I'm a foot fetish model who made over $115,000 last year. It takes a lot more than just pretty feet to make it in my industry - here's how I've built a steady income and client base.
Jason Clarke/Hyena Head Photography
- Goddess Valora (not her real name) is a 34-year-old foot fetish model based in St. Petersburg, Florida.
- In 2013, after accidentally booking a modeling gig that turned out to be a fetish video shoot, Valora realized she could make a full-time income working in the industry.
- Over the years, she's diversified her income by hosting fetish parties, in-person sessions with private clients, and also began webcamming. In 2019, she made over $115,000.
- Valora says fetish modeling isn't for everyone, and it's not as quick of a payoff as some people may think — it takes time to build a dedicated audience and regular client base.
- This is what her job is like, as told to freelance writer Jenny Powers.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
When I was a little girl growing up in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, I wanted to be a veterinarian because I loved cats. Later, when I found out that meant I'd have to see the literal inside of a cat, I scrapped the idea.
Around the age of 17 or 18, I decided I wanted to be a model. At the time, I had no idea fetish modeling even existed. That all changed in 2013 when I turned 26.
For almost three years, I'd been doing admin work and payroll processing for a small local company that hired a mix of former convicts and active junkies to go door to door selling meat from off the back of a truck. It wasn't exactly glamorous work; however, I did manage to pick up a few modeling jobs on the side. One day, I managed to book myself a print model gig in Orlando where I'd be traveling - and to be honest, I was so excited that I scanned the contract without really reading through it.
When I got to Florida and arrived for the shoot, it turned out to be for a fetish modeling video.
The shoot required me and another model to put on nylons and have our legs tied down while our stockinged feet were tickled. Had I read the contract, I would've known this! It was pretty easy work and paid $150 an hour, which was the standard non-nude rate. I wound up making $300. The other model told me she did fetish modeling full-time and that I could make a career out of it.
That was all I needed to hear.
I went back to Virginia, quit my job, packed my bags, dumped my boyfriend, said goodbye to my family, moved to Orlando, and began trying to book myself for fetish film content.
Soon, I was booking modeling work for tickle-related shoots and starting camming from a local dungeon called The Woodshed Orlando where I could rent space during the week when they weren't running a fetish club. There I'd earn up to $700 a night on cam.
In 2017, I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida - and by the following year, I started hosting monthly foot fetish parties.
Goddess Valora
I charged customers a $60 door fee. Once inside, clients could choose between purchasing public and private foot worship sessions with one of the models. We'd usually have six to eight models and host between 10 and 15 guys at each party. Last year, I stopped hosting the parties because I realized management just isn't my thing.
A lot of guys with foot fetishes think they have the strangest fetish on earth, but in reality, it's one of the most common.
Trust me, I know about strange, and this isn't it. For me, it's easy work and I don't have to sacrifice a lot of myself to do it. One day, I hope to transition into mainstream acting.
Before the pandemic, I also offered in-person foot worship and BDSM sessions at The Woodshed Orlando. I'd do a lot of foot-pet play sessions for $250 an hour with a two-hour minimum. During the sessions I'd collar and leash a client and walk him around, letting him worship my feet. I mostly improvised the theme. Say, right now if I was doing them, I might incorporate a Santa/Reindeer theme where I'm Santa and they are my reindeer being walked behind me. I really miss those live sessions.
Pretty much everything I do is to make me laugh. I tell jokes and make the experience a lighthearted one.
My clients are tend to be between the ages of 18 and 35, and are always men.
They aren't rich. These are the type of guys that are saving up from their paychecks and treating themselves. It's a big deal for them to treat themselves to this kind of stuff.
Universally, the most common foot fetishes are tied into the sight of toe wiggling and toe spreading, being smothered by feet, and foot smelling.
My trade secret is the day before a session or shoot, I cover my feet in Aquaphor and leave them overnight inside a pair of socks. Aquaphor doesn't have a scent and it makes my feet very smooth. At the moment, my feet are not presentable - although the silver lining of this whole pandemic is I finally learned how to give myself a pedicure.
Usually, I get professional pedicures and men pay to take care of my feet, which isn't always cheap. Some guys think a pedicure is just slapping a coat of paint on my toes, but really it's so much more. I used to skimp and get the dirt cheap, no-frills pedicures for $25 because I wanted my profits to be greater than my costs, but then I started springing for monthly gel pedicures which last longer and cost a bit more. Before the pandemic, I started really spoiling myself with CBD/hot stone pedicures where they even rub your feet with orange slices. After all, my size 7.5 feet are like the Dom Perignon of feet, not Walmart feet.
These days, I divide my time between shooting clips, photos, and doing cam for about two hours every other day, and editing my content.
I've never been one to rely on making money through one revenue stream because I think it sets you up for failure. When COVID-19 hit, I was already earning money in a variety of ways, which helped buffer the fact I had to stay at home. I am definitely doing more camming now, and my earnings have increased this year.
Last year, I hit the six-figure mark for the first time and this year I hit it sooner since I was camming more from home.
I feel like I managed to squeeze in the door before market saturation, but for those interested in getting into the business now, I say ask yourself if you're in it for fast money or a career.
If it's quick cash, you're going to be disappointed, because it takes time to build your audience and client base. If you're serious about making a career out of it, it's worth it to seek out someone who can guide you and help you plot out your career. Amberly Rothfield is a great example of someone you can consult who knows the business inside and out.
To be a fetish model, you need to have strong customer service skills and realize that for most of your clients, you're their secret.
Many of them will be demanding and selfish, which is ironic considering the whole foot fetish is typically based on submission. During in-person sessions a lot of these guys are shy, but on the computer, some just view you as a one-dimensional character and don't take into consideration that you are a real human being, which can be pretty dehumanizing.
You also need to continue to set your sights higher and not put your blinders on and get complacent. When I started, my goal was to get in front of as many eyeballs as possible through as many vehicles as I could, and it's worked well for me.
Everyone in my life knows what I do for a living; however, I don't go into vivid details with my parents.
All I know is I'm the only kid from my town who still doesn't live at home with my parents. I own my own home and have zero debt, so there's something to be said for that. What can I say? My feet took me on a journey I never expected.
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