July 23, 2025 • 12 mins
Nikki “Enigma” Harper is a model, entrepreneur, and designer/creator of “Harper and Enigma”, a clothing linen that embodies artistic creativity and won the top prize at the May 17 TN showcase.
Harper chats with Victoria Elizabeth of Backstage Pass about the unique origins of her design career, her most memorable runway moments, and also, how she overcame her wildly unusual, nearly debilitating disease (she is allergic to herself) to find success in the fashion industry.
Harper chats with Victoria Elizabeth of Backstage Pass about the unique origins of her design career, her most memorable runway moments, and also, how she overcame her wildly unusual, nearly debilitating disease (she is allergic to herself) to find success in the fashion industry.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the FCB podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is Fascist Fast.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hi everyone, and welcome into another episode of Backstage Pass.
It's your host here, Victoria Elizabeth and I am here
with such an exciting guest. Today, we have miss Nicki Harper.
She is the CEO and designer of Harper and Enigma Creations.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Nicki, how are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm doing really good. Actually, it's been a really great weekend.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Wonderful great. Well, I'm so glad to hear that you
had a great weekend and you actually we just love
working with you. So a little bit of info for
our listeners. Nicki is a very talented designer, creative. She
does headdresses, she does custom embroidered pieces, and Vicky was
headlining at our spring showcase that we did in Tennessee.
(01:04):
She did an amazing job. Not only did she create
a stunning collection, but she won our overall design winner. So, Nikki,
tell us a little bit. When you heard your name announce,
what was going through your head?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I was a disbelief.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Actually, I was sitting there just kind of twiling in
my thumbs to calm myself in general, because it's gonna
be like broken mirror. One of the others because I
loved everybody's lines. Everybody that showed up always has amazing pieces,
and so I was literally getting ready to cheer on
my fellow designers that I was really excited and.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Happy for, and then I heard my name and I
was like, oh, that's not okay, all right, I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
And that's one thing that is so great about you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You're very humble.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You know, you create this incredible art, but you are
very unassuming. You're very humble about it. Take us back
to the start. I mean your pieces. When you look
at your pieces, the freed to callo type floral addresses,
the skull pieces that you do, it seems like all
these pieces have a specific story or inspiration. So what
inspired you to get started with all of this?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So I was actually working on a second master's program
and I was becoming depressed, which then led me to
start the shop, which then led me into art. And
when I started the shop, I wanted to be able
to do a bunch of different things because part of
my ADHD I get very very distracted easily, So it's
(02:32):
very nice to have multiple different tasks. And I always
wanted to challenge myself. I don't believe something's worth doing
if it's not got a challenge to it sometimes, and
so carving became something that was challenging to me, and
I loved it because my papa actually used to carve.
He would sit and whittle, and so did his father,
(02:52):
and so it's kind of where I took.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
The inspiration for it.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
And I wanted to give the animal skulls.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Roadkill, especially when you read motorcycles, you see a lot
of the roadkill. And I wanted to do a way
to honor animals.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
That have passed.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
And so that is why I actually repurpose actual animals skulls.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
All the designs.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
That is so interesting that that I was wondering where
those came from. And yeah, indeed, what a great way
to honor them. So, Nikki, you are seen at a
lot of these events, you know, most if not all
of them, walking the runway as a model for other labels,
and then also dressing models as a designer, coordinating your
own presentation. It's a lot of work. It's a lot
(03:32):
to balance. How do you balance all of that.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I am very overstimulated usually by the end of a show,
especially if I'm doing both. However, I have learned now
that I've done this a few times, where I like
to model and design at the same time, that if
I have all of my designs prepared prior and the
only thing I have to do is kind of like
(03:57):
what I did at your show, and I just have
to set up and get the models ready, it makes
it so much easier. It also helps if the production
that I'm working with is a production house that cares
about the designer and the models, because I've noticed that
when it's a production house that puts value into the.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Models and not just a quantity of models, it makes a.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Difference in how the show goes and how I in
the end am at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Of course, the overall you know, the overall feeling and
the care that's put into the production that does matter
quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And Nikki, one.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Of the things that is so evident about you is
that you do care about your models, and you have
so many models that you mentor a variety of models
from maybe special needs to you know, the models that
maybe they don't fit that mainstream mold, but there's something
so unique about them. So how did you get to
the point of mentoring so many models and kind of
taking them under your wing like you do.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Honestly, it just happened.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I have always been that person that has liked helping people.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I've always loved to teach.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Even when I was really little in the hospitals, I
always was the kid that wanted to be doing art
with the other kids in the playroom while we were sick.
