Krissy Kyung talks about the porn industry, modeling, and food!

Krissy Kyung, owner of the long-running and very successful site krissy4u.com is more than just a pornstar. She has an extensive blog network, is a Contributing Editor for Transformation Magazine, an author of trans erotica, an active member of the trans community, and a well-respected voice within the adult entertainment industry.

I first met Krissy at a local club where we had both volunteered as maids at a Halloween party in 2014. I had done my first shoot for Grooby the month before and had no idea Krissy was in the industry, let alone that she was such a big name and so successful. It eventually came up in conversation, and little did I know that was the beginning of what was to become a very meaningful friendship.

Hello Krissy, thank you for taking the time to do this interview, it is much appreciated!

You’re very welcome. You’re really too kind… “big name” is just what I see when I turn the lights on in my own head. This should be fun!

This is only the second published interview you’ve done, the first being with TS Caramel in 2010. Can you tell us why you do so few interviews?

Well, if I you want the “I’m important and thus everyone should serve me” answer, I would say that I’m way too busy and just don’t have the time to do them. If you want something closer to the truth, the answer is pretty simple. I’m just not really on anyone’s radar, which I’m totally fine with recognizing. I really don’t actively seek out the limelight, and I have actually turned down a few interview requests over the years because I really do lead a pretty active and busy life.

With your site Krissy4u.com now in its eleventh year, you’ve had a long and successful career in the adult entertainment industry. Can you tell us how your career began?

How long do you have? Really, this whole thing began when I was able to purchase my first computer with a whopping 2MB hard drive – that should date that for all you nerd-types out there. It wasn’t long before I discovered the internet, visited my first Geocities page, spent an hour downloading a picture of someone who looked and felt like I did, and then realized that I wasn’t actually alone in the world. From there, it was discovering the smutty world of Newsgroups, posting covert pictures of myself there, and finding that I really enjoyed the interaction (read: attention whore) with a small but growing number of fans.

From there, I think I was approached by a guy who was interested in shooting some pictures of me for a website called, “Shemale Yum”, which is a little site that you’ve probably never heard of before. Long story short, I shot my first set – the lightbulb went on in my head that you could actually use this weird internet thing to make money – and the rest is history. My first site was created and run by the photographer, and about two years later, I branched out on my own.

You could be considered one of the original Grooby Girls since you were working with Steven from almost the very beginning. How did your affiliation with Grooby begin?

Well, to be clear – that’s putting way too much importance on me. I wasn’t “working with” Steven, but we did email a bit regarding my site, the industry, and how to get more involved. Basically, I used him like a sponge to soak up all the knowledge that I could about building a website. Seriously, looking back, his patience with me at my questions, pestering him about types of customers, coding questions, porn statistics, payment processing, and etc. was above and beyond – really a stand-up guy, that one. So, I suppose that I’ve always kind of had a loose affiliation with Grooby since I can directly attribute the overall success of my site to those first emails exchanged.

Can you tell us a few of the people who have influenced you the most throughout your career?

OK, at the risk of sounding like a totally narcissistic bitch – almost nobody. Besides that first photographer/webmaster and Steven, there have been almost no individuals that have had a hand in influencing my career in the industry. I’m a pretty independent person, with my own thoughts and opinions of how to operate a porn site. If you’ve ever visited my site, you can see this throughout the design to the actual content. On the whole, I don’t shoot the type of porn that you can commonly find, and that really made me reach for inspiration from within rather than copying what other people have done when I was laying foundations. The only other person that I’d say “influenced” (as in “helped”) my career is my longtime, former webhost, Ernie, who currently runs the “UP Network” of porn sites, as well as PiLadyboy. I’ve counted on his help with coding issues countless times for my site, and he also provided a “home” for my site during its formative years.

