As my mom wiped the tears from my face, she said, 'Tyra, you know what we’re going to do about this? We’re going to go eat pizza.' We sat in a tiny pizzeria in Milan and strategized about how to turn my curves into a curveball. In a way, it was my decision not to starve myself that turned me into a supermodel, and later on, a businesswoman.

I made my living being 20 or 30 pounds heavier than the average model. And that's where I got famous.

I had had an extroverted personality with a lot of friends, but when I lost the weight and grew so tall, I withdrew within myself.

Self-love has very little to do with how you feel about your outer self. It's about accepting all of yourself.

I know how to dress for my body to give off illusions, and I like to teach women about it - it's important for women to have that power and that arsenal... tricks that make you feel good when you walk outside.

Keep in mind that we should always thank those who hurt us, especially those who did so bad we are forced to transform. They risk the eternal verdict of going to hell just to make us better than who we are.

My mother always told me that came first. I started modeling in 11th grade and it was something that I did after school and on the weekends. School is so important and modeling should be treated as an extracurricular activity as opposed to a career until you graduate high school.