I feel privileged to be a U.N. ambassador. It gives me an opportunity to use my voice to help raise awareness about important social and environmental issues.

It was my first scene. My first day. We could have started with me drinking a beer, something a little less than having Barbies touching each other. But they started with that.

Brazil has its own fashion identity. Many very talented Brazilian designers show every season at Sao Paulo and Rio fashion weeks.

If I honour my needs first, I will be the best wife, the best mum, the best sister, the best friend. I have to come first, because then everyone benefits.

I was in the fashion shows in Milan; I was seventeen, I was doing like 100 shows. People were asking, 'How does it feel to be the model of the moment?' It was hard for me to answer as myself. I barely spoke English.

Because I had my family, I felt like I could be a bird and fly and experience and do. Because I had roots somewhere, I knew that they would love me no matter what, and I could always go back home and they were going to love me.

I want to have a big family. My parents have been together for 36 years, and that is what I want. I am in that place. It's all good in that part of my life. It's one part of my life that I'm learning about every day. I've been challenged a lot by it, but it's the most rewarding part.