If the question is more of a “who inspired you” one: Wendy Williams is one of the hardest working women in the industry and a shrewdly successful business woman. Joanna Jet for her longevity, class, and beauty, defined. Khloe Hart is a beauty who has since retired, but one that I always kind of tried to model myself after. My fascination with her is harder to explain, but she just looks so incredibly sweet and charming and nice and approachable – which is how I try to be with my Fans. Wendy Summers for adding a little bit of comedy into the industry and for her pure enjoyment of life. Also, current Grooby employee, Kristel. An amazing girl who is tireless in her work both within and outside of the industry. I have a little crush on her. I think through the years, I’ve kind of picked personality traits and drawn inspiration from a variety of different industry legends and personalities and stuffed them into creating my own porn personality.

Recently, I’ve been inspired by the many, MANY young, smart, fiercely independent girls out there making their own way in the world either within the porn industry or since leaving it – Athena Addams (cool, collected, and an intelligent marketer), Krista Michaels (seriously talented artist and independent thinker), River Stark (fearless for what she believes and willing to say it), Kelly Klaymour (nose to the grindstone, make a business type of girl), Mona Wales (a leader in cross-over work – and totally hot) – all doing awesome things – for themselves, the industry, and the community. I like to do a lot of “off in the distance” watching and observing of girls… does that sound creepy? From what I’ve seen, I think the future of the porn industry is in very good hands.

I agree with you about Krista Michaels, she is someone I’ve admired for a long time and I’m excited to feature her in an upcoming interview! And I think we all have a bit of a crush on Kristel!

Tiny Asian things are easy to love.

Steven photographed you back in the early days of the company; what was it like working with him as the photographer?

It was completely professional, which to be honest, was not what I expected at all. All of my dealings with Grooby photographers has been the same way. Steven was a professional, getting right down to work – making sure all the appropriate documentation was signed, terms were spelled out, and etc. He made me feel really comfortable in an environment that was completely new to me.

Can you elaborate on why you were surprised it was so professional?

Well, being new to the industry at that time, I had just basic knowledge and horror stories to go off of. I hadn’t really heard anything “Grooby-specific” but the stories I had read up to that time just had that whole “casting couch” feel to them. Plus, I was just still surprised that anyone actually wanted to shoot me for a site – so I was questioning motivations at that time.

You’ve known Steven for a long time; how has your relationship evolved through the years? What do you attribute your longevity and success to?

I’ve already gone into the “Steven” thing so I won’t rehash that. I continue to rely on him for advice every now and then, but honestly, I think we’re both incredibly busy people so we rarely chat anymore unless I want to pump him… for answers and advice, that is.

As for longevity and success; well, I suppose the longevity is directly attributed to me still having Fans. Fans are everything to a performer – there’s just no way around that fact. Success, again is directly a product of Fans willing to part with hard-earned dollars to join my site. It’s really that simple. In the bigger picture, there was a lot of timing, luck, help, and hard work that went into creating my brand. I had the good fortune to enter the industry as the internet was just starting to take off as far as “paid porn sites” were concerned – which coincided with technology advances (these newfangled things called “digital cameras” were just replacing the old point and shoot film ones) and interest in the “CD/TV” and “transgender” porn industries. It was really a perfect mixture for any entrepreneur with a little help and the willingness to put in the work. I’ve also had the good fortune to work with really helpful, knowledgeable, and honest people within the industry which made things a whole lot easier to pave a way to success.

Your website, krissy4u.com is not typical of most sites in several respects. Your site has an almost exhibitionist feel to it. Was it a conscious decision to go in this direct? Is this something that interests you personally or was it strictly a business decision?

Pretty much everything about my site is a conscious decision that I agonize over, and mostly grounded in trying to make good business sense. That being said, I do personally like the kind of porn that I create (I couldn’t really find it – so I created it), which does have more of an emphasis in exhibitionism than most similar solo sites. I’m much less concerned about glamour shoots and much more concerned with making porn that is unique and that the average porn consumer can relate to – things that could happen in everyday life between the fine border of fantasy and reality. My site is not altogether fantasy, and yet not quite reality driven either. This is most definitely consciously planned, and a fine line that I try to walk in presenting my content. I want my Members to feel “if only I was in the right time, right place this could have happened to me”, and then have that “aww…shucks… well, maybe next time!” sort of desire for the next gallery or video that I put out on the site.

You do a lot of shoots in public areas such as rest-stops and adult bookstores which carry a certain amount of risk to them. Do you ever have concerns for your safety? What steps do you take to protect yourself?

