The 2024 ED Awards’ Employee of the Year Charlee Daniels has worn a variety of hats during her tenure at Godfathers in West Virginia — just not the one you might expect.
(NOTE: This story appears in the January 2025 issue of ED Magazine.)
The first thing you need to know about Charlee Daniels is, no sir, she wasn’t named after the country singer. Pure coincidence, and don’t think you’re being clever by asking if the devil went down to Georgia either. Har. Trust us, she’s heard it before.
The second is, rather surprisingly, she has never worn clear stilettos or asked, “You want a dance?” In fact, of her many past titles, the box next to ‘exotic dancer’ was never once checked. At 25, the mother of two adopted children is already a seven-year club veteran working her way through a range of positions at Godfathers Gentlemen’s Club in Wheeling, West Virginia.
“You wouldn’t be the first person to think that I was an entertainer before becoming the manager,” denotes Daniels who speaks with a charming southern-peppered accent that she gained by living in the Tri-State area — Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia — most of her life.
Given her roots, Daniels hasn’t subscribed to anything but a hard work doctrine. Working in the male-dominated oil and gas industry before joining Godfathers, Daniels’ initial responsibility was being the club’s DJ but that didn’t mean she couldn’t break up a bar fight as well.
I’ve never danced but I’ve dealt with my share of mean customers, so I can relate to [the entertainers] when it comes to customer relations.
– Charlee Daniels
“I haven’t been a bouncer either but I have certainly deescalated a situation or two,” she mentions. “But really I have toured a number of positions here at Godfathers. It’s just amazing how much the club has changed and how it has changed me for the better. I’ve loved every second of it.”
After DJing for a spell (“It wasn’t much; just me, a mic and Spotify,” she deadpans), Daniels became the club’s VIP hostess, then bartender after the club’s owner, Rajeet Sandhu, recognized her charisma and effortless nature while dealing with the club’s mostly blue-collar clientele.
“Raj said, ‘You’re going to start bartending. You have the personality, you got this.’ I was nervous. I never bartended before, but he provided me with the training and through that, I grew confident behind the bar. After the learning curve, it just came naturally.”

Things spin quickly in Daniels’ orbit, so before her uniform even reeked of stale beer and cigarette smoke, she was once again promoted, this time as a shadow for the club’s then manager. Sandhu was preparing her to take over and eventually call the shots. Daniels had spent enough time in the bar by now though that those nerves didn’t resurface.
“By the time I started my manager training I felt like I knew how to run it all,” says Daniels assertively. “ I was always the last person to stay and close the bar. I understood our POS inside and out. I knew what had to get done. But I never stopped learning all this time, and really to this day, it just comes very naturally to me.”
Wheeling, West Virginia may not be redlined on a map to many but to those who live there, it’s a city that affords the simple luxuries afforded by their main exports, mainly oil and gas.
“Our customers are hard-working, hard-spending, good people who enjoy spending time here,” Daniels says while referencing the club which is a little over 2,000 square feet. “We also share a parking lot with the only casino in town, the Wheeling Island Casino, so the crossover traffic helps us a lot. It also helps that we’re full nude and full liquor.”
Sandhu owns three Godfathers locations in and around West Virginia with Daniels spending time in each if called upon. Her position has helped in all facets of his chain but none more so than with the entertainers.
“I’ve never danced but I’ve dealt with my share of mean customers, so I can relate to them when it comes to customer relations. And they definitely seem to be a lot more comfortable with me. We’ve had male GMs, but they would often talk to me before they would go to the male GM.”
Daniels oversees a staff between 15 and 20 with about 20 entertainers and a kitchen crew on a solid weekend shift. She has become such a fixture with the Godfathers’ familiars that the normal stresses that accompany her position have been absorbed as simply portions of her day-to-day.
“There really isn’t much stress that I feel now,” she adds. “Raj, my co-workers, our customers, they’ve all become extensions of my second family. Sure we may get someone who had too much to drink or the occasional weirdo but honestly we’re an easygoing club. We’re just out to share our good time.”
For more information on Godfathers, please visit wvclubs.com.