Heidi Klum is a model, fashionista, mother and business woman. She’s often known for being the first German model to become a Victoria’s Secret Angel. But since ending her 13-year run as a Victoria’s Secret Angel, Klum has redefined herself as a businesswoman as well as making regular TV appearances. Heidi is often scrutinised for her looks, with Donald Trump recently calling her no longer a “10”, but Heidi always hits back with a shrug and a smile on her face. Here are some awesome career lessons we can learn from the beautiful Heidi Klum.
#1 Know what makes you happy
“For me the most important thing was always that you have something in mind that you want to do, that you enjoy doing, because a lot of people have a job, but they’re not happy. I think you have to think about what it is you really want to do in life and pursue that, and do it with fun; have a smile on your face, because then you’re happy.” (Quoted by Bethanne Patrick for AOL Books in 2006)
We all know people who have careers and jobs but are just desperately unhappy, it’s so important to know what your calling is and what you’d really like to do in life and just go for it, wholeheartedly and with positivity.
#2 Don’t be held back by fear
“I’m not saying that everyone should swim with sharks, but sometimes you have to jump over your own shadow in order to learn something that you will never forget for the rest of your life. Then you know you can conquer your fears.” (Parade Magazine 10 July 2008)
It’s true, the best way to leap into something is to shrug off your fears and leap into it. Conquering your fear is the best thing you can do in life, whether it’s fear of a career change, of the future, or just of something like spiders.
#3 Finding a balance takes work
“If you love what you do, you can balance and you can juggle (work and family). You have to set your priorities straight. You can’t just work, work, work.” (Entertainment Tonight 5 November 2008)
Sometimes it’s harder to find the balance when you love what you do, you get so caught up in your enjoyment of what you’re doing that you neglect your social life and important time to yourself. You have to set priorities and goals in order to make it work.
#4 There’s no such thing as success without work
“I know from people I work with, that people say ‘I want to have Heidi’s career,’ and my friends are like, ‘but she also works very hard.’ It’s the truth! It’s not as if I sit back and watch things fly onto my plate. I went for a lot of the things. (Success) doesn’t happen by waiting for things to happen because there are other people who are hungry. The early bird catches a worm.” (InStyle December 2008)
We get so caught up admiring other people’s success stories we forget that a lot of work went into crafting their career. Heidi isn’t afraid to tell people that modelling was a lot of hard work, she kept cutouts of all her magazine spreads and regularly contacted people to find out when her photo-shoots were scheduled, she was extremely organised and didn’t wait for people to contact her. If you want success, you have to go out and get it, you can’t just wait for it to come to you.
#5 Have clear goals
“My philosophy is that, in life, you have to want something. If you just say “la-la-la” and go through life without a goal, nothing will happen.” (Quoted by Eric Thurnauer for Stuff Magazine November/December 1998)
If you don’t have clear goals in life you won’t know what to aim for, Heidi is pretty clear that you need to know exactly what you want and work for it. It might seem like a lot of effort to outline your goals and put in the hard work, but it will pay off in the end.