All posts filed under: interviews

Love, Loss, Letting go and life in Lagos : Nicole Mansour

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In South Africa she’s known as Nicole Fox, however, 7 years ago the vivacious and much-loved radio presenter and ‘it’ girl left her home country and everything she knew to followed her heart further north on the African continent to Lagos. Now wife to Ramzi and mom to Deen, Nicole Mansour explains how giving it all up has helped define who she really is. If you met Nicole 7 years ago she was a self-confessed career woman firmly entrenched in her (very successful) profession as a journalist in entertainment media. As with many of us, she was defined by what she did, juggling a full-time radio presenting career as well as freelance television presenting, voice over artist gigs, corporate MC-ing and Club DJ-ing. She describes her past job as incredible and says she loved every second of her career. She was able to travel the world interviewing movie stars and traveled her home country a few times over doing work in a field that she was absolutely passionate about, and giving her the opportunity to meet so many …

Blogging, babies and boxes of memories : Nirit Sumeruk

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Fashion blogger and full-time mom, Nirit Sumeruk can’t help preserving each memory and experience she has through her love of photographs. She talks about her life in Paris, recounts her first Michelin-starred restaurant experience and why she started her much-loved blog. You can’t help but not like Nirit Sumeruk. When she opens the door to her apartment in a chic Parisian suburb her smile is warm and welcoming. I’m instantly attracted to her fun, un-intimidating and friendly personality and she has a way of immediately disarming you. Her energy is infectious and easy-going which probably has much to do with her very global upbringing. Born to Argentinian parents and one of 4 children, she was brought up in Cape Town, South Africa. After her final year at university she moved to London to do a gap year, followed by a few years in Tel Aviv where she worked for MTV which is what eventually brought her to Paris for a four-day job – where serendipitously she met her French husband. After a long distance romance, Nirit moved …

From Downtown to Down-under : Nadine Rubin Nathan

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From the hip streets of Brooklyn to the leafy green suburbs of Auckland, Nadine Rubin Nathan is a woman with a long list of achievements. I spoke to her about past jobs, her recent move to New Zealand and her future plans, all while juggling full-time motherhood. It’s 22h00 in dark, cold and drizzly Paris as I FaceTime Nadine Rubin Nathan. It’s 10h00 the following morning in warm, bright and sunny Auckland where Nadine and her family have recently moved. She looks so fresh – although comments that she’s been up most of the night with a teething one-year-old – and even though I haven’t seen her for over 10 years she hasn’t aged a single day. Nadine is originally from my home city of Joburg and was my boss at ELLE magazine. She was the youngest editor-in-chief in South Africa of a global fashion title, which is testament to her talent and her unique mix of brilliant writing skills, creative eye and the ability to interpret trends and just knowing what is “cool”. After …

Talking twins and tattoos : Kelly Mauritsen

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Model, full-time mom of twin boys, avid yogi and tattoo lover. I met with Kelly Mauritsen to talk motherhood, future plans and getting inked – seven times! PARIS, France – It’s a cold grey morning in Paris when fellow South African Kelly Mauritsen and I meet at a contemporary coffee spot at the foot of Avenue Montaigne. She is completely make-up free with perfect skin, dressed in casual blue denims and a beautifully hugging black turtleneck – she’s makes being a full-time mom to twin boys look super chic and easy. In another life she’d love to be dressed in Balmain and Givenchy, but that this wouldn’t be very practical when running after the twins, Reilly and Viggio, in a wet and cold Parisian park (She’s not a Kardashian after all!) She’s in the middle of “orientation” with the boys at a play school nearby and grumbles that the French system of easing kids in to play school is a total pain. I have to agree, it takes a whole week to orientate the kids here – …