Heidi Klum Shares The Modeling Advice She Gave Daughter Leni Klum

Model Heidi Klum is opening up on the advice that she gave her 19-year-old daughter, Leni Klum, when she first started her modeling career.

Despite the backlash they received for their first lingerie shoot for the Italian lingerie brand Intimissimi, the two partnered up again for another photo shoot that was shown on billboards throughout Germany.

The mother-of-four told the Daily Mail that she always emphasizes her kids’ “happiness” and told them that they should find a job that they “love doing” and “believe they can be really good at.” She went on to say, “I always say to them, ‘Be happy with who you see in the mirror.’ At the end of the day, you have to make yourself happy.”

“Find something that you love doing. I think there's nothing worse than when you have to go and do something that you don't like doing,” she continued. “Really dig deep and find something that you love doing - and also, something that you believe you can be really good at it.”

“But other than that, we [only] live once. So let's have fun while we're here. That's what I tell them,” she said while speaking to the outlet at the “America’s Got Talent” premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Leni’s first modeling job came three years ago when she turned 16 years old. She and her mother posed for Vogue Germany in 2020. Heidi took to Instagram to share some behind-the-scenes snaps of her daughter and praised her for taking her own path.

“I'm so proud of you. And not because you chose this path. I know that no matter which way you go, it will be your own. You always know exactly what you want and what you don't want,” she wrote at the time, as per the outlet. “You are not a mini-me. And I'm happy for you that you can now show who YOU ​​are.”

She went on to say, “You are a self-confident young woman who fights for her goals. And even more important: you are a really great person with your heart in the right place.” The following year, Leni landed her own solo cover of Glamour Germany.

In a 2022 interview with People magazine, the interior design college student revealed that she got a modeling offer when she was only 12, but her famous mother made her turn it down. “I was stopped in a Brandy Melville when I was 12 and they asked me to model for their clothes,” she recalled. “I was freaking out because Brandy Melville was my favorite at the time. It was the only place I went shopping.”

“I said ‘Mom, Mom, guess what? Brandy Melville wants me to model. Please, please.’ And she was like, ‘Absolutely not.’ I was really sad about it, but in the end, she was right,” she continued. “And I feel like that's what sparked me to want to model more.”

When asked how she felt about modeling for Vogue Germany at age sixteen, Leni replied, “That's like insane that I did that as my first job and my mom was with me, which made it so much fun. It was just such a good day. I wasn't nervous at all. I was just so excited. I was like, ‘I'm finally modeling and it's Vogue.’ It was just so many things to be excited about.”

Later in the interview, she also opened up about the work ethic that both of her parents have given her. "They have both taught me to be myself, and to do what makes me feel comfortable," she said. "You can tell if you're not comfortable and then the best of you isn't brought out. I just think you should be open and honest with what makes you comfortable, be yourself, do what you love. And if you do all those three things then you're golden."

Last week, the 19-year-old model also answered a question asking if she really does wear all of that lacy lingerie that she models.