In celebration of Mother’s Day, SparkVision got to know some dynamic mother/daughter duos.
Linette is a woman who paved the way to create the life she wanted for her family. She raised an entrepreneurial Millennial, Nakeia. As a mom now, Nakeia knows the values her mother instilled in her. We hope you’ll enjoy a piece of their story on this reflective day!
Linette Ball is a wife and mother. She is the youngest of 7 children. She is a Registered Nurse with a passion for quality care. In her free time, Linette likes to explore beautiful beaches and spend time with loved ones.
Nakeia Drummond is a process-driven leader, entrepreneur, and educator with 10 years of project management, strategic planning and change management experience. Prior to founding NLD Strategic, Nakeia served as an administrator for Baltimore City Public Schools and Analyst for an international leader in consulting.
What did you see in your daughter at an early age that now serves her well as an adult? Linette: As a child, Nakeia never accepted information without questioning the history of it or testing the validity. This has proven beneficial in her life as an adult because she is always willing to work to turn information into knowledge that’s hers to keep.
What do you see in your mother that you now see in yourself? Nakeia: My attitude of “I’m going to say it if it needs to be said. I’m not going to walk around with this. I’m going to free myself of it. And then I’m going to move on.”
How has your daughter’s parenting style reflected or clashed with how you raised her? Linette: I think Nakeia’ s style of parenting is very similar to how I raised her in the patience she shows as she explains a new concept to Asher in a way that he is able to understand. She also gives him the opportunity to make age appropriate decisions which are important in developing independence.
I think we differ in the area of discipline. I think I was a much tougher disciplinarian.
How has your mother impacted the way you view motherhood? Nakeia: She helped me to see that motherhood is not about having all the answers and having it all figured out. It’s more about listening and learning from your child and responding to their needs. You have to step back and make time for you. When you are your true and best self, then your child will be too. And your children are watching. If you have dreams you don’t chase, then they’ll be scared to chase theirs.
What are you most proud of when you think of your daughter/mother?
Linette: When I think about my daughter I’m most proud of the many dimension of her character. She is kind, consideration, giving, gentle and determined.
Nakeia: My mother had me at 20. She turned 21 a month after I was born. I remember turning 21 when I was studying abroad in London and I can’t even imagine what that was like. I am proud of her being a young mom who defied the odds. From a poor neighborhood in south Baltimore, she raised me to believe that I could do anything and be anything. She didn’t just say it, she embodied it in herself. She went back to school, was an RN, bought a house and took on the financial burden. She did all that while keeping me front and center – building me up. Defying the odds. She did it in a way that she never became hardened or looked like what she had gone through. People often see us and think that things just go well. People often forget what she’s gone through because she doesn’t look the part.
What’s the greatest lesson your daughter/mother has taught you?
Linette: The lesson I learned from my daughter is I am enough. While working so hard to teaching her to be confident in who she is, to know her worth and teach people how to treat her I learned every lesson for myself. Prior to her birth, I was not doing any of this for myself.
Nakeia: A small compromise of who you are and what you want leads to bigger ones – where you no longer recognize yourself. When you find yourself doing that, you need to make a decision on who you want to be. You lose your power when you compromise on yourself. You become less confident in who you are and what you represent.
What’s the biggest difference you see in today’s times (vs. when you were raising your child/being raised) that creates challenges or ease?
Linette: The rapid progression and availability of information technology. It’s a quagmire because it decreases the amount of controls parents have on their children’s access to all sorts of information and at the same time it allows children to see and learn things that they otherwise may never be exposed to.
Nakeia: We are a lot more health conscious than we were in the 80s or 90s. When I was growing up, there wasn’t the same awareness around eating fresh. People used to smoke in hospitals back then. We didn’t even need to have a car seat when I came home from the hospital! So knowing more about your health and making better decisions for your kids’ health is much more at the forefront.
What’s one thing you’d like your daughter/mother to know this mother’s day?
Linette: This mother’s day I would like Nakeia to know that from April 15, 1982 until now, she never stops amazing me. I am so very, very proud to be her mother and, “ain’t nobody bad like her”.
Nakeia: I don’t know that there’s anything she doesn’t know. I tell her how I feel about her quite often. She’s prepared me for everything. How to live through disappointment, loss, be a friend, and to serve.
