As I was scrolling through all the fashion media websites like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Women’s Wear Daily, I came across an interesting story – a fairy tale story, at that. A normal person discovered in a mediocre job/situation and is now modeling for the cover of Vogue Italia.

Remington Williams is a name you’ll probably start hearing more and more. At 20 years old, Williams is now posing for a slew of magazine covers and appearances when just six months before she was washing dishes at a Chipotle in Austin, Texas.

Williams was scouted by Foreman Management, and soon after signed with DNA Model Management. After that, her career took off. She was walking in shows for Erdem, Miu Miu, Schiaparelli, Moschino, Missoni, and Marc Jacobs, amongst some of the other most recognizable fashion brands in the world. With her first strut down the runway being for Calvin Klein, and her walk for Coach closing out the show, Williams is at the peak of her modeling career – and really at the peak of any model’s career.

Stories like these aren’t totally uncommon, though. There have been multiple models discovered in the weirdest ways and situations, and here are some:

1. Coco Rocha

With the real, normal name, Mikhaila Rocha, she led a real, normal life back in the early 2000s. In 2002, her “normal” life was cut short at an Irish dance competition when another competitor’s father, Charles Stuart, asked her if she had ever considered modeling. Her life maintained some normalcy between then and 2006 when she finally got her big break. She opened for Christian Lacroix’s couture show in Paris, and after that signed a photography contract with Steven Maisel.

2. Jourdan Dunn

Jourdan Dunn is a common name in the modeling world. Her Jamaican/Syrian decent gives her flawless, unique looks that make her clothing come to life. Dunn is originally from London, where one day she was out shopping with a friend at her local Primark. A scout from Storm discovered her and wanted her to start modeling, and when she did, she rose to notoriety very quickly, walking for designers like Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren.

3. Kate Moss

Kate Moss is the ‘girl next door’ of modeling, and always will be. Her baby-face and genuine nature shine through in all of her shoots and her lanky, slight figure made her popular for modeling in the 90s. Moss is ranked as number 13 on Forbes’ ‘The World’s Highest-Paid Models’, as she should considering she has appeared on the cover of 300+ magazines along with doing partnerships with brands like Calvin Klein, Chanel, and Dior. All of this success started with Storm Model Management’s founder, Sarah Doukas, spotting her at the JFK airport in 1988 when she was just 14.

4. Miranda Kerr

Sweet Miranda Kerr. Everyone who works with her says she’s a total sweetheart and the nicest person you’ll ever meet. And those comments started with Dolly magazine back in 1997 when Kerr won the annual Dolly/Impulse model competition at age 13. It’s kind of freaky to see her at 13 though because she looks exactly the same, and if you don’t believe me, see for yourself here! After that, Kerr was flown to Sydney to shoot for a Billabong that would soon launch her everlasting career.

5. Cindy Crawford

Probably one of the most iconic and recognizable names in the fashion and modeling industry. Her frequent appearances in magazines and on magazine covers like Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar has made her one of the few women left that can really call themselves supermodels (because no, in my opinion, the Hadids and Kendall Jenner are not supermodels). Just in 1998, Crawford’s counted appearances totaled to over 500 for the likes of designers: Valentino, Clavin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Guess, Balmain, Hermes, Michael Kors, Oscar De La Renta, and many more. But before her stardom, Crawford was discovered from one single, unprofessional photograph that was featured in a newspaper. It was a picture of her pollinating corn on a farm, can you believe that? After the photo was published, she received such a positive feedback that it persuaded her to enter John Casablanca’s ‘Look of the Year Contest’ in 1982 and after that, the rest is history, including the part where she gave birth to her model-daughter Kaia Gerber. No big.

6. Naomi Campbell

Even if you don’t know fashion, modeling or anything pop culture at all, you’ll still know the name, Naomi Campbell. Her sassy strut she embodies when going down the runway is what makes her net worth over $45 million. Named as one of the six supermodels of her generation by the fashion industry (along with Cindy Crawford), Campbell got her start simply by shopping in Covent Garden and was then spotted by scout Beth Boldt who was the head of Synchro Model Agency. Even though she had been in the public eye before with her appearance in Bob Marley’s “Is This Love” music video, as well as a tap-dancing feature in Culture Club’s, “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya” music video, Campbell’s career really took off when she posed for the cover of British Elle Magazine.

7. Alek Wek

This Sudanese supermodel has photographers on their knees trying to get her to model for them. However, this high-end modeling life was never what she thought for herself. In 1985 she fled with her eight siblings from her home country of Sudan due to a civil war outbreak. Soon after their arrival in their new home in London, Wek was discovered by a Models 1 agent in 1995 at an outdoor market in Crystal Palace. After that she appeared in music videos, “GoldenEye” by Tina Turner and “Hot ‘Til It’s Gone” by Janet Jackson. Following Wek’s musical debuts, in 1997 she was named “Model of the Year” by MTV and in that same year, she made headlines when she was the first ever African model to appear on the cover of Elle magazine. Since her start, she has since been featured in shows for Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and basically all other major fashion houses you can think of.

8. Grace Hartzel

This woman is probably most real model I’ve ever read about. She loves anime, loves to read manga, and nonchalantly uses Japanese in her everyday language (such as kawaii which means “cute”). And kawaii she is when she models for names from Dior to Marc Jacobs. But before walking down runways, she was walking around The Cheesecake Factory (I knew this girl had good taste) where she was discovered by Mary and Jeff Clarke, the same people who also discovered Karlie Kloss. Her career took off when she was named as designer Hedi Slimane’s muse, who at the time was the creative director for Yves Saint Laurent.

So, if you’re hoping to become a model one day, maybe the universe will hand you an opportunity of a lifetime like it did for these incredible eight women. Or maybe the message of this article is that basically, I need to move to London and casually shop/eat until someone notices that I have model potential.