Tyra Banks Is a True Multimedia Mogul

Tyra Banks is the very definition of the word mogul. Although she started her career as a model, the 48-year-old’s resume represents varied career paths: television personality, producer, actress, writer, businesswoman and even Stanford University lecturer. Along the way, she has experienced a lot of firsts, including being the first Black woman to appear solo on the covers of GQ and SI Swimsuit.

Honestly, it’s almost impossible to capture all of the supermodel’s various ventures over the years. She founded the cosmetics brand Tyra Beauty; wrote a best-selling novel, Modelland; and was the host of both her own talk show and the iconic America’s Next Top Model as well as having made countless other TV appearances over the course of her career. She once famously said "I know I'm an overachiever and I'm not apologetic about it. I won't be slowing down any time soon; it's only going to get bigger."

At 45, Banks came out of modeling retirement to appear in the SI Swimsuit Issue again, gracing the 2019 cover, proving she is still the “smize” queen. The wildly successful multi-hyphenate landed the hosting gig on Dancing With the Stars in 2020 and, with her charitable TZONE program, teaches leadership and life-skills development—and inspires other young women to aim for mogul status. 

Banks reminds her followers, "You gotta knock on a lot of doors to get to where you’re going. Some doors will be slammed in your face, some doors need to be slowly opened, but keep knockin! They’ll open up, and when they do, you better make a fierce entrance!"

Beginning on International Women’s Day (March 8), the Pay With Change initiative will be front and center on SI Swim channels through daily spotlights on the women, brands and properties making a concerted effort to fight for women’s equality.