In April of 2005, Tyra Banks gave an inspiring speech to a contestant on her very own TV Show, America’s Next Top Model. The aired speech quickly went viral. Soon, there were hundreds of memes surrounding the moment. Although the headline of her memes was the line “I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you!” let’s remember the last bit of her speech: “You have no idea what I’ve been through! But I’m not a victim, I learn from it, and I grow from it.” For those of us who do not know much about Tyra Banks and her background, this statement seemed vague and left us a little confused.

When hearing Tyra’s speech, the first thing you may have asked yourself is, what has Tyra actually been through? According to online sources, Tyra Banks grew up in Inglewood, California. She is the daughter of Caroline London and Donald Banks, and the younger sister of Devin Banks. When Tyra was very young, she was bullied by schoolmates for her appearance – the old ugly duckling story. Banks told Life and Style Magazine that what really sparked her modelling career was a growth spurt in the fifth grade. Banks grew more than three inches and lost about 30 pounds, pretty scary for an 11 year old. The sudden change in her size caused worry for her and her family. Assuming Tyra had an eating disorder, her family took her to the doctors and got her tested for many problems. Allegedly, Tyra Banks turned out to be healthy. Now, she uses her height and thin waist to slay runways across America.

Banks’ career took off at an amazing rate. She first began modelling at 15 years old while attending school in Los Angeles. Although she was rejected by four agencies before finally getting a deal with L.A. Models, she still made the most of her modelling career as the first African American women to appear on the covers of GQ, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, and the Victoria’s Secret lingerie catalogue. Livingly even called Tyra Banks one of ten black women who has changed history. However, modelling wasn’t enough for Banks. Her first appearance on TV was a big one, she guest starred in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as one of Will Smith’s character’s old friends. From there she appeared on a plethora of shows from Nick Cannon’s Wild N’ Out, to The Hannah Montana Movie. It’s clear Banks wanted to make a name for herself and nothing would stop her.

Tyra has proven herself to be a versatile artist so many may be wondering how she can top herself now. How about being the executive producer and judge on a TV series about modelling? In May of 2003, Tyra Banks presented the first episode of America’s Next Top Model to the world. Her show turned out to be a huge hit. She brought a fresh idea to the world. It has 23 seasons and is still on air with Banks herself running the show. Running the country’s most popular modelling competition wasn’t enough for Tyra, though. So she told Oprah to move over and started her own talk show: The Tyra Banks Show. Banks’s talk show first aired in 2005 and ended in 2010 after 5 seasons of gossip with guest stars like Miley Cyrus, Rihanna and plenty more. Although her talk show didn’t run nearly as long as America’s Next Top Model, The Tyra Banks Show did win two Daytime Emmys, one in 2009 and one in 2010. Tyra Banks has clearly shown us that sometimes there is more to a celebrity than just a funny meme on the internet.