How I actually run the site is somewhat of a secret that I try to keep because I do want a bit of mystery about it. I will say this, I am actually very careful about my safety both in a physical sense (STD and etc.) as well as bodily. I get asked frequently from fans emailing if such-and-such a scene was real or was set-up beforehand. That exact formula is something that I won’t disclose as I think not knowing adds to the excitement people feel when they first watch a Krissy4u – Naughty Asian Tgirl video revolving around exhibitionism or me wandering into an adult bookstore and being naughty. I think in this day and age of home editing, most people realize in the back of their minds that not everything you see on film is how it actually happened. Let’s face it – if you were ever to see what actually goes on behind a real porn shoot, and just how boring it really is with reshoots, breaks, mistakes, gaffes, and etc. – you’d probably never watch another scene again!

One thing that I do stress to other girls who email me saying they want to do what I do is that above everything else, you should place your safety. You should never be jeopardizing your personal safety for the “thrill” of making any sort of video. If you engage in sexual activity, do it safely and never compromise. Get tested regularly.

You do all the work for your site; everything from photography, editing, content management, all webmaster duties, marketing, etc. Why do you like to do everything yourself as opposed to outsourcing some of it as other sites do?

I’m fiercely independent… and as most similar people will tell you, that often means you’re somewhat of a control-freak as well. I believe that if you’re creating a brand that revolves around yourself, you should control every aspect of what is released publicly as content. If you give up portions of that control, you’re doing yourself a disservice unless you are working with someone who has your best interests at heart with no ulterior motives. Plainly, such people are hard to find within the adult industry. If you give away a sliver here and a sliver there, pretty soon you’re left with so little of the profit-pie that you may as well be working for free.

There are portions of the site that I have relinquished control over, but those mostly have to do with back-end stuff. The good folks at Grooby Productions have the expertise that I lack in certain areas regarding hosting, processing payments, and taking great care of my customers. I rely on them for those areas as part of the Grooby Network.

Can you tell us why you don’t do shoots with other models very often?

Again, it is partially a question of not being on anyone’s radar, so to speak. I’ve been asked before though, and it just hasn’t worked out. Oregon isn’t really the bastion of the porn industry so setting up shoots with people can be too much trouble than it’s worth from up here. On a more introspective level, I think if I was someone on the outside looking in, I wouldn’t want to shoot with me either! As you’ve already mentioned, I do some seemingly “risky” shoots, which would leave anyone wondering about my sexual health, which is excellent, by the way.

In addition to working a full-time job, you manage all aspects of your website, and write weekly updates for your blogs. Do you manage to find any time to sleep?

I’ve been lucky to be one of those people who only really needs about 3-4 hours of sleep a night to operate. That being said, there are times when I’ll just collapse for a day or two and do nothing except play video games and eat powdered doughnuts.

When you’re not working, what activities do you enjoy in your free time?

Playing video games and eating powdered doughnuts.

Actually, I LOVE food. I spent a lot of free time, when I can find it, eating my way through Portland. I’m pretty omnivorous and an adventurous eater so I like trying anything out of the ordinary. Besides that, I like getting lost at Powell’s (a gi-normous bookstore), archery (yes, I’m good), indoor climbing (it rains too much here to go outside, otherwise I would), tinkering around musically, going to the theater (actual), and watching movies.

You have an extensive blog network, with 30 blogs covering a wide variety of niches within the industry. Can you tell us why you put so much time and effort into blogging?

This is mostly a question of marketing and would require a lengthy explanation. The short version is that I believe most solo sites don’t fail because of non-interest in the model, they fail due to lack of traffic. There is enough diversity in the world that over this entire planet, no matter who you are or what you look like, there are people who find you to be absolutely gorgeous, and will pay to see more of you. But, you’ve got to find and direct those people. I started blogging on my own as a way to drive traffic to my site, and to a lesser extent, to help other independent site owners promote their content as well.

I’ve had the opportunity to have some in-depth discussions with you on a variety of subjects, including many aspects of the porn industry, and it’s clear that you have a unique understanding of the industry and how it operates on many different levels. What analytical data from your site do you study, and how do you use this information?

