Our Aerie Ambassadors get REAL and share what they love about their favorite women.
Carolyn Johnson
How does/did your mom make the world a better place? How does she keep it REAL?
My mom is a retired elementary school teacher of 30+ years. She has changed the lives of countless children, just by being an amazing and compassionate educator. She’s also had cancer three times, and still keeps an optimistic outlook on life. People are inspired by her tenacity and positive mentality. She keeps it real by always seeing the best in people, even when others don’t. She doesn’t gossip, which in today’s world is VERY rare, but that’s her real self.
How did your mom build you up and make you the strong woman you are NOW?
My mom was, and still is, an excellent mother. She always believed I would make a good mother one day, and today I am because of her. She constantly reminds me to listen to my mother’s intuition, and do what is best for my family. That alone has made me a stronger woman because she instilled those values in me.
Why should we celebrate all the generations of amazing, strong, powerful women that came before us?
We all came from women. It took me becoming a mother three times over to realize how much sacrifice and love goes into caring for your children…most of which goes unacknowledged. Moms are the most underrated, and underpaid, superheroes of our society that it shouldn’t take one national holiday to appreciate them.
Eunice Park
How does/did your mom make the world a better place? How does she keep it REAL?
My mom never refrains from gifting those around her with her beautiful and warm smile. Hard days, good days, wonderful days, sad days — she’s always one to turn to for a genuine smile. She is one of those rare individuals who can find good everywhere. My sweet mom is also one of the most hardworking individuals I know. Even with a language barrier being an immigrant, she never fails to ASTOUND me with how savvy she can be at navigating life.
How did your mom build you up and make you the strong woman you are NOW?
She allowed me to be ME and didn’t box me into what a good “Asian girl” should be like! This has been one of the greatest gifts my mother has given me — a desire to continue to find myself and be proud of who I am, through and through.
Why should we celebrate all the generations of amazing, strong, powerful women that came before us?
I want to share that I currently have the pleasure of living with my parents during these self-quarantining days. It’s during these past weeks where I have watched my mom love on my kids. She will wake up early and read books with my son, she will search all around the house with my daughter for a lost toy, and just today I saw her pull out a blanket so that she could lay on it to watch my littlest learn how to roll for the first time. But you know what’s been even more special than spotting these moments? I’ve been realizing that my mom has been so incredibly loving, kind, and gracious to…ME! I’m a mom to 3 young kids and I’ll be honest and say that I’ve had some ups and downs trying to homeschool them, feed them 3 meals a day, run a non-profit with my husband, and do everything else that comes with our current lives. My mom — she’s been here, supporting me every single step of the way. THIS you guys — this is why I celebrate all the generations of women that have come before me. My mom has helped me become the strong, nurturing, unique woman that I am today and her mother in turn helped her become the kind, gentle, loving woman who raised me. It’s to these wonderful women we owe our lives to! May we continue to love on and glean from the generations of all the amazing women before us.
Hikari Murakami
How does/did your mom make the world a better place? How does she keep it REAL?
My mom made the world a better place by being an amazing homemaker and mom. She had my brother and I soon after my parents moved to the US from Japan. She raised us as a stay-at-home mom in a country she barely knew about and not speaking a lick of English. Even through the language barrier, and cultural and lifestyle differences she had to adjust to over the years, she still created and maintained a warm home for our family. She made sure we were all eating healthy and got to school on time, she nursed us back to health when we were sick and did so many things that get overlooked in motherhood. To this day, my brother and I are close to our mom.
How did your mom build you up and make you the strong woman you are NOW?
When it came to the things I wanted to try in life, whether it was after school sports in middle school, dance team in high school, or pursuing a makeup career, my mom never told me “no.” That gave me the courage to try things, be ok with it if it didn’t work out, and get back up to try again. She’s always been supportive of my dreams and was the biggest cheerleader by always being there for me. There’s a word in Japanese called “Ganbatte” and it means “Keep going!” or “Keep it up!” She would say “ganbatte” to me throughout important moments in my life when I really needed it. Because of her support, she’s built me up to be the woman I am today.
