She grew up in Oregon, one of several siblings, and describes herself as having been genuinely shy as a kid — which is hard to square with what she does now, and she seems to know it. Her teenage years were turbulent enough that her mother kicked her out of the house, and she spent that period working brutal back-to-back shifts: fast food in the morning, warehouse floor at night, sixteen hours for eleven dollars an hour. She drove a forklift at a distribution center and brought home two thousand a month. When that job disappeared and unemployment started, she made a decision she has described as stopping hoping and starting acting. She had already been taking boudoir photos of herself and sharing them — she says she didn't see the harm in going further. Her first subscribers were people from her hometown. The name is pronounced Yuh-layna, not the way most people read it, and she has mentioned it enough times that it clearly matters to her. Her background is Latina and Cherokee. She is funny, she will tell you she loves her work, and she has given no indication she is wrong about that.
The Ten
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