Editor’s Note: Raquel Pomplun first appeared in Playboy in April 2012, going on to become Playboy’s 2013 Playmate of the Year. We catch up with her to reminisce about her Playmate experience, see how her life is now, and more.

Playboy: Tell us your origin story with Playboy and how you became a Playmate.

Raquel Pomplun: Basically Playboy has always been in my family and the magazines were always laying around. In the house, it wasn’t like a taboo or anything. They treated it freely. When my brother turned 18, he got the subscription, but my parents were not keep it in your room or whatever. He actually did read the articles.

I submitted my pictures online. At that time, I was already modeling. My older brother’s first wife, she was a top model in Tijuana, Mexico, right? And she got me into catwalk courses and modeling, but I was never tall enough to be a top model. Anyway, I didn’t think Playboy would take me because I’m married. So my husband and I went online and we checked it. No, nobody had to be single, you just had to be qualified in terms of beauty, personality, and brains. Because it was a whole package, it wasn’t just beauty. And I was like, okay, let’s just do it, I’ll get the money and I’ll go to school. That was the plan.

Not a week after, I got a call and they said we want you to come into the studio, which was Playboy Studio West. My mom went with me. It took 15 minutes. They took my little digitals and I went back home and they called me three days after saying, “We want to test you.” And I was like, what? There’s no way. I don’t even have big boobs.

So we did the test shoot. It was two days. And at the time, the place where I was working, my boss was really mean to me, he wouldn’t let me take a day off, not even if I was having pneumonia. So I quit. A month later, we shot the centerfold, and then another month later I was approved as a Playmate. And that’s my whole story. It was a whole commotion, and I went through so many emotions.

By December 8, I shot the cover with Bruno Mars. I started working, kid you not, the day my issue came out. I booked Playboy Golf and I never stopped working since.

Playboy: What was your shoot like? Did it have a theme?

Raquel Pomplun: My theme was the girl who goes with the Playboy Club member. So in my centerfold, I’m actually holding a Playboy Club key. And there was something about bringing that nostalgia back, and that’s why they wanted to do that. In another shoot, I said I love to cook and they said, we’ll get you in the kitchen. They have me cooking chiles. It’s very colorful, very Mexican.

Honestly if I’m not mistaken, you can ask any Playmate – even if the reason [I did it] was, for example, to pay for school at the end of the day, we all have the same underlying feeling of liberating our sexual being, right? We take over our sexual power, right? I’ve spoken to Playmates who are 70 right now, or maybe one or two didn’t have the same experience per se, but they’re still here. [When we shot] the last issue, we were all there, and the thing we all had in common was how comfortable and free we were with our sexuality. And at the end of the day we all have that in common.

Playboy: Are you friends with any other Playmates?

Raquel Pomplun: Yeah, a bunch! My closest, Alice, she’s Miss May 2005.

Playboy: Have you ever gotten to wear the official bunny costume?

Raquel Pomplun: Yeah, I have really fun stories about mine. So I got a black one in the beginning because they were already pitching me for Playmate of the Year without me knowing. And then that original first black one — Kate Moss apparently came in, and she and I are the same size. So, it fit Kate Moss perfectly and the artistic director at that time decided to gift it to her because she wanted it.

He took my costume away, but in exchange he said I would get a color and another black one. New black one never fit me as perfect as the first one, but my purple one did fit perfectly, so they let me pick my color because of them giving away my very first costume.

Playboy: Tell us about your career today.

Raquel Pomplun: With Playboy I got to dip my toes into acting and I loved it. So I took a bunch of acting classes. Obviously I’m such a nerd, I don’t go into anything if I don’t prep for it. I went into acting full on, but it is a very hard market, right? [But] I never got discouraged. I still audition a lot for theatrical acting but also with it came a lot of commercial and print work, which I do a lot of. Because it’s one day. You go in, you go out and you make a bunch of money. I fell in love with the industry. I never went back to school. I never finished my career. But I know in another life I’ll be a great scientist.

I feel like acting is such a lifelong career and I wouldn’t mind having my biggest project at 40 or 50. I’d be excited, I’d be so honored that I’m having this huge project, so I’m not even discouraged.

Playboy: And lastly, what does being a Playmate mean to you?

Raquel Pomplun: Freedom. And you know why? Because when you become a Playmate, you become a black hole of insults, judgement, praise, opportunities, all at the same time. When you live that, you become an “it is what it is” person. And that liberates you so much.

And let’s talk about the physical part! You take your clothes off, everything is everywhere, they can literally Google you – you’ve got nothing to lose. You’re so liberated in so many ways.

Read more past features with Playmates here.