Naomi Dorland
Written by Naomi Dorland & Kevin Kapusi Starow
1. Can you tell us a little about yourself, like what do you do?
Hi. I’m Naomi. Most importantly I am ME. And then I am also Mum to twins - Alexis and Oliver, who have just turned 7. My life partner is an amazing guy, called Dave, who puts up with all of my crazy ideas without too much eye rolling!!! He is my “ballast” in life. We also have kittens who turned one on the exact same day as Alexis and Oliver. So this makes me a “multi multiple mum”!!! In all honestly though, I have always called myself a multi multiple mum our first set of twins sadly ended in a double miscarriage.
Having been through a multiple birth with my twins, I felt that there was a gap in the market for resources, advice and services that were aimed specifically at the families involved in 4,000+ multiple births that occur each year. Therefore Twinfo was developed to provide the connection between service providers and parents, plus acting as a resource hub for information, expertise, knowledge and advice.
2. Why do you do what you do, and do you enjoy it? (Clean And Real)
I am a super passionate person about the causes I believe in. And raising two babies in what is designed to be a singleton world I have directed my passion towards helping families of multiples.
I absolutely love helping people. Since my twins were born I’ve volunteered at my local multiple birth association. Now not only do I get to help people face to face, I also get to help them online.
3. Where were you Born?
I was born in Melbourne, but moved to country NSW when I was about 4.
4. What did you what to be when you were a child? (Clean And Real)
Something to do with animals or plants. My parents had a hobby farm when we moved to NSW, and I loved helping out with anything to do with the animals or plants.
5. Are you passionate about food?
Who isn’t???? What I am not passionate about though, is when I put effort into making something and my “delightful” children reject it!!!
6. What do you like to eat, is there a favourite? (Clean And Real)
Mexican!!! I absolutely adore Mexican food. Oh, and Thai food.
7. There is a growing problem centred on unhealthy eating, poor food choices, and the lack of exercise. Why do you think we have such a problem, in particular with children?
I do believe that we are all so busy these days. And sometimes to carve out a bit of precious time we reach for the TV remove/tablet device to entertain the children, or reach for the packaged food to feed them. As a busy mum of twins I can fully understand how that can happen. I could see our family going down that path, so I had to make a very conscious effort to change my thoughts, attitudes and make sure I made a real effort to do active things with my children and to involve them more in the cooking.
8. If you can pass on any advice to parents, regarding having children eat healthy options, what would that advice be? (Clean And Real)
It’s quite simple really. If you don’t buy it or give it to them, they can’t eat it!!! I batch cook so I always have something healthy in the freezer to pull out when needed. I even batch cook biscuits and freeze them.
9. What are the 5 things you could not live without, other than body parts?
My family - I love being able to watch my children interact with their grandparents. It’s so lovely to see.
My kittens – While they drive me nuts sometimes, their antics always bring a smile to my face.
My garden – I love being outside. I potter, while the kids help (or play).
My phone – Most of my business can be done from my mobile phone. I do still prefer to use a desktop computer if I am doing a “long stint”. But the phone is great to do things ‘in between’ when I’m working on my business.
My deep freezer – I love having the ability to batch cook and freeze. I’m too time poor to cook every day.
10. How do you relax, with such a hectic lifestyle? (Clean And Real)
Reading – I love to read. It’s usually pretty rubbish quality, but it allows me to escape and be mindless.
Camping – We are an outdoors family, and we love to go camping whenever we can.
11. You have experience a lot of success thus far, so what is next for you?
I’ve spent the last three months solidifying and automating processes. I’m looking forward to using the additional time that these automations will give me to concentrate on finding more vendors who align with my business. The more vendors I get onboard, the more multiple birth families I can help!