The easier question is what analytical data do I NOT study; and the answer to that would be, “none”. I study everything. I crunch every number that I can get my hands on, and can work into a spreadsheet or graph. I use this information to plot global dominance.

It’s also obvious that when it comes to understanding how to successfully manage websites, you have it down to a science. What are some of the most common mistakes you see models make in how they run their websites?

This is literally a question that I’m currently writing a book(let) about so I’m not going to go into details here. That being said, here are a few nutshell pointers if you’re thinking about starting a website.

1. BE REALISTIC: It is human nature to conflate popularity with monetary success. For instance, you could have 10,000 followers on Twitter and 5,000 friends on Facebook, all pledging their absolutely love to you. So you think you should just start a website and voila… instant millionaire. Yeah… not gonna happen. You’ve got to understand the difference between being popular and being a commodity, which quite bluntly, if you’re shooting porn, that’s what you are. There are VERY FEW people who can make an immediate transition from popularity to monetary success without time and effort.

2. PUT IN THE WORK: In this day and age, I think it has become the “norm” to think that you can expel minimal effort and reap maximum reward. Then reality comes and slaps you in the face. Running a successful website takes work. If you’re not willing to put the effort into it, my advice is – don’t start. Websites are calculated risks of traffic, content, and presentation. If you don’t understand how to leverage those appropriately, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

3. BE YOURSELF: Again, it is human nature to want to be presented to the world looking like the latest, greatest model. To be successful as an independent model, you’ve got to understand the balance between marketing, statistics, human nature, culture, and business. If you try to become someone that you’re not, people will see through that phoniness and ultimately, you’ll fail. People like what they can relate to and want what they can’t have. You’ve got to understand that balance and how to make it work for your particular needs.

4. ACCEPT AND ASK FOR HELP: Here is a little anecdote… I now run blogs that have traffic levels exceeding 120,000 hits per month in total. Half a year ago or so, I put out a Twitter / Facebook statement that basically said I would offer any individual site owner affiliate free, regular posts across all of my blogs on a weekly, rotating basis. That is, a blog post that would span all of the blogs and remain on the front page for just about an entire month. All they would have to do is email me 4-6 pictures if they had something they wanted promoted. To date, I’ve received one (1) (uno) (solo) (ichi) response. Here is someone known to the industry offering a massive amount of free publicity to an already targeted and established audience… and nobody takes up the offer. That’s interesting to me. When I was starting my website, I asked for and accepted any help I could get in driving traffic, avoiding pitfalls, and furthering my knowledge about the industry.

5. TAKE THE BEST, LEAVE THE REST: At some point or another, I’ve joined just about every single site the industry has to offer, especially solo sites. I wanted to see how people ran their sites, how they interacted with members, how they updated, how they designed, etc. etc. While still creating something uniquely me, I’ve taken things that I’ve seen that were awesome and left the rest by the roadside. Don’t “steal” things from other people but don’t be afraid to take an idea, improve upon it, and make it yours.

What things could the industry do better to help models and their sites be more successful?

I’ve always believed in personal freedom and personal responsibility. I don’t believe it is up to the industry as a whole to insure that every model who wants to start a solo site, succeeds. Success means a whole lot of things to a whole lot of different people and who is to say what defines it for any particular model? Success for me is that the site pays for itself, and allows me to live the lifestyle that I choose, comfortably.

The best help that a model is going to get is from within. You either have the entrepreneurial spark, or you don’t. You either have the discipline to work, educate yourself, and save to create a good product, or you don’t. These things can be learned and taught, but if the model is not willing to do either, no amount of help from the industry is going to help.

You are always on top of the latest innovations in technology development to keep your site as up to date as possible such as sizing it for optimum viewing with the newer resolution monitors and mobile devices. Are details like those something that the average viewer would notice?

Probably not… until it isn’t there. Here’s a little story about lessons I learned at one of the first jobs that I got after moving to Oregon. I worked in this bakery at the counter for a boss who demanded that we fold the top of the bags over when we handed it to customers, as well as numerous other little insignificant things. This did two things, “sealed” in the aroma so that freshly baked bread gave off a little “puff” of goodness when the bag was finally opened, but more importantly made it easier for customers to carry. I never really gave it much thought and just did it because I was told to.