And so now where I teach the kids in my
hometown through the art Council, and I volunteer myself with
a bunch of different programs, it's just kind of second nature.
I always wanted to make a difference, honestly in those
(05:25):
that grew up kind of similar to how I did
in the hospitals, because I know that when I grew up,
you didn't see models or people that looked like me
in the industry. Really you didn't see those that were different.
But now it's starting to become something and I think
that's what strives me more to it, because I want
them to have opportunities that maybe I didn't even have.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Absolutely, and that's such a beautiful thing. It shows with
the models that you mentor the ones that you work with. Now,
speaking of your story, I know some people that have
maybe watched some other podcasts, might be familiar with your story.
But you have a really remarkable story of recovery. I mean,
you're you're a warrior doing all these amazing things. But
(06:08):
take us back to that, you know, being a sick
kid in the hospital. What happened and how did you
overcome that?
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So I was born with a really rare autoimmune disorder.
It's called aps one or aphisid, and essentially we build
antibodies to parts of ourselves. I'm allergic to myself, to
my blood, to my skin, to my hair. They even say,
with the ones of us that have like episcrites, we're
allergic to our irises of our eyes.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And with that it's all I've ever known. Actually.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
But my parents were both medicals, so they taught me
and they mentored me and taught me advocacy, and that
taught me how to stand up for myself. They taught
me how to actually speak like the other medical professionals
so that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
When they weren't around.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I could advocate for myself and in turn, it made
me really strong. And then where they made me the fighter.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Who was resilient in a hospital. Then my grandparents, Mamma
and papal. They made me.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
The person that's the empathetic, artistic, social butterfly that I have.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
That's truly incredible. So how do you navigate? I mean,
like you said, that's something extremely rare. I have not
heard of that, and I think it's so wonderful that
you use the platforms that you have to spread awareness.
What does a day in the life of someone who
is quite literally allergic to themselves?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
What does that look like for you?
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So we take meds a good portion.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I was taking quite a bit of meds.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Some of us have taken anywhere from a few pills
a day to eighty two pills a day. When I
was twelve, I was on eighty two pills a day.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Then there's some of us that have to do shots.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So, for instance, they've come up with new synthetic parathyroid
hormone injections for those of us that are parathyroids have
already been destroyed by the disease, and with that we
have to do our own shots. We have to learn
all that a good portion of us are diabetics, so
we have to learn how to do insulin if we
are that way, or we.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Have to do special diets. Some of us have feeding tubes.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
For instance, I have ports in my chest, and with
the port in your chest, you have to be careful
if you do certain things, especially if there's a harness involved.
So there's just day to day things you have to
be mindful of. If you forget your medications, you're going
to notice it. So you have to be almost more
hyper aware than the average person is.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Of course, now you use your platforms to spread awareness.
You know about this disease and about how you have overcome,
and you're really a trailblazer of sorts with with what
you do.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
You know, what you.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Create and the art and the type of models that
you mentor so you know, let's look down the road
a few years from now, where do you hope to be.
