Meet the supermodel who is about to make history for Sports Illustrated

Instagram/Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

In February 2015, a model from Nebraska made history when she appeared as the first-ever truly plus size model in an ad in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition.

Now, she's about to chart new territory.

Sports Illustrated recently announced on its Instagram page that she would be featured in its iconic swimsuit edition — only this time, not in an ad.

It's a milestone for curvy women and the modeling industry as a whole, but it's just par for the course for Graham, who breaks ground with regularity.

She launched a plus-size line with lingerie company Addition Elle at Nordstrom, tapping into a market that Victoria's Secret hasn't touched.

Graham talked to Business Insider this past summer about the moves she's made in the modeling and lingerie businesses, and how she's working to help transform society's perceptions of plus size women.

Graham became a model out of sheer luck (and good looks).

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/oTQA8oTZ_f/embed/
Width: 658px

 "It was one of those stories that you’ve heard a million times," she recalled to Business Insider. "Where I was in a mall, I was 12 years old, and somebody came up to me and said, 'hey — you wanna be a model?' And there happened to be a scout right there, and I look over and there’s like a line of like 300 girls in this mall in Nebraska and I was like uhhh... sure!"

She credits her parents with helping her sit things straight. "Thank God my dad [is] a businessman," she said.  

 

Graham moved to New York at 17.

Instagram Embed:
http://instagram.com/p/l2M9wFTZ1H/embed/
Width: 658px

 "Of course I went through the struggles of learning how to be an adult," she said, "but it never affected my career because I was just very straightforward. Straightforward with what I wanted and my dreams and my goals and all of that."

She soon experienced her first major controversy.

Lane Bryant/YouTube

"I was in the Lane Bryant commercial that was banned from television which was so cool," she said.

The 2010 commercial wasn't allowed to air on ABC during "Dancing With The Stars" or on FOX during "American Idol," CBS News reported. 

Lane Bryant accused the networks of banning the ads because of the plus size women, especially considering the ubiquity of sexy Victoria's Secret ads which could air at the same time.

"It was a controversy [and] everybody thought, 'oh ... this is terrible,' but honestly, I thought it was great because it was giving us a platform to be able to talk about body image and acceptance. And media isn’t putting curvy women on ... newsstands and on television," she added.

"That was the whole thing," she said, "they were offended by my curves and lingerie."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider