Valerie Jarrett Quotes

Being a woman in music and having kids, it's very hard to do both without neglecting one a bit.

Well, I am not really a conventional mom at all. Like, I had my kids really young. I had Danny when I was 18 or 19 and then Liam when I was 23 and Molly, I had when I was a little older.

Being a mother of two myself - and two small girls - I think that single parenting is hard.

Of course having a baby derails the writing process for some time. And I will be the first to say that I have essentially no social life, because there's just nothing left after being a mom, professor, and writer. I used to be big into rock climbing. No more. A lot falls by the wayside.

There are all these things I want to do when I don't have to finish a book. But I have to keep writing because I keep having children.

I work hard and try to combine a demanding career with motherhood.

You don't have to wait for your career to take off to become a mum: that's kind of what I want to show. Becoming a mum made me even more driven, and I think it doesn't stop your career - it just boosts it. It makes you well-organised, and with a little bit of sacrifice, of course you can do it all.

I am a single mother of two sons and politics demands 100 per cent commitment.

How am I supposed to be a mom to two kids, a wife and do a show every night? It's impossible!

It is hard directing and being a mother. The hours are terrible and you have to sort of suspend your life when you're in production. I can absolutely see why there are so few women directing, because it's physically a very demanding thing to do. Fathers can only do it because they have wives at home doing all the other stuff. I can only do it because I have a husband that helps with the kids at home.

I needed a writing space to get out of my house with the little guy. Because any time I try to write or sit down and do things, he wants to be there with me and play the guitar.

I had children very young. You go through a period of immense guilt about being a working mother.

I take my hat off to working mums and especially single working mums. I honestly don't know how they do it.

I went to MIT. I do rocket science. Being a mom is much harder.

If you work and you want to see your children, something's got to give and for me, it's my social life.

I became a producer and learned I was pregnant within a five-day span. I wanted both things badly, just not at the same time. I cried and hid my pregnancy for an absurdly long time as I proved myself in the job.

One thing I didn't want to believe in is that I couldn't have a family and do music at the same time.

I think it's possible to be a great mother and have a successful career. I like that more women are doing this.

I know that being in the entertainment business… my first son, I had to sacrifice being away, being on tour a lot and I wasn't really present.

People know my story - how I started like they did and that I struggled with things, like being a working mom. They ask me things they wouldn't ask anyone else.

Bringing up children on my own was quite a busy time.

I've been travelling, returning home for promotional appearances, and juggling it all with being the mother of a five-year-old.

I encourage women who are starting families to think about the five-year horizon. The first few years of parenthood are really hard, but if you stick it out, it gets easier.

I stand here as the mother of three children, who knows firsthand how difficult it can be to combine family and a career.

As a mom, my priorities have changed.