What do you hope to see happening in your life
as a model, as an artist, as a mentor creator.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
As a model.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I would honestly just love to continue working with a
good portion of the productions I work with already, because
I like to build bonds with the people that I
work with in general. But I would also like to
eventually as a model get paid for a few of
the gigs I do in that regard. I don't at
this point where I call myself a nub to the industry,
(09:26):
even though a lot of my friends are like, no,
you have too many things going for you to be
a new Boman. No, but I am a new if
there's still so much to learn, and with that, I
would love to be able to be on some big run. Wise,
I would love to go to Japan model in Tokyo.
That's been a dream of mine. I would like to design, honestly,
that is my goal is to get to be a
designer in Tokyo at some point, and I would love
(09:53):
to be able to, honestly within the shop, be able
to offer my full accessible stability line with a line
of models that are all disabled models such as myself.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And just like Airy was down.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
In Tennessee, absolutely yes, and we're going to be hearing
from Airy soon. She is a trailblazing model. She has
down syndrome and is really making waves. So, Nikki, I
really love what you're doing with your line, with your mentorship,
just with your advocacy and your platform. Now if we
want to one follow you to just keep in touch
with things that you have going on, things that are upcoming,
(10:30):
and then also if we want to shop your collection,
how do we do that?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So my actual shop has a full website. It is
www dot Harper and Enigma dot com and it has
access to all of our links, how to contact us,
has some of the photos of our different styles of art,
since we do so many different styles of arts.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Because we're a full fabrication shop. So we are.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Getting ready to actually add the clothing aspect to the
actual website. So once that has added, people will be
able to browse and whatever they see. If it's not
available and I guess it's already sold, then I can
also make them custom fits from there. But they can
also follow me my Instagram is probably the easiest way
to reach me on socials, which is eku bear hunter
(11:22):
all one word and I really did hunt a bear
for people to.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Ask I was okay. I was wondering about that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I didn't know if it was like the the b
Yorc song a hunter if it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Was okay, I really did.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Oh wow, that is what that is very interesting. Well, NICKI,
We're going to be posting all of these links so
you can keep abreast of the amazing things that this
amazing person has going on. You can shop the collection
as well. You definitely want to check out all of
these pieces. And Nikki, thank you so much for taking
a few minutes out of your day to speak with us.
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Thank you, it's been an honor all right.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
And thank you all as always for listening to Backstage Pass.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
We will talk to you soon. Bye.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network,
where real Talk lives. Visit us online at fcbpodcasts dot com.
This is the FCB podcast Network.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is Fascist Fast.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hi everyone, and welcome into another episode of Backstage Pass.
It's your host here, Victoria Elizabeth and I am here
with such an exciting guest. Today, we have miss Nicki Harper.
She is the CEO and designer of Harper and Enigma Creations.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Nicki, how are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm doing really good. Actually, it's been a really great weekend.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Wonderful great. Well, I'm so glad to hear that you
had a great weekend and you actually we just love
working with you. So a little bit of info for
our listeners. Nicki is a very talented designer, creative. She
does headdresses, she does custom embroidered pieces, and Vicky was
headlining at our spring showcase that we did in Tennessee.
(01:04):
She did an amazing job. Not only did she create
a stunning collection, but she won our overall design winner. So, Nikki,
tell us a little bit. When you heard your name announce,
what was going through your head?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I was a disbelief.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Actually, I was sitting there just kind of twiling in
my thumbs to calm myself in general, because it's gonna
be like broken mirror. One of the others because I
loved everybody's lines. Everybody that showed up always has amazing pieces,
and so I was literally getting ready to cheer on
my fellow designers that I was really excited and.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Happy for, and then I heard my name and I
was like, oh, that's not okay, all right, I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
And that's one thing that is so great about you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You're very humble.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
You know, you create this incredible art, but you are
very unassuming. You're very humble about it. Take us back
to the start. I mean your pieces. When you look
at your pieces, the freed to callo type floral addresses,
the skull pieces that you do, it seems like all
these pieces have a specific story or inspiration. So what
inspired you to get started with all of this?
