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?

I found out I was pregnant with my first child, Lyric, in May of 2022. My career had started picking up a bit in the performance aspect and I just released a new single called "Hennessy" followed by a music video. The father of my child and I spoke about having kids but Lyric surprised us earlier than we had planned. With both of us being artists, it was with no doubt that our child would follow us wherever the music would take us but for reasons I will never understand, the universe had different plans for us. In June 2022, my partner passed away to a tragic accident leaving Lyric and I behind. 💔 To say the least, its been pretty challenging. To cope with everything, I kept myself and my mind busy through performances. Pregnant, I performed at The Ottawa Bluesfest, sofar sounds, the Cranium Festival and many more. It has been hard to write but I recently got back into it and am currently working on a very special EP. My son is making me see the world and music in a completely different way.

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

One of the biggest challenge I face being a mama in the music industry is being away from home many evenings and traveling out of town. We always make it work but it can get stressful. I am thankful for my community and the support I have.

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

Not sure.

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

I'm honestly very lucky to be surrounded by the people I am surrounded with. There are many other parents in the Ottawa Music community. We all lean on each other and help each other out. There are some groups out there for us as well like COMO (Colours of mamas) and others which are helpful. These groups offer support and help us find other mama's in our community as well as family friendly events.

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

Other than COMO, every year we have The Soul City Music Fest here in Ottawa. It is a family friendly music festival with live music, food and gift vendors as well as a bouncy castle, face painting and other activities for the kids. The event is free and for the families of our community.

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

Conferences could offer more breaks. It would help parents with their kids a lot. As for music festival, I could suggest a quiet corner or a day care area but that could be harder to do.

Can you shout out another music mama doing great things?

I'd like to shout out Paula C, Marie Clo and Nambi. I see you mama's 💛

Hear Dominique's Music HERE.