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Miss Sharon Mitchell InnerView Continued... AINews: And you had ANOTHER 40th birthday party? Mitch: Yes, another 40th birthday party. AINews: How many 40th birthday parties have you had so far? Mitch: I had three... Publicly... But I might have had more privately. AINews: OK, you have to disclose that. I hope you have many more. It was fun. Mitch: They ARE fun, they're really great parties. I really love them! AINews: I understand you raised some money for AIM. Mitch: $5500 that night for the AIM health-care foundation, which was really needed. We supply a tremendous amount of services. In hours alone we far exceed 40 hours a week with the counseling and prevention education services that we provide. We have 12 step group meetings, we work with the Department of Child Family Services for a lot of the girls that are going through custody stuff, we do a tremendous amount of counseling that everyone really doesn't hear about. This takes away from our man-hours. It's not just sitting in the office drawing blood all day. Our goal at AIM health-care now is really to become more like - and I'll use this and I'm sure people will get upset, but for lack of a better model - more like the Gay and Lesbian Center. We want to open this up to more open-minded education and more prevention education services, more workshops, more counseling, more AA, more NA, more Sex Anonymous, you know what I'm saying? "So I think I see AIM health-care becoming a place that we can find out more about what makes us tick and how we can affect and help the rest of the world, because we are high-profile in low places." More child and family services, you know, I see this becoming a foundation for counseling. We can add a lot to the [knowledge of] psychosocial behavior that very little is known about, the sex worker and how they react and interact with each other and affect the world. Most people think it's in a bad way, and I tend to think that we're more responsible and more educated than any group of people on earth because this is our business. So I think I see AIM health-care becoming a place that we can find out more about what makes us tick and how we can affect and help the rest of the world, because we are high-profile in low places. AINews: That's a good way to put it. "High profile in low places." Mitch: I.e.: being secret and on videotape. But look at the great opportunity that you get to educate people when all they want is [porn] videotapes! AINews: I know that you have a video tape out, in fact I got it at Steve Drake's seminar, of you and Nina [Hartley] talking to new people about getting into the Industry. Mitch: Exactly and we just updated that. We had to shoot a new one. Thank you to "Adam and Eve" for picking up the cost, we are so grateful. And that will be sort of a supplement to the original one we have. Those types of programs as well as testing and GYN services, of course we'll always do that. I was just saying I think we need to open our horizons a little bit. Also, drug and alcohol treatment for the HIV-positive. We want to start writing policies for HIV-positive people that ARE working in the industry. And they should be working. And there's no reason why they can't work if people know or people are informed about their HIV status. Is their viral count not detected? And if they use condoms its probably okay for them to work if the person has an informed consent choice to work with them. I don't see it becoming a problem. "It's not [about] stepping on toes, it's not [about] arguing, and it's not about whose clinic does more business and so on and so forth. That is not my fight." I don't see HIV going away and I don't see how else we're going to get around it. But I think we have a great opportunity in the Adult Entertainment Industry to inform each other and be way ahead when it comes to testing, monitoring, education and prevention of spreading the HIV virus. And I see AIM health-care being a focal point. This is my life's work and this is what I'm passionate about. It's not [about] stepping on toes, it's not [about] arguing, and it's not about whose clinic does more business and so on and so forth. That is not my fight. It's just too bad, I'm sorry! So I try to stick with principles before personalities. I welcome the people that are constantly my critics and so on and so forth to come in and really ask to see our policies. And yeah we can find a place to work together. The business is to damn small! We all need to work together! There's no reason why two clinics can't join and have some great programs. There's not one reason in the world that it can't happen. In time it will all change I'm sure. "I get pissed off from time to time but the truth is if we were able to mend our rifts right away hell, I'd put the water under the bridge and move on in a hot second." Because things can't stay the same and forever, you know what I mean? People can't stay the same forever and I'm certainly not going to hold a grudge forever. Yeah, I get pissed off from time to time but the truth is if we were able to mend our rifts right away hell, I'd put the water under the bridge and move on in a hot second. The same with Greg Zaboray, if you want to come into the office once a week and sell insurance by all means. Sit in the office once a week. You can if you want. Please. As long as we get on the same page. Let's work together now. I'm an entity and so are you guys. Let's be one together. I mean if you have a beef, throw it at me, don't throw it at Gene Ross or Luke Ford or Adult Industry News, you know? I'm willing to make amends if I've offended anyone with any actions that I've taken in the past because I'm very enthusiastic, and sometimes I roll right over people without even looking. And I think that may be what's happened there. I mean I think I caused bad blood by doing that. And I'm aware that I'm like that because I'm a dynamo when I move so fast. And if I did any kind of actions to offend these people personally, for that I want to make amends. But I don't think that needs to stand in the way of us working together and getting along. AINews: It's sounds like you tend to see nothing being done somewhere, and rather than choose to do nothing yourself you choose to do something even though sometimes it's the wrong thing. Mitch: Yeah! We're dealing with uncharted territory here. Like I said before it's like the Wild West out here. We're dealing with no standards, no laws, we got to work together on what helps. And we all need to come together, not criticize and pick at each other. Let's sit in a room and hack it out. Let's come up with a good policy that we all agree on. AINews: You're saying the idea is to close rifts, not to make new ones. Mitch: Sure, I mean we've got the power of influence. Let's work together to do this. That's what I think. Part 2: AINews: [Referring to a movie she was in recently] In the movie "Knockout" there's this gravel-voiced club manager… do remember that line she said? I busted up laughing! She said, "What, do you think I test these girls for diseases or something?" (Laughs) Mitch: (Laughs and laughs!) Yeah! AINews: Are you still working? Mitch: I work every once in a while. I don't work that much simply because it's not where my passions lie anymore. I had a great 25 years as an actress in the Industry and producer and director. But I'm just not as happy in front of the camera as I am running AIM and really having a great time with the 12 step programs and talking to the people about STD and HIV prevention and education. I mean this is my thing. AINews: Where can talent go to a 12-step meeting where their anonymity will be protected? Mitch: We have a meeting on Thursday night between eight and nine. I've got to tell you that we did try to keep [the meetings] open. We left it open and put it in the book [of meetings listed by NA] and I had ex-cons just out of jail coming in looking to check out the Pornstars. I know it may be against certain traditions, but damn it, the meetings are staying closed for now! (Laughs!) AINews: Well, there are meetings closed to men and only for women. There are also meetings closed to people who are not addicts or alcoholics. To serve different purposes it's a common thing, so it's not like you're doing anything really weird by closing your meetings to non-Industry people.
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