Speaker 1 (02:11):
So I was actually working on a second master's program
and I was becoming depressed, which then led me to
start the shop, which then led me into art. And
when I started the shop, I wanted to be able
to do a bunch of different things because part of
my ADHD I get very very distracted easily, So it's
(02:32):
very nice to have multiple different tasks. And I always
wanted to challenge myself. I don't believe something's worth doing
if it's not got a challenge to it sometimes, and
so carving became something that was challenging to me, and
I loved it because my papa actually used to carve.
He would sit and whittle, and so did his father,
(02:52):
and so it's kind of where I took.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
The inspiration for it.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
And I wanted to give the animal skulls.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Roadkill, especially when you read motorcycles, you see a lot
of the roadkill. And I wanted to do a way
to honor animals.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
That have passed.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
And so that is why I actually repurpose actual animals skulls.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
All the designs.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
That is so interesting that that I was wondering where
those came from. And yeah, indeed, what a great way
to honor them. So, Nikki, you are seen at a
lot of these events, you know, most if not all
of them, walking the runway as a model for other labels,
and then also dressing models as a designer, coordinating your
own presentation. It's a lot of work. It's a lot
(03:32):
to balance. How do you balance all of that.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
I am very overstimulated usually by the end of a show,
especially if I'm doing both. However, I have learned now
that I've done this a few times, where I like
to model and design at the same time, that if
I have all of my designs prepared prior and the
only thing I have to do is kind of like
(03:57):
what I did at your show, and I just have
to set up and get the models ready, it makes
it so much easier. It also helps if the production
that I'm working with is a production house that cares
about the designer and the models, because I've noticed that
when it's a production house that puts value into the.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Models and not just a quantity of models, it makes a.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Difference in how the show goes and how I in
the end am at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Of course, the overall you know, the overall feeling and
the care that's put into the production that does matter
quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
And Nikki, one.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Of the things that is so evident about you is
that you do care about your models, and you have
so many models that you mentor a variety of models
from maybe special needs to you know, the models that
maybe they don't fit that mainstream mold, but there's something
so unique about them. So how did you get to
the point of mentoring so many models and kind of
taking them under your wing like you do.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Honestly, it just happened.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
I have always been that person that has liked helping people.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I've always loved to teach.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Even when I was really little in the hospitals, I
always was the kid that wanted to be doing art
with the other kids in the playroom while we were sick.
And so now where I teach the kids in my
hometown through the art Council, and I volunteer myself with
a bunch of different programs, it's just kind of second nature.
I always wanted to make a difference, honestly in those
(05:25):
that grew up kind of similar to how I did
in the hospitals, because I know that when I grew up,
you didn't see models or people that looked like me
in the industry. Really you didn't see those that were different.
But now it's starting to become something and I think
that's what strives me more to it, because I want
them to have opportunities that maybe I didn't even have.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Absolutely, and that's such a beautiful thing. It shows with
the models that you mentor the ones that you work with. Now,
speaking of your story, I know some people that have
maybe watched some other podcasts, might be familiar with your story.
But you have a really remarkable story of recovery. I mean,
you're you're a warrior doing all these amazing things. But
(06:08):
take us back to that, you know, being a sick
kid in the hospital. What happened and how did you
overcome that?
Speaker 1 (06:15):
So I was born with a really rare autoimmune disorder.
It's called aps one or aphisid, and essentially we build
antibodies to parts of ourselves. I'm allergic to myself, to
my blood, to my skin, to my hair. They even say,
with the ones of us that have like episcrites, we're
allergic to our irises of our eyes.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
And with that it's all I've ever known. Actually.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
But my parents were both medicals, so they taught me
and they mentored me and taught me advocacy, and that
taught me how to stand up for myself. They taught
me how to actually speak like the other medical professionals
so that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
When they weren't around.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I could advocate for myself and in turn, it made
me really strong. And then where they made me the fighter.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Who was resilient in a hospital. Then my grandparents, Mamma
and papal. They made me.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
The person that's the empathetic, artistic, social butterfly that I have.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
That's truly incredible. So how do you navigate? I mean,
like you said, that's something extremely rare. I have not
heard of that, and I think it's so wonderful that
you use the platforms that you have to spread awareness.
