Ayesha Curry says that after moving to the US, she had to 'choose' how to identify from mixed-race roots

Canadian-American Ayesha Curry opened up about feeling like she had to "choose" a community to associate with when she moved to North Carolina at 14 years old.

The chef and entrepreneur discussed her difficulty fitting in while growing up with a diverse heritage on "The View" Friday morning. Her mother, Carol Alexander, is of Jamaican-Chinese descent while her father, John Alexander, is of African American and Polish descent. When she moved to the U.S. from Canada as a teenager with four different backgrounds to identify with, she was confronted by classmates who labeled each other more than she was used to when she lived in Toronto, she said.

"Growing up in Toronto, I was black. I'm a black woman," Curry said. "I moved to the south, to North Carolina, right at the start of high school, so at 14, and there it was like...who do you choose?"

Curry said that in Canada, "I always loved every part of me." But in North Carolina, she felt like she had to decide which group to associate with based on her roots.

"It seemed like my own community didn't want to, like, wrap their arms around me and embrace me," Curry said. "That kind of hurt."

"I just want my community to embrace all shades because we come in so many different shades. Melanin is not one thing; it comes in so many different shades," Curry continued. "I love my melanin."

Having met her husband, NBA player Steph Curry, at a church group in her first year in the U.S., the two are childhood sweethearts. They've now been married for eight years and have three children together.

Through it all, Curry said that the one piece of advice her mother gave her for maintaining a healthy relationship was "never lose yourself."

"Always make sure that whatever it is you're doing — if you're a stay-at-home mom, if you're not, whatever it is in your marriage — make sure that you have the passion that you're fulfilling," Curry said about her mother's advice. "Whether it's on a small scale or a large scale."

"I took that to heart, and it's kept me who I am," Curry continued. "I want my husband to always see the same woman, if not better, that he first laid his eyes on when he married."

"I don't wanna lose myself... So I always try to keep a passion for myself."

Curry, 30, has maintained her childhood passion through the years. As the executive producer, host, and judge of ABC's "Family Food Fight," Curry continues to share her personal identity through her plates.

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