Tyra Banks has certainly become a household name, and not by accident. Her story is a classic tale of persistent ambition, which began on December 4, 1973.

When she was a senior in high school, Tyra signed with Elite Model Management and went from catalogs to Paris Fashion Week. There, designers were so taken aback by her presence on the runway that she was booked for an exceptional 25 shows, a record for a newcomer to say the least.

She then went on to model for countless campaigns and covers, most notably the February 1997 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition and GQ's January 2000 issue, becoming the first solo black woman to appear on the cover of either of these two popular magazines.

Her long-term contract with CoverGirl and five years with Victoria's Secret further increased her visibility as she became a recognizable fan favorite. She's received the prestigious Michael Award for Supermodel of the Year, as well as two Teen Choice Awards for Favorite Supermodel.

Following her book, Tyra's Beauty Inside & Out, she established the Tyra Banks Scholarship to give African-American girls the opportunity to attend the same all-girl private school she went to. In July of 2000, she began TZONE, an annual summer camp experience for teenage girls designed to encourage independence and enhance self-esteem.

In 2003, her hit reality show America's Next Top Model first aired. Two years later she decided to leave the modeling world altogether to focus on television ventures and launched her daily talk show, The Tyra Banks Show, in 2005. Just three years later, she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show.

TIME named Tyra one of the Most Influential People in the World in 2007 for a second-consecutive year (she is only one of four African-Americans and seven women to have continually ranked among the world’s most influential people), and was named one of Glamour's Women of the Year in 2008.

"I'm passionate about inspiring people to fulfill their own dreams and fantasies through entertainment that is engaging, uplifting, and of course, fun!" she has said. "This is my dream realized." Whatever her future successes bring, we're just glad to be along for the ride.