Faria's success has come as no surprise to her family who are well acquainted with her winning ways and her belief in the adage "I know I can".
"We knew she would win. We were hardly surprised," says George Pearson, Nicole's uncle, whose prediction that she would win came true last night when she clinched the Miss Earth title in a glitzy ceremony in Vietnam.
Nicole has turned out to be the best advertisement for her parents, father Ian Faria, a motivational speaker and corporate trainer and mother Anita, who works with the reputed beauty group VLCC.
"She owes a large part of her success to her father, who has always motivated her to win. It was he who taught her how to talk, how to walk. He groomed her to be a winner," said George adding that Nicole's motivational lessons began when she was young and so did the grooming.
A student of Christ College and Mount Carmel College, she had full family support when she decided to take up modelling as a 16-year-old.
A Prasad Bidapa protege, she has walked the ramp since 2005 and been on the pages of fashion magazines like Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue.
Her winning moment came when she clinched the Miss India Earth title at the Miss India 2010 beauty pageant in Mumbai.
Born to a Goan father and Punjabi mother, music and dancing has always been in her genes and it was belly dancing that helped Nicole clinch the Miss Earth title.
"Shakira has alway been her idol. She mimicked her all the time, crooned like Shakira and danced like her," said her cousin Neha.
"At all birthday celebrations, parties, Nicole, a natural performer, always vowed her family with her belly dancing and her mimicry," she added.
The family has been trying to get in touch with her since the win but has not been able to do so.
"We are waiting for her to arrive to celebrate," they said.
