Beyond the catwalk

• Do not say you were not warned. Chances are that she will rearrange your furniture should you pop into the kitchen for a few minutes to prepare a cup of tea.

Emma Too just cannot stand clutter, which she says is a common trait in many Kenyan homes. Every time she walks into a room, she finds herself mentally re-arranging the furniture, shifting paintings and portraits from one wall to the next and tossing out what she feels is a waste of space.

She admits that sometimes, it takes a lot of will-power to stop herself from rolling up her sleeves and giving her host’s home a much-needed make-over.

A couple of years ago, she convinced a newly married friend to give her new home a new look. When her husband, a long-time bachelor, returned home that evening, he nearly had a fit.

“He had been so used to having his house look a particular way, walking in and seeing his couch facing a different direction unnerved him,” she laughs at the memory.

“I cannot count the number of times I moved the furniture at home around while I was growing up – sometimes I would do it every few days,” adds Emma. Luckily, her mother did not mind, and allowed her to do whatever she wanted with the other rooms as well.

We are chatting in her airy living room, simply but tastefully furnished with artsy pieces collected locally and from her extensive travels abroad.

A couple of green plants in huge clay pots lend the room a kind of freshness and vibrancy that you can almost touch. The effect is both inviting and invigorating.

“From a very young age, I had a very strong sense of aesthetics and always wanted to be surrounded by beautiful, exotic things,” she explains, when I comment on the beautiful surroundings.

This desire was so strong that while her teenage friends used their pocket money to go to the movies or buy trendy clothes, she would use hers to buy landscaping and interior deco magazines and plants. She had even befriended her neighbours’ gardeners who would let her pick the plants she fancied and add to her collection.

It was only natural then that she would curve out a career in landscaping and interior deco when she quit the catwalk 10 years ago, saying goodbye to a glamorous career that so many young women dream of.

Interestingly, the decision to quit was speeded up by a horse-riding accident. She still has a scar on her left side as a reminder of just how lucky she is, acknowledging that it could have been worse.

“The accident made me realise just what a short-lived career modelling is – what if my face had taken the impact?” The accident was like an epiphany, and immediately, she started plotting her exit.

Emma doesn’t miss her modelling days, in fact, she regrets going into modelling at all.

“I never should have gone into modelling,” she says with a firmness that leaves no doubt that she means it. She especially regrets the fact that she will never enjoy the anonymity that comes with being just any other girl. But, as she points out, she has accepted this as the price she has to pay for being in the limelight.

“Some people expect me to wear a permanent smile. If I don’t, someone somewhere will write about how aloof and anti-social I am, yet everybody has their bad day – I’m no different” she laughs, throwing up slim manicured hands.

It might be a decade since she last took to the catwalk, but the Emma Kenyans cheered has changed little physically – she still has the same arresting face and stage presence that took her to the MNET Face of Africa competition finals in 1998, attributes that would go on to earn her a spot at Elite modelling Agency, one of the top modelling agencies in the world.

When we arrive for the interview at her cosy bungalow in Lavington, she informs us that she had been cleaning and that we should excuse her appearance. The photographer and I look at each other, incredulous, because she might as well be ready for a glamorous photo-shoot.

She is wearing a flattering green silk shirt and denim cut-offs. Her make-up is flawless. Save for the slippers on her feet, she is style, personified.

“I like to look good, but I’m not obsessive about my looks,” she says, adding that when going for site meetings, she goes easy on the make-up and deliberately dresses down.

Her biggest weakness is shopping, as her impressive collection of shoes will attest.

“A few years back, I just couldn’t stop myself from shopping. The irony is that I would end up giving away most of the items,” she recalls.

But with maturity comes wisdom and restraint. Now Emma goes for quality, not quantity.

Mother-daughter relationship

Emma, the first born in a family of three children, says that she is very close to her mother; a single parent who worked very hard to provide for her and her two siblings.

“She’s the most hard-working person that I know,” she says of her mother, who lives in Mombasa.

Not even a crippling accident several years ago could slow her down, and even while she was bed-ridden, relying on her eldest daughter to assist with the most basic of functions such as dressing, her spirit never faltered. It is from her mother that Emma draws her strength. The two talk on phone every day.

I want children

“I definitely want a child; a few years back, I would never have entertained the thought of having one out of wedlock, now, whether I get married or not, I want a child,” she discloses, when asked whether marriage and children feature in her plans. She would also consider adoption, should she not get one of her own.

“The reality is that time is flying, and if I wait too long, the fact is that I might not be able to have children,” she adds.

So, is marriage in the near future on the cards? I dare ask. She laughs quietly and after a moment, concedes: “There is someone, but our relationship is not headed to the aisle just yet.”

But she must have men tripping over each other, eager to ask her out, I press. Apparently not.

“Kenyan men are intimidated by someone like me; they have this erroneous perception that I’m high maintenance. It’s very difficult for Kenyan women in the limelight to meet someone genuine who is after an honest relationship,” she says.

She also feels that had she not been in the limelight, she would probably be married and already raising a family.

No short-cuts

Contrary to what one would expect, being in the limelight does not give her an added advantage professionally. In fact, she has had potential clients outrightly turn her down because of the ‘beauty queen’ tag that just won’t go away.

“Some people still hold onto the perception that models are shallow and unintelligent, as a result, I have to keep proving myself.”

She confesses that initially, this reaction would bother her. Not anymore. All those who have given her the benefit of doubt end up being pleased with her work, and thanks to word of mouth from her satisfied customers, her business, Prime Homes and Gardens, is steadily growing.

Though most of her work has been with private homes, she has also done some work in upmarket Nairobi restaurants and an embassy, which was her client for four years.

Her current project involves furnishing and decorating apartments which are going for sale in Mombasa. A concept that is popular in the West, it involves selling fully furnished apartments.

“It is time-intensive because I have to hand-pick everything, from door handles to the forks and spoons.”

What she cannot get locally, she imports.

Besides her landscaping and interior deco work, she also lets, furnishes and rents out property on the side, a money-making venture which she describes as challenging but a neat profit-maker since she does not need to invest any money on the property.

She also ‘dresses’ apartments for developers, a venture that basically involves furnishing a model apartment so that prospective clients can visualise what the house will look like when occupied.

This enterprising woman, who is also an ardent cook and often invites friends to sample her dishes, also plans to open her own restaurant very soon, and is already working on a couple of recipes which she promises are to “die for”.

cnjunge@ke.nationmedia.com

11 things you didn’t know about Emma

1. She was once asked to pose nude for Italian Vogue – she refused. “I told them that my mother would kill me if I did.”

2. US People Magazine listed her as one of the world’s 100 most beautiful people in 2006

3. She’s friendly – “Most people meeting me for the first time are surprised that I am actually “nice” – why shouldn’t I be?”

4. She’s much stronger than her petite frame suggests – “I often move heavy furniture without help.”

5. The only dish she can’t stand preparing is chapatti – “As the first born, I had no choice but to make chapattis, which were a frequent meal at home. Now I recoil at the thought of kneading dough, so I buy instead.

6. The one bad habit she has been unable to tame is love for sugar. She takes four spoons in her tea.

7. She doesn’t drink water. “I stopped taking water during my teens.”

8. She doesn’t offer bribes. She was once charged in court for what a policeman insisted was double-parking yet she had stopped to offer a friend a lift. “I flatly refused to bribe him.” For that, she was arraigned in court and charged Sh9000.

9. She is a very private person

10. She hates washing clothes and ironing

11. She loves fast cars - “I can give matatu drivers a run for their money,” she jokes