“ I really want people to live it , wear it and be it . It ’ s not just a tagline . I want people to be free .”
Photography : Benji Aird Wardrobe : Harrison Crite MUA : Terry Rayson Managing Director : Kris Christian
MADE : So many people love your warm personality and they look at you , like you said , as a sister , auntie or a friend in their head . How do you use your platform to empower and uplift women , especially single mothers ?
VW : I use my platform to do that by trying to shape and inform others by the stories we cover and the segments we book . Every time I can promote women and their businesses , foundations or organizations or whatever it is , especially for single mothers , I do . We have meetings and we have opportunities to say , “ Hey , I like this segment ” or people come to us with ideas , so I use my platform as a way to pitch those ideas to my boss . I ’ m my own living example of showing women — Can you have it all ? I don ’ t know the answer to that , but you can sure try and you can sure figure out how to do this balancing act , juggling act as a single mama . I do it on my social media , I do it whenever I ’ m out and about and whenever I can to make sure I ’ m uplifting other women and just leading by example .
I left a bad marriage . I made a tough decision to leave something that I knew would ultimately make me a single mother of two very young kids . I just tried over these last ten years to lead by example more so than anything and show that you can have a great job and be a great mom first . While it ’ s hard , it can be done with a little extra grind and a little extra hustle , but we got this .
MADE : Perfect segue . What advice do you have for working mothers who are just as passionate about their careers as they are their children ?
VW : My job is unusual because I ’ m not working a 9 to 5 , so I have somewhat flexible hours . However , what I ’ m not doing in terms of a 9 to 5 , I do a lot of outside events and things on the weekends whereas maybe someone who is , doesn ’ t do that . I try to balance it by trying to carve out time for family first .
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