Lora Shaner is a journalist by training and was a brothel madam by chance. An alumna of Texas Western College in her hometown of El Paso, Texas, she spent 20 years as a civilian public information officer for the Department of Defense in Texas and California. She chose early retirement and moved to Pahrump, Nevada. There, on impulse, she took a full-time job as madam at a legal brothel. She has discussed her fascinating adventures on numerous TV and radio programs and Madam has been covered in national magazines, such as Penthouse, Bikini, and Harper's.