Mindboggling when you realize that Mortenson was a bit older — and with a major responsibility — than your average model when she got her start. "Sometimes I feel like it's ridiculous that I'm almost 30 with a daughter,” she told AZ Central in 2014, “and I'm a model on these shoots with girls who are 18 and 19." In fact, Mortenson wasn’t that young — by modeling years — when she began her career, at the age of 26, while working as a waitress at Hooters. But, as luck would have it, after signing with Wilhelmina Models, Mortenson booked a campaign for the lingerie company Frederick’s of Hollywood. In 2013, Mortenson’s profile skyrocketed when she graced the cover of Playboy and appeared in a commercial for Carl’s Jr. along side former NFL star Terrell Owens. 

Expanding her brand into social media also proved beneficial, especially when one her Instagram followers was Guess Inc. founder Paul Marciano. "Paul actually called me, and it was shocking," Mortenson explained. "He asked if he could meet me in LA ... and we spent the whole day looking at old magazines together, old photos from Anna Nicole Smith's Guess campaign. A month later, he said I booked the campaign." And the rest is history….being made by Mortenson.