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My first time standing before the camera was kind of strange and scary.
But I had to learn quickly how to press the ‘on’ button.
“I’m standing in front of the camera and it feels good.”
I really had to learn not to be afraid of the camera.
I used my first pay check to book a trip to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
I love active holidays. I used to go backpacking with my friends.
I think it is the best way to experience the culture of a country and how people really live.
Backpacking brings you closer to the people.
But everything has changed now I am a mother,
Now it’s about time with the family, renting a house.
We chose to go Ibiza on our family holiday because my husband is a DJ.
He visits the island regularly for his work.
This way we get to see each other often and he gets to spend time with our baby too.
Ibiza is a great island. A good place to relax and enjoy the occasional party.
I think that when my son is older,
We will travel more and go backpacking again.
When I’m in the Netherlands I always go back to Friesland.
I grew up in this beautiful, peaceful area
My best friends are from Friesland, I have known them since I was 10 or 12.
They know where I’m from, my roots. They understand me.
When I was younger, I didn’t want to be a fireman or a model.
I wanted to be a happy woman, living on a hill in nature.
That is the image I always had of what I wanted to be.
I never expected to be a model.
I finished secondary school to get my diploma.
And to prove myself.
But then I wanted to try different things, different schools.
I thought about becoming a teacher.
Because I really enjoy working with kids.
But I started modelling instead.
So the choice was made for me, and I am really happy with the result.
My fist time working for Victoria's Secret was in the Hamptons.
I worked with model Alessandra.
Alessandra had been working for Victoria's Secret for eight years.
She really knew what to do.
She moved and posed while I watched her in amazement.
When it was my turn I was pretty nervous.
Standing there in your lingerie with ten other gorgeous women,
Who haven’t had children.
I just turned on some music and flipped the switch. It worked.
I started at Repeat as a model in one of their campaigns.
Now I am involved in the design process.
It’s a new step.
One that involves more than wearing clothes and posing in front of the camera.
It is great to share my opinion about what I like...
and what is comfortable to wear.
As I was one of the faces of L'Oréal, I got to enjoy Cannes.
Suddenly I was in the same category as Eva Longoria and Beyoncé.
It was a great honour.
"This route cuts straight through the ice."
I think it was amazing that I got to play in a film.
Nova Zembla is a film about Gerrit de Veer.
A writer who travels on a ship.
He hopes his journey will prove his love to his muse and love Catherina.
I play the part of Catherina.
My life’s goal has changed.
On the one hand nothing is more important than your child.
On the other hand the child is the reason that you work.
He has become your responsibility.
When we held him in our hands we decided he was a Phyllon.
He is Phyllon.
My husband came up with that name.
We googled it and I think it means ‘leaf’ in Greek.
Our quality time is for the three of us.
Quiet time at home or we go to the park, just the three of us.
We do very relaxing things.
This is also great for my husband and I as both our lives are hectic.
He brings peace to our family.
I don’t know where my son will grow up.
It is something we are still talking about.
We talk about it a lot,
Will it be the Netherlands, New York, Los Angeles or wherever…
We’ll be spending the coming months in New York.
And if we don’t like it, we’ll return to Holland.