Meeting Myself As a Mother

Motherhood has completely rewired me.

On March 7, 2026, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter, Maven. Before becoming a mother, I assumed I would love it because I thought I had so much to teach, so much to share. Looking back, I think there was something a little self-centered about that assumption.

I’m the one who has been doing most of the learning.

I’m not only learning who this little being is, but who Mallery is as a mother, which has been a completely different experience from Mallery as a wife, a friend, an entrepreneur, and all the other things I happily am.

Motherhood has reshaped me at my very core. I often joke that I feel so maternal now, and there’s so much power in that. It almost feels like a superpower.

What has surprised me most is how much joy I find in simply watching her become herself. Day by day, she’s unfolding into her own little person, and witnessing that feels like the greatest privilege of my life. I hope I never take that for granted.

I included motherhood within the SELF column because becoming a mother has transformed every part of who I am. Some days, I still feel unfamiliar in this body. I still feel like an alien in this home. But this is also the home that carried, grew, and brought into the world the person I love most.

Through this column, I’ll explore the realities of motherhood, the beautiful, the complicated, the mundane, and the transformative, and what it means to meet yourself again as someone new.