B&B: You know you look good. But has their ever been a time where you just didn’t care about how you looked?
CL: Yeah and that’s a big part of why I m doing it now. I experienced the whole ugly girl syndrome. I was in an abusive relationship. I wasn’t even dressing the way that I do now. I was a 24-7 tomboy. [Laughs] I had been demoralized of thinking that I was nothing. After I got out of that, I never wanted my happiness to be compromised. The profession I was in before was that I had been working with abused women and it brought up a lot of old wounds. I was working there to help them. I had even got my degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Human Behavior. I didn’t know how to style my hair until my junior year in college. I didn’t really see myself as a sexual person. My first “damn” moment was when I moved to Denver. I started to see how people reacted to me. Lauryn Hill was right when she said that, “Perception is reality.” I live in Denver. The little bit of stuff that I’ve done, which is more than the average, is magnified. I bartend, as well, so I interact with people and they can’t understand it in the least. It’s been an interesting six month ride that’s going really quick and I love it. I am an overachiever; if I put something into doing something, Lord knows that it’s going to be done and done well.

B&B: Is the trappings of being a beautiful woman more so because of men’s adulation or is it the expectation that women put upon themselves?
CL: I think it’s a little bit of both. I’m pretty sure that Kim Kardashian has her own insecurities about herself. She’s not sitting there thinking about how perfect she is. I’m sure she’s somewhere working out and trying to maintain her look. That’s just the nature of women. We’re going to strive to be better. One always wants that. When I interact with people they think that there is something about me and that is the greatest compliment to me. If I get that from someone, then I know that I’ve presented myself the way that I wanted to.

B&B: You’re an athlete too, right? By playing sports, you exhibited an amount of discipline. So, what is one thing that you just can’t resist doing no matter how right or wrong it is?
CL: [Laughs] Eating after 12 o’clock. You know the little burritos that you can get after leaving from the club? Well, I’ll get me a few and turn into a fat girl after midnight. Late night eating is a habit of mine. I don’t care if I have a [photo] shoot to do in the morning. I think it’s my inner fat girl that comes out. It doesn’t help either that I had a couple of cocktails. [Laughs] There’s a man that comes in with a cooler of burritos and they’re great. Before that, I used to be really into McDonald’s, but I had to stop that. I really take a lot of pride in my body.

B&B: Do you think that men can ever understand women? Or do you think that at the end of the day, it’s all about who gets fucked for a purpose?
CL: I think its evolving to where men and women are on an even playing field. I don’t think that women are looking at men like our mothers and grandmothers did. They just want to fuck something every now and then and that’s their choice to do so. They’re becoming more so like men. Men are looking for a higher quality of women, as well. It’s a little different for me. My standards are very high. I couldn’t speak for the average woman, but I’m not just looking at men for how they look or what they have in their pockets. It has to be a vibe thing with me. I am guilty of being the one girl who is with the person that others would be surprised with. I have dated the super cool guys and whatnot. I am kind of a hopeless romantic. I’d like to think that as with the times, and how I know how to play the game, I really appreciate the traditional approach. We were raised with traditional woman values. I like cooking for a man every night. I like making sure that stuff is taken care for me.

B&B: With the moves that you’ve been trying to make in your career – what are a few limitations that you’ve been through? How have they made you stronger? How do you feel the rest of the public [i.e. readers] should view you and your progress with your career?
CL: One of the major limitations of being in this business is not able to know anyone in this industry at all. I had moved to Florida and didn’t have any connections. That was a big limitation. I learned a lot from all that. The stuff that you get now is a big part due to who you know and what your relationship is with them. It’s forced me to see the real from the fake. I’ve applied common sense and business sense to the people that I’m meeting. I think about how they can benefit me and what they expect from me. I weed out the bullshit by thinking that way. I get hit up on Myspace about jobs all the time. Or they say they can get me here and there and I’ll email a response back and ask what they do and ask for information.

B&B: As Beauty & Brains preps for its second anniversary of doing this – what are a few things that you want the readers to know and love about Ms. Crystal Renee Lee?
CL: I want them to know eventually that there is a story that I want to tell that will make all this worthwhile. I want them to know that there are still some cool, good looking women out there. Give the women who you think are stuck up a chance. Don’t let your first impression be that she’s shallow or about money, because we’re just cool people with banging bodies.

Think the lovely lady is the next swag phenom? Be sure to check out her Myspace page at www.myspace.com/CrystalBuiltRight or [click here].