I\u2019m constantly motivated by the women around me. Whether it be my mom, my roommate, or my boss, I make sure to surround myself with those who will only empower me to be the best version of myself.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m also incredibly inspired by successful women who are consistently in the spotlight yet somehow manage to stay true to themselves \u2013 like singer Jhen\u00e9 Aiko<\/a>.<\/p>\n OK, OK, so you might pin this article as another generic piece about a \u201crole model\u201d celebrity. But let me tell you, Jhen\u00e9\u2019s journey as an artist has inspired me much more than even I could imagine.<\/p>\n To give a bit of background, Jhen\u00e9 is a 28-year-old R&B singer and songwriter who, despite her celebrity status and drastic life changes, worked hard to output music that reflected her growth as a woman and her journey of discovering herself.<\/p>\n I admire that about her wholeheartedly — because I\u2019ve struggled with being content with who I am. Her journey as an artist and mother influenced me to be confident in whatever I do.<\/p>\n Here are four reasons why Jhen\u00e9 has and continues to inspire me:<\/p>\n She Didn\u2019t Sell Herself Short<\/strong> She Knows How to Balance Family and Work<\/strong> She Isn\u2019t Afraid to Face Her Struggles<\/strong> She\u2019s True to Herself<\/strong> xx, Monica<\/p>\n P.S. This article is a part of a special FabFitFun content series in partnership with\u00a0Pearl<\/span><\/a>xChange<\/a>\u00a0in an effort to empower and uplift women. Join our Editor-in-Chief, Katie Ann Rosen Kitchens, along with Nicole Richie and other inspiring women o<\/span>n Nov. 5 in West Hollywood for the \u201cPearls of My Life\u201d Panel where they\u2019ll be sharing their own stories.\u00a0Find more information here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":"I\u2019m constantly motivated by the women around me. Whether it be my mom, my roommate, ...","author":422344,"featured_media":92671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[271,260],"tags":[],"thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/01135707\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-1.55.11-PM-660x400.jpg","thumbnail_url_middle_card":"https:\/\/static.fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/01135707\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-01-at-1.55.11-PM.jpg","formated_date":"November 1, 2016","category_name":"Life","category_icon":"https:\/\/d3vodd1ws13xud.cloudfront.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/10113832\/entertainment.svg","author_name":"Monica Chang","trending":false,"sponsored":false,"random_color":"#e56d60","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/422344"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fabfitfun.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nJhen\u00e9\u00a0was quick to jump back into working on music\u00a0after giving birth to her daughter Namiko. However, she said in an interview that she was told to \u201c\u2018sell\u2019 [herself] when walking into these meetings,\u201d but that\u2019s when she decided to \u201c\u2018sail\u2019 [herself] rather than sell [herself].\u201d Staying true to this statement, she\u00a0released an amazing original mixtape titled Sailing Soul(s) — which was incredibly successful.<\/p>\n
\nEven though Jhen\u00e9 unexpectedly had Namiko, she\u2019s shared in interviews that motherhood made her fearless. She\u2019s intentional with the time she spends with her daughter and family. It might take her a bit longer to record an album but she said, \u201cit\u2019s worth it because my child comes first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nJhen\u00e9 has been through a lot in the past few years — she was involved in a car accident in 2013 and her brother passed away from cancer in 2012. She\u2019s come to peace with the good and bad times in her life and shown\u00a0this to her fans through her art. Even one of her music videos was based off of these incidents.<\/p>\n
\nHer music is a reflection of who she is as a person and the types of obstacles she\u2019s faced in her life — and how she has come to accept it. It inspires me to do the same.<\/p>\n