I was talking to a client last week about how Dublin's transformed. Not just the skyline or the tech scene, but the actual fabric of who exists here. When I first started working, the rooms I entered looked totally different.
Being Nigerian-Irish means I've always been navigating multiple spaces. In this work, that complexity gets amplified. Clients have expectations. Some want an 'exotic' experience, which is its own kind of racial performance. Others are just looking for connection, but the racial dynamics are always humming underneath.
I remember this Dutch businessman last autumn who was genuinely curious about my background. Not in a fetishistic way, but actually interested in how I move between cultures. We talked more about identity than anything else that evening. Those are the encounters that remind me why I love this work.
But it's not always smooth. There's a hierarchy in how clients select workers that nobody wants to discuss openly. Lighter skin gets prioritized. Mixed-race women like myself sit in this weird intermediary space. We're desired, but also constantly being measured against some unspoken standard.
Dublin's changing. Slowly. But it's changing.