Supermodel and entrepreneur Karolina Kurkova: ‘There’s no such thing as worst advice’
“I feel like there’s not such a thing as the worst advice," supermodel and entrepreneur, Karolina Kurkova tells ABC News’ chief business, technology and economics correspondent, Rebecca Jarvis. "I think that every [piece of] advice, you learn something from and you grow from.”
Kurkova made a name for herself in the modeling industry when she became one of the youngest models to ever appear on the cover of Vogue. At the time, she was only 16-years-old and fairly new to the fashion world.
Her career had begun almost by accident when the Czech Republic-born beauty agreed to pose for a friend practicing photography.
"Without telling me," Kurkova recalled, "she sent it to an agency in Prague."
Shortly after, Kurkova got a call from a modeling agency in Prague asking her to meet.
"First," she explained, "my friend didn't tell me that she's going to send it to an agency, so I wanted to kill her. Second, I'm thinking, 'Well, me and as a model? I mean they must be crazy. There's no way I could be a model.'"
Yet the universe would beg to differ.
After her groundbreaking Vogue cover, Kurkova would become a worldwide phenomenon appearing on the covers of every major fashion magazine and gracing the runways for brands like Chanel, Helmut Lang, and Michael Kors. She also became a Victoria’s Secret Angel who would be selected to wear the infamous $15 million Fantasy Bra in the 2002 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
Throughout her career, Kurkova said she has always been open to constructive criticism and said she thinks it’s important to listen to people's advice.
“I always welcome people’s suggestions, advice, criticism, it’s really what you do with it," she said. "I think it’s important how it’s delivered to you...how it's communicated, and then you use it or you don’t.”
As she has navigated important decisions through her life and career, Kurkova said she weighs the logical and emotional sides of a choice. But even when something doesn’t go as planned, Kurkova has always managed to keep everything in perspective.
“Each decision will take you places, as long as you're growing and you're evolving...I think that's important.”
Hear more from Karolina Kurkova on episode #103 of "No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis" podcast.
