The Top 5 Sources of Inspiration For Career Mommas Raising Global Babies
Who do you turn to for inspiration and advice as a mom and professional raising bi-racial children in a third country? Below I’m going to share the top sources of inspiration that continue to motivate me and have changed my life for the better.
With the many many mom blogs out there today, it is not too difficult to find blogs focusing on being a working mother. Blogs focusing on moms working in the corporate world are already a little harder to find. Add to that being the mom of bi-racial children, I wasn’t able to find any yet. Therefore, I’m sharing 3 sources focussing on career mommas and 2 sources for raising bi-racial children.
Corporette Moms
As the name already indicates, this is a space for working mommas who all work in big corporations, law firms, etc. , who have executive or management careers, are motivated to and all the while look great throughout pregnancy and motherhood.
The discussions cover everything: from family planning, to pregnancy and maternity leave, postpartum as well as the return to work and of course being a mother with a career. For all the topics, there is a great balance between advice being given but also personal stories being shared such as in the ” A week in the life of…” series that is sorted by profession. This series also covers stories from mommas outside the U.S. which made it even more interesting for me. Read about the week in the life of another career momma in Tokyo here: https://corporettemoms.com/tokyo-mom-work-life-balance/
You can learn more about them here: https://corporettemoms.com/
Source of Inspiration #2: Beth from Parent Lightly
Beth is an economist and a consulting manager and a mom of two girls which is maybe why I can relate to her. On her blog and website she talks about ‘productivity and planning for busy parents’. Which parent doesn’t know the struggle of the two? But she also talks about health & wellbeing.
What I appreciate most about her blog is that she also gives career advice and finds connections between being a mom and a professional. All of her categories do not focus on one or the other – being a mom or being a professional – but always touch upon both.
This continues through into her resource library. It covers printable items, checklists, rocketbooks, etc. for all topics parenting, family and career. The resources are offered in exchange to get connected with you.
You can learn more about Beth and Productivity and Planning for Busy Parents here: https://parentlightly.com
Source of Inspiration #3: Cynthia Usui
Cynthia Usui is a working mom – but not by the definition that you are most likely used to. I met her at an event of FEW Japan where she told us her story of how she went from a stay at home mom for 17 years to becoming a manager/executive at Coca Cola at the time of the event. Now, she is working for a hotel chain and has made it her mission to support working moms to rejoin the workforce by leveraging the skills that they have acquired as stay-at-home moms.
There are two aspect that I appreciate and admire about Cynthia, her story and message. On the one hand, it is the new perspective that she represents with so much authenticity: Work Life Balance doesn’t have to happen over the course of every single day/week/month or year. Why can work-life-balance not be achieved over the span of a life time? In her case, there was a lot of ‘life’ if you will focusing on raising her daughter. When she was older, Cynthia rejoined the workforce and now has a wonderful career. On the other hand, it is so inspiring how she is advocating for stay-at-home moms, the skills they learn as such and why they are an asset to have in the workforce.
You can learn more about her and her publications on her LinkedIn Profile: https://jp.linkedin.com/in/薄井シンシア-cynthia-usui-003b8755
Source of Inspiration #4: Mixed.Up.Mama
This is ‘a mama blog for all things parenting and mixed heritage kids’. Living in Tokyo, you meet a lot of mixed families so it is easy to discuss and exchange about raising mixed race children. However, I always feel the wish to connect with families where one parent is black in the quest to support my girls as they grow and will have to navigate the topics of race and identity. Starting from the hair – and funny enough this is also one of the first freebies mentioned on mixed.up.mama – their experience will be different to someone who does not have a black parent.
Mixed.Up.Mama In discussing raising 3 mixed race children, mixed.up.mama draws from her own experience being bi-racial/mixed race. I find it very interesting to hear from mixed race people my age what they felt helped them deal with questions around race and identity growing up as I am hoping it can guide me in my parenting.
You can learn more about Mixed.Up.Mama here https://mixedracefamily.com
Source of Inspiration #5: Diedre and ‘Are Those Your Kids?’
Another blog I came across in my search for mixed race families or raising bi-racial children is “arethoseyourkids”. Diedre created the blog to share her experiences in motherhood, from the perspective of a mom with biracial kids. She discusses ‘all things education, culture, multicultural resources, curly hair and motherhood’.
In her book ‘More Than Enough’ Elaine Welteroth talked about bi-racial children were either part of the ‘White Mum’ or ‘White Dad’ club. Therefore, I am so glad that Diedre is sharing her experience of raising bi-racial children and offering her perspective.
You can learn more about Diedre here: https://arethoseyourkids.com
Conclusion
As you can see from these influencers, every momma’s journey is their very own. While there is a lot we share by being a momma, our individual backgrounds, family and work set ups create very different experiences. The more sharing, the more we can learn from each other, find mommas we can relate to and exchange with. Who are your favorite career mommas? Do you know any corporate working moms of bi-racial children that are sharing their experience from whom we can all learn? Leave a comment with your sources of inspiration below!
