Kaia Gerber’s mission is to always capitalize on her notoriety: “People spend a lot of time complaining about fame”

Kaia Gerber told Elle magazine that she felt she had “lived her life” by the time she was 21. This is partly because of the attention her mother Cindy Crawford received before Gerber was born, but also because she had already launched a modeling career for her own sake. Still, even after all these years of public recognition and fame, Gerber says people still don’t know who she really is.

“For a long time, I thought it was really cool that as a model I was playing all these different roles, and I still love doing it. But I think now, because I do that in acting, that’s my main focus, and I’m grateful when I feel like someone sees me as the person I am,” she says in a February 2023 cover story. “When I first started modeling, I wasn’t ready because I didn’t feel like I was fully formed. Now I feel like I’m much more.”

Gerber also noted that modeling a role for her modeling career in particular can serve as a protection from the rejection many inevitably face.

“I mean, it’s scary. People were like, ‘How do you handle rejection in modeling?’ I was like, ‘Honestly, you don’t take it personally,’ because it’s so subjective and they’re not rejecting anything about me as a person. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt sometimes, but it’s easier to take,” she explains. “Showing yourself can be scary because it opens you up to criticism and makes people disagree with you and dislike you, but I think I just got into myself more. I was like, ‘No, I do have a point to make, I have something to say. ; You acknowledge that not everyone is going to agree with that, but I don’t need to anymore.”

While Gerber has been criticized for benefiting from her mother’s notoriety – she has been labeled a “nepo baby” because of “nepotism” – many of the next generation of celebrities The 21-year-old has already proven herself as a model on the world’s most famous runways and at many major events. It was her work to prove her worth in these fields that ultimately led her to experience a bit of burnout before the pandemic put her and many others out of work.

“Honestly, it came at a time when I really needed it and it was a very difficult time in the world, but I really got to a point where I felt like I didn’t love it anymore, but I didn’t ‘t know you could ask for a break. I was forced to stop and I realized how much I needed a break,” she said of the work stoppage that kept her at home with her family.

“When you’re told what to do every day, you don’t have time to sit down and think,” she continued. “But I’ve gone through so many changes over the years and so many major things have happened that I’m modeling. I had four or five years of preparation to do. I’m lucky to be with my family because I spend a lot of time away from them, and I realize I feel very guilty and things about missing birthdays. I’ve been traveling since I was a teenager, so I’ve had to build adult relationships with my family.”

She even got to know herself in a way she had never had the opportunity to before.

“I’ve built deeper relationships in my life and a connection with myself. When you’re forced to sit with yourself, all of a sudden, you realize all the things you haven’t dealt with. There was communication happening between me and myself, and sometimes I felt physically ill,” she says. “Once I developed it, I thought, ‘This isn’t something I want to give up.’ I’m no longer willing to sacrifice my personal life or my mental health for my work.”

Gerber says she can now do more work from home and travels less. “I come home and spend time with my dog. I have friends and I’m cooking. I see my therapist, I see my family,” she said.

As she assesses her priorities, Gerber says she’s also started using her influence for good.

“It frustrates me when I see people who have a platform not using it in the way they could use it. I don’t want everyone to have the same view of things, but I think the platform can do a lot of things platform,” she said. “A lot of people spend a lot of time complaining about fame. But you can also do some incredible things with it. I’ve seen firsthand that you can, in fact, make a difference. You can change people’s lives, and not taking that opportunity would be silly and make me feel like it’s not worth it.”