Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariam D. Reyes.
Mariam, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I became a mother, my whole life changed. From the first moment I held my baby in my arms, I knew I wanted to stay with him in the first years of his life. I didn’t want to miss any of the wonderful moments with my little one. So, I did that, months passed and even though I was enjoying it being a stay-home mom, I felt like something was missing. My passion has always been writing, connecting with people, and expressing myself in every way I could. Being a journalist in my home country (Venezuela) really opened my eyes and my heart and made me discover that as my purpose. I was missing that part of me. So one day, when I was at home with my baby I asked myself: why not combine the two things I love to do? Two years ago I started to write on my blog to share my experience as a new mother to the Hispanic-moms community in the Dallas area. I knew there were a lot of women that were living similar experiences than mine, as immigrants or with Hispanic background. “Realmente Mamá” (Real-Mom) was born to give those moms that space, share experiences, laugh together and live together this amazing (and intense) phase of our lives.
While my online community started growing on my blog and social media, I had and the idea that was running around my mind for some time, I wanted to express the wonderful connection that moms have with their children since they are in the womb. I asked myself again: why not writing a book for kids? I started putting ideas on paper and drawing (a lot). So, in May of 2018, I self-published my first children’s book “The Best Surprise” which celebrates the unconditional love between mother and child no matter the time or circumstances. The story and illustrations (for children from 0-5 years of age) show the wonderful journey of this baby from the beginning, the changes inside mommy’s tummy and many more adventures before coming to the world. Few months later, I published its Spanish version “La Mejor Sorpresa”.
It all started with an idea while I was doing the best role in the world: being a mom. I can say that motherhood came to my life to change it completely and inspired me to achieve my goals and dreams. Having a child didn’t stop my live, instead, it redefined me as a woman, and gave me that little “push” I needed to be the person I always wanted to be.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I started from zero. I had no family at the beginning. Things are a little more difficult when you are a foreigner. But good things take time, patience, focus, and perseverance. My advice would be to keep doing what they love. There is always a door that will open for you.
We’d love to hear more about Realmente Mamá.
I would say that something that I am really proud of is to be the writer and illustrator of my children’s book “The Best Surprise”, but definitely I got to that point because of the content, I have been writing on my blog and my social media accounts (@realmente_mama) in the past two years. Another thing that I really enjoy is to make funny videos about experiences that we as mothers face every day. I connect to them talking about our life, our struggles in a fresh and fun way.
So much of the media coverage is focused on the challenges facing women today, but what about the opportunities? Do you feel there are any opportunities that women are particularly well-positioned for?
I believe that things are slowly and continuously changing for good. And we, as women, have built our own space in society to grow. We are the ones that are making the opportunities to happen by connecting to each other and supporting each other.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.realmentemama.com
- Phone: 4438258508
- Email: mariamreyesa@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realmente_mama/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariamreyes/
Image Credit:
Valentina Meza Kohnenkampf
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