Women Who Made Us! Lessons That Paid Us! 5 Working Mothers Share Their Greatest Life Lessons from Mom
We look like them. We laugh like them and in many cases, we love like them. Our mothers and motherly figures taught us how to be women and the lessons we learned from them are ones we have the pleasure of passing along to our children.
This week we spoke with five career women to see what lessons have stuck with them over the years from the women they call mommy.
Jessica Ayers
Austin, Texas
Content Strategist/Digital Storyteller, J Nicole Creative Agency
Remember to Fill Your Cup!
Of those lessons, I believe the lesson of loving people without restraint is the one that has stuck with me the most. My mom has an incredible gift of abundant giving—whether that be through her time, talent, energy, or resources. To the untrained eye, it seems inevitable that well from which she gives would run dry but it just doesn’t. Growing up, it was amazing having the mom that gives so much. My friends would love spending the night or going to the store with us because my mom would take care of them as if they were her own. She’d buy them things, cook special meals for them and make them feel like part of the family. As an adult, my perspective of her gift changed when I realized that she was sacrificing her own well-being in order to help others. Her ability to give abundantly is truly a gift from God and just like any gift, if used improperly can work to one’s detriment instead of good. While I see the gift, I also help her to exercise wisdom and sound judgment in using her gift to help ensure that she’s giving from her overflow and pouring from an empty cup.
Read Jessica’s full interview here.
Alicia Harrison
Dallas, TX
COO of The Money Script Wealth Management
We are Resilient!
My mother had me at the age of 22 and we lived with my grandparents so my grandmother was a huge influence. Both my mother and my grandmother taught me resilience. My grandmother was a white woman in the fifties married to a black man and she had to fight for what she believed in so she also passed that along to me. Both of these women also taught me the value of hard work and taking care of yourself so you can take care of your family.
I always knew my mom was a strong woman but when I became a mom and realized the demand and the calling and the transition into motherhood, I saw that it is a shift. Life is no longer about you, it’s about your children. I only have one child and my mom had five so thinking of the amount of patience she had to have to raise five children is significant to me.
Read Alicia Harrison’s full interview here.
Sess Cannon
Arlington, Texas
Owner of Flourish Salon
Be Compassionate!
I was raised in many households. So I had a lot of moms growing up. My dad’s wife taught me that love is love. After my dad died my mom started struggling with addictions and another woman who was battling with her own addiction took me in. She actually introduced me to God and instilled faith in me. Even with her own struggles, she loved me unconditionally. Another mother was so beautiful. I loved the way she cared for her family and her kids. Another mom was calm natured and she allowed her husband to be both a dad and a husband. One mother who took me in was in an abusive relationship but even in that, I saw a lot of strategy and strength. As a mom, I saw her trying to figure out the best way to be a soft place for her kids. The last woman who took me in had four daughters and was a hairstylist. She was really strict but I’m so grateful that she gave me a true black mom experience. When I got pregnant with my first son I got really close to my grandmother who was white, very conservative, and never wanted black grandchildren. Since my mom was not able to provide the nurturing love I needed because I was scared, my grandmother gave me that experience.
Read Sess Cannon’s full interview here.
Ie’shia Downton
Kansas City, Missouri
Social Media Coordinator at Kansas City PBS
Honor your history!
My mom was an avid reader and she taught us to love reading. She would always “People can take money away from you. They can take things away from you but they can never take away your mind.” She was really big on knowledge and making sure we were knowledgeable about where our people came from. I talk a lot about our history like my mom did. My husband said if our children ever have to do a book report on Black History that he would send them to me. Since my mom instilled that into us as children I’m passionate about it naturally.
Read Ie’shia Downtown’s full interview here.
Ashle Harris
Houston, Texas
Marketing Specialist at Phalen Leadership Academies
Life is Generous!
My mom is one of my biggest heroes, so much of what she poured into us is knit into the fabric of my motherhood. She is one of the most generous people I know and she knows how to serve her tail off! I would like to think that's where my gift of hospitality came from and I see so much of that in my oldest daughter, Noelle. She's always inviting people over, always volunteering to help around the house. Noelle sees a need and most of the time she goes and fills the need. I believe she got that from me and my mom.