 Before becoming the first transgender woman to appear in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, not to mention Grace the cover of Vogue three years prior in 2017, Supermodel Valentina Sampaio was born on December 10, 1996 in Acuras, Brazil. Raised in that gorgeous coastal city, Valentina says that she was incredibly lucky to have family and friends who have always supported and accepted her for who she is as a transgender individual. Lord Buzzfeed? People in my hometown always treated me normally, I have always been a girl and I've never felt any different. And that's what I transmitted to people. She was only eight years old when a psychologist identified her as transgender and four years later she began calling herself Valentina. From there she began to dream big and envision herself as a model, even if at first it was more of a fantasy than a goal. In an attempt to bring her dreams to life, Valentina would pose in front of any camera she could get in front of from a very young age and spent many nights impersonating some of Brazil's biggest soap opera stars. When Valentina was old enough to commute to the largest nearby city on her own, Fortaleza, she began studying fashion with the hoops of becoming a stylist. Soon after she found herself involved in the local fashion industry but also discovered a community that was far less understanding of who she was as a transgender woman. Like Brazil's natural beauty, the country is a brutal track record of crimes perpetrated against the transgender community. In 2019 alone, 129 transgender people were murdered in the country, something that Valentina became more and more aware of the older she got. In fact, trans rights in Brazil are practically non-existent and the brutality only increased once conservative president Jair Bolsonaro took office from 2019 to 2022. This discrimination that Brazil's trans community faces on a daily basis is very evident when it comes to employment and it's rare to find a transgender person with a public-facing official job. This type of discrimination is something that Valentina would have to face head on because her career is a supermodel while it wouldn't come easy. It's sad to realize that much of the success Valentina has found abroad in the world has come from almost everywhere except her own home country. When she began her modeling career in Brazil, she was once hired for an ad campaign for a clothing company in 2014, but when the brand realized she was transgender, she was fired out of fear that the company's conservative clients wouldn't respond favorably to Valentina's presence. Reflecting on that low point in her life, she told Buzzfeed, it was a really difficult moment. It was like I was wrong to be in that place like I didn't belong there, but my reaction was just to get out of that situation. Despite the discouraging setback, Valentina pressed forward and in the months to follow, she'd leave her home for the first time to act in an independent film shot in Rio de Janeiro which debuted at Sao Paulo Fashion Week. Being cast in that film proved to be the perfect antidote for the humiliation she experienced at the hands of people who never took the time to understand her. Soon enough, Valentina had decided to move to Sao Paulo full-time and shortly after she achieved her breakthrough moment when she was asked to model for the cover of French Vogue. Being misunderstood would prove to be the catalyst that led to Valentina overcoming her own personal heartache to achieve her dreams and become the first transgender woman to ever appear on that magazine. In other words, Valentina took back control over her own life by using incidents to see beyond herself and provide a voice for trans people of all types. She told the podcast Victoria's Secret Voices, it allowed me to understand I need to shed light and create not just for me but for the humanization and benefit of all trans people whenever possible. Having already accomplished one first, Valentina would go on to rack up a whole bunch more because her increase in profile would lead to further cover shoots for the likes of Vogue Brazil and Vogue Germany. In 2019, she even became the first transgender model to work with Victoria's Secret. Now that she had officially found her way into North American pop culture relevancy, Valentina's career hit a new level. Not only was she signed to New York City Talent Agency the Lyons, but her biggest opportunities were still to come. In 2020, the then 23-year-old Valentina Simpeo continued to break down barriers in the modeling industry by becoming the first transgender woman to be profiled in the legendary sports illustrated swimsuit issue. That year, the Brazilian model was named as one of the addition's rookies and was snapped in images, modeling a white one piece by House of Pink Lemonade, as well as a shimmering talpikini by Changle. More than just that, Valentina was provided a platform by sports illustrated to pen an open essay on what it meant for her to be part of such a historic moment. She wrote being trans usually means facing closed doors to people's hearts and minds. We face snickers and salts, fearful reactions and physical violations just for existing. Her options for growing up in a loving and accepting family, having a fruitful experience at school or finding dignified work are unimaginably limited and challenging. I recognize I'm one of the fortunate ones and my intention is to honor that as best I can. Then Valentina was