Buxom and shapely 5'3" brunette knockout RayVeness was born Karen M. Swaim on June 19, 1972 in Jamestown, North Carolina. Of German and Irish descent, and raised in the Quaker faith, she got married to her first husband a year prior to leaving high school. RayVeness worked at various fast food restaurants as well as a babysitter and an Avon saleswoman prior to starting out in the adult film industry at age 18 in 1990 (in fact, she did her first sex scene on her 18th birthday for the company Homegrown Video). Her porn pseudonym is of Indian origin and means "of the spirit". In 2000 RayVeness took a hiatus from hardcore movies and attempted a more mainstream career with only moderate success. She was nominated for a XRCO Award for MILF of the Year in 2006.