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Chastity Simone

Source: Brandon Hicks / Chastity Simone

When Chasity Samone was growing up in Dallas, the seventh out of 11 children, she had one major plan in life, and that was to enlist in the Army like many of the people in her family. She had been in JROTC and ROTC programs in school and hoped that joining would help her rise in the ranks and eventually work at the Pentagon.

“My dad was actually in the army,” she told us over the phone. “When he retired from the Army, he went to work for the government and was working in the federal building in Dallas. It was embedded in me. Going into the Army wasn’t like something new for me, it was me trying to follow in my dad’s footsteps. Also, my sister was in the Army too. We actually enlisted at the same time, so it was a family thing.”

Her plan would become a reality, doing three active years in the military and one inactive year, going from Fort Jackson in South Carolina to a brigade in Fort Worth, Texas while working as a human resource specialist and expert shooter. When she returned home from her service, she picked up work at Nordstrom. It was while at the luxury department store that Samone would have the plans she had in place upended for something entirely different — an opportunity to model.

Someone snapped a photo of her and a woman named Ashley found it online. She posted the image to Facebook, asking people in Dallas to identify Samone for her. After being tagged in the post, the women got in touch, and she was asked about her interest in modeling. Samone had always found the “glam life,” as she put it, alluring, but she didn’t think it was a lifestyle she would ever be able to have.

“I thought it was too farfetched,” she said.

But once she was contacted to set up a photo shoot, it was no longer an implausible thing for her, but rather, a reality she decided to go after.

“Once I did my first photo shoot, I wanted to do photo shoots every day all the time,” she said.

Since that opportunity came her way, Samone has had a great deal of success as a model. Her stunning face has been part of campaigns for Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 4, Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, the makeup of Jefree Star, and allowed her to walk the runway for popular designer Michael Costello. Her most recent gig, and perhaps her favorite thus far, has been the chance to pose for Playboy. Samone was featured in Playboy’s first ever “Equality Issue” in December and was picked to be February’s Playboy Playmate.

The images are gorgeous. And while people may see provocative photos of her posing in the magazine and even on her personal Instagram page and assume there’s not much to her, they would be very wrong. Samone is an outspoken model, not afraid to express her opinions about the importance of equal pay, access to education and awareness of deadly heath issues.

“My dad used to always instill in us, do everything for the people,” she said. “It’s bigger than you, it’s bigger than this. It’s not about you. We have to show up for the people.”

She also says she’s not just modeling for herself, but also for young girls and women who look like her, another way for her to fight for others.

“I’m very passionate about representation in modeling, that’s why I still pursue it because I see a lot of women who are inspired by me and what I do,” she said. “Growing up, I didn’t necessarily see too many who looked like me, so I just feel like I have to say something. I can’t be silent about issues that I care about.”

Always one to have a plan, Samone’s long-term goal now is to become a politician and run for city council in the district in Dallas where she grew up. That way, she can be as vocal and influential about enacting change when it comes to hot-button issues she has strong feelings about.

But wanting to do politics someday, we couldn’t help but ask if she was concerned in any way about how being a model, including one who photographs topless in Playboy, could impact the legitimacy of that work down the line. She said she was hopeful it would come up because she wants to change the way people look at models and allow her immense intelligence and passion to speak for itself.

“I do want somebody to say something so I can show people that the stigma towards Playmates or Playboy or whatever they think is not true,” she said. “I do want to break down some of those stigmas. If the question arises of ‘Oh you were a Playmate, how are you going to be a politician?’ I would love to tackle that. I would love for that to happen because I’m not afraid at all.”

In the meantime though, she’s just excited to have had the opportunity to be in Playboy’s Equality Issue to promote inclusivity and freedom of expression. She also had no problem showcasing her insane figure.

“I feel like Playboy Magazine has been very outspoken about a lot of things like civil rights and human rights issues. It’s always been a magazine for all people to be heard,” she said.  “I’ve always been very comfortable in my sexuality and just being who I am, so I feel like it was a divine thing for me to be in this magazine. I feel like it was perfect and it’s always been a dream for me to be in Playboy and for it to be the Equality Issue, it’s a dream come true.”

On top of booking shoots presently, Samone is staying true to her love of helping people. She’s working on building a foundation for diabetes awareness.

“My dad passed away from diabetes and I just want to make an awareness foundation,” she said. “I also want to fund raise for children who have diabetes and probably don’t have direct access to receive insulin or any type of healthcare they may need. Insulin is very expensive and there are people who really need these things to live and they’re not able to get it. I just want to raise awareness and help them.”

While she could just sit back and be beautiful and jet set and wear the chicest fashions and do all of the glamorous things many models do while staying silent about things that matter, Samone has no intention to.

“I feel like, hey, if I’m going to do it, if I’m going to be here, I have to really use my voice and make some changes.”

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