Tyra Banks

Tyra Banks is an American former supermodel, actor, author, producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. She is best known for creating, producing, and presenting the long-running reality television series 'America's Next Top Model.' She also created and hosted the twice Emmy winning daytime talk-show, 'The Tyra Banks Show,' for five years. Banks, who gained recognition as a supermodel, originally wanted to be a writer or producer working in the film industry. Being teased by her older brother as well as her peers for her disproportionate body shape and dark skin color, she hardly ever imagined modeling as a career option until she was encouraged by a classmate and became aware of her potential. Despite initial discouragement from professionals, she eventually bagged a high profile modeling assignment after a French scout spotted her. She went on to model for every leading clothing line and was featured on the covers of prestigious magazines like 'GQ' and 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue' as the first black woman. Over the years, she has dabbled at everything from writing, singing, acting, to teaching. However, it is her genuine personality, rather than her outward beauty, that helped her make into 'TIME' magazine's list of most influential people.