As most people grow older, they end up doing things they never thought they’d do.
Ayanna Yasmin Muhammad is one of those people.
The 29-year-old has made boss moves all her life — graduating from Alabama A&M University with her bachelors in Speech Communication & Journalism; becoming an Account Executive in advertising for Yelp, Inc., traveling and simply living her best life.
Then, her life took a turn when she had a baby girl.
But she’s more than just a baby girl. She became Ayanna’s everything.
“I know that when Allah (God) gave me my daughter, it was something in me that clicked and gave me the extra push that I needed to start making things happen,” she said.
As she began to go through the ups and downs of motherhood, something else began to form in Ayanna — an idea.
Ayanna decided to launch an online platform that would speak to the situations she and other moms around the world were going through. She launched The Epic Mom in January
If you think launching The Epic Mom was always part of Ayanna’s plan, think again.
“To be honest, I never thought that I would launch anything like this prior to me becoming a mother myself,” Ayanna told Joshua’s Truth. “But as I entered this new chapter of my life I wanted to merge my love for writing with something that I was now personally connected with, as well as providing a sense of a support system to mothers all over who have something to share as well, and The Epic Mom was born.”
Before she launched The Epic Mom, Ayanna became an Epic Mom herself.
As a millennial mother, she juggles a full time job, motherhood, The Epic Mom and other duties. But she doesn’t think this is any different than what many other moms have to do.
“Being a millennial mother in today’s day and age is understanding that expectations and reality don’t always match, so finding a balance is key. It’s working all day, whether you stay at home or have ANOTHER full time job, because the title of mother itself is a position with on-the-job training, no PTO, no sick days, or holidays off, making the impossible possible, and making it look like a breeze,” she laughed.
The site shares stories and perspectives from moms of different backgrounds. They share thoughts, recipes, ways to stay healthy and more. The site is also good for those women who want to see what real-life motherhood is like before they step into the group of mothers themselves.
Many guest writers share their journey — unfiltered, might I add — to, and through motherhood. Honesty is the order of the day.
“I want The Epic Mom to serve as a publication for all women to reference as each of us experience this journey through motherhood,” Ayanna expressed. “It is one that is not always pretty, and it is one with many peaks and valleys. But it is also one that changes the course of your life forever in the best way. This publication is one that I want to remain very raw in truth so that women have a point of reference when it comes to the ins and outs of being a mom.”
It certainly serves as a point of reference for readers — The Epic Mom has gotten amazing feedback since its launch.
“It is always a scary thing to showcase something that is dear to you and put it in the public because you open yourself to criticism and skeptics, and people who just don’t understand the vision you have,” Ayanna said. “But I believe the content that has been shared, the stories that have been told, and The Epic Moms that have been featured thus far have really hit home for a lot of the readers, which further pushes me to keep this going.”
With everything that she’s involved in, it’s natural for Ayanna to face pressure. Some of it is external, and some of it is internal.
“I think naturally when you find out you’re becoming a mother, you have an idea in your head about the kind of parent you desire to be, and I do believe that it is something that you can never be fully prepared for. But as you learn and as you grow through different experiences in your journey, you begin to understand that putting unnecessary pressures on yourself, especially being a new mom, is just added weight to your already heavy load,” she said.
When faced with stress and doubt, she turns to her source of strength.
“Understanding yourself and what Allah (God) has made the woman for will help you relieve yourself of any stress and doubt that you may have,” she said. “The woman was made to help build and cultivate a nation, so when you understand just how powerful you truly are in developing an entire civilization directly from your womb alone, and you understand that Allah has given us everything we need to be successful in that role, and inherently this is what is in our nature, it allows you to breathe just a little bit before succumbing to those feelings of stress and doubt. Go look in the mirror and remind yourself exactly who you are, and the rest will fall into place.”
Ayanna has big plans for The Epic Mom. One thing she desires to do is make the platform’s team as accessible to readers as possible.
“I would ideally like to take The Epic Mom on the road to network in different cities with the goal in mind to connect not just our team with our readers, but moms with other moms alike, and of course putting together an annual Epic Mom conference in the future as a way for The Epic Mom team, contributing writers, and readers to be live and in living color together. Connecting with women that have a common purpose in mind, which is an essential part to the start of developing valuable relationships, and that’s exactly what The Epic Mom is about,” she said.
This Epic Mom is a natural go-getter. But now, she has a greater reason to go after everything she wants.
“I believe that I have had many experiences in life, both positive and negative, that have shaped me in becoming the woman that I am, but the birth of my daughter pushes me to really strive to be the woman that I aspire to be because I know now that she is watching,” she said. “I am forever thankful for her love and her life.”