Then I started noticing how few places that I shopped at did that, and it really started to irritate me. I mean the difference between a nicely folded bag being handed to you and just an open bag being pushed across the counter at you… it is MILES once you start to look for it. This same thing can be said of all the other little things that I was instructed to do at that job. Greet people at the door. Say “Thank You” when they left. Count their change out. The details matter.

When you’re running a website, primarily your customer is going to be concerned with content. How it is presented though, is just as important, in my opinion. Details like coloring, designing for the proper resolutions, and making your site easy to navigate are almost as important as your content. I’ve read probably 20 or so marketing books my successful website builders. It is amazing what you can learn from their stats. One little thing is that people will typically give up trying to get to a page if they can’t access it within three clicks of a mouse. Think about how little effort three clicks of a mouse is! If they can’t access every page in your site in three clicks, they’ll most likely lose interest. Wow.

I try to use technology whenever I can to make the experience more pleasurable for Members of my site, whether that means taking the time to redesign for higher resolution monitors or insuring that the colors aren’t too garish for viewing for long periods of time. Plus, I just love playing around with new technology so I am always trying new ways to shoot videos and pictures.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to suggest you should write a book given the amount of experience and knowledge you have; is that something we might look forward to seeing from you at some point?

I’m working on it. Of course, I’ve been working on it for the past couple of years. Whether or not I’ll ever actually finish and publish it remains to be seen. I’ve got other projects that I’m working on that are putting that on back-burner status for now.

Do you feel there is a need for some sort of representation for models in the industry, or at a minimum, some degree of guidance about things such as having realistic expectations and how to manage their career?

They key word here is “need”. I don’t think there is a “need” for the very simple reason that most of today’s models entering the industry probably wouldn’t heed the advice in the first place. I’m not saying this as a diss to the younger generation; it is just an observation. Unified model representation is in theory, great. In practice, we are ALL, myself included, far too egocentric on financial and practical levels to take part in such unity. That’s just the nature of porn stars (as opposed to Pornstars) balancing life and “easy” money. Sacrifice of time, energy, and money for a greater good is awesome to talk about, but much harder to do when it comes down to putting your money where your mouth is.

Musical instruments such as a cello and guitar are sometimes seen in your photos. Are these just props or do the instruments have more significance than just being props?

I play a variety of musical instruments… well, is another question. Piano, guitar, and cello are three instruments that I can play reasonably well, with piano being the best. I grew up playing piano as just about every other Asian kid did when I was growing up. From there I branched out to acoustic guitar and cello. I’ve picked up some other instruments along the way as well. Music has always been a large part of my life, but one that I keep fairly private. The problem with being a musician is suddenly your friends and family rope you into playing at every little get together, so I’m pretty private about it.

A logo is seemingly a simple thing, but it’s something which you put a great deal of thought into. Can you share with us why the logo is so important and some of the considerations that factor into this step at some point?

Well, a logo is your company’s or personality’s face to the world. For a solo site, it should be immediately recognizable and say something about the model. If you’re playful as a selling point, your logo should reflect your nature. If you’re a more “kink, alternative” type, again, your logo should reflect that part of your personality. Whatever you’re selling, your logo should encapsulate it in one easy to recognize instant. Again, this is a whole chapter in my little book so I don’t really want to go into a lot of detail here, but it is an important part of branding yourself. I think a good rule to follow is that given two seconds, your average person should be able to relate three true things about it and the way it relates to you.

For instance, with my maid logo, you can instantly draw a couple of conclusions within just a couple of seconds. The person who this logo belongs to is probably Asian, probably has something to do with maid outfits (one of the most common outfits that Members request on my site), and probably owns or operates krissy4u.com. Upon a little more inspection, you could also correctly assume they like the color pink, has a little bit of a mischievous side, and thinks of herself as a star, or is involved in some sort of performing, probably adult oriented. So, in a nutshell, your logo is just another way to market yourself, as well as mark your property.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my interview with Krissy next week!