Maria de Remedio Martinez

In honor of upcoming Mother's Day I will be posting EVE's all week who are mothers. Enjoy.

Today's EVE: Maria de Remedio Martinez

"I give thanks to God that I am a woman so that I could have my sons and my husband and live a happy life." - Maria de Remedio Martinez owns Zaragoza, a Mexican deli/market in the East Village.#damnrightiatetheapple #mothersday

Sarah Wilen

"As a kid I read a lot of books and I noticed how male or female protagonists took different life paths. I learned there were acceptable paths based on gender. Sometimes novels give you a societal message, like Pride and Prejudice and sometimes the message is subtler. My interest in psychology is related to all the reading I've done and the questions I have about how someone's background influences what kind of character they become." - Sarah Wilen is a sociaspatial analyst at PLASTARC.

Diamond Stylz

"I got married and moved to Houston for my husband's job. Little did I know that he was married to someone else. When I found out, I left him and his other wife found me and we shared stories with each other. Even though it didn't work out with him he forced me to grow-me-up and  give me, the self love and security of being a trans woman that I needed to become self sufficient. Trying to live the perfect homemaker life led to a betrayal which then led to something beautiful." - Diamond Stylz is a blogger and produces the podcast Marsha'sPlate.

Lori Heino-Royer

"When I was 22 I was told by my employer that I had the highest paying job that I'd ever have as a woman at that company. That pushed me to go back to school and earn a degree which led me to where I am today."- Lori Heino-Royer is the Director of Business Development at Daimler Trucks North America.

Jumoke Dada

"Since my father's passing I've noticed that I have so much of his strength. On March 9th, 1975 my father, Francis Dada, first stepped on U.S. soil. He was fearless and selfless and determined to make another life for himself when he left Nigeria. He came here and was a janitor at McDonald's and became a microbiologist and raised 6 kids. I feel like he was my celebrity. Everything he has ever said to me, I hear so loudly still. He said I was a pioneer in technology and he wanted me to reach my fullest potential. He was my biggest champion." -  Jumoke Dada is a tech consultant and strategist for women at Dadaverse.org.

Cam Kashani

“I got fired from my own company when I filed for divorce. Although I was the one who put in the capitol, I didn't realize my name wasn’t on the business. Part of it was that I was asleep at the wheel. I think a man wouldn’t have allowed that to happen. They would have made sure their name was on the papers.” - Cam Kashani is the Co-Founder and CEO of COACCEL, the human accelerator.

Danielle Cohn

"When I was a young girl I was encouraged to be a performer, to be an actress and singer. My grandmother would take me around as a cute little girl to sing at different community places. That enabled me to be a storyteller, to be able to walk into a room and be comfortable. I was one of the first women in tech in Philly and that has given me good access and opportunity because people were looking for diversity.  I don't see being a woman as a challenge I see it as a benefit." - Danielle Cohn is the Director of Entrepreneurial Engagement at Comcast and leads the Lift Lab for entrepreneurs.

Kirin Kalia

"My father passed away a few months ago. He was from India and when he moved to the United States he didn't want to maintain strong connections with his roots. Eight years ago I went to India and I got to know my Indian family. One of the happiest days of my life was when I realized I had didis.  "Didi" means older sister in Hindi and can include cousins.  My didis are the eldest daughters of my father's youngest sister.  The warmth and love between us was immediate. It was unconditional. They didn't know me and I didn't know them. I didn't know I had didis growing up. I mean WTF. Now we have a didis group on Whatsapp.  My Father wanted me to take a safe path, be a lawyer and I pursued a different path.  We butted heads until my mid-30's and then this trip to India was a new beginning for my father and me. He started telling me stories about the bumpy path of his immigration. When he was on his deathbed, he told my brother to bring his ashes to the Ganges River. It is the son who has to bury the father. There's no role for the woman in the ritual, as my mother told me.  I couldn't take the trip to India this year,  to the Ganges - the day my mother and brother went there I cried so hard. But I was with them in spirit. And I'm so glad our Indian family took such good care of them." -  Kirin Kalia is the Director of Communications at KITE.

Kelly D. Shapiro

"It's because I am a woman of color and graduated from an Ivy League school that Dolly Singh hired me to be general counsel for her company Thesis Couture Inc. My peers are the demographic for her brand."  - Kelly D. Shapiro is an attorney who provides legal representation and business counseling to clients in the entertainment, tech and start-up industry.

Jen Lee Reeves & Jordan Reeves

"The entire adventure Jordan and I are on started the day she born. I knew I would get her all the resources she needed. What I didn't know is that she would be bringing the resources to me." Jen Lee Reeves is the Founder of Born Just Right and is the mother of two children. "The boys won't pass the basketball to the girls at all unless the teacher tells them to. It's so annoying. But unless I am on an all girls team I don't ever get the ball.  And even then I don't get the ball that much." - Jordan Reeves is the Co-Founder and Innovator at Born Just Right. She is 12 years old and designed her own prosthetic arm that she is pictured with, which is a purple unicorn horn that shoots biodegradable glitter. She is currently designing another prosthetic arm for herself that has various tools on it, similar to a Swiss Army Knife.

Rakia Reynolds

"I used to think procrastinating was a good thing. But when I was pregnant with my third child, I was at a photo shoot when the contractions started.  I kept working, I said, just one more photo and then I'll go. But I waited until the contractions were four minutes apart to go to the hospital and I never made it to a room, he was born in the hallway. The hospital staff called him "hallway baby". Now I don't procrastinate." - Rakia Reynolds is the founder and CEO of SkaiBlueMedia and the mother of three children.

Emily Chang

"Listening to the stories that women shared with me inspired me to write my book, "Brotopia: Breaking up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley". If I weren't a woman I wouldn't have had the understanding about their experience in Silicon Valley.  I hope my contribution starts a conversation that makes the world a better place for all of us."  - Emily Chang is a journalist/author and the host of Bloomberg Technology.

Naqausia Pollard

"I don't think I would have been given as much time if I were a man. I was sentenced to 18 years for robbery in the first. They charged me as though I were a predicate, but I was a first time felon.  I appealed, but it was denied because I had taken a plea bargain. I was 19 years old and pregnant when I went to prison and I served 15 years." -  Naquasia Pollard turns 34 years old today.  This is her first birthday at home since was 19 years old.

Topeka K. Sam

"I think the ability to discern is a gift that is given to most women. In the Bible wisdom is referred to as a woman. I wouldn't be as wise if I weren't a woman. I call this discernment God speaking to us. This ability has empowered me to fight for incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and marginalized women and girls." - Topeka K. Sam is the founder and executive director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries. The mission of The LOHM is to help disenfranchised & marginalized women transition back into society through education, spiritual empowerment, entrepreneurship & advocacy.  She is also the c0- founder of Hope House.  Topeka served 3.5 years in federal prison and today is her birthday as well as the 2018 #dayofempathy.

Bridgette Beal

""When I was 20 years old I joined a pen pal club - actual pen and ink letters.   The first letter I received was from my now husband. He's from England and we wrote back and forth to one another every day for 14 months. Then we met in person and we were married two months later and we have been married for 26.5 years.  We would never have spoken to one another because he is very introverted. I believe God brought us together. My husband is a very stable person and that allows for me to be myself and launch off of him because I know if I get too crazy he can pull me back down from my ankles." Bridgette Beal lives in Laguna Beach, CA.