Why Ashley Graham Continues to 'Shake Things Up' in the Fashion Industry: 'I Love Empowering Women'
courtesy Pandora
Ashley Graham is never one to sugarcoat. The curve model and entrepreneur — who could teach a masterclass on the art of real talk — is happy to use her platform to further conversations about body acceptance and to be a voice for other women who look like her.
"There will never be a time in my life where I'm not talking about my body. There just won't," Graham tells PEOPLE. "It's just a reality of who I am and the ethos of my brand. Can you imagine waking up every morning and having to talk about something that you think the world should just get over?"
As a curve model who is vocal about body-positivity and self-love, Graham, 34, has dedicated her brand to being outspoken on anything and everything related to empowerment and searching for more acceptance in society. "Hey, if I have to talk about it constantly to wake people up, to shake things up, that's fine," she says of discussing her curves. "I don't mind — I'll use my body for all of that. Also, I love empowering women."
RELATED: Ashley Graham Puts Curves on Full Display in Nude Photo: 'My Booty's Out'
courtesy Pandora
To further her message of empowerment, Graham teamed up with Pandora for the jewelry brand's newest collection, Diamonds by Pandora. The line, which features lab-grown diamonds, encourages women to celebrate themselves by highlighting their milestones, both big and small, and be their own biggest cheerleaders.
"It's interesting to think about how, as women, we just are constantly living in our lives, and we are met with hardship or we're met with obstacles or we're met with celebrations — but we rarely take a moment to say, 'I made it through that.' or 'Good job,'" Graham tells PEOPLE. "What we wanted to do with this Pandora collection is to celebrate women and their milestones, big and small."
The mother of three, who gave birth to twin boys in January this year, has championed her own milestones by giving herself jewelry, also. After going through a bad breakup before meeting her current husband, Justin Ervin, she bought herself a necklace that she still treasures to this day.
"[The breakup] was nasty and took a year to get out of it," she tells PEOPLE. "I remember looking at the necklace I picked — one of those spin necklaces that you hit and as it's spinning, it reads, 'I love you' — and it was such a good reminder to love myself and take control of my own destiny rather than putting it in the hands of someone else."
That necklace may not have been expensive, as Graham says she "couldn't afford a diamond" at that point in her life, but it was the message behind it of putting herself first that made it special. "Even though I don't wear it daily now, that necklace is my reminder to love myself," she says.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
courtesy Pandora
RELATED: How Ashley Graham Is Getting Her Beauty Groove Back After the Birth of Her Twins
It's a reminder for Graham especially when she has those moments of doubt as a plus-size woman just "taking up space" in the world. "I'm just ready for society to be in a place where we don't have to champion something that just should be, that just is," she says of existing as a plus-size person. But it's the growing acceptance of all body types that keeps her going.
"If I didn't know that there was a difference being made, I wouldn't be doing this," she tells PEOPLE. "If I didn't know that there was going to be all these other curve models on the runways and on covers and in TV, then why do it?"
Though she acknowledges that the fashion industry and society as a whole are slowly coming around to being less fatphobic, there's still a ways to go and "so much to change."
"You can't change something by yourself," she says. "For me, it's about the community that's been built and it's about the young people coming up and knowing that they can have a plethora of different bodies to look at that have all kinds of things that have been told are not beautiful, which is such BS."
Graham, who has proudly showed off her stretch marks on red carpets and walked in plenty of runway shows, doesn't mind being that voice for other plus-size women, because she knows there are so many more just like her who are also helping fashion move toward more acceptance.
"We're out here doing what we can," she says. "Hopefully, the generation behind us, and then the generation after that keep it going."
