Chapter 1

“First of all, this is a company started by a woman for women. It’s only in the last five years that we’ve allowed men on board and to be honest, it’s been the best decision we’ve ever made although the government forced our hand under the Equal Employment Opportunity Rules. To be frank with you, sales have tripled so we cant complain,” Sandra, the HR specialist began her speil for me.

I silently nodded, giving her my full attention. She’d asked me to hold my questions for the moment.

“What you may not know is that our product only works on women. Some men swear by it although there are more than a dozen clinical studies that have determined there is absolutely no benefit when our product is utilized on male physiology. It’s a chromosomal thing, XX versus XY.”

I did know that. My mom has worked for the company for years.

“That said, so many men have expressed interest in our product that our chemists have worked diligently to develop an entirely new product for men and we’re practically there but we are not going to release something until it’s as close to 100% effective as Nu Skin is on women of any age is.”

How close they were was news to me and I was quite excited at the prospect of being employed by Nu Skin in time for having a possible in for my fiance, Jackson, when the time came for clinical trials. It’s partly why he reluctantly agreed to let me accept the job offer even with the nudity requirement.

It was difficult to hold my questions about that but I understood from my mom that the company would not tolerate rule-breakers and the job meant too much to me, to be let go before I even started. Sandra had asked me to hold my questions and I knew from mom’s tip that this was a test. So I bit my lip and listened.

Sandra smiled, seeing me bursting to ask something but controlling myself. After a short pause, she continued. “Once the product gets its final FDA approval and hits the market here in the States, decisions will need to be made but until then, we’re continuing to observe the founder’s original vision to practice what we preach. That means that although we’ve approved your application and you’ll receive the benefits of employment with Nu Skin, your continued employment after 30-days is contingent on two things.

Now this was something mom hadn’t explained. I sat up straighter.

“First, you’ll get the product free to use and it’s a requirement that you do so religiously for the first 7 days so for the first 5 days you’ll apply it here at the office. If it isn’t 100% effective on you in that time, then we’ll part ways and you will not have been financially disadvantaged because as I said, you will have been receiving our full benefits package from the first day of orientation.”

That didn’t bother me. Mom, Celeste and Savannah all used the product and it’s amazing. Just very, very expensive. Too expensive for me to test on my own dime, hence my excitement at making it through the interview process.

“That week will be spent in orientation, away from the public eye while you use the Nu Skin product under supervision and adjust to our somewhat radical office policies.”

She could say that again, even if she just meant the policy I was seeing with my own eyes.

“You’ve no doubt seen the articles and news stories about us,” Sandra, the naked HR specialist laughed merrily, for the first time possibly going off-script and showing herself to be a fun young woman.

“I doubt any adult over 21 and most under that age with access to social media could have missed the stories, even if you hadn’t noticed my state of undress,” Sandra grinned at me.

“Noooo! I’d completely missed that,” I deadpanned back, feeling the tension in the room evaporate with my joke.

Sandra chuckled politely at my sarcastic humor. “I really think you’ll be a good fit here, Tatiana. I know you’ve already agreed with the requirement but I’ll reiterate it so I know that there’s been no misunderstandings. The only time you’ll wear any clothing item at work is when you’re on your period. A pair of panties to hold a pad in place is better than leakage. You already have some family working for Nu Skin, dont you?”

“Yeah, my mom and sisters. Celeste is in Shipping and Savannah is in Sales. Mom ... that’s Amanda Scott, she works in Accounting. They gush about how great it is, all the time.”

Celeste, Savannah & Amanda Scott together with a few others (not pictured) discussing the discipline of a company employee they all know.

“Even being naked? Unsurprisingly it’s always the biggest stumbling block for new employees, although your family’s been here a while now, I understand,” Sandra pointedly noted.

“They’ve never really talked about being naked here. I guess it’s never come up and I should have put 2 and 2 together before this minute but for whatever reason, I didnt.”

“So does it bother you that they spend at least 7½ hours a day nude? It’s quite understandable if it does. It would be a lot for me to get my head around if it was my mom and sisters.” Sandra assured me that it was okay if I was initially uncomfortable.

