One of NZ's Biggest OnlyFans Stars Went From Working at Subway to Owning A House At 19

Weeks ago, I managed to hustle my way into the launch of New Zealand’s femme-owned adult entertainment agency, Thumper. Founder, OnlyFans creator, and NZ local Jasmin* has become one of the biggest creators on the platform in a little over a year. 

Thumper is a production house set to disrupt the nation’s adult entertainment industry from the inside. The whole event was hosted on a luxury yacht, floating through Auckland harbour, full of self-made millionaires, filled up with the finest stinky cheeses, a waterslide, and free booze. And then I got COVID. 

Sad-sack disposition aside, I was able to talk to Jasmin on the phone. We chatted about rejecting white beauty standards, working at Subway as a teen, and buying a house at 19, one pay-per-view message at a time. 

Raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Jasmin never had a dream career in mind. But there was always something about adult entertainment that fascinated her.

At first, she didn’t feel there was a place for her in the industry because of her Indian, Fijian and Māori heritage, and experienced constant waves of fear and insecurity.

“Being a brown woman, I was surrounded by white beauty standards,” the 20-year-old told VICE. “I didn’t have any confidence and I didn’t think I looked good enough.”

Working at Subway as a teen, Jasmin says people would heckle her with inappropriate comments, particularly from men. “I was just working, you know? I was doing my job, and I wasn’t paid any extra money for being treated like that,” she said.

Unlike hospitality, though, adult entertainment resonated. Jasmin finally felt that she could reject male objectification and “take the power back”. To Jasmin, the freedom and flexibility of using her sexuality to make money was always attractive.

“At the end of the day you’re in a man’s world and you’re always going to be harassed, objectified, or sexualised no matter what you do. So you might as well profit off of it and monetise it when you can,” she said.

Initially, Jasmin signed up for beauty school, but that was put on hold during the pandemic in 2020. Seeing the success of OnlyFans gaining traction online - which now boasts almost 190 million users and some two million creators - Jasmin made an account, thinking it could be a great opportunity to make extra cash. 

“It was a spontaneous decision,” she said. “I didn’t really think anything of it. I just made an account and announced it on my personal Instagram and Facebook pages. Anyone who knew me didn’t even care. I just thought, okay, let’s see how this goes.”

In the first month she made NZD$2000. It was the most money she’d ever seen.

“I was using a crappy phone and the content was pretty low quality and I didn’t know what I was doing but it ended up blowing up. I had never felt confident in myself, but because it had such a great response it really motivated me to put in more effort to create the best content I could imagine for people to enjoy.”

With 2.5m followers across all of her social media channels (that is, until her TikTok account was suspended), Jasmin - who says she is now a millionaire - purchased a home at 19-years-old. 

“I love my designer splurges every now and again but I give a lot of the money to my mum. As for the rest - well, I bought a house because I didn’t know what else to do with it.” 

OnlyFans, though, is a commitment. It might sound obvious now – but it's something that Jasmin became increasingly aware of as her success grew.

“It can start out as a side-hustle but people end up giving up because it’s not a decision you should take lightly,” she said. “There’s a huge amount of time, effort, and skill involved. It’s a decision you have to make because you can’t take it back. You either go hard or go home.

“I’ve never been the type to care how people live their life… I’ve always been really open about my sexuality and I’ve never thought being sexual or being naked is bad.

“I find the taboo side of things to be weird - where people don’t talk about sex or admit they like it or watch it. The thing is, everyone is horny because we’re designed to want to have sex. It’s natural.”

Whether it’s posting pictures, videos, or campaigns, it’s the direct messages - which can top 100 a day - that allow for tipping. Jasmin says this accounts for half of her entire income.

As with most other creators, the relationship with her audience – on an almost personal and at the very least friendly level – is about engagement and creating different content for other platforms like Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit. Doing this not only helps to create a strong group of supporters, but it can also funnel a new fan base towards the adult content available on OnlyFans. 

The days fluctuate, but on a productive day Jasmin will wake up for a coffee, have a shower and shave. She’ll then scroll through her phone to find inspiration, put on make-up, set up a shoot, and press record.

And because the content creator community in New Zealand is so small, potential collaborators tend to already know each other.

“I take my time,” she says. “We’ll meet online, make sure all the checks and tests are clean, and whether there’s a connection or chemistry. Then they’ll come over to my house and we chat and talk about our lives. We might have a drink or have something to eat. 

“We might then take photos and brainstorm as to how we might work together and then we’ll get to it. It’s not a serious or pressurised environment. It’s all pretty natural. You wouldn’t want to film with someone that you don’t feel comfortable with.” 

Mostly, though, Jasmin says OnlyFans feels safer to work for than a dodgy company where you’re a cog in a machine you have little control over.

“I love it. You’re so in control,” she says. “Nobody’s telling you what to do or how you do it. There’s something for everyone – so you can make whatever content that makes you happy and that you’re comfortable with, which is important because you don’t want to feel exploited.”

In November, Jasmin set up Thumper - a queer, female-owned ethical adult entertainment production company and agency. She says it's a national first, and wants to remove the male gaze that is so often the focal point of porn. 

“I’ve learnt so much, I want to help people too,” says Jasmin. “It’s not like this scary, dirty career path - it’s something that you can be proud of and we want to destigmatise it. If people want to do it we want to create a very sex-positive vibe so that it’s seen as a viable career path and not a last resort.”