Sophie Ward Koren has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pen, and has published two books with a third on the way. She also has a busy blog and Instagram account chronicling her essays, poetry and stories about raising children in Ojai. Her work has been published in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, V Magazine and others.

Born and raised in Perth in Western Australia, the oldest of four children, she went on to a successful career in modeling (her sister Gemma Ward is a well-known model as well) before meeting fellow Aussie Isaac Koren (the accomplished vocalist with The Kin and the Koren Brothers), having a son and moving to Ojai. Now they have a newborn and Sophie uses her writing to share her struggles, triumphs and helpful life lessons along the way.

We talked about Perth's exotic wildlife (quokka anyone?), creative community, cooking, international fashion modeling, finding a purpose through dark clouds of doubt and fear, Ojai's exceptionalism and much more. We did not talk about Shark Week, Australian Rules Football or Genghis Khan.

For more on this fascinating Ojai neighbor, check out SophieWardKoren.com, where you can find further links to her books, blogs, recipes and more.