Heidi Klum told her 17-year-old daughter 'you don't always have to please people' as a model

• Heidi Klum told People she's "very involved" with her daughter Leni's modeling career.
• Heidi said she told her daughter not to "do anything you don't want to do."
• Leni, 17, shot her first solo cover for Glamour Germany in April 2021.

When it comes to the do's and don'ts of a career in modeling, there's no one you'd rather have show you the way than Heidi Klum.

In an interview with People magazine, the former Victoria's Secret Angel revealed she's been doing exactly that for her 17-year-old daughter, Leni Klum.

"I said to her, at the end of the day, you have to be happy with yourself," Heidi, 48, said. "And don't do anything you don't want to do."

She added: "You don't always have to please people. But I'm always with Leni. And she has a very good head on her shoulders."

Leni, who was raised by Heidi and her ex-husband Seal, made waves in 2020 when she posed with her mother for the January/February cover of Vogue Germany. In the accompanying interview, she revealed it was "only a matter of time" before she began her modeling career.

"The first offer came when I was only 12 or 13, from a brand I liked to wear: Brandy Melville," Leni said. "At that time, I begged my mother, but no chance."

In hindsight, Leni said following in her mother's footsteps at such a young age "would have been too early."

But now that Leni's career has officially started, her mother said she's been working nonstop. "I've been helping her with deals and she has so many things in the pipeline," Heidi told People. "It's really exciting. She's doing the things I was always dreaming to do!"

Since landing the Vogue Germany cover, Leni has opened Berlin Fashion Week, and signed with CAA Fashion agency in Hollywood, according to WWD. In April 2021, she made her solo cover debut for Glamour Germany - 20 years after her mother became the first cover model for the magazine.