Cindy Margolis was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Karyn O. (née Cleere) and William C. Margolis. According to an interview in Playboy, her career began with a business class project on greeting cards at the California State University at Northridge, where she produced cards with a photograph of herself wearing lingerie and including her phone number. Margolis was raised Jewish. She was married to restaurateur Guy Starkman. Following in-vitro fertility treatment, she gave birth to son Nicholas Isaac in 2002. Twin daughters Sabrina and Sierra were born in 2005 with the incubation of a surrogate mother. Margolis and her husband separated in 2008. Her modeling career took off when agents started asking about the woman on the cards. She has modeled in advertising for companies such as Reebok, Vidal Sassoon, Coors, Frederick's of Hollywood, Hanes, and Sunkist. She was Miss Makita Power Tools 1986 and did appearances at woodworking trade shows.
Margolis emerged as a star in the early days of the Internet. She was named Yahoo! Internet Life magazine's "Queen of the Internet" from 1996 to 1999. She also found her way into the 2000 Guinness Book of World Records as a result of being the "most downloaded" person in 1999.
