By Erika Icom

YNOT – Julie Simone is a rarity because she does so many things well. She’s a dominatrix, an award-winning director, an artist, a businesswoman, an editor…and the list goes on. Iconic and well-respected in the BDSM/fetish community, she’s starting to get quite a bit of attention from mainstream adult. With all the buzz lately, this could be the year she finally receives one or more coveted adult entertainment awards.

We sat down to talk with her and let her crack the whip on the industry. After all, she designed her own line of handcrafted paddles.

How did you get into the adult industry?

My first adult job was as an outcall stripper. I was always drawn to dirty jobs, but I wasn’t ready to be completely out there and make the plunge. Somehow, being one-on-one seemed less scary than being up on a stage.

I had no clue what I was doing. One of my first clients had to explain to me how to do a lap dance. I thought I was just going to dance sexily. I learned that day that being naked and giving a lap dance to someone in jeans was not a good combination.

In that job, I also had my first brush with Domination, though it didn’t register at the time what was going on.

You’ve been in the industry for 15 years, and your site, JulieSimone.com, just celebrated its 12th anniversary. How have the industry and your site changed during this time?

A lot has changed. When I first started doing bondage, you didn’t have to be naked. There was no mixing of bondage with sex. There were Yahoo groups dedicated to bound women fully clothed. Now it’s been watered down and most are basically porn sites using girls who don’t even know how to hold a whip properly, much less use it. It’s dangerous. So many don’t seem to understand anatomy, not to stand on the sternum or hit people in the kidneys.

My site has had to add sex and forced orgasms to remain competitive. For me personally, it’s been a way to explore and expand my sexuality. It’s been quite a journey.

Your site covers a lot of fetishes, and you have four Clips4Sale stores (JuliesBitchBoys.com, SmokingTV.com, POVDommes.com and FootFetishSluts.com). What is your favorite professional fetish? What’s your fave in your personal life?

I don’t really have one favorite. It all depends on my mood and who I’m playing with. I feed off of the energy. If the other person isn’t into something, it’s very hard for me to be into it. That being said, smoking fetish, latex and foot fetish activities are in my Top Five list.

Who are your favorite performers to work with as a director and dominatrix?

Ashley Renee is one of my favorite performers. The scenes we do together are always intense. Felix and I have that same kind of chemistry in our femdom scenes. Other people I’ve enjoyed working with recently are Sinnamon Love, Bella Vendetta, GoGo FuckMe, Elena DeLuca, Eden Alexander and newcomer Rebecca Reynolds.

Over the past year, you’ve put out two movies in which you were dominated: Dominating Julie and Submissive Slut. As a highly respected Domme, do you find it hard to be a sub? Do your fans enjoy seeing this side of you?

I don’t find it hard to be the sub in my own productions, because I’m still in control and telling everyone what to do. I switch in my real life, and I think it’s important to sub from time to time to stay connected to what you’re doing and to know what certain things feel like physically and mentally.

Do you find it hard to be a woman in adult?

It certainly can be. I found doing hardcore to be extremely difficult. At conventions, it’s still a boys club. People ask whom I’m signing for, and when I say “my own company,” they sneer a little. It’s hard to get them to talk business with you, because you’re not taken as seriously as a woman.

You aren’t just a filmmaker — you’re also a painter and a photographer. Tell us about your work and where you’ve shown it.

I’ve shown my photography at several venues including Dirty Detroit, the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival and The Dirty Show LA, as well as in group shows in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston and Portland. The paintings are something that’s still new. I’ve been fortunate to have showings in L.A. and Portland thus far. Some of my work can be viewed at DeconstructedBeautyProjekt.com.

You recently signed a distribution deal with Pure Play Media. How’s that going? Do you prefer to work with a distribution company versus distributing your own product?

It’s been really great. For a while I was doing my own distribution, and it was a nightmare. I’m not a good bookkeeper, and I really hate talking on the phone. I’d much rather spend my time making the films and let someone else handle the business aspect of it. Distributing is a full-time job; I already have like five of those with maintaining my sites, pro-Domming, directing, editing, etc.

You have your first toy, a limited edition paddle. Tell us about it and why you chose to put it out yourself rather than go through a toy company.

For me to put my name on a product, it needed to be of a certain quality. I designed the paddle, and I hand stain and lacquer them. They’re oak, which is more expensive, but this paddle is going to last. I hate when I buy a paddle or other implement and it breaks the first time I use it. I’d much rather have these be a more limited-edition type of thing and make less money per unit than put my name on something that’s crap.

This seems to be the Year of Julie Simone. You’ve been featured several times in various magazines, won a Feminist Porn Award … and it seems like the list is expanding all the time. What’s next, and what do you want to do that you haven’t already done?

It’s been a really amazing year so far. There are lots of things I haven’t done yet. I’ve never been nominated [for an award] as a performer. I’ve never won an AVN award, even though I had half the nominations in my category last year. Winning an AVN would really be the icing on the cake for me; it’s the last bit of validation of my career that has thus far eluded me. Earlier in my career, I did a lot of magazine work, and it would be nice to appear in more layouts. Another goal is to get a book of my fetish photography published.