One of my favorite things about publishing Macaroni Kid Chicago Midtown is the chance to connect with other parents in our community. Often times these connections inspire us and remind us of the ability of one person to make a difference. It is with this in mind that I have launched this article series called Parent with a Purpose. My hope is to introduce you to some amazing parents living right in our community who not only are doing unique and wonderful things but also deserve to have some attention brought to their mission.
I'm excited to introduce you to Xza Higgins, a local mom and founder of MommyCon, a nationwide convention series, reaching over 50,000 parents across nearly every state in the country.
Let's learn more about this local mom's story and find out how we can be a part of her purpose!
What is your MISSION/PURPOSE? What do you want to accomplish? My personal mission is to empower moms to parent using their intuition. I had a rough start to being a first-time mom, and I never want another mother to feel as alienated as I did. When I wanted to have a natural birth I was greeted with hostility. When I wanted to breastfeed, I was greeted with disgust, and don't get me started on what people thought of my desire to cloth diaper my child. Parents need support in their journey, and through the events MommyCon hosts, I know we are making an impact on parents across North America.
What inspired/encouraged you towards this mission? Is there one specific moment when you knew this was what you wanted to do? I look back at those early days of pregnancy and feeling alone. I felt alone because I wanted to do things differently than my peers. My online community rallied around me, but my in-person friends were doing the polar opposite in real life. It was at that time, that I knew I had to shake things up. Events were a way for me to connect with other parents in person, and I know that we have impacted the lives of over 50,000 attendees.
How did your life before children influence the parent you are today? I used to work with women who were creating businesses and opportunities for themselves, their challenges really inspired me to take everything I taught them and apply it to my life as a business owner. As a mother, you have to be selfless, because your children come first. As a business owner, you have to be a bit selfish to get shit done, and that was hard for me.
What lessons/values are you learning through this process? What lessons/values do you hope your kids are learning? My children are everything to me. it sounds cliche, but they have made me the woman I am today. They spark joy in my heart, make me laugh constantly and are always challenging the way I view things. It's okay to do things differently, and my children remind me of that every day.
What do you do to take care of yourself and how do you make time to do it? Self-care is one of those things that magazines preach about, but very few people actually implement. I try to focus on the little things; face cream in the morning, going to bed before 9 pm a couple days a week and walking to work every day. If I don't do that in the morning, I will be "too busy" in the afternoon.
What can we do to support you and your purpose? Just keep on doing what you love. If you don't love what you do, try to reinvent the wheel!
How awesome is Xza?
Macaroni Kid isn't the only one impressed by these local parents. I'm happy to be able to offer goodies from other Chicago local businesses to Xza to thank her for her work in the community. Thank you to these awesome sponsors for helping me recognize Xza and all of our Parents with a Purpose!
- A day pass from Purple Monkey Playroom
- $50 babysitting credit from Chime by Sittercity
- $50 credit for an in-home consultation or a spot in the Parent Cafe from Third Coast Birth
- A blow-dry with makeup touch-up from Chroma K8 Beautique
Do you know someone who fits the Parent with a Purpose bill? Maybe it's your neighbor, friend, child's teacher - send them our way! All you have to do is email me their name, email and why you think they're perfect for a Parent with a Purpose feature and I'll take it from there!