invited to become one of the inaugural members of the Victoria's Secret Collective, which replaced the brand's well-known cast of Angels. Ever since, Valentina has become something of a celebrity in North America as made evident by her much-talked-about appearance at the Met Gala in 2021. The images that resulted from that red carpet wound up plastered across hundreds of websites, all of which were covering fashion's biggest night. Recognizing that her platform that night would be as big as ever, Valentina chose that day to launch an NFT and music video aimed at raising awareness of trans lives and trans murders while also advocating for organizations working on behalf of the LGBTQ plus community like GLAAB, Pride Live, and the Allie Forney Center. Even after all of that, Valentina still wasn't finished making history. Just last year, she was selected to become the first transgender face of her money beauty products. Considering makeup was one of the first things that allowed Valentina to feel like her true self, this was a full-circle moment that shows just how far Valentina's come while also encapsulating everything she's been able to accomplish. Now that she's become the newest face for the luxury Italian beauty brand, she joins a roster of A-list talent like Kate Blanchett and Ryan Reynolds, which just goes to show the type of rarefied-air Valentina Simpeo finds herself in these days when it comes to celebrity culture. From being misunderstood in her own home country to shattering barriers and accomplishing numerous firsts, Valentina's life is most definitely one we're celebrating, especially during Pride Month, and I can't wait to see what record she claims next. Alright everyone, that'll bring this latest edition of Before and After to a close. Thanks so much for watching, and before you head out, consider answering the following question. If you were more well-respected outside of your own home country than in it, how would that make you feel about where you're from? Let me know if you'd even bother returning home in the comments below. Otherwise, like, subscribe, and turn on your notifications to make sure you never miss an episode. My name's Kara, if you'd like to check out another incredible transformation story, then stay tuned as I tell you all about Sasha Colby. I'll see you next time. Bye! When Sasha Colby first appeared on Season 15 of RuPaul's Drag Race, she was already being described as your favorite drag queen's favorite drag queen. And while that might sound like a pretty lofty title to live up to, it's also accurate because the former 2012 Miss Continental winner has more than two decades of drag performances under her gown already. Despite the lengthy list of trans women working in the drag industry and openly trans women competitor, has yet to win the Drag Race flagship series. Until Sasha does. And now that she's accomplished this remarkable feat, Sasha's finally getting the flowers she's always deserved. Beginning with her childhood in Hawaii, Sasha Kekoha formed a lifelong relationship with clothes as a means of gender expression and freedom. She also had some surprisingly unintentional helpers. As a kid, Sasha Colby was raised in a family of Jehovah's Witnesses but that never stopped her parents from dressing her in tight little shorts that no other boy her age was wearing at the time. She once explained to Out Magazine, in elementary school I was already a blonde kid in the middle of Hawaii. I had green eyes, pretty fair skin, and was femme presenting. I felt like my parents unintentionally dressed me up very feminine and they didn't even realize it. Short shorts were only the beginning. As a kid, Sasha would try on different forms of female clothing which then allowed her to access new realms of her own creativity. The first gender-affirming clothes she ever donned were her sister's negligee and bra. She described these moments of discovery, telling out, from elementary to high school I would come home and I would play in my sister's makeup because she would have it in the bathroom. So it was easy for me to just grab a little liner, put some mascara on, light a candle, put on music, and I would lip-sync in front of the mirror for hours. Three hours from 3 to 6 am. By the early morning, Sasha's father would be banging on the bathroom door pleading to be let in so that he could shower and get ready for work. Of course, there were also pop culture references that definitely played a part in helping Sasha come to terms with who she really was. Films like Mrs. Doubtfire and Tu Wong Fu, thanks for everything. Then she met her first trans woman in real life, her mom's hairdresser Tami, a super tall, very loud queen who Sasha immediately gravitated towards as she began her own transitioning journey. Around that time, some of Sasha's friends took her to her first drag show at a local nightclub and she's been chasing the amazing feeling that evening instilled in her ever since. The house of Colby began not with Sasha but with another queen named Cassandra. Like Sasha, Cassandra is also a native Hawaiian and trans woman who Sasha encountered when she began sneaking her way into LGBTQ plus bars to catch her new favorite form of entertainment, drag shows. At the time, Sasha was around 18 years old and looking for a seasoned queen to pass on their maternal instincts as a drag mother. In terms of the women Sasha met and asked, wound up telling her no, but Cassandra was different. The moment these two met