She’s conquered the runway and the airwaves, but the most ambitious thing Heidi Klum’s ever done doesn’t involve fashion.

“I jumped into the water with 45 sharks without a cage in the Bahamas for a Discovery Channel show,” the supermodel tells Parade.com. “That was a really good experience.”

Not to mention fearless — splashing around with sharks proved to be an epiphany for the 35-year-old.

“I’m not saying that everyone should swim with sharks, but sometimes you have to jump over your own shadow in order to learn something that you will never forget for the rest of your life,” she says. “Then you know you can conquer your fears.”