When Betty Brosmer met Joe Weider in the 1950s, she was already a successful model and had appeared on dozens of magazine covers. A California native, Betty began lifting weights as a teenager to improve her figure and she got her start in modeling after winning several beauty contests. Once she and Joe married in 1961, Betty modeled exclusively for Weider publications and became an important role model for women who began to train with weights after seeing her in the Weider magazines. Betty did more than just appear in the Weider advertisements, however. She wrote regularly for the magazines and made sure that women would also find articles of interest in Muscle & Fitness and other Weider publications. Her advocacy on behalf of women eventually led to the launch of Shape in 1981, a magazine that changed the world of women’s exercise forever.