This Mother’s Day lands differently.

Not only because it also happens to be my birthday — but because it’s a moment to reflect on the power of defying expectations.

If you’re a mom — especially a single mom — you know what happens when people hear those two words.

Their minds go somewhere. Fast.

When I became a single mom of three under six — ten years ago — I knew the script society had written for me (and maybe you’ve heard it too):
❌ This will ruin your kids.
❌ This is the worst financial decision of your life.
❌ You’ll end up scraping by in a one-bedroom apartment, working a job you hate.

But that’s not the only story.

Maybe, like me, you’ve chosen to write a different one.

Today?
✅ I run a global consulting and speaking agency while solo parenting full time.
✅ I’ve defied every financial and social expectation.
✅ I’m raising three straight-A student athletes who travel the world with me — and, frankly, are some of the most interesting humans I know.

Since I was pregnant, strangers (always strangers, right? Rude) warned me:
“Just wait until they’re teenagers — it’s all downhill from there. I wouldn’t want to be you!”

Instead? It turns out teens are amazing.
I’m raising three polite, funny, drama-free, down-to-earth young women with next-level communication skills that frankly, rival most ADULTS I know.

Here’s the real truth:
Leadership doesn’t just happen in boardrooms. It happens at home.

And it takes extraordinary courage — especially when you’re solo parenting — to lead your life, your family, and your future on your terms, not defined by the expectations someone else laid out for you.

One book that so beautifully echoes this journey is To Call Myself Beloved. It’s not just a memoir — it’s a mirror. A reminder that we are not broken, we are healing. We’re sorting through who we were told to be and uncovering who we really are — and that, my friend, is the most powerful kind of leadership I know.

And it takes extraordinary courage — especially when you’re solo parenting — to lead your life, your family, and your future on your terms, not defined by the expectations someone else laid out for you.

So this Sunday, while I enjoy the blueberry pancakes, coffee, and fresh-squeezed juice my kids are making me (before we set up our family pottery night), I’ll be thinking about this:

➡ I’m proud to meet my own expectations.
➡ I clap for myself.
➡ I see the ripple effect of parenting with purpose — in my kids, my community, and beyond.

At the end of the day my greatest metric of success is sitting across from my three wonderful daughters, knowing we are doing this – together.

This Mother’s Day, I’m celebrating all moms — and especially those doing it solo.
The ones rewriting the rules.
The ones choosing courage.
The ones building lives that reflect their own values.

Sister, I see you, I feel you, I am you.

Here’s to us.