A businesswoman living a life of luxury in Dubai reflects on her humble beginnings in life, having been raised in the care system in the UK.
Emily Abraham is the co-founder of second-hand designer boutique Love Luxury and rose to fame at the age of 40 alongside her husband Adam and 11-year-old daughter Moo.
The family’s TikTok account has more than 1.9 million followers, while their business resells secondhand luxury items, often for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
But the businesswoman’s luxurious life in Dubai is a far cry from her upbringing, as she grew up in foster care after her mother died when she was just six.
When Emily moved in with her foster parents, John and Elaine, in the West Country, she explained that she could not eat with a knife and fork and arrived dirty and covered in nits.
Emily Abraham grew up in foster care and now has a TikTok account with millions of followers and a luxury business that focuses on designer goods.
Speaking to FEMAIL, Emily said: ‘They gave me the first sense of normality I’d had in my six years of life.
‘Being with them was very positive for me because they were normal people and a normal family. I had a mom and a dad and they had their own three children.
‘They are Christian people and they instilled values in me. I was a bit of a bad-mouth when I moved here because I came from a drug-addicted family and was very free-spirited.
“I was taught not to talk like that and to treat people with respect.”
Before moving into permanent care, Emily had already been in and out of foster care since she was five years old, as her mother, a drug addict, was often absent.
One day in February 1984, her mother did not pick her up from school and the next day she was still missing.
The following Monday, Emily received the news that her mother had been found dead. Since she had no other family members capable of caring for her and had never met her father, Emily moved in with John and Elaine for the next seven years.
Emily continued: “I got a lot of lessons from them at that time. One I remember was my brother teaching me how to tie my shoes and he paid me 50p to do it.
Emily’s company, Love Luxury, sells items worth hundreds of thousands of pounds (pictured with her daughter Moo)
A younger Emily is pictured with her mother before she dies and before being cared for.
Emily, her husband Adam and Moo (pictured outside their Knightsbridge store) have moved to Dubai.
Emily attributes her resilience and tough character to her time spent in foster care, admitting she felt “unwanted” at the time.
‘And I was more than happy because I bought so many sweets with that money!
‘I can’t thank them enough for everything they did for me – things that normal people would instill in their children but that I didn’t get in the early years of my life.’
Emily eventually moved in with her grandmother at age 13, but is still in touch with John and Elaine to this day and they are planning to travel to visit her in Dubai next week.
She said her love for luxury things is something she has always had and comes from watching her grandfather buying gold and spending hours sorting it.
Emily’s grandmother was a seamstress and made exquisite dresses and velvet coats.
Emily describes herself as a “magpie” and says she was always conscious of good quality things, even at a time when she didn’t have any of her own.
She eventually met Adam, now her husband, and together they created Love Luxury, their family business reselling designer goods.
Brands include Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, Van Cleef & Arpel, all with a high price tag.
The entrepreneur now works with brands such as Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton in her luxury resale business.
Emily always said she liked luxurious things, even when she didn’t have any of her own.
Her luxurious life in Dubai is a far cry from her upbringing, which was filled with difficult moments.
Although business has boomed (especially since the pandemic, when other luxury outlets were unavailable), Emily and Adam still try to meet in person with as many clients as possible.
In July 2023, the family moved to Dubai to expand their business, although Adam still divides his time between the UAE and Knightsbridge, where the Love Luxury store is located.
Even now, Emily looks back on her time in foster care and feels she has brought vital lessons from her time there to her business.
She said: ‘I think when your child is in foster care you have two paths you can take: the destructive path or the positive path.
‘For many years I was on a destructive path and I think what I learned from being a foster child was that I wasn’t good enough. Nobody wanted me and even though that wasn’t the truth, that was how I felt.
‘When I realized that that was actually as far from the truth as it could be, it helped me see everyone and everything in a new light; that helped me develop resilience.
‘Sometimes things get to me, but I always take something negative from what happened to me and try to learn from it. I think I acquired that skill from being in the system. I’ve seen many different facets of life.
“I’m also very empathetic and understanding towards human beings in general, and that helps me to be a more complete human being in business with my clients and my team. I’m very warm and very open.”
The family’s TikTok account has more than 1.9 million followers, while their business resells secondhand luxury items.
Emily is pictured here at nine months old with her mother; she began moving in and out of foster care from the age of five.
Business began to boom in 2020 when other luxury outlets were forced to close due to the pandemic.
Emily was always quick to pick up new skills and soon learned how to determine if an item was authentic and people turned to her to answer questions.
She has been running a TikTok account for Love Luxury for about a year and a half, and since then, business has exploded to the point where she says she “can’t even quantify it.”
She also posts content about marriage, advice, and informational videos, all of which help keep the brand in people’s minds.
Success came to Emily at 40 and she initially said she was “shocked and horrified” by the “dark side” of social media.
Over time, she realized that the benefits of social media far outweighed the difficult feedback she received.
She said: ‘Although at first I was shocked and horrified by the things people said about me, I got over it very quickly.
“I’m very aware that there aren’t many people like me, but I think it’s because of my childhood that I am who I am today, with such tough skin.”