My Mother is More Embarrassing Than Yours

This week is my mom's birthday. She turns 66 tomorrow. 🎂 We've had our ups and downs - as I'm sure you all have with your mother's. But she's no doubt one of the most influential forces in my life. Always has been. But it's complicated.

When I was a child, kids at school would often mistake my mother for my housekeeper.

My father is a WASP, and my mother is from Peru. As a kid, I was blond and blue-eyed. She, black hair, olive skin, spoke English with an accent. She also spoke Spanish, German, and Italian; held University, Law, Masters and Ph.D. degrees.

In the context of school functions, visiting my father's family, and dealing with authority figures, that didn't matter. When she felt someone disrespected us, which she often did, she would give you a piece of her mind.

As a kid, I found this - her - deeply embarrassing. We'd move so much for my dad's job; all I wanted was to fit in.

I vowed I'd never be this kind of woman. The one, who took space, spoke up for herself. HA!

Decades later, I spend my work life helping women articulate their value and advocate for themselves at work and beyond. I write about this on social media, my newsletter, and will debate it if necessary.

To others, this is - I am - deeply embarrassing. So be it. I learned from the best.

As a child, it's your parents' job to advocate for you.

As an adult, it's your job to do it for yourself.

You're the only one who can. And in doing that, you may be the model someone else needs. My mother's context shaped her behavior, and that context set a powerful example for me.

I now know her to be one of my greatest role models.

She also helped me develop a nose for strong women. I specialize in working with like-minded womxn leaders who want clarity on their next 5 year vision & a path to execute it by following a simple 5 step process without the overwork or overwhelm.

Think you might want support moving into that next level role? Here's how I might be able to help.

My Mom and I