Nicole Trunfio: Why I still call Australia home

Growing up in Perth the teenage Nicole Trunfio was more interested in being a motocross rider than one of Australia’s top models. But an appearance on one of the original reality shows on Australian television – Search For A Supermodel in 2002 – changed all that.

At 16, after winning the competition, Trunfio left for New York, and has literally not stopped working since. Gucci, Chanel, or Prada, Trunfio, now 32, has worked for them all.

“I was told at the time that a model had a five-year shelf life,” she says of getting on the plane for the Big Apple for the first time.

“I was going to come back and study law at university.

“So to hear you say I’ve been working for 16 years, it’s incredible, to be honest.

“I’ve never felt better and I’ve never enjoyed my job more, and I’ve never been so grateful and humbled by it.”

Trunfio is based out of Austin, Texas, with her husband, American musician Gary Clark Jr. The couple have two children, Gia, six months, and Zion, 3.

She introduced Gia to Australia for the first time in July, when she was named the face of Chadstone’s 2018 spring/summer fashion campaign.

When she returns to Australia, she always gets the same feeling, this is despite the fact she has spent half of her life living away from home.

“You have your first soy latte, and your first breath of fresh air,” she says. “It’s nostalgia.

“Australia has a really great family culture, you see all the kids running around. I need this to be part of my children’s upbringing, as much as possible.”

Her children now are her top priority, so she chooses her work very carefully. The job for Chadstone fitted in perfectly, and the trip home came at the right time.

She loves the routine of being a mother, and she wants to set a good example for her children.

“You have to take care of yourself as a mother, because the more you take care of yourself, the better you can be as a mother,” she says.

“Your kids will always learn from that.”

Trunfio seems genuinely happy with this new phase or her life – mother, wife and, of course, model. “I’m loving life, there are no complaints at all,” she says.