“Maybe? No. To be honest, it doesn’t bother me at all. I never considered it before but Nu Skin has made them so confident that they say they can’t wait to get here in the mornings. They just failed to mention that they then doff their street clothes. Now I understand the comment Celeste let slip to Savannah about wishing some guy called Shawn was naked too.”

Sandra nodded sympathetically. “I’m glad you brought that up, Tatiana. It’s a great segway into the next part. There seems to be a general consensus at this branch that it’s unfair to insist all females work naked while males have a strict dress code.”

“Yeah, why is that?” I asked, accidentally forgetting the request to hold my questions.

Sandra held up a finger but said nothing. It was enough to make me kick myself. I guess I’d just had my first warning and I didn’t know if I’d get another. After a second, Sandra continued.

“You have to keep in mind what I led off with. The company was started in Tokyo, Japan and there were only female employees in a closed environment. The only people who got to see inside were the corporate buyers and the founder wanted them to witness first hand the marvel that is Nu Skin. Almost all retail reps were women. After all, in Japan it was and still generally is, considered a woman’s territory. What do men know about women’s skin care?”

Okay, that made sense, but this is America and men work for the company here. What’s good for the gander should be good for the goose, I thought.

“I know you’re thinking, ‘so what?’ and I’ll explain. So, we had to employ men. But men have a habit of ... sticking out, I guess you’d say. This is not a sex club. It’s a place of business. The founder determined that we don’t need a bunch of erections distracting everyone. So men had to be held to a different standard and even if a man is gay, he stays fully dressed. Now I know you’re wondering why women have to work nude and how unfair and sexist that is.”

“Well yes, of course!” I agreed.

I mean if I didn’t HAVE to work in the nude, why would I?

“The original concept for the business was that employees work in the nude so our product gets maximum exposure at all times, with anyone who comes into contact with us. The founder was unwilling to waver on that and she has a point. I know you agree or you would not have made it to this room.”

I nodded, conceding the point. Obviously, I had already agreed to the stipulation that I’d be nude at all times while on company property, representing Nu Skin.

“Our employees are all confident, driven individuals who are not ashamed of their bodies. The male employees would happily work as nude as the female ones but without help that’s not yet available, their skin will never be as flawless as mine, or soon, yours, until a product is ready to even the playing field. That’s when we’ll have to deal with the sticky outie problem, Sandra laughed again.

“So men have to wear tailored suits that cover imperfect skin. I see,” I said, finishing Sandra’s explanation.

Sandra touched her nose then pointed at me with a smile, telling me I got it in one.

“Okay, that brings me to the second contingency for your permanent employment. We have had, let’s say ... issues ... with employees who have been hired by Nu Skin since the decision was made to allow men to join our team. It’s one thing deciding you’re okay with the premise of working in the nude around other women and men. The truth is that in practice its not always so straightforward. 10% of new hires do not complete the first 30-days for one reason or another. Not surprisingly it’s mostly men that drop out, or are dropped.”

I could imagine it being a problem for some men, especially the heterosexual kind, but for some women too?

“Some women feel ... objectified ... being naked all day, even when there are no males present. That is not our intention and we cannot always weed out via the interview process, the women who will succumb to these feelings so we utilize the 30-day trial period to identify those people who aren’t a perfect fit here.”

“I see,” I replied, not really seeing at all and making a mental note to bring it up again when Sandra finally allowed questions.

Sandra must have recognized some tell I’d given her. Despite me telling her I understood, she went into addition detail.

“When I first came here, I was willing and able to work naked even though, like you, this was my first job out of college. I’m fit and attractive. I always have been. That’s not bragging, it’s just simply fact. A woman that started the same day as me was not fit at all. She did not make it through the first 30-days because she felt the other employees were judging her when that was truly not the case at all. She had hidden insecurities that took a little while to manifest. Two weeks in, she tore into another employee for staring at her tits. She was let go the same day.”

“Can I clarify something?” I asked very conscious of the rule about asking questions.

“Go ahead. This is critical so I’d rather you ask now than fall out because you didn’t understand this basic concept,” Sandra encouraged.