there was an indescribable energy and they soon discovered that they shared a whole lot in common in terms of their history. When Sasha confided in Cassandra about her trans identity, she'd call from home whispering on the phone so that her parents wouldn't hear. Learning from Cassandra gave Sasha the confidence and belief that she could carve out a normal life for herself as well. Afterwards, Cassandra adopted Sasha and the Colby family has only grown from there with Sasha adopting her own kids like former drag race contestant Kerry Colby. Her relationship with Cassandra would also become all the motivation that Sasha needed to transition into a woman. Once that journey had begun, Sasha continued to express herself through fashion and style as she gained more confidence and experience. Then she began to hit the stage. 2005 was the very first time that Sasha competed in the Miss Continental Pagent, an annual drag queen event founded in 1980. During that first appearance, Sasha put on the first gown she ever worn, a piece that was handed down to her by none other than Cassandra. Cassandra wore that same dress when she won the Miss Universal Show Queen and all Sasha did was update the look by adding on a cool coat. While she might not have won the trophy that year, a short time later in 2012, she finally took on the crown in a performance the drag queens still talk about to this day. While Cassandra might have passed on all she knew about fashion and style, it was another individual who taught Sasha about makeup, her drag brother Preston. Sasha is always the first to admit that makeup is more or less the last frontier for her when it comes to her own sense of style. Simply put, glam isn't her strong suit. So, she relies heavily on Preston's ideas when it comes to designing her elaborate looks. Then there's her hair. In terms of inspiration, Sasha always likes to go back to the archetype of the beautiful, effortless Coola Girl. For most of her life, Sasha has always kept her hair long. But then, just before she was set to appear on Drag Race, she lost two family members. In an attempt to cleanse herself, she actually cut her hair to realize that she didn't need it to feel a fern. The idea worked and Sasha immediately felt liberated. Then, she prepared herself for the biggest stage of her career. Being the drag veteran that she is, Sasha Colby put a lot of thought behind how she would enter the workroom of Drag Race for the very first time. She looked to who she is as a person, a native Hawaiian, and then took on the persona of a powerful tribal warrior. The type of skirt she wore with this look is referred to as a mahalo, and it's usually worn more often by men rather than women. So, with this little touch, Sasha was reminding other queer Hawaiians that she's a master of both the masculine and the feminine. As for the tattoos that completed the look, they symbolized transformation. Which, for a trans woman like Sasha, provided another powerful statement. When it came time to put on her first runway look for the series, Sasha found a 10-year-old gown made by a New York City-based designer named Gustavo Bustos, a piece that she previously wore the same year she won Miss Continental. As Sasha continued to survive cut after cut, there remained a sense of inevitability around her potential win. After all, she's already a legend, and having killed it as much as she did this season, why shouldn't she win? Well, working against her was the sad fact that representation has always been something of a thorny issue for drag race. For years, the contestant pool was largely made up of cis gay men performing in drag as women. And while the production company behind the series never officially prohibited trans performers from competing, in 2018, RuPaul told The Guardian that he would probably not let trans women on the show, stating, You can identify as a woman and say you're transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body. That led to a massive fan outcry, leading to RuPaul eventually walking back on his comments. Since then, a number of openly trans contestants have appeared on drag race, but none of them ever won until Sasha Coolbie took home the crown at the end of this season. When asked to reflect on what winning this world-famous competition meant to her, Sasha told out, I've just been working so hard and never thought that anybody was watching or even noticed it. The amount of love that I've gotten has made me feel like my 20 years of work really meant something that people are really watching. Winning RuPaul's Drag Race was all about seizing control of an opportunity for Sasha and accomplishing her wildest dreams. Now that she's done it and turned herself into a household name like never before, well, you can be sure that Sasha Coolbie won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Not now that she's finally arrived once and for all after 20 years of hard work and transformation. Alright everyone, that'll bring this latest before and after to a close. Thanks so much for watching today's video and before you head out, consider answering the following question. If you could be adopted by just one drag mother, who would you want it to be? Let me know which drag goddess you look up to in the comments down below. Otherwise, like, subscribe, and turn on your notifications to make sure you never miss a drop. My name's Kara, if you'd like to keep watching some of the most amazing transformation in celebrity culture,