Ashley Graham Quotes

I felt like I was trailblazing. And that's what I did.

The door might not be opened to a woman again for a long, long time, and I had a kind of duty to other women to walk in and sit down on the chair that was offered, and so establish the right of others long hence and far distant in geography to sit in the high seats.

I never thought I was breaking a glass ceiling. I just had to do what I had to do, and it never occurred to me not to.

My mother had a saying: 'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last.'

I always say, the greatest cost of leading is the cost of paving the way.

I break ground. I trailblaze.

When you break glass ceilings, you're going to get minor scrapes by a shard or two from the glass.

AEW is history-making. When the chance presented itself to be a part of something so groundbreaking, I wasn't going to wait around any longer.

I'd like to be the person who changes things, or at least open doors for others.

Making it through the ceiling to the other side was simply a matter of running on a path created by every other woman's footprints.

Do I ever get tired of being the first female everything? Not really, I just happened to be in a position where the job that I wanted was not really there for me. I had to create an opportunity instead of waiting for an opportunity.

I had been looking for leaders, but I realized that leadership is about being the first to act.

At the beginning, my ambition was never to break down doors. It was just to earn tuition for myself and work in an industry where women hadn't been allowed or invited. That's all I wanted to do, not thinking that I would make waves, change minds, excite people, incite people, turn on people, repulse people.

Eventually, if you're the train that's leaving the station, people will race to catch up with you. I think that's one of the things I've figured out. You can't wait for permission to act, you just do; then people are like, "Oh, look at that person just doing over there. Maybe I'll come join them."

Women have begun to see that if I go through that doorway, I take everybody through it.

I see the new Latin artist as a pioneer, opening up doors for others to follow. And when they don't open, we crowbar our way in.

A great man is the man who does something for the first time.

Like all pioneers I have labored more in faith and hope.

Leaders must go ahead even when moving ahead is controversial. You must be ahead of time, because if you want to represent the status quo, what do you need leaders for?

The essence of leadership is essentially taking the responsibility of trying to interpret the future to the present.

If I take a bump or bruise along the way, that's nothing compared to the sacrifices that the women whose shoulders I stand upon made along the way.

It was always my desire to strike new ground and help to lend weight where it was most required.

Growing up, I was told I could be anything I wanted to be. There were no limitations restraining me just because I was a girl. Then I joined the military.

It's a pretty cool feeling to be the person to knock down a barrier - just like the Williams sisters did in tennis or Tiger Woods in golf.

I am an anomaly in my country. I hope, in the coming years, there will be more women like me.