“Was the starer or the woman you started with, let go?”

“Ah, my apologies. I didn’t share that as well as I could have, did I? It was the woman that I started with who was terminated. The woman staring was a lesbian simply in awe of the new girl’s tits. They had to have been a J-cup. When you’re as busty as that, you’re going to get stares, from guys and girls, straight, bi-sexual and gay. The new girl reacted negatively and that would have created a toxic working environment had action not been taken immediately.”

“Couldn’t the company simply have reassured the big girl that her bust was enviable?” I asked, hoping that sort of question was okay under the circumstances.

“Of course we could. We could also stage interventions for males that spend more time girl-watching than doing their jobs. But why do so, when we’re not a daycare? We employ adults of all ages but the key is that every employee is an adult. Adults who require close supervision are not a good fit here. We give employees the freedom to ogle and be ogled as long as it doesn’t hamper their ability to get the job done. I myself jill off every night after a day here and I’m not embarrassed to admit it. I get fiercely turned on imagining the thoughts going through the minds of some of the team here.”

“So that’s okay?” I asked, a little shocked at Sandra’s casual admission.

“We’re all human, Tatiana. What we do not allow except under specific circumstances, are intra-employee sexual relationships. You won’t find staff members here disappearing for a quickie after lunch because exhibiting themselves all morning has become too much.”

“There are circumstances when that IS allowed, though?” the question popped out unbidden.

“Yes. You’ll learn more about the exceptions and circumstances during your orientation proper. We won’t be covering that here,” Sandra said with a note of finality that booked no discussion.

Well okay then. Maybe mom would fill me in at home tonight. Sandra went back into to HR mode, her smile still there, but the serious nature of the discussion reappearing in her body language.

“Finally, we’re going to take a walk out to the gate on the other side of reception. You probably noticed there’s a separate employee and visitor’s entrance. That’s because employees enter a building on campus that we call The Locker Room although its a completely separate building. Be advised that it’s a unisex place to undress and leave your clothes so both males and females use it. It’s equipped with showers in case you like to work out before you come to work.”

I’d never considered being naked outside and I wondered how far away from the office-proper The Locker Room was. I knew better than to ask, though. I’d see it for myself shortly.

“Grab your purse and let’s get you over to your assigned locker. It’s only 3 spaces away from mine so we’ll be seeing a lot of each other first thing each morning,” Sandra quipped.

Yes, we’d be seeing all of each other, I mentally corrected her.

I followed Sandra through the maze of offices that made up the Nu Skin campus and I thought I saw Celeste at one point, but I couldn’t be sure.

While we walked, Sandra identified the different departments we walked through and assured me I’d get a full guided tour on the first day of orientation on Monday.

I was quick to note there was indeed quite an expanse of open outdoor space between the main building and the building that Sandra said housed The Locker Room although there was a covered path that connected the two that would protect my body from direct sunlight or rain. Still, I knew I’d be conscious of walking it in the nude come Monday.

As we left the main building, trod the concrete path across the campus and finally entered The Locker Room building, Sandra continued her spiel as if she hadn’t just spent a couple of minutes outside completely naked.

“One of the frequent complaints HR receives is that some of the female employees have lockers adjacent to or next to male employees. They say it’s one thing to be nude in the same office, but quite another to have to do a striptease for their male collegues the moment they get to work. It’s especially a problem for the older employees, which I find amusing.”

It was kind of unsettling to me that HR found any sort of complaint amusing but I set the thought aside. I hadn’t seen a HR complaint. Maybe they were reported in a way that tickled Sandra’s sense of humor.

“You said there are showers? Open to males as well? I bet the men haven’t complained about having to get dressed near a woman!” I quipped to brighten the mood.

“No, there are guys that think that needs to be addressed, too. Of course the bathroom facilities are a bigger issue for men and women both. Each stall has a door, but some employees still complain they don’t like tinkling where someone of the opposite sex can hear. What I haven’t heard are complaints from women about men taking advantage of the showers after a visit to the gym on the way to work,” Sandra said with a giggle, letting me know she was done with the serious part of her briefing.