Move over Super Mom (yeah, you) with your amazing juggling techniques, laptop spinning on one finger, baby on your hip, and cape flapping in the wind. There’s a new trailblazer in town, one whose superpowers far out shadow us all! She’s a M.O.M. (mom on a mission) and she’s giving back to our communities in leaps and bounds, redefining what it means to do good in the world.
Next up in our series highlighting local M.O.M.s we awe and adore is Emme: model, body image advocate and spokesperson, sometimes actress, Cancer survivor, brow stylist and founder of Emmenation. We sat down with the trailblazing, body-image advocate, and local mama, Emme (@emmenation) for our interview and got an earful of inspiration (and a darn good brow shaping).
So you fought cancer in 2008? You look as beautiful as ever.
Externally my hair is more kinky and has a wave to it. But it was the best teacher for me. It was difficult with my daughter, but it’s amazing what children will do. There were such blessed moments where she would just snuggle with me during my down days. She’s really intuitive so that was really sweet. I think we’re given these tests in life to learn from, life saying “look at yourself”. It was like a cleansing and got me to a simpler place and I got inspired to change from Emmestyle to Emmenation – like “emanate”. This last couple of years I’ve met a lot of beautiful people who are mentoring me, inspiring me, the team is really coming together, so it’s really nice.
I hear your daughter wants to be a model.
Yes. She does.
Are you an advocate of that?
No, I want to give her a childhood, learning about relationships, not grow up too quickly.
Do you think you can be friends with your child?
No, not really. I said “You don’t need any more friends, I’m not your friend, I’m your mom. I’m a ‘friendly mom’ but not your friend.” And it’s hard for me to say that because I feel so close to her but I don’t want to try to be her friend.
Being a mother to a teen, you must have to deal with social media and boundaries, what’s your philosophy on that?
With social media, it’s a wild ride. I feel like we’re in the Wild West.
What’s your brow styling philosophy?
When you see kids that are not honoring the beautiful shape of their face it makes me crazy. I think people take their beauty so far. You don’t want your brows to speak for you- be easy- just don’t do your brows when you’re upset or angry. I love it when a whole family of girls come in for brows and chat.
Powder or Pencil?
Pencil with grease is for evening. It really makes a statement, like a bold lip. If you do powder, it’s a different look, powder is during the day. To not look like it’s done but it’s done.
What do you think of this thick bushy eyebrow trend that’s out there right now?
I think it’s beautiful on a lot of people, I really do. It takes a very strong person not to succumb to plucking.
I’m really admiring that kale salad you just made yourself.
I just tweeted it- I try to show how eating really well is easy and simple and it may seem like we’re eating the garden but right now as we go into spring if you can just eat as much alkaline food as possible it will help you shed any of the weight you gained over winter- which is normal. People usually gain a few pounds over wintertime, and if you can just release the guilt and shame around that and accept that this is what animals do. And that’s also what humans do when they live where there are four seasons. Because I had cancer and my lymph nodes were removed, what I eat matters so much. I think my thyroid was also affected so I have to be really careful.
So how do you deal with your daughter and junk food?
There’s a line. I stress good eating like fruits and vegetables not for diet but for health. I eat kale because it’s filled with nutrients and it’s so satiating.
Finish this line: “I am Emme and my mission is:”
“To be whole”. Just don’t walk around with your head decapitated from your body and not connecting with your body. Don’t just work out to numb all else that’s going on in your life, don’t just overeat to satiate and get those feelings of love when you are sitting there by yourself. In order to be whole you have to be vulnerable and trust that you’re not going to be swallowed up into a black hole.
Do you think there are more body image issues here or overseas?
We are exporting our issues. It’s always been the problem. Women in India are experiencing higher rates of bulimia after exposure to western television. We’re trying to erase our differences instead of celebrating them. We should not body bash ourselves when something doesn’t look good on us. Most women don’t know companies use different fit models for every piece of clothing they design.
Kim Kardashian, thoughts?
I feel that she is an adult. I also feel that it’s almost like a car wreck, seeing how this family has really used the system to make money for their family. But they can’t get back all that’s gone down on camera that really was quite private. And that’s the down side of reality TV, it’s almost like you’re selling your soul and I think that Mom Kardashian is a different breed of mom. I was so happy to see Kim Kardashian pregnant in a bikini, she looked hot, she was all womanly, but I feel like I just want to say “unplug”.
