Let’s be honest—we’ve all done something regrettable to our hair at least once in our lives, like dyeing it a drastic color that doesn’t suit or getting a disastrous haircut. However, for the majority of us, it doesn’t lead to superstardom. For Carolyn Murphy, it actually did. After graduating from Choctawhatchee Senior High School, Carolyn moved to Milan to further her career. On a fated shoot early in her career, she overdid it with the bleach bottle—so much so that her hair started to fall out. She was forced to shear it off, resulting in the signature platinum-blonde crop that set her apart from the other models of the time. This gave her a unique edge and made her hugely popular with top photographers. The rest, as they say, is history.

Murphy is as down-to-earth as they come. Born on August 11, 1975, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Carolyn was discovered at the age of 16 by Mary Lou Nash, owner and operator of the agency Mary Lou’s Models. Mary Lou saw Carolyn’s potential and soon had her modeling in local ads and magazines throughout Florida and Alabama—although modeling was never Carolyn’s major aspiration, and she claims she’s really a “beach girl at heart.”

Soon after moving to Milan, Carolyn was gracing the covers of every major magazine, strutting the runways for all the big designers, and signing deals for major campaigns. Carolyn was the winner of VH1/Vogue’s “Model of the Year” at the 1998 Fashion Awards and was one of the models to grace the cover of Vogue’s “Models of the Millennium” issue.

In September 2001, Carolyn was named Estée Lauder’s spokesperson. According to American Vogue, “Estée Lauder doesn’t just have cover girls, they launch legends.” Carolyn says, “It was such an honor that, for a while, I was really overwhelmed and it felt very surreal. But it’s been wonderful...working with Aerin [Lauder] is amazing. We’re close in age, and she’s very modern and traditional at the same time.” The feeling is evidently mutual. Aerin, vice president of global advertising and granddaughter of Estée, explains her casting choice: “The first time I met Carolyn, she brought her little girl to the shoot. I had just had a child as well, so I could relate to that. Not only is she beautiful, but she really does represent the modern Estée Lauder woman.”

In February 2005, Carolyn landed the coveted cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition and then appeared in a group shot on the cover in 2006. When she was told she had the cover, she modestly said, “I never thought I’d make the pages of Sports Illustrated because I’ve always been skinny—when I was pregnant, I gained 60 pounds,” she relates. “I was like Princess Fiona from Shrek, but I was contentedly overweight. I’d just had Dylan when my first test shots for Estée Lauder came up. I had leaky breasts and saggy skin. But Aerin Lauder was already a mother—thank God!—and understood. She waited, and it was all worth it.”

Being compared to Grace Kelly is something Carolyn is used to. She played the part of Dubbie the Blonde in Barry Levinson’s “Liberty Heights” in 1999, as the director wanted to cast someone with a “Grace Kelly appeal” and she fit the bill. Carolyn was also asked to pose as Grace Kelly for Town & Country’s “A Tribute to Grace Kelly” issue in November 2007, due to her striking resemblance to the fashion icon and her natural poise and grace.

Murphy married surf-shop owner Jake Schroeder, and gave birth to their daughter Dylan Blue on December 28, 2000. The three posed for Vogue as Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, and Frances Bean Cobain. The couple split in 2001.

In July 2007, Forbes magazine named Carolyn sixth on its list of the world’s 15 top-earning supermodels, putting her annual earnings at an estimated $5 million.