Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing Naomi Tara Lievens, an International Model.
Hi, Please tell us about what it is that you do.
Hi, I work as an international model.
I had a tough life growing up. I lost my mom when I was four and never knew my father. He pretended to be this caring man but never thought of anyone but himself. He was an awful human being.
Before my mother mysteriously died in our house in malta at the age of 39 (Leaving six children behind), I can say she was the definition of Rock and roll, Sex, and drugs.
After my mom died, I moved to Belgium, where my twin brother and I moved in with our uncle. I loved him a lot but communication never really happened there, he had his problems, and as kids, we did not understand any of them, so we kept ourselves (like most children would) out of it. My uncle died six years later at the same age as my mother.
We moved to our aunty in Brussels, but it was a bit much for her as she directly put us in a boarding school away from her. Managing relationships was not particularly a skill I developed yet. I never talked to anyone and got bullied around for being the tall weird girl. At an older age, I started acting out and was sent to a couple of institutions around Belgium. This was when I started becoming the person I was meant to be.
Please tell us more about your journey.
At the age of 15, I got discovered as a model, which was not really what I wanted to do, but after the 4th or 5th time of being scouted in the street, someone told me I could make a nice career out of it.
So this is where it started, I grew up faster than I expected, I had the possibilities to take care of myself in a way no one ever took care of me and thought this would give me happiness, but it just made me realize I was chasing the wrong things to achieve that goal.
Today I am 26 years old and stronger than ever, but it took me some very dark times to get where I am now. I have been through 2 very serious depressions where the only way out looked like letting go of life.
The pain I endorsed is a pain I would not wish upon my enemy. I was so weak, words can not even describe how bad it was.. but now I can proudly tell you that my weakness has become my strength. Nothing stands in the way of what I want and can do in life. Everyone thinks modeling is all about how you look, but it is so important how you stand there. People subconsciously feel your strength or weakness. The more you own your place, the further you get in life. I am opening up about this because I want to show the world that every pain you go through is actually a life lesson and will help you in the long run.
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
My strategies were actually making every mistake possible because I had no one telling me What and how. It is a tough path I had to go through, and I always asked myself, ‘why me’ but this attitude changed to ‘try me.’
I never let go of my dreams, and I never backed off of a fight. Modeling was never a dream of mine, but it helped me achieve everything else I wanted in life, so I am so grateful to be able to do a job with so much freedom and a good paycheck to make my dreams come true.
Any message for our readers.
Don’t waste your time. I have wasted so much time pulling myself back because I was ashamed of my true self. What created some identity crisis along the way but let me tell you.. you will always find out after that this dream you had since u were small is a dream that would never leave you behind. Go for what you really want and don’t pay attention to anyone’s opinions because their reality of who you are is not your reality of who you want to become.
Fantastic! So tell us, how can people find out more about you?
You can find me on Instagram to see my work. I don’t really speak about what I just shared with you guys as this is sadly enough not what the world is interested in hearing, and many people would misunderstand and feel sorry for me, but this is not what I want. I feel STRONG because of my story, and if you go to my profile, you don’t see a broken little girl but a woman that enjoys life and lives day by day and learns from anything life puts in her path. Put my name in google, and you will find other platforms, but I am mostly active on Instagram so whoever feels blocked or sad and needs to talk to someone who understands a deeper pain, contact me on whatever platform you could find me, including my Instagram: @lievna ❤️
Thank you so much for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!