Tess Holliday is quickly becoming all the rage in the world of modeling.

People Magazine reported this week, the perky, 5'5," 260 pound, size 22 model became the first cat-walker of her size to sign with a prominent modeling agency when she inked a deal with MiLK Model Management of the U.K.

"It's something that I've wanted my whole life, so to even think that it's happened, it feels like an out-of-body experience," said Holliday.

As revolutionary as the deal could be for the industry as a whole, it hardly rates as the first success the 29-year-old mom to a 9-year-old son has known. She previously shot a campaign for Benefit Cosmetics and has also worked with world renowned photographer David LaChapelle on an upcoming project that is slated to be featured in Vogue Italia.

"I've just kept doing this stuff recently, thinking, 'thank God I didn't give up,'" said the L.A.-based Holliday. "I found out about plus-size modeling when I was 15, and I went to an audition in Atlanta. They told me that I was too short and I was too big, and I would never model. But I'm very hardheaded!"

Learning to deal with rejection isn't the only hardship Holliday has had to learn to overcome. While growing up in Laurel, Mississippi she recalls being relentlessly bullied almost nonstop.

"I was getting shoved into lockers, I was being called names," she reflected. "Modeling really helped my confidence because I started seeing myself in a different light. I started seeing myself like, 'Wow, I'm actually pretty.'"

Holliday has also grown to be a force on social media, amassing nearly 1 million followers, including more than 300,000 on Instagram.

In one recent photo where she was dressed in black lingerie, Holliday preached to her followers about her successes.

"I hope this makes you realize that it's okay to be yourself, even it happens to exist in a fat body ..." she said in the caption.

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