JOURDAN DUNN may have everything going for her - from an incredible career to a proud and supportive family - but such pleasures don't come without effort. The British model balances gracing campaigns and catwalks worldwide with raising her five-year-old son, Riley - and, like many working mothers, she's not only become adept at juggling those roles but has even learned to relish the challenge.

"I love that one day I am doing this and then I go home to my reality: getting Riley ready for school, doing his reading with him, taking him to the park," she tells Emily Sheffield in the February issue of Vogue. "For some in this industry their life is their work. The other girls didn't understand in the beginning why I didn't want to go out all the time."

Dunn is supported by her mother, who takes care of Riley while she works internationally, but admits that it wasn't easy at first.

"They are so close I was kind of jealous of their relationship in the beginning," she reveals. "But it works for me. You can find the balance being a working mother, but I couldn't do it without my mum. She is the one who allowed me to go and do my thing."

Dunn also touches on the racism that she has experienced in the fashion industry - adding that being a role model for young girls has its pressures.

"It's hard being a model regardless, and then being a black model. I have heard, 'Oh, we haven't shown any black models this season.' So blasé... It's messed up," she says. "I get uncomfortable when I read comments saying, 'I wanna look like you, I wish I had your body.' When I was growing up I didn't love myself, or like what I saw in the mirror. Curves are celebrated in Caribbean culture, so I felt the odd one out. So my message is: be happy and love yourself."