Mady Dewey is an inspiration. The 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie is all about growing her presence in the male-dominated tech industry in Silicon Valley while defying stereotypes about what her career path should look like.

The 26-year-old model, who was discovered through the Swim Search open casting call and was named the 2022 winner, returned to the magazine this year. She was photographed by Ben Watts in Puerto Rico for the 2023 issue and the resulting images are colorful, flirty, youthful and ’70s surf culture-inspired perfection.

“One of the biggest reasons why I [applied for Swim Search] was because I felt like [as] someone who works in a tech environment, I didn’t see people that were going after their creative dreams or their dreams outside of just their career,” said Dewey, who is the co-founder of the metrics-free social media app Herd. “You had to be placed into this box—like you could only be someone who was smart or career-motivated. I did this because I want women to see that they can do everything that they want. They can break the stereotype of what a person in their industry looks like. I just hope I can be that person for other girls.”