Cindy Starfall: Porn Star with an Entrepreneurial Bent

“I love the camera and my fans,” she says. “I was honored to be recognized in the adult industry even being a minority with an Asian accent. I was nominated multiple times for “Best New Starlet” and won “Best Asian Movie of the Year” with my feature showcase Starfall.”

Still, staying busy on set while winning awards and nominations from the likes of AVN, XBIZ, XRCO, NightMoves and Urban X isn’t all there is to this hard-working professional. Check out her online store at CindyStarfall.net, and you’ll see that Cindy is a dyed-in-the-wool, business-savvy entrepreneur who knows how to leverage her onscreen fame into monetary gain.

Talk about enterprising: In addition to selling her photos and DVDs, Starfall’s online store sells a range of Cindy-signed merchandise (calendars, adult playing cards, and mugs), 3D figurines of her, and worn panties/footwear. Cindy also offers paid phone sex, Skype webcast calls, custom videos, and video shoutouts to her fans on CindyStarfall.net. Basically, she has all money-making options covered.

“I wanted to give my fans a one-stop shop directly from me,” Cindy tells YNOT. “It’s important to be a self-directed entrepreneur because you can be in control of your brand. We don’t get royalties from adult productions. By directing my own scenes, I can sell it, recycle it, and brand it however I like – and I own the contents. This give me the freedom I need without being on set 6-8 hours or more on mainstream shoots.”

Cindy’s success as an adult entrepreneur is all the more impressive given her very conservative upbringing.

“Being from a strict family, everything was decided for me,” she says. “I was treated as if my voice wasn’t heard or I was invisible. People always wanted to make decisions that they felt would be fitting for me, without understanding if I would like it or not. My family wanted me to live the life they set out for me, which was not me at all.”

Ironically, it was her family’s attempts to thoroughly control her life that eventually motivated Cindy to join as the adult industry. “I had been enrolled in Catholic all-girls school and after graduating top tier in college, I was given a job in the corporate world,” she confides. “But that didn’t work out. I wanted to do something more exciting, so I joined the adult industry I’m independent and I love my freedom so adult work helps me achieve that. It was a bold statement, more like a FU statement toward my family. They said I’d be nothing without them. I wanted to show them I can make money on my own while enjoying my freedom and not having anyone make decisions for me.”

Cindy’s big break came in 2013, when she was the centerfold in the January edition of Hustler magazine. “After that, everything happened very quickly,” she says. “I connected with a reputable modelling agency and they booked my first gig, which was a boy-girl scene. I was nervous; I didn’t know what I should expect. The director and male talent helped me feel better. They knew English wasn’t my first language so they helped me with my dialogue. I’m forever grateful to them: They made me feel so comfortable during the shoot, then paid me more money than I could make in a whole month at my corporate job for only 4 hours work – and they paid the same day!”

Having gone through this positive and profitable experience, Cindy Starfall knew that she “wanted to make a career out of this and capitalize on it as much as possible,” she says. To make this happen, she went all-out in building a ‘Cindy Starfall brand’. So, she went to every red carpet event, and took on a range of adult roles ranging from a younger girl to the girl next door, or a sexy girl.

Her hard work paid off: “I started getting fan emails and nominations and I couldn’t believe it,” says Cindy. “I did have people in the business told me to change the way I look – ‘get a boob job!’ — but I said no because I want to differentiate myself from other porn stars. I love the natural look and my fans love it too because I also don’t have any tattoos.”

She also enjoys the fruits of her labors. “I enjoy capitalizing on my brand because at the end of the day, I’m connecting with my customers,” Cindy explains. “Some fans become my friends and because of these connections, they want to support me. I’m selling them a fantasy, a product in which they can forget about reality and focus on us.”

Meanwhile, with the money she’s made, Cindy has been able to pay off her student loan and her car, buy a house, and invest her adult earnings in non-porn enterprises. “Without porn, I would not be able to achieve these goals, even though my family always says, ‘you’re smarter than that’. Yes, I enjoy my job because it’s fun and I am smart enough to get any other job. But I don’t want to be miserable going to work and hanging out with closed-minded people. Besides, the money I make from porn also helps me be free. I’m able to travel more and see the world.”

Looking ahead, Cindy sees opportunities in offering virtual online dates to her fans, and offering “dating training for men”.

Her advice to newbies? “I would say to know your limits – what you like to do in front of camera and what you don’t — because the industry doesn’t have limit and it’s up to you to know when to say no,” she says.

She also cautions newcomers that “money isn’t everything, but your sanity is. Your agent is supposed to work for you, not the other way around. He shouldn’t dictate your life and you shouldn’t need to ask for his permission for anything. You are an independent contractor so you can work when you want to work with who you want work with.”

For those who do join the porn industry as a career, Cindy says to “have fun and invest your money because just like everything else, nothing lasts forever. Fast money doesn’t last, so look into what else you enjoy doing that you can make money with, be it real estate, a hobby, or something else. Whatever you do, always have a back-up plan.”

Cindy’s links:

Twitter: @CindyStarfall

Instagram: @Cstarfall

YouTube: cindystarfalll

Onlyfans: OnlyStarfall.com

Text: TextCindyStarfall.com

Online store: CindyStarfall.net

Amazon Wishlist: SpoilCindy.com