Where were you at in your music career when you had your first child? Was there much discussion about how that life choice would affect your career within the music/entertainment industry?

Well, my story is a bit crazy as I was living in Brazil for 4 years, (I lived in Canada from 96 to 2000, lived in Sydney, Australia for one year and moved back to Brazil), I broke up from a horrible relationship with someone that used domestic violence against me. Left very broken from this relationship in Oct,... in early February of the next year I found out that I was 24 to 27 weeks pregnant, spoke to my ex about how we were going to deal with the situation and after being mentally abused again, I decided to move back to Canada - nothing planned at all. My mother bought me the return ticket, I had only two suitcases, plus $250 my mother lent me and came to live at a friend's place for free until I got a job.
I then approached the owner of the Mercury Lounge (the place I worked before as a general manager). I proposed to do monthly parties presenting live acts from Brazil, instead, I left that meeting with a full-time job as a music programmer and promoter. I got a desk, fax machine, desktop and I was able to work from my home and go to the venues 2x a week.

As a working parent in the music industry, what are some of the biggest challenges you are facing?

My son is now 18 years old. But back then I was a single mama until he was 8 years old and the biggest problem was to find an affordable babysitting for him. Affording a taxi to return home at 2 am was also an issue. I was lucky enough to have benefits and a boss that was very flexible and being surrounded by friends was very helpful too. The community saved me .

What is one change (big or small) within the industry that could make a positive impact for working parents?

To be able to bring children more often to events, like in Europe or in South America, to normalize their presence, is also cultural education that for them is crucial.
To change people's idea that children should not be here or there. children should be more welcome in spaces, cultural performances, etc,...
In Italy, you go to festivals and you see various ages and all kinds of children (all ages) mixed up and running around past midnight, here people think it's outrageous.

How do you find support and community with other working parents in or out of the music industry?

The support comes from other people in the same situation and also from immigrants/people coming from Europe and South America who act normal around children and help out very easily. I'm lucky enough to have many of these folks around me.

What’s one specific example of an organization/venue/company doing something great to help support working parents?

Former Mercury Lounge owner, John Criswisk, always offered me benefits, and 4-week vacation pay, so my son could visit his grandparents and family in Brazil, he was understanding of my needs and the team always opened all meetings, staff parties and gatherings to my son, I used to bring him to all early shows I produced and organized, especially in the summertime - He was always playing around the stage, giving stamps to people at the door and cleaning up around the bar - he loved it.

What could a music event (festival, conference, etc.), do or provide to make it easier for you to participate?

Make it all ages; Provide a playroom or small daycare;
Be ok with parents bringing children to the activities and not thinking it's wrong - more acceptance and sharing the space with all would be more interesting

Can you shout out another music mama doing great things?

Kellylee Evans, Marie Boillon, Malu Anastacio, Silvia Saraiva, Fateema Sayani, and so many,....