The boss babies: Keke Palmer, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Monét share how parenthood changed their perspective on work
Since having children, Keke Palmer, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Monét have each taken on a new approach to their careers.
It’s often said that having a baby changes your life, especially for women. In addition to possible physical changes, motherhood unlocks a completely new outlook on life which can shift your views on everything from health to friendships to work.
For stars like Keke Palmer, Naomi Campbell and Victoria Monét, who navigate demanding careers in the spotlight, raising their children is a balancing act; one where their little ones often call the shots.
“My daughter is my boss,” Campbell told Extra, explaining how she juggles her roles as a supermodel, entrepreneur, advocate and mother to her two-year-old daughter and eight-month-old son.
“I love it. It’s a lot of fun. Each day is a surprise. You don’t know what’s going to happen, what my daughter is going to say,” she said, per Today. “She goes to her potty, she’s like, ‘Mommy, privacy.’ And I’m like, ‘Huh?’ I said, ‘Not to your momma. You can do that to everybody else,’”
In Palmer’s experience, her son Leo’s presence is what dictates her decisions. Though he’s only 13 months and can’t necessarily articulate his wants yet, Palmer is very conscious of her little one’s individuality as a person and tries to honor that when thinking about her own work.
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“[I’m] definitely more selective with projects,” she told People magazine. “Looking for stuff that allows me to be with him either at home, or it’s somewhere I can go and have a room or a trailer. I also want to respect his individuality and his freedom and space. It’s not just like you come to Mommy’s world; only Mommy’s world.”
She added, “You have to always think about that with kids. While we want to take them everywhere and we want them to be our world, they are their own little people, so you have to also give them their own sense of structure.”
This was a lesson Monét had to learn the hard way. In February, the “On My Mama” singer celebrated her and daughter Hazel Monét Gaines’ Grammy nominations on the award show’s red carpet. While Monét was thrilled to have her daughter, who became the youngest Grammy nominee in history, in attendance, she was not prepared for the realities of escorting a two-year-old down the red carpet.
“The last carpet was a disaster,” she said, reflecting on the experience. “So I think we’re gonna give it a couple of years.”
Though fans were happy to see the singer and her family arrive at the event in coordinating outfits, Hazel was far from into it as she clung to her father, John Gaines, giving photographers a pouty side-eye. Despite the difficulties on the carpet, Monét was explained how special the family moment was for her.
“It’s another full-circle moment for me because during pregnancy, everything was really scary. People were telling me how bad of a career move it could be, how detrimental to everything it could be,” she told People magazine. “Pregnancy, it’s going into unknown territory, and no one’s story is the same. So, to have one of the more fearful moments career-wise turn into one of the best moments ever of my career is really magical.”
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