Growing up, Julia dreamed of glitz and
glamour, but when that dream became a
reality, the sparkle soon faded. Her modelling
career put her under constant pressure to
conform, but in finally listening to her intuition,
Julia discovered peace and happiness
Nourishing yourself
A
s a nerdy tomboy
with big ears,
glasses, braces and a
moustache, growing
up in Australia I was
in awe of models – their beauty,
grace, confidence (not to mention
a lack of prominent facial hair). I
was scouted overseas when I was
13, but my parents were pretty strict
and drilled into me that any kind of
taking pride in your looks equates to
vanity, so the focus remained on my
studies, and modelling was just for
my dreams.
In 2004, during university, where
I did an International Business
degree to keep my parents happy,
I decided to reach out to large
modelling agencies, but their
response was that they were
unimpressed with my dark looks.
Back then, Australian agency books
consisted of Caucasian blondes and
brunettes, with a token African
girl, which stirred up feelings
of resentment, frustration, and
unworthiness.Writing | Julia DattEventually a small agency took
me on and I did a few jobs, but
it became clear that modelling
wasn’t something I could make
a career of in Australia. So I
decided to look at it as a stepping
stone to acting, which I’d grown
to love since childhood.
After my degree, I trotted along
from 2007 to 2009 in an office,
as everything from a cosmetics
product manager to a beauty
editor, which exposed me to the
glitz and glam of the Sydney
social scene and re-ignited my
showbiz desires.
At the end of 2009, I was made
redundant from my job. I wanted
the feelings of elation and genuine
passion for a job to continue,
and I realised the only way to do
that would be to give my dream
of working in the entertainment
industry a chance.
After planning for months, in
2010 I booked a one-way ticket
to Mumbai, with zero knowledge
of the language, family, friends,
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