What does a day in the life of someone who
is quite literally allergic to themselves?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
What does that look like for you?
Speaker 1 (07:36):
So we take meds a good portion.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I was taking quite a bit of meds.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Some of us have taken anywhere from a few pills
a day to eighty two pills a day. When I
was twelve, I was on eighty two pills a day.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Then there's some of us that have to do shots.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So, for instance, they've come up with new synthetic parathyroid
hormone injections for those of us that are parathyroids have
already been destroyed by the disease, and with that we
have to do our own shots. We have to learn
all that a good portion of us are diabetics, so
we have to learn how to do insulin if we
are that way, or we.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Have to do special diets. Some of us have feeding tubes.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
For instance, I have ports in my chest, and with
the port in your chest, you have to be careful
if you do certain things, especially if there's a harness involved.
So there's just day to day things you have to
be mindful of. If you forget your medications, you're going
to notice it. So you have to be almost more
hyper aware than the average person is.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Of course, now you use your platforms to spread awareness.
You know about this disease and about how you have overcome,
and you're really a trailblazer of sorts with with what
you do.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
You know, what you.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Create and the art and the type of models that
you mentor so you know, let's look down the road
a few years from now, where do you hope to be.
What do you hope to see happening in your life
as a model, as an artist, as a mentor creator.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
As a model.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I would honestly just love to continue working with a
good portion of the productions I work with already, because
I like to build bonds with the people that I
work with in general. But I would also like to
eventually as a model get paid for a few of
the gigs I do in that regard. I don't at
this point where I call myself a nub to the industry,
(09:26):
even though a lot of my friends are like, no,
you have too many things going for you to be
a new Boman. No, but I am a new if
there's still so much to learn, and with that, I
would love to be able to be on some big run. Wise,
I would love to go to Japan model in Tokyo.
That's been a dream of mine. I would like to design, honestly,
that is my goal is to get to be a
designer in Tokyo at some point, and I would love
(09:53):
to be able to, honestly within the shop, be able
to offer my full accessible stability line with a line
of models that are all disabled models such as myself.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
And just like Airy was down.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
In Tennessee, absolutely yes, and we're going to be hearing
from Airy soon. She is a trailblazing model. She has
down syndrome and is really making waves. So, Nikki, I
really love what you're doing with your line, with your mentorship,
just with your advocacy and your platform. Now if we
want to one follow you to just keep in touch
with things that you have going on, things that are upcoming,
(10:30):
and then also if we want to shop your collection,
how do we do that?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So my actual shop has a full website. It is
www dot Harper and Enigma dot com and it has
access to all of our links, how to contact us,
has some of the photos of our different styles of art,
since we do so many different styles of arts.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Because we're a full fabrication shop. So we are.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Getting ready to actually add the clothing aspect to the
actual website. So once that has added, people will be
able to browse and whatever they see. If it's not
available and I guess it's already sold, then I can
also make them custom fits from there. But they can
also follow me my Instagram is probably the easiest way
to reach me on socials, which is eku bear hunter
(11:22):
all one word and I really did hunt a bear
for people to.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Ask I was okay. I was wondering about that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
I didn't know if it was like the the b
Yorc song a hunter if it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Was okay, I really did.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Oh wow, that is what that is very interesting. Well, NICKI,
We're going to be posting all of these links so
you can keep abreast of the amazing things that this
amazing person has going on. You can shop the collection
as well. You definitely want to check out all of
these pieces. And Nikki, thank you so much for taking
a few minutes out of your day to speak with us.
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Thank you, it's been an honor all right.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
And thank you all as always for listening to Backstage Pass.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
We will talk to you soon. Bye.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network,
where real Talk lives. Visit us online at fcbpodcasts dot com.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com