Brigida Belém Cabrera Reyes

"For me as a woman, becoming a mother was like passing on to the next level of a video game. I can't go back to the level where I was before. It's a wonderful thing. And as a woman, I have always felt a special feeling and need to care for others. Even here at my job I look after my employees. I have worked here for eight years and we are a family here. I feel like I need to protect everyone and this isn't a feeling I can run away from." -  Brigida Belém Cabrera Reyes is the manager of The Inn at Manzanillo Bay in Troncones, Mexico.

Ellen Hagler

"I have amazing kids. Being a woman and being able to have children is wonderful but it can also be confining. I couldn't continue with my career because my husband and I started our family. With my husband's career and schedule it would have been really difficult to maintain a house and a family if we were both working. It was a choice to stay home. I am a rather conventional person and I couldn't see myself taking to the streets. This was during the 60's it was a time of turmoil in this country.  It was the beginning of the women's movement. But I wasn't going to go out and burn my bra in protest. That just wasn't me." Ellen Hagler has two children and four grandchildren.  This is my mother and what better day to feature my mother to whom I am  grateful for so many things including the spread she cooked today. 

Lauren Kearney

"When I was four years old I wanted to play soccer with my brothers but I was wearing a fancy pink dress.  My mother said I could play soccer with the boys, but I had to change clothes. I wanted to do both - I wanted to wear my dress while playing soccer. Instead I stayed in my dress and watched them play from the sidelines. Then, when I became a mother, I became the hero of my own story. Being a mother made me brave and not afraid of anything. I went from being an introvert to talking to strangers, talking to everyone and being an advocate for my daughter. If I hadn't had my daughter and told her bedtime stories I would never have written my book, Ellie Bixby and the Window to Darvlian Orpth"  Lauren Kearney is an author and mother living in Los Angeles.

Maria Raymundo Cruz

"During the Civil War, when I was 15 years old, I escaped with my parents into the mountains. We didn't have a house, we lived under a tarp for eight years. We planted corn and beans to survive, but we had no salt, we had nothing. When I was 19 years old and pregnant the army threw a grenade near me, and rocks flew and hit my head and I still have a scar. I was pregnant at the time. My brother was killed. After the war, we settled in Chel and we had to start over again with nothing. My husband left for the United States in January to look for work. He found part time work and hopes to find more work and not get deported." - Maria Raymundo Cruz lives in Chel, Guatemala and participates in The Coffee Trust food sovereignty program. In this photo she is pictured throwing worms to her chickens. Providing the chickens a source of protein will keep the chickens stronger and healthier.

Nancy

Taos 2-170430"My daughters are 9 and 12 years old. I moved here from Mexico eight months ago so that I can work and send money home to them. I'm a single mother and I can earn more money here.  I'm sad without them but I will stay and work for as long as God allows me to." - Nancy is a single mother from Mexico who works as a waitress in a Mexican Restaurant in New Mexico.

Briana Payton

truman-foundation0064"My mother is my role model.  And since I am a woman, I can model my life and my character based on her example." - Briana Payton is a Truman Scholar studying Sociology at Princeton University. Briana attended the Truman Foundation's 4oth Anniversary Party at Gracie Mansion earlier this month.

Wendy Piersall

the-scale-collective1013note: While telling me her story of why she started her own business, Wendy broke down and cried.  This is why I am doing me&EVE  - to create a space for women to be seen, heard and respected. "The whole reason I became an entrepreneur was to escape the sexism in the graphic design and marketing industry. The only way I would ever be in control of my destiny was to start my own business.  I went back to work after my second child and my new boss was younger and less experienced than me. I knew I would never be fully valued.  Instead, on my own, I was able to create a six figure income." - Wendy Piersall is an artist and author.  See her work at WendyPiersall.com

Sweta Vikram

Sweta0067-3"When my mother died, my response was to heal the world. I started to connect the dots in my life and took up the matriarchal role of being the nurturer. I often wish my mother was around to see my transformation. My husband says, "What makes you think she isn't?" - Sweta Vikram is a writer and wellness entrepreneur. Her 11th book, just released this week, Saris and Single Malt is now available for purchase.