Ashley Graham has looked back to her early years in a new interview on Time titled The Words I Use To Encourage Self Love.
The 36-year-old cover girl has served as a prominent face in the world of modeling and the body positivity movement.
But when she was a child she was crushed that she did not look like tall, skinny blonde girls.
And the siren felt the way her teachers looked at her was awful. She was also not thrilled when other kids called her ‘big.’
Meanwhile, she was flying to New York City on the weekends for modeling work as her career was already taking off.
But it was her mother who comforted her with her wise words when she told Ashley that she would one day change the world with her fuller figure.
Ashley Graham has looked back to her early years in a new interview on Time titled The Words I Use To Encourage Self Love
Graham as a young school girl in a red dress and diamond earrings on
Graham’s accomplished career has led to her gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2016, being a part of the TIME100 List in 2017, and recently releasing her own children’s book titled, A Kid’s Book About Beauty.
Graham exclusively shared with TIME about the earliest moments when she was confronted with beauty.
She was made fun of growing up for having a body that wasn’t conventionally attractive.
Graham on the moment she was confronted with the notion of beauty when she was a kid.
‘I was 9 years old when I was first confronted with the idea of beauty. I’d always been a larger kid—stout, athletic. People would tell me I was “big and strong,”‘ she shared.
‘But this girl, a stranger I saw one day at Target—she was different.
‘She had long, thin legs, a flat tummy, and grown-up breasts. Her blonde hair fell perfectly down her shoulders.
‘I was so young, and yet I knew: she was pretty. I wanted to be that. I didn’t know what modeling was back then—I didn’t even know what fashion was—but I wanted what she had. I wanted to command attention.’
The cover girl has served as a prominent face in the world of modeling and the body positivity movement. But when she was a child she was crushed that she did not look like tall, skinny blonde girls
And the siren felt the way her teachers looked at her was awful. She was also not thrilled when other kids called her ‘big’
Meanwhile, she was flying to New York City on the weekends for modeling work as her career was already taking off
But it was her mother who comforted her with her wise words when she told Ashley that she would one day change the world with her fuller figure
Modeling was not easy breezy.
There were labels attached to her from the get go.
‘It came with a caveat, though. I was “big pretty” or “pretty for a big girl” or “pretty from the neck up.” There was always that double label: pretty and plus-sized. In school, the plus-size wasn’t cool, but the pretty was interesting.
‘My teachers would tilt their heads and squint at me, looking for whatever the industry saw,’ she added.
‘I would fly to modeling jobs in New York City over the weekend with my mom, and be back in school facing the name-calling on Monday.
‘I wish I’d had a mentor back then—someone to help me understand my value and my purpose as a model. But there was no one I could look to and emulate, no one who’d gone through the same challenges to hold my hand and tell me that none of the noise mattered, that I just needed to keep moving forward.
Luckily Graham had a smart mom who could see the future.
‘One day I finally called my mom crying, looking in the mirror and just feeling like I couldn’t do it anymore,’ she shared.
‘She told me something I’ll never forget: your body is going to change someone’s life. You have to keep going… That was the “aha” moment for me.’
Graham is seen on June 3, 2024 in New York City
Ashley added: ‘My mom helped me understand my purpose. As I let her words sink in, I thought about how for years I’d let other people tell me who I was. I needed to define my worth for myself. And I could use words, like my mom had, to do it.’
She also talked the influence she has made on the world.
‘My body has changed things for other people, and there’s an incredible honor—and an incredible pressure—that comes with knowing that,’ she said.
‘I’ve always wanted women to see themselves in me, to know that any validation I get is equally theirs.
‘But sharing my body with the world has also meant that the people I’ve set out to represent sometimes assume an ownership over my appearance. We all change.
‘I was 28 when I appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. Now I’m 36 and a mother of three.’
One of her Vogue covers; from 2016
Graham at the 2024 Met Gala Celebrating Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in May in New York City
Graham them said: ‘My body looked different when I was pregnant, and it looks different now that I’ve given birth to my three sons.
‘Losing weight after having kids has brought on comments from people who feel betrayed by the changes they see.
‘I never want women to think I’m leaving them behind, and at the same time, all I can do is accept the journey I’m on and to focus on the things that make me feel strong and empowered—which is all any of us can do.
‘Maybe I’ll lose weight, maybe I’ll gain it. This is my body, and I’m incredibly proud of everything it has accomplished.’
