The Washington, DC area is full of amazing moms: working moms, stay-at-home moms, single moms, moms of multiples, etc. We want to highlight some of those moms! Each month we will feature one special mom as the mom of the month. This is our inaugural Mom of the Month. Know a fellow amazing local mom here? Nominate them here!
Simona Noce Wright: August Mom of the Month
Simona Noce Wright is an entertainment publicist, event curator, and community leader. She lives in Washington, DC and is married to an award-winning writer, Panama Jackson, and is mama to four beautiful children: her bonus pre-teen daughter, Denver (11); two sons, Sebastian (5) and Roman (4); and her baby boy on the way (October 2020, baby loading)! Simona moved to New Jersey from her home country of Ghana in 2001. Later, she made the big move to the nation’s capital where she graduated from Howard University.
Professionally, Simona spent 10 years of her career in the world of film publicity. She worked at such places as the American Black Film Festival and International Creative Management. She spent the majority of her film publicity career at Allied Integrated Marketing where she served as a publicist leading film campaigns on behalf of high profile clients like Screen Gems, Universal, STX Entertainment, Sony Picture Classics. After leaving her 9-5 and jumping into mom-preneurship, Simona co-founded the groundbreaking, premiere organization for millennial moms of color, District MotherHued, and the nation’s first conference for millennial moms of color, The Momference. Because of her organization, annual conference, and community organizing, Simona is nationally sought for being a strong voice for Black, millennial motherhood. She enjoys brunch with her girlfriends, any water activity with her little ones, and going to church!
Here is our Q&A with Simona:
What encouraging words would you give to a fellow pregnant mom?
Pregnancy, the first taste of motherhood! I’m a firm believer in not over stressing and remembering that the billions of humans that exist came from the billions of women who birthed them; so many have come before us! With that in mind, I’d suggest enjoying the 9-month ride as much as you can! Even if you have more than one child, each pregnancy is different so enjoy it to the max! Take that maternity shoot, throw that baby shower, throw that gender reveal, buy that maternity dress, indulge that craving, travel for the babymoon; whatever you want to do, do it because it’s a celebration!
Remember that everyone gets to the door of pregnancy differently—some planned, some unplanned, some single, some married—so don’t compare or be discouraged by your situation if it’s not ideal for you; we shouldn’t place the focus of our celebration on how we get here, we celebrate that we are here! Lastly, I encourage all my pregnant mamas to go through this journey with a practitioner (doula, midwife, or OB/GYN ) that they trust, love, and have a friendly rapport with! Because I trusted my OB/GYN, I brought all my concerns to her instead of the internet. The internet and pregnancy threads may drain you!
What is the best and hardest part of balancing motherhood and work?
The best part of balancing both of these time-consuming roles is feeling proud of myself simply for checking things off. Motherhood is work. Work is work! LOL! It requires me to be kind to myself, make to-do lists, and push myself to define what balance looks like for me and my home. It feels good to balance work and motherhood because it inspires and reminds other mamas that they also can do it! The hardest part is when ‘Mom Guilt’ or frustration kicks in because your kids want a snack right when you’re in the middle of a deadline. There are a lot of feelings to manage but there’s also a lot to be proud of when you’re fulfilling both roles.
What is one thing you’d like your children to get from you?
There are actually two guiding principles I’d love my children to gain from me: Faith in Jesus and finding joy in everything! These values have brought me so much peace as a woman. As a mother, they’ve anchored me in both the highs and lows of my life. My hope is that when they’re young adults, everyone will describe my children the same way: having faith in Jesus and being determined to find the joy in anything. I encourage mamas to find age-appropriate ways in daily activities to impart whatever wisdom you’d like into your children. Thanks to COVID-19, this season has given me plenty of opportunities to teach my little ones about seeking Joy and Jesus daily.
Do you know an amazing mom that would be a great mom of the month? Nominate them here!
