We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vannah Vicious a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Vannah, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I was doing a go nowhere karaoke night in a small bar in Kearney Mesa, barely anyone would show up. After awhile, I knew it was time to pivot to something new. I had been going to gothic nightlife events in San Diego, so the bar owners asked if I was interested in starting my own. That was a resounding yes from me.

Initially, it was just going to be a dance night like all the other goth nights in SD, but I have always been someone to go above and beyond. I wanted more out of it. I connected with some dancers, aerial artists, and live musicians in the area and before I knew it, Club Obsession was born.

In 2022 we were weekly on a Wednesday. Every hump day we’d get together at the bar and watch as aerial artists suspended from expertly constructed rigs, or see a burlesque dancer entrance an audience. Over time, it grew to include its own team of gogo dancers, vendors, and even BDSM scenes (we like our whips and chains!)

Eventually it got so large we moved to Queen Bee’s in North Park. Our major break through was an event in February 2023 called “Blood Rave” inspired by the Blade movies. After that our numbers continued to grow until we started selling out queen bees in early 2024.

We recently moved to Encore Event Center in Kearney Mesa; just 2 mins from where we started, but in a whole event center! Its crazy how my tiny karaoke night that maybe had 6 people go turn into a gothic bdsm variety show and nightclub that pulls in over 300 people per event.

Obsession is beyond me. Its a whole community of sexy, weird, hilarious, and fun people. It has a life of its own. At times its like raising a child, one that I am very obviously obsessed with!

Vannah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Club Obsession is a San Diego based nightlife event company bringing folks a wide array of sensual and sensational parties. Every other month we host a party where entertainers of all disciplines come and perform an act tailored to the chosen theme.

We are also one of the only open play kink nights in the San Diego area. Patrons can openly wear their latex, play with their whips and chains, and even experiment using different type of kink furniture provided in our “Playroom”. During our events we educate our guests on consent and basic bdsm principles so that even after they leave, they know how to properly communicate with their partners.

Obsession is a lot of things, and it changes every time. But these are our core principles that we consistently come back to each event.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Learning to properly host a bdsm night was hard. But learning how to host a goth night was even harder. No one really knew or cared who I was when I started, so when I unapologetically posted my first event flier, the initial question was “Well who the hell is she? We don’t know her.”

I was not an important member of what we call “the scene” in those days. I was just a girl with a dream. Some people responded well to it, others claimed I was just trying to cash in on a community that I dont belong to. And some STILL say that about me.

There are others yet who take issue with me pairing my goth night with bdsm aspects. Some say openly that Obsession is just sexy and nothing more, but those are the people that have never actually been to an Obsession in its current form.

All in all, navigating a large group of people who make judgements based on little knowledge of you is hard as young woman.

Luckily, those people are few and far in between. I was smart when choosing my staff members, and now I have a group of friends and fellow Obsession “degenerates” (what we call our fans) that make rumors, gossip, and hurtful comments easy to ignore.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

That no one else was going to do this for me. No one was coming to make Obsession happen except for me. I had to be the one to step up and run the night like a theater director. I was the one that had to come up with the theme ideas. I was the one that had to buy the furniture, rent the venue, and promote the hell out of it.

When I started I knew nothing. But now, I have created my own system of running events that oversees about 60+ employees and volunteers per event. Its like I made the orchestra while simultaneously conducting it. No one can do what I can do, because there’s nothing else in the world like Obsession!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Clubobsessionsd.com
• Instagram: Obsessionsdevents // vannahvicious

Image Credits

Mothchef

Alex Beltran (myhaloisprada)