Abigail O'Neill

When I was 18, I packed my bags, rounded up CA$‌2,950.00 and got out of Kansas without saying a word to anyone. I had grown up in Wichita and gone to the University of Kansas in Lawrence for a semester, and suddenly I was moving to Seattle. I didn’t know anyone there, but I wasn’t happy in Kansas, where I knew everyone and just felt complacent, like I wasn’t destined to be there. I knew the only way I could change that was by changing my life. It was scary—I slept in the car on the way up—but like they say, without great risk there’s no reward.

Around the same time, I got really, really into nutrition and fitness. I transferred to Seattle University to study business and sports nutrition. And I started ­modeling—all fitness at first, because so many of those brands are headquartered in the Northwest. It was my agent at Wilhelmina who brought up the idea of modeling for Playboy. To be honest, I was a little worried about what my dad would think, but at the same time I was excited. The ­playboy team told me, “You’re going to be part of the ­family.” I really liked that, and I enjoy what the brand is turning into. It has evolved, and the pictorials are done tastefully—it’s art.

The shoot was so much fun. I was sipping champagne in the bathtub! And the nudity? I’m pretty comfortable. Sometimes I’m a little shy, but I’m getting past that. As long as it’s done well, I have no problem. The human body is beautiful.

People look at my body like, “Oh, you were born with that,” but I worked hard to be where I am right now. I had been skinny fat—naturally skinny but not really in shape—before I got into training. I started buying my own groceries at the age of 13 or 14, because my family doesn’t eat healthily. It started off, I’m not going to lie, as more of an eating disorder, but I turned it into educating myself and figuring out what I was putting into my body. I’ve learned so much from the way I train and what I’ve done for my health. I think a lot of other women can too; that’s the reason I started training, the reason I shot for Playboy. I still have a lot of things to work through, but working out and building that foundation have given me new confidence.