Junior MasterChef Australia contestant Phenix may only be 11 years old, but she knows exactly what career path shed like to pursue in the future.

When I grow up I want to be a businesswoman like my mum and I want to be a chef and baker like my dad, she told HuffPost Australia.

Its clear her loved ones have had a strong influence on her love for food and cooking, and no one is more proud of Phenix than her mother, Ann.

As the daughter of Vietnamese refugees who came to Australia in the late 1970s, Ann was born and brought up here rarely seeing anyone who looked like her on television. Now her daughter will be that figure of representation when she makes her reality TV debut on Sunday night.