Page 71 - AVN November 2017

FEATURE
dropped a delightful bomb, revealing
femdom model Bratty Nikki as one
of its founders and equity partners—
except that rumors regarding the open
secret had already been flying around
the industry for some time.
TTHIS PAST SEPTEMBER, iWantClips
“Other people were telling my story
for me, but it wasn’t guaranteed that
they were telling it the proper way,”
Nikki explained. “I was kind of sick of
that.”
According to Nikki, she and the
team behind iWantClips kept her
involvement behind the scenes
because they wanted the site to be
judged on its own merit—and not
on people’s prejudgments about
performers.
“A lot of people have preconceived
notions about what performers are
and what they aren’t—and they don’t
always hold us in the highest regard
when it comes to business,” she
explained. “I didn’t want anyone to
allow those judgments to affect them
using the site.”
Nikki ultimately made the decision
to “come out of [her] bikini closet” in
an effort to dispel rumors, challenge
stereotypes, and move iWantClips
forward.
“It just felt like it was time,” she
explained. “I felt like I was ready
because iWantClips has achieved so
much success on its own, and people
believe in it now. People know it’s
stable and I thought maybe coming
out now can only help the site—which
it has.”
“I’ve had such a positive response
and have had so many women that I’m
constantly impressed by tell me that
they are proud of me—and that’s the
coolest feeling ever. It really is.”
MORE OF A BADASS THAN A BRAT
iWantEmpire’s Bratty Nikki speaks out
Hailing from Michigan and growing up in suburban
Detroit, Nikki always knew she never wanted a traditional
job. “I went to college for a little bit, but it wasn’t for me,”
she explained. “I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do
with my life. ... I worked as a go-go dancer and a shot girl,
just gigs as a promotional model.”
Everything changed in 2010 though when a girlfriend
who’d been working on cam got into financial domination.
“She told me about it, and said ‘Hey, I think you’d be
perfect for this, this could be something that really sets
you up for a lot of success,’” Nikki shared.
After learning some basic ropes, Nikki had a website
made, started taking calls and camming, and then filming
clips. “It really just took off for me,” she recalled. “I built
a fan base very quickly and just felt really natural as a
financial dominatrix.”
According to Nikki, financial domination (findom) is
largely about confidence. She explained, “You have to
believe that you are worth it, you know, guys giving you
money for pretty much nothing. If you don’t believe it,
they won’t believe it.”
Financial domination is also about power, specifically
turning the tables on clients who command a lot of power
in their daily lives. “A lot of my clients and fans have high-
powered jobs,” she explained. “They are making decisions
for people all day and telling people what to do. So when
connecting under one seamless roof.
“A model can really build her own empire with our brand,”
Nikki explained. “And I guess my mission, my biggest
responsibility, is to help all of these performers—my peers—
realize their own best lives and have the most success that they
possibly can.”
This also has benefits for consumers. In addition to services like
iWantWallet, which enables users to pay for anything available via
iWantEmpire, or streaming options that help stave off potential
catastrophes that come with downloading content, the space
facilitates a unique level of consumer immersion in models’ online
lives.
“I think that for the consumer buying and participating in all
these services helps them feel more immersed in a performer’s
life,” Nikki explained. “They feel like they are part of it. They feel
like they know her or him, and I think that’s really cool because,
you know, for some customers, it’s not just about buying a clip.”
“I think that the more we can encompass that—the more
services we can create to make the consumer feel like they are a
part of the model’s life—then they are having a fuller experience,”
she continued. “I don’t think that’s anything any other site
offers and that’s really appealing to both the customer and the
performer—or, I should say, the artist.”
“A lot of things that I’m interested in outside of work actually
feed well into financial domination,” Nikki shared. “It’s probably
why I was such a natural at it.”
it comes to financial domination and they have no control
even over their wallet, it’s a release for them.”
But while Nikki was busy breaking hearts and bending
wills, she was also experiencing serious frustrations with
the various platforms and services she needed to deliver
her work.
“It was late 2010, and my husband [Jay Phillips] and
I were talking about how much money I was bringing in
but how the services that I needed from [various support
sites]—the support that I needed—wasn’t always there,”
she recalled. “A lot of times I felt like a number, like I
wasn’t important to them even though I was bringing in
all this money. At times, I was downright disrespected
and treated very poorly, and I felt like certain situations
weren’t dealt with in a fair manner—I just didn’t like
that.”
“I really think that’s what pushed us to start a new site
with a new mindset and really do something that puts the
performers first.”
iWantClips launched in the spring of 2014, with Nikki
A LOT OF MY CLIENTS AND
FANS HAVE HIGH-POWERED
JOBS. THEY ARE MAKING
DECISIONS FOR PEOPLE ALL
DAY AND TELLING PEOPLE
WHAT TO DO. SO WHEN IT
COMES TO FINANCIAL
DOMINATION AND THEY HAVE
NO CONTROL EVEN OVER
THEIR WALLET, IT’S A RELEASE
FOR THEM.
—BRATTY NIKKI
and Jay at the helm. Today, Nikki advises on new products,
develops marketing campaigns, and mentors model
consultants—all while continuing to perform herself. Her
business leadership coupled with her experience in front
of the camera contributes to models’ positive experiences
with the site.
“A lot of models have said to me ‘I can tell a model is
involved, you always put the models first,’” she shared.
“They just really appreciate that and it gives them
confidence knowing that somebody on the inside has their
back and knows how business decisions or new ideas for
development would be perceived by [models].”
“I think I have become a really good go-between, and
we’ve received praise for that long before I even came out
as part owner.”
Evidence of this success can be seen in the recent
But many of Nikki’s interests actually sound very “natural” in
a more conventional sense. “I love fashion and am always paying
attention to fashion week and new trends. I’m a foodie. I love
good food and hanging out with my husband. I also love to read
and go hiking, spending time in nature and decompressing—I’m
always so connected, always on social media and Skype, or in front
of a screen somehow.”
And when I asked Nikki if she got bitten by a radioactive spider
what her superpower would be, she shared something very tender.
“This is probably an odd answer for a dominatrix, but I would
love to be the ability to heal people—to be able to take away their
pain and their heartaches and really help free them from those
things that prevent them from living positively,” she said.
Creating positive change by creating opportunity and not being
assholes—seems like her superpower is already in action.
launch of iWantClips’ parent company, iWantEmpire.
iWantEmpire is basically a one-stop-shop that
puts different ways of monetization and
Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals is a sociologist and author. Find her on Twitter at
@drchauntelle. Photo of Bratty Nikki by Josh Ryan.
FEATURE | By Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals
11.17 | AVN.com | 71