A wedding guest who mysteriously vanished from the reception only to turn up at a brothel 1,000km away a week later has revealed her ambition to launch her own sex work empire.
Kimberley Hartley, 20, was celebrating the nuptials of two close friends in Surfers Paradise on August 31 when she suddenly disappeared overnight, sparking a police search.
Miss Hartley was found a week later at Desires brothel in Unanderra, in Wollongong, in New South Wales, a week later, when it emerged that she is a sex worker.
She has now told Daily Mail Australia that her dream is to run her own sex work ’empire’.
Miss Hartley explained she is now her own boss and would never go back to being ordered around by someone else, reflecting on her time working for Hungry Jacks as a teenager.
In her ideal world, Miss Hartley described a life of freedom, where she had the power to hire, fire, and call the shots.
Kimberley Hartley (pictured), 20, was celebrating the nuptials of two close friends in Surfers Paradise on August 31 when she suddenly disappeared overnight, sparking a police search
Miss Hartley (pictured) was found at Desires brothel in Wollongong a week later, when it emerged that she is a sex worker. She said her dream is to run her own sex work ’empire’
‘I know it looks like I don’t know what I’m doing, but trust me, I do.
‘In my future, I am the business owner. I am the boss. I won’t be hired, I will be doing the hiring.’
The sex worker went on to explain how she was inspired watching people in her industry move on to start their own porn companies.
Some had become some of the biggest porn stars in the country, while others ran their own escort agencies.
‘Whatever I do, I’m going to make sure I have the money to start.
‘It’s so incredible to me that I’m 20 years old – I came from nothing and now I see commas in my bank account.’
Referring to judgement she has received over her extensive tattoos – including ink on her face, the sex worker added: ‘And I can guarantee you right now, the way people look will not be a factor.’
Miss Hartley (pictured) said she has received judgement over her extensive tattoos
Miss Hartley explained that she got her first tattoo – a statue with the solar system exploding from its broken head – shortly after she started performing sex acts for money.
Not long after she followed a friend into the industry aged 18, she made the snap decision to get the statue etched onto her arm.
‘It was definitely a spur of the moment decision. I definitely have no regrets.
‘I always knew that I liked tattoos – I thought they made you look really beautiful and added an extra pop to how boring skin is,’ she explained.
Miss Hartley, who said she became a sex worker because she had few other job prospects, said she was insecure about her body but the tattoos help her to overcome her anxiety.
‘My sense of self before tattoos was honestly disgusting,’ she said.
‘I was literally 5’6″ and 60kg and I thought I was so fat. I look back on pictures now and it’s like, who let me think that way about myself?
‘So many people, including my family would comment on my body and that stuff just sticks with you I guess.
‘But sex work taught me that no matter who you are or what you look like – skinny, fat, Caucasian, a person of colour, cis, trans, anything – there will always be a large group of people who find you beautiful, even if you don’t.’
Miss Hartley (pictured) said she was insecure about her body but the tattoos help her to overcome her anxiety
The tattoo that stands out the most on Miss Hartley’s body is a Billie Eilish song lyric, which is inked on her forehead (pictured)
The tattoo that stands out the most on Miss Hartley’s body is a Billie Eilish song lyric, which is inked on her forehead.
It reads ‘heaven’s out of sight’, a line from the star’s song All the Good Girls go to Hell, and is one of her favourites.
‘When I got my forehead tattooed, I just remember feeling so good afterwards.
‘Billie Eilish means a lot to me so I love it because I love her.’
While Miss Hartley admitted most of her 50 tattoos were unplanned and chosen on the day, including her large chest and stomach piece, she acknowledged that choosing tattoos on a whim has resulted in some being tarnished with bad memories.
She tried to have one tattoo removed but the laser treatment only caused it to fade, rather than getting rid of it altogether.
The sex worker added that she shares multiple tattoos with people she no longer considers friends.
‘Hell, I even got a matching tattoo with the girl that’s accused me of stealing the safe from her,’ she said, referring to allegations that she stole up to $8015 worth of family heirlooms from a home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last December.
‘My sense of self before tattoos was honestly disgusting,’ she said. ‘I was literally 60kg and I thought I was so fat (pictured: Kimberley Hartley before she had tattoos)
She said: I look back on pictures now and it’s like, who let me think that way about myself? (pictured: Kimberley Hartley before she had tattoos, age 17)
Kimberley Hartley (pictured left) before she had face tattoos, age 17
She denied the allegations in court and her lawyer successfully had the convictions overturned pending a future hearing.
While Miss Hartley plans on getting more tattoos to add to her collection, she previously expressed fears outside Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court that people will still believe she is a criminal because of ‘the way I look’.
‘I’m not the only person with tattoos. Unfair judgments based on appearance are a serious issue for a lot of people,’ she later said.
‘If I had a birth mark on my face would I not get hired? I know it’s not the same thing, but the way I look just really shouldn’t effect anyone but myself.’
The woman stood firm on her opinion and claimed the fact that ‘society labels tattooed people as unprofessional’ made no sense to her.
Miss Hartley first made headlines when she disappeared off the radar for seven days following her mate’s wedding.
She told Daily Mail Australia she simply left her phone behind at her hotel and was waiting for it to be posted back.
But her friends were deeply concerned because they knew her as a ‘social media addict’ who ‘would go without food before she went without her phone’.
Miss Hartley previously expressed fears outside Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court (pictured) that people will still believe she is a criminal because of ‘the way I look’
A plea for help finding Miss Hartley went viral on social media and she was later found living at a bordello in Wollongong (pictured: the last photo of Miss Hartley before she was reported ‘missing’)
A plea for help finding Miss Hartley went viral on social media and she was later found living at a bordello in Wollongong.
Given the extreme publicity, Miss Hartley then decided to go public with the fact she was a sex worker.
‘I’m not ashamed of telling people I’m a sex worker,’ she said.
‘But I’m a pretty private person, and letting the whole world in on my biggest secret scares me.’
Ms Hartley said she had been working at brothels since she was 18 – and started because she had ‘no money and no nothing’.
‘A girl I knew was going into a brothel so I just went with her to check it out…
‘After my first pay, I knew there was no going back,’ she said.
‘I now love my job. I love being able to do what I want when I want and having as much freedom as anyone could ask for.’