Tera Patrick started modeling at the age of thirteen when a scout for Ford Modeling Agency signed her. She later moved to New York where she began doing runway and catalog modeling. At eighteen she left modeling to attend Boise State University where she studied for two years to get her associate's degree in nursing.

In the 1990s she went from runway and catalog modeling to adult modeling, appearing naked in softcore shoots. In 2000 she moved from nude modeling to hardcore porn as she starred in her first film Andrew Blake's Aroused. She's appeared in both Penthouse and Playboy. Playboy. She's recently done some work in 2007 for Mac & Bumble. She remains one of the most popular asian-american pornstars.

In December 2003 she signed a contract with Vivid Video. At the same time she was in a legal dispute with her former employer Digital Playground.

In April 2007 she filed a lawsuit against Jenna Jameson and Playboy ( the new owner of ClubJenna ) which operated her official site Club Tera. Tera Patrick claimed that she was not paid proper royalties from sales of memberships to her official website.

Here's a video of Tera Patrick stopping traffic. She's working at a pornstar car wash! This reporter wishes that Tera Patrick would wash his car.