Meet the supermodel who is changing how the retail industry treats plus size women

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.

And Ashley Graham didn't stop there.

She recently 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 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.

SEE ALSO: Retailers are missing out on a $9 billion opportunity

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

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 "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.

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 "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.

"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."

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