These days, Amber Rose is famous for, well, mainly being Amber Rose. But before she was a celebrity in her own right, she was known primarily as Kanye West‘s girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend). And even before that, she was a model/actress finding her way in Hollywood. So how did she get her start, what has she done — and how did she make it? Well, it all started with a real-life spooky story. Or, OK, technically it started a little sooner than that.

Back at Age 15

Like her BFF Blac Chyna, Amber’s first job in the “entertainment” world. In general, was actually as a stripper. Amber told Cosmopolitan that she first stripped when she was still just a young teenager and, likely, even a virgin. But when she hit 18, she started stripping again in earnest, and she did it through the age of 25. “I had so much fun,” she explained. “I really did … I was young, beautiful. I was onstage, I wasn’t really ashamed of my body.” And it was during that time that she landed her first role — that’s where the ghost story comes into play.

Amber’s First Acting Gig

Her first role was in an episode of A Haunting on the Discovery Channel, a show that tells real-life haunting experiences. Amber acted in part of a story reenactment as a girl named Jessie. In the episode called “Spirits of the Dead,” the owner of a New Hampshire horse farm experiences some eerie happenings, and brings in a psychic to see exactly what’s going on. It wasn’t exactly a glamorous role for Amber — but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, right? Although, TBH, Amber probably could’ve skipped this role. It may be called the Discovery Channel, but we doubt this is where Young Jeezy discovered her before casting her in his “Put On” music video.

Amber Rose, Dancer

Things started to take off when she started dancing in music videos. Young Jeezy’s 2008 music video for “Put On” (featuring Amber’s future boyfriend Kanye) was just the start for this star — although she’s hardly recognizable at all. TBH, we had to watch the clip a couple of times before we even recognized which one she was. And if you still missed her, well, it’s because Amber loves changing her hair and it was unexpected to see her with long locks. But this acting gig did open up all kinds of doors, and Amber went on to appear in Ludacris‘ 2009 video “What Them Girls Like,” Young Jeezy’s 2009 video “Vacation,” Nicki Minaj‘s 2010 video “Massive Attack,” Fabolous‘ 2010 video “You Be Killin Em,” and her future-husband Wiz Khalifa‘s 2011 video “No Sleep.” She also starred in Future‘s “Mask Off” video back in 2017.

Amber Rose, Model

Despite working together on “Put On,” Amber didn’t really catch Kanye’s eye until she was in Ludacris’ video. But when he did take notice, he hit her up instantly — and even cast her in one of her first high-profile modeling gigs. In April 2009, she appeared in a Louis Vuitton ad with him for his sneaker campaign. And that same year, she signed with the modeling agency Ford Models. In the fall, she walked in New York Fashion Week with Celestino, and a year later made an appearance on Running Russell Simmons as a model brought in to work with GlobalGrind.com for a party in the Hamptons. In 2011, she even became a spokesperson for Smirnoff vodka.

Amber Rose, Singer

Early in 2012, Amber Rose dropped her first single, “Fame.” The track featured Wiz Khalifa when they were still just boyfriend and girlfriend. Later that same year, she released a second single called “Loaded.” A weird fun fact for you: Her manager was actually Miley Cyrus‘ mom, Tish Cyrus. Pretty WTF, right? At the end of 2012, Amber was featured on Wiz’s album O.N.I.F.C. on the track “Rise Above.”

Amber, Etc.

She launched an eyewear and clothing collection, wrote a book called How to Be a Bad Bitch, guest judged on RuPaul’s Drag Race and Master of the Mix, and acted on shows like Black-ish and Inside Amy Schumer — talk about a busy woman! She even has her own emoji line (who doesn’t these days?) called MuvaMoji, and last year, she even had her own talk show, The Amber Rose Show. She’s really moved up quickly in the world from paranormal reenactments.

What is Amber Rose famous for?

After Amber Rose was launched to fame as a rapper’s girlfriend. This earned her the derogatory title of “slut,” which is something she now embraces. She then became a frenemy of the Kardashian family — specifically, Kim Kardashian — and Amber decided to own the public judgment of her and flip it on its head. “I take the bullying, the derogatory labeling and I refer to myself as a slut,” she explained in a speech at Clark Atlanta University. “I’m embracing that s–t because [people are] gonna think that I f–ked everybody anyway.” She has even hosted the annual Amber Rose SlutWalk event for the past four years to call out slut-shaming and take ownership over being a slut, something she doesn’t think is a bad thing.

Amber Rose on Instagram

These days, the social media site seems to be her favorite medium. And when she posted a nude picture prominently featuring her bush on Instagram, it not only went viral, it also inspired the hilarious #AmberRoseChallenge. So what’s Amber Rose famous for? These days, just for being the badass savage she is. And that’s honestly pretty dope.