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As a council member and mother of two, Alexa Avil\u00e9s says motherhood has shaped the way she approaches public service and advocacy for working families.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\nBetween school pickups, city council meetings, client appointments and late-night problem-solving, motherhood often unfolds in the spaces between everything else. This Mother\u2019s Day, Brooklyn Paper spoke with three local moms \u2014 a politician, a restaurateur and a salon owner \u2014 about the realities of raising children while building careers and creating community.<\/p>\n
Balancing family and politics<\/p>\n
Council Member Alexa Avil\u00e9s is the proud mother of two daughters, ages 20 and 17.\n<\/p>\n
The District 38 lawmaker told Brooklyn Paper that when she first ran for office in 2021, her older daughter, then 15, was skeptical but supportive, thinking it was \u201ckind of cool\u201d that her mom was running for political office. Her younger daughter, meanwhile, was mortified when Avil\u00e9s tabled outside her school and realized her mother was embarking on a highly public-facing journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt one point, [she] told me that she walked into her classroom and the teacher was doing something about local politics, and my face and her baby pictures popped up on the internet. She was so embarrassed,\u201d Avil\u00e9s said, noting that she tries to maintain a healthy distance between public duty and private life, though her daughters still pay attention to her work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t bring them to public events very often, in fact, quite rarely do they come out with me,\u201d Avil\u00e9s said. \u201cSo sometimes I think, I\u2019m doing all those things over there, and they\u2019re not paying attention. But they\u2019ll see me on TV, or they\u2019ll see something on social media, and they\u2019ll make comments about it that are affirming and supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a council member and mother of two, Alexa Avil\u00e9s says motherhood has shaped the way she approaches public service and advocacy for working families.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n
Like many parents, balancing quality family time and a career remains a work in progress, Avil\u00e9s said, especially when emergencies arise in her district and compete with time spent with her daughters.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think some days I balance it better than others. It\u2019s kind of a work in progress, like all parenting; some days we do better than other days,\u201d Avil\u00e9s said, adding that although her daughters are older, they still need her, even if those needs have changed with age. \u201cMost teenagers are not trying to be around their parents, but I think what I realized is that they just need you differently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There have been moments when Avil\u00e9s had to choose between her responsibilities as a lawmaker and as a parent, including deciding whether to join her daughters on college tours or fulfill legislative duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try my best to meet both. And so it means that maybe I wasn\u2019t on the visit with her, but I\u2019m doing everything else,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I think what all people do is like, you try to make the best of it. You try to reaffirm that you know you\u2019re doing the best you can, and it\u2019s not going to be perfect, that\u2019s for sure. Some days I feel guilty, and some days I\u2019m super proud, and some days I\u2019m not even thinking about it because I\u2019m worried about a sewer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of parenthood is learning how to multitask, Avil\u00e9s said, a skill she considers an asset in politics. Motherhood, she added, has made her more empathetic to the struggles of working people and reinforced the need to expand educational infrastructure such as 2-K, 3-K and pre-K while examining barriers that prevent families from getting the support they need.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding out a system of care that dignifies the workers and the children in their care, that\u2019s going to take a long time, because it is expensive, but I always say we have the resources in the city, it is where we choose to put those resources,\u201d Avil\u00e9s said. \u201cWhen you have these social supports, in a civilized society, you build more stable, happier people, and that\u2019s what we want. Working people deserve all those things.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Council Member Alexa Avil\u00e9s speaks at a rally in Sunset Park. Avil\u00e9s, a mother of two, said balancing public service and parenthood is \u201ca work in progress, like all parenting.\u201dFile photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n
Better structural support for New York City mothers, she said, would include universal child care, pay equity, workplace accommodations, removing career barriers and addressing women\u2019s health and wellness needs, including menopause and violence against women.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s this whole person care, whole family care, and how to move towards a more caring infrastructure, as opposed to one that revolves around punitive structures,\u201d Avil\u00e9s said. \u201cSo there\u2019s a lot to be done structurally to support us.\u201d<\/p>\n
To fellow parents, she offered a mantra that helps carry her through difficult days: \u201cYou\u2019re doing great. Every day is a good day. This too shall pass.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Balancing family and business<\/p>\n
Leah Wiseman Fink is the mother of 12-year-old Sammy and 8-year-old Sydney.\n<\/p>\n
Wiseman Fink owns a leadership coaching practice, runs a networking community called the Spark Society and, with her husband, co-owns the Williamsburg Pizza<\/a> chain, which has eight locations \u2014 six in New York City and two in Omaha, Nebraska.<\/p>\n Wiseman Fink and her husband launched Williamsburg Pizza when they had their first child. She told Brooklyn Paper that every day was a \u201cbalancing act,\u201d though now that her children are older and in school, her schedule has become more flexible.<\/p>\n \u201cSome seasons are harder than others,\u201d Wiseman Fink said. \u201cNow [that] my kids are both in elementary and middle school, I pretty much have most of the day to myself. And because I\u2019m an entrepreneur, my schedule is relatively flexible, so I can be with them in the evenings. So I actually really love that flexibility that I built into my schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiseman Fink said one challenge of raising children in New York City is the lack of nearby family support. Her family lives in Michigan, and growing up, her parents could rely on relatives in emergencies.<\/p>\n That reality, she said, makes community-building with other parents especially important.\n<\/p>\n \u201cYou become close with friends, especially those who have kids the same ages as you. You\u2019re able to help each other out,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n As Mother\u2019s Day approaches, her advice to new moms is: \u201cIt gets easier, and then it gets harder, and then it gets easier again. And find your people, find your community. Sometimes you have to work for it, but it\u2019s definitely worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778304124_712_unnamed-9.jpg\")
Leah Wiseman Fink said that as an entrepreneur, her schedule is relatively flexible.Photo by Yumi Matsuo for New York Family Magazine<\/p>\n
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Rubi Aguilar\u2019s advice to new parents was to find community in person.Photo by Shakir Rodriguez<\/p>\n