My Why
I don’t remember my mom ever sitting down when we were kids. She worked so hard to take care of us. She was always busy. If she wasn’t helping us with our work or cleaning or putting away laundry she was cooking or on the phone with our Mommom. My mom ran a tight ship, then and now. Nothing was out of place. Ever. When she wanted to redo the family room she took down the wall-paper and pulled up the carpet. When she wanted to move she listed the house. But despite how hard she works when we need help with work or to talk to her she is present so completely and gives with her whole heart. My mom is amazing in every way. There are so many days that I think about what she would have done in a given situation with my kids or with a teacher at work or in my house and I wonder how on earth she had so much energy. My mom was also always really sweet.
This Mother’s Day, I find myself thinking about my role as a daughter and a mother and what it all means, because to me it means a lot. As a small business owner, I try to bring so many elements of what my mom taught us growing up into my daily life. I want my clients to feel and to know that there is nothing I won’t do for them, that I will bend over backwards to give them what they need and provide the best service possible. I want them to feel that I am always there, in part because I am working so much and in part because I want them to be so happy with the job I do that they come back to me. And at the end of the day, everything that I do well I attribute to my mom.
My Kids
I have written about this before, but I am certain that I never would have had the courage to start my business if not for my children. I had a passion and a desire to pursue voice over since college, but that alone was not enough to inspire me to go after my dream. Instead, the reality of leaving my kids and commuting to New York City was what made me have the confidence to build my voice over career. I didn’t want to miss out on a single minute of raising them. I wanted to be able to work full-time and still be there to attend the science fairs and the school plays and to pick them up if they got sick. The dream of combining my professional aspirations and my personal ambitions gave me such a fire inside that nothing else matched. I will be forever thankful that I am able to have a career and be near by.
One of the many facebook groups I am in is for Voiceover Moms. Other women often post these amazing pictures of themselves in the booth with their babies in baby carriers. I missed that page but every time I see those photos I feel such a sense of pride and camaraderie. I feel like we are all in this together, supporting each other and building something meaningful for ourselves and our families. I also know that some days are harder than others, and knowing that we are not alone and that we are their to support each other means so much.
My Hope
It is my hope that just as my mother gave me so much I hope that I am instilling this fearlessness and sense of self-worth and pride in my own children. From running my voice over studio, I have learning so much from working with others, but before even getting to that point, it is that I pursued my passions for them, and my hope is that Emma and Jack will have the same fire within them and that they too will be fierce enough to go after what they love, both in their professions and in their personal life.
My Village
Nothing in life is so simple for a working mom. My life is better, profoundly better, not just because of the example set by Mom and my Mommom Harriet, but because my sister Julie is so present and helpful too. 
Julie is always there for me and my kids and helps both as an emotional support and in so many ways, from taking care of the kids and the dog to helping with homework to late night phone calls. Trying to list the way my family is amazing almost seems to trivialize their impact, when my intent is the opposite. I am also blessed to have an amazing Mother-in-Law who is an extremely involved Grandma and is also so close with my Mom. They are like sisters to each other. Whether she is sitting at the table doing Latin and Spanish homework with the twins, or helping with holiday dinners, it is so wonderful to have such a tight-knit family. And my sister-in-law Claudia lives one street away. She is also a wonderful influence in so many ways for my twins. I can go on and on, but the point I am trying to make is that I could in no way raise my twins the way I dream of on my own, and they also happen to have one heck of a father, but since is a blog post and not a book, I will just end by saying that this Mother’s Day I am thankful that I was born to my mother and that we are surrounded by such amazing women.
