Meet naomi

Tell us about yourself.

I am a proud first-generation Ghanaian heritage, British-African. I am the second of four children with an older sister, younger brother and younger sister. We were born and raised in London, one of the most diverse cities in the world. I was always surrounded by different cultures and ethnic groups. Growing up I had a pretty normal life. With my parents being of a working-class background and having four children, we couldn't afford much but my dad worked really hard to make sure that we had all the basic things that we needed. I grew up with a very traditional African upbringing. My dad would maintain our links with our cultural homeland by taking the children (only one or two each time, due to cost) on trips back to Ghana to visit the extended family members.

While my parents separated when I was young, both of them made a point of exposing us to different cultures. My dad used to bring food back from his work colleagues who were Indian, so we got to eat lots of different varieties of foods. We would attend a lot of African parties, and looking back now, I see how blessed we were to have such a community.

After my parents’ divorce, my dad was granted full custody of the four children. We were still very close to our mother and would see her often while she lived in London. Some years later my mother decided to return to Ghana after thirty years of not visiting. While she was living there, she got ill and passed away suddenly. It was a very difficult time, but I was thankful to have a wonderful, close family who supported one another.

Aside from being a mother, a wife, an author and owner of a beauty skin and hair care line (Shea Purity), I also modelled and worked on the first series of Project Runway Australia.

Describe your family.

My family consists of my Australian Navy officer husband, who