Ashley Graham Reflects on ‘Next Level’ SI Swim Cover and Success

The model talked success and her 2016 rookie photoshoot on TikTok.

Ashley Graham.Gotham/Getty Images

Ashley Graham knows what success means to her, and it’s not synonymous with fame or international acclaim. The model and mom of three recently opened up about her personal journey on TikTok, where she noted that finding personal success has led her to expand her notions of what she was striving for. 

“What I want now is far beyond what I could have ever dreamed I would have, or desire, or know to even want 15 years ago,” she explained.

And much of her shifting notions began in 2016. That year, the American model graced the cover of the SI Swimsuit Issue with an incredible photo from her trip to Turks and Caicos. In doing so, she became the publication’s first plus-sized cover girl.

“Being a rookie on the cover of Sports Illustrated—now that was next level,” she said. “It was such a big deal for the time for the world that we were living in. Honestly it just wasn’t the norm for someone like me.” More than that, "It was the first time that someone my size was being deemed sexy in mainstream media.”

The moment gained her national and international attention. “I was the number one Googled person in the world that day,” she remarked. The moment was meaningful in the course of her career. But, in the time since, Graham has also found that “making it” means so much more than just fame. “It’s really about financial freedom and being a boss and being a mom and living life on my terms.”

Graham does all of those things—and more—with grace.

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