Kendall Jenner Revealed How Being Associated With The Kardashians Hindered Her Early Career

She even used the name "K" at early castings so she wasn't pre-judged.

You probably know Kendall Jenner. Not only is she part of one of the most famous families on the planet, but she's also the world's highest-paid model.

instagram.com

Considering Kendall first found fame at the age of 11 thanks to Keeping Up With The Kardashians, it'd probably be fair to assume that her visibility and the family ~brand~ would have helped her achieve her dream of becoming a model.

instagram.com

In fact, the moment she announced aged 14 that she wanted to pursue a career in modelling was captured on camera, and several subsequent episodes of KUWTK charted her rise in the industry.

E!

However, Kendall has now revealed that actually the opposite was true, and that her family name hindered her early career.

instagram.com

Speaking to Vogue Australia, Kendall revealed that in the early phase of her career, she used the pseudonym "K" for castings in order to avoid being judged or dismissed out of hand based on her family connections.

instagram.com

She said: "I've always been the person to prove [critics] wrong, even when I was younger. I've always been a hard worker — that's in my blood. My parents raised me and my little sister to be that way and the rest of my sisters, too. A lot of people assumed that because I came from a 'name' that it was a lot easier for me to get to where I got, but actually it's the complete opposite."

 

Russell James — a photographer who was enlisted by Kris Jenner at the start of Kendall's career to help with her transition from reality star to model — went on to confirm that it was an "incredible challenge" to "rebrand" Kendall early on.

instagram.com

He said: "100% of Kendall Jenner's success is actually 100% Kendall, because she's so damn motivated. Genetically, she had everything to be a great model, but I told her it was going to be so hard to do because she already had a brand. In some ways the industry was especially harsh on her, because it's harder to rebrand than it is to brand, so she had an incredible challenge."

But Kendall also revealed that she was always focused on "longevity" even in the infancy of her career, adding that she never had a backup plan in case modelling didn't work out.

instagram.com

She said: "I don't think I necessarily needed to have [a backup plan.] Anything I do, I always want to be 100% in it and know I want to be doing it. Most of the time [in this business] it's all about new faces and it happens really fast. They kind of grab onto that person and then all of a sudden you take off and you’re doing a bunch of shows and you’re getting a bunch of jobs. But my goal with everything is always longevity. In this industry specifically, it can be really challenging to maintain, so it’s always a work in progress.”

You can read Vogue's full interview with Kendall Jenner here.