Brothel madam notes tough times in sex industry: 'We're a luxury spend'

In the latest in our <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/10/lifes-a-gamble-max-works-in-a-supermarket-pays-rent-and-is-almost-89/">Finances after Fifty</a> series we talk to Mary Brennan, 64, a former dominatrix and now owner and madam of Wellington brothel Funhouse. Mary is a long-standing advocate for the rights of sex workers. <b>A good dominatrix</b> is compassionate, non-judgmental, preferably has no skeletons in their closet, no triggers, no buttons to push. They’re open-minded, funny, service-oriented, a good people manager. I'm all of those things. I was a corporal punishment specialist, which means caning people and I'm naturally quite strong. I have really good eye-hand coordination. There's an art to caning. <b>I'm certainly not amazing </b>with money but I'm no dullard. I've got a crossover between my mother's good, basic book-keeping/budgeting/business-running skills, and my father's attitude that the people who work for you are the most important thing. I could be making much better money if I was more of a hard-arse boss.