Cara Grogan
Model and TV host Cara Grogan, aka Cara G., is a fixture in the local entertainment industry and also the co-founder of The Genie Concept, a natural raw juice company. Fresh from her wedding in Thailand, she sits down with Andrea Lo to talk about her modeling career, living in Hong Kong—and her dream of being a barefoot jungle girl.
I grew up all around Australia. My dad traveled a lot for work. Most of my time was spent in Victoria.
I moved to Hong Kong in 2005. I had been here for a couple of modeling contracts prior to that. Before I decided to move here I had actually decided to stop modeling and go back to Australia. I was engaged at the time; I had a big falling out with him and my agency in Hong Kong kept bugging me to come back and live [here], so I just picked up and left.
It’s hard to say which culture I identify with the most. When I was a child I spent a lot more time with my father and [had] the more western side of my heritage. I had been growing up on the farm and eating steak and potatoes—literally wondering where the hell I was from and if I was adopted, because I was with all these white people.
As I got older I spent more time with my mother. I guess my mom is not very typically Asian because she rebelled deliberately. She moved away to Australia to rebel against her upbringing.
Now I actually feel very close to my Asian parentage. I love Asian culture more than Western culture.
Western culture is a lot more free and easy, whereas the mentality in Asia is very work-orientated. It’s this non-stop, go-getting, over-achieving mentality. I have that, but at the same time I’m still a country girl at heart who wants the best of both worlds.