Hunter McGrady opens up about her journey to loving her body: ‘Beauty is not a size’

How Hunter McGrady has used her platform to open up about loving herself and promote body diversity.

Xandria James | Feb 14, 2017

She's loud, she's proud, and she's all kinds of fierce! Earlier today we introduced you to Model Search contestant Hunter McGrady and now we're back to take a deeper dive into how she has used her platform to open up about loving herself and to promote body diversity.

Coming from a long lineage of models, being in front of the camera pretty much runs through Hunter's veins.

“I always wanted to be a model. My mom was a model, and my grandma, and my aunt, so I was always around it,” Hunter told SI. “And I always remember looking at my mom and being like ‘I want to be you.’ That never changed for me. I knew from the moment I knew what it was that I wanted to do this.”

But Hunter's journey to following in her mother's footsteps didn't come easy.

“I didn’t work very much as a straight sized model because I am a very hippy person. Although I was 115 pounds and I’m 5’11—I was very very tiny for my height—I could never get rid of my hips,” Hunter said.

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A post shared by Hunter McGrady (@huntermcgrady)

It wasn't until Hunter found inspiration from models like Robyn Lawley that she realized beauty couldn't be defined by the size of her waistline. Now, she's made it her mission to encourage women everywhere to embrace the skin they're in—and we couldn't be more obsessed with her message!

“My main goal is to get across to women that you are able to love your body at any size and that you're sexy and beautiful at any size. Beauty is not a size and I'm really happy that the industry is accepting body diversity,” Hunter said.

Our girl knows how to keep it REAL, welcomes her "imperfections," and definitely isn't afraid to show them off for the world to see.

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A post shared by Hunter McGrady (@huntermcgrady)

“I use my Instagram a lot to promote body diversity because it’s a building platform and it’s continuing to grow. And just even posting on there unphotoshopped photos, photos of me where my cellulite is showing, where my stretch marks are showing, where I have rolls. And I think women, and girls, and teenagers see that and can relate and feel comfortable in their body to know I'm putting myself out there saying ‘I have these things too.’”

Feel empowered yet? We sure are!

See all of Hunter's beautiful photos from SI Swimsuit 2017!