Why should we celebrate all the generations of amazing, strong, powerful women that came before us?
Their stories matter, and their legacy impacts us directly today. By celebrating generations before us, we can ground ourselves in the history and where we came from. They inspire us to move and propel forward towards a better future for the next generation.
Krizianid Vázquez
How does/did your mom make the world a better place? How does she keep it REAL?
My mom makes the world a better place by being genuinely sweet. She always has a smile and kind words for everyone around her even if people don’t reciprocate it. My mom keeps it real because even though her life and personal situation keeps changing, she decides to adjust gracefully instead of complaining about her situation.
How did your mom build you up and make you the strong woman you are NOW?
My mom taught me how to love deeply and not fear change. Today, I’m a woman who is not scared of making decisions, and I show deep love for everyone around me. I credit her with my decision-making skills, and this is why I am where I am today. I have experienced such awesome moments in my life and it’s all thanks to my mom!
Why should we celebrate all the generations of amazing, strong, powerful women that came before us?
We are where we are right now in society thanks to all our previous generations of women. I love talking to women from different generations than mine because they are wiser and give such valuable perspectives. We can all learn a lot just from a single conversation!
Lydia Dall
How does/did your mom make the world a better place? How does she keep it REAL?
My mom makes the world a better place by taking care of the people around her in every way she can. She goes out of her way to help the people she loves most and the people they love, in whatever ways she can. When my aunt was put on hospice, my mom figured out a way to work from my aunt’s house so she could be there to help her and her family. When a neighboring farmer grew old and found it harder to get around, she got him to his doctor’s appointments, cut his grass, took him to the store, etc. She doesn’t shy away from the real, hard problems in life, she tackles them head on with compassion and strength. Not to mention she raised four pretty bomb humans, although I might be biased.
How did your mom build you up and make you the strong woman you are NOW?
My mother is the most independent, hard-working woman I know. She didn’t just tell me I was capable of anything, she showed me. My father works long hours doing what he loves and that means a lot of household responsibilities or “jobs” that would typically fall on “the man of the house” are things my mother took on. If she didn’t know how to do it, she Googled, YouTubed, read, and tried until she did. She doesn’t wait around for someone to give her a solution to a problem, she goes out and finds one on her own, something I’m so thankful she passed down to me.
Why should we celebrate all the generations of amazing, strong, powerful women that came before us?
Wow I mean…why shouldn’t we?! Forget about all the societal changes, and great accomplishments they have made, we physically wouldn’t even be here without them! The women that came before us make up the building blocks of our lives. Every change they pushed for, every barrier they broke, every lesson they learned and passed down allows us to be who we are and who we will be. There is so much we can learn and be inspired by from those who came before us. I think it’s only fair that we take a day and celebrate that.
Ziare Paul-Emile
How does/did your mom make the world a better place? How does she keep it REAL?
My mom is very artistic. She has a degree in fashion design, so her creativity flows from a very organic place. I’d like to think that she passed this creativity on to all her kids (there are 5 of us). She has always encouraged us to artistically express ourselves and share our art with the world in the hopes to help influence others to do the same.
How did your mom build you up and make you the strong woman you are NOW?
I have always had my mom’s support with anything I have done to improve myself and my life. While growing up, she constantly told me that I come first in my life above everything else. Even now, she says that my career and my independence is what I need to focus on as I move through my 20’s, and I absolutely agree with her. That advice is what I think of every day and is what makes me the woman I am today.
Why should we celebrate all the generations of amazing, strong, powerful women that came before us?
It’s so important to constantly celebrate these phenomenal women because they built us up and inspired us in some way, shape, or form. They influenced us and we can only hope to influence the next generation of powerful women. The constant celebration honors the women that came before us, acknowledging what they’ve done to make the world a better place.
Use the above questions to share what you love about your mom and let her know today!