Kendall Jenner Modeling Career 2014: Model Claims Famous Name Hurt Her Professionally

Kendall Jenner says her last name was no help when it came to her modeling career.

Although starring on a show like Keeping Up With The Kardashians has certainly helped Jenner get her name out there, she claims the reality series was actually a turnoff to many of her potential employers.

"I was like, 'You know what? I want to be high fashion. I want to be taken seriously...People think that this just came to me. But it didn't," Jenner explained during an interview with Love Magazine, via a July 28 report by E! News. "I had to work even harder to get where I wanted because people didn't take me seriously as a model. Because of the TV show."

Jenner began her modeling career at the age of 14, when she signed with the Wilhelmina modeling agency. A short time later, she scored her first modeling gig with Forever 21. In the years that followed, Jenner modeled for brands such as Sherri Hill and Hello Kitty. Jenner has also done runway modeling (her first runway job was with Sherri Hill), with Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Givenchy, Giles and a number of others.

Still, Jenner claims that her success in modeling didn't come easy.

"I went on castings and some people weren't feeling me because of my name. But it was great when people didn't recognize me," she said. "I was like, 'Thank you. Please don't recognize me.'"

Jenner also admitted in the interview that she often discouraged her famous sisters from attending events she was working in.