Early Chrissy Teigen Modeling: What Most People Get Wrong

Before she was the "Queen of Twitter" or a best-selling cookbook author, Chrissy Teigen was just a girl in a surf shop. Honestly, her rise feels like a fever dream when you look at where she started. It wasn't some glamorous Parisian discovery. No scout followed her through a mall. Instead, early Chrissy Teigen modeling was defined by Huntington Beach, California, and a lot of luck.

She was working at a local surf shop. 18 years old. Just living a normal life. Then a photographer walked in. He saw something most people hadn't noticed yet. He didn't just take her headshots; he basically convinced her that modeling was a viable path. Before this, Chrissy wanted to be a chef. Or a teacher. Modeling wasn't even on her radar. She has famously said she didn't think she was "tall enough or skinny enough."

The Surf Shop to Sports Illustrated Pipeline

Those early days were gritty. We're talking 2004 and 2005. She wasn't booking Chanel. She was booking Billabong. It was the quintessential SoCal start. She lived in Miami for four years during this period, spending half the year there just to be near the swimsuit industry hub.

Then came the "briefcase" era.

If you go back and watch old episodes of Deal or No Deal from 2005, you'll see her. She was model number 12. It’s wild to see her standing there in those matching dresses, holding a silver briefcase. She wasn't the star. She was background. In fact, she’s joked about how she and Meghan Markle—who was also a briefcase model—shared some "gross" beauty rituals, like having to use the same communal fake eyelashes.

But things changed in 2010.

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That was the year her friend, model Brooklyn Decker, introduced her to the people at Sports Illustrated.

1. She cast for the Swimsuit Issue.
2. She got it.
3. She won "Rookie of the Year."

That 2010 shoot in the Maldives changed everything. Suddenly, she wasn't just a girl from a surf shop. She was a "name."

Why Early Chrissy Teigen Modeling Was Different

Most models back then were coached to be silent. They were blank canvases. Chrissy? She was different. Even in her early twenties, she was starting a food blog called So Delushious. She didn't want to just "talk about modeling all the time."

This period wasn't all highlights, though. People often forget she was fired from a Forever 21 job early in her career. They booked her, she showed up, and then they told her she was "fat." She’s been very vocal about that experience, and honestly, it’s probably why her fans trust her so much today. She didn't hide the rejections.

The Evolution of the Brand

By 2011, she was doing more than just posing. She designed a capsule collection with DiNeila Brazil. She appeared in a video game (Need for Speed: The Run). She was diversifying before that was a buzzword.

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It's actually quite impressive.

She leveraged the Sports Illustrated fame to get onto TV. By 2013, she was hosting Model Employee on VH1. By 2014, she hit the peak of the modeling world: the 50th-anniversary cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, alongside Nina Agdal and Lily Aldridge.

The John Legend Connection

You can't talk about her early career without mentioning the "Stereo" music video. That was 2006. She was cast as the lead in John Legend's video. They met on set. They fell in love. But she didn't stop modeling to become a "wife." She kept grinding for years before they even got engaged in 2011.

That work ethic is often overlooked because she’s so funny online. People think it happened overnight. It didn't. It took six years of catalog work, game shows, and small campaigns before the SI "Rookie of the Year" title gave her real leverage.

What This Means for Today

Early Chrissy Teigen modeling proves that "traditional" paths aren't the only way. She wasn't a runway star. She was a commercial and swimsuit powerhouse who used her personality to survive an industry that—frankly—told her she wasn't right for it.

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If you’re looking to understand her trajectory, look at these specific milestones:

• 2005: The Deal or No Deal pilot.
• 2006: The "Stereo" video shoot.
• 2010: The Maldives SI shoot (Rookie of the Year).
• 2014: The SI 50th Anniversary Cover.

The biggest takeaway? She never let modeling be her only identity. She was always the girl who loved to cook, and that’s what eventually turned a modeling career into a global lifestyle brand.

To see how much she’s changed, go back and look at her 2007 Maxim calendar photos. Then look at her Cravings empire today. It's a completely different vibe, but the hustle started in that Huntington Beach surf shop.

If you're interested in the "behind-the-scenes" of the fashion world, you should look into how casting for Sports Illustrated actually works—it’s much more about personality than people think. You might also find it interesting to track how other "briefcase models" from that era ended up in completely different industries.