacey Abrams : All about harnessing the strengths of being an outsider and understanding power imbalances.
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem : This book is also recommend to our staff, board, and volunteers. It provides a framework for understanding racialized trauma from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology.

Videos –

https://www.ted.com/talks/nicole_emma_what_a_sex_worker_can_teach_us_about_human_connection

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thecupcakegirls.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivriotgeeksout , https://www.instagram.com/cupcakegirlsorg
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/academicfiend/