An aspiring marine biologist, Niki's career plans took a different route after her mother sent photos of the then 13-year old beauty to a Florida modeling agency. An agency signed her, and it didn't take long for Niki's beautiful face to appear on the pages of French catalogues and magazines such as Seventeen, when she was thirteen years old.

The hazel-eyed, statuesque beauty broke several records in her freshman days as a model. Niki became the youngest model ever to sign a multi-million dollar contract, when she became a L'Oreal spokesperson and Cover Girl's newest face at age 17. Niki also holds the title of the youngest person to appear on the cover of the high fashion magazine Vogue.

By the time Niki was 16 years of age, she had made her first million. She has appeared in over 160 magazines, including: Allure, Cosmopolitan, the American, Thai and Italian editions of Elle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Mademoiselle, the Australian, Italian, British, and American editions of Marie Claire, Sassy, Shape, not to mention Yahoo Internet Life.

Niki has modeled for companies such as Gap, Lee Riveted, Liz Claiborne, Nokia, Zum Zum, and the ever-so-popular Victoria's Secret, whose advertising campaign helped solidify the modeling careers of fellow models Stephanie Seymour, Helena Christensen, Tyra Banks, and Laetitia Casta.

When not appearing in ads and on magazine covers, Niki strutted her stuff on the catwalks of such fashion houses as Chanel, Chloe, Givenchy, and Calvin Klein.

Like most other models, such as Elle MacPherson and Sofia Vergara, Niki Taylor released her own calendar, giving men worldwide the pleasure of seeing her every day of the year. Niki can also be seen in the 1997 and 1998 issues of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition.

Modeling is not Niki's only day job. She is also the head and founder of her own company, Niki Inc., and the mother of twin sons Jake and Hunter. Niki was married to football player Matt Martinez, the father of her sons.

As for her other family members, Niki's younger sister Krissy, who was also on her way to becoming a model, passed away in 1995, dying of asthma complications.

Named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, Niki spends her free time jet skiing, scuba diving, swimming, exercising, kick-boxing, and practicing yoga.

She also enjoys cooking and would prefer a home-cooked meal to a fancy restaurant any day. A traditional homebody, Niki would trade in her designer clothes for a comfortable pair of jeans any day.

Coming close to James King and Carré Otis in the race for who has the most tattoos, Niki has a tattoo of a sun on her foot, a dolphin on her ankle, as well as two other tattoos on her behind.