Touch: The Power of Human Connection (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780991515400)

Samantha Hess is a 30 year-old professional cuddler who lives in Portland, Oregon. The idea for her thriving business came in January 2013 when she saw a man holding a sign offering hugs for two dollars. "He had more than a dozen people lined up around him wanting to be held", said Samantha. "I knew there was a demand for cuddling, but I was unsure if I could turn that idea into an actual business". Last April she launched her Web site and spent two months researching the legalities of commercial cuddling. "I found nothing that would legally deter the business from succeeding and hired a lawyer to draft a liability waiver", said Samantha. "Willamette Week wrote about my business in July followed by an article in Nerve Magazine. In early November, over 400,000 people read about me in The Oregonian. A short time later, I appeared on CNN, CBS This Morning, NBC, Yahoo, AOL, Fox News, Reuters, the London Daily Mail and media sites in more than a dozen countries". Eventually this wave of publicity reached over 14 million people. Samantha is the author of Touch: The Power of Human Connection, a guide to improving relationships and finding fulfillment. Inside Portland Magazine awarded the book five stars, calling Touch: The Power of Human Connection nothing short of revolutionary. Samantha will soon appear on several national talk shows with an estimated audience of over 16 million people, bringing her total reach to 30 million people by July 2014. Samantha is the biggest news story to come out of Portland in nearly two decades and plans to open a retail storefront later this year. "People neglect their fundamental needs", said Samantha. "Touch comforts us when we are sad and heals us when we are sick. We are not meant to live our lives in isolation. Cuddling enhances self-worth and promotes human dignity. My company is going to change the world."