The 44th Annual Outstanding Mother Awards, honoring women who juggle high-powered careers with motherhood, returned to a live format Thursday, after a virtual ceremony last year and a cancellation in 2020.
Held at The Pierre hotel in New York, the awards honored Nancy Berger, senior vice president, publishing director and chief revenue officer of Hearst Magazines Youth and Wellness Group; Marisa Thalberg, executive vice president, chief brand and marketing officer of Lowe’s Cos. Inc.; Priya Venkatesh, senior vice president of merchandising, skin care and hair, at Sephora; Phyllis Newhouse, chief executive officer of Shoulder Up Technology Acquisition Corp. and CEO of Xtreme Solutions Inc., and Bianna Golodryga, senior global affairs analyst and anchor, CNN. Once again, the luncheon’s mistress of ceremonies was Joanna Cole, OBE, entrepreneur, producer and author.
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“I think this is going to be an all-time high. We might break a new ceiling,” said Laurie Dowling, chairwoman of the National Mother’s Day Committee. The event was a record-breaker, raising close to $800,000. The renovated ballroom at The Pierre holds 100 fewer people so, at 400 attendees, the number was lower than previous live events.
Proceeds from the event benefit Save the Children, whose mission was explained by president and CEO Janti Soeripto, who pointed out that 30 percent of children in rural America live in poverty, and 12 million kids are hungry and not sure where their next meal is coming from.
During the program, Dowling auctioned off various prizes, like four tickets to the Thanksgiving Day Parade; eight days at Casa Sybil in the Dominican Republic; tickets to the 2023 U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, and an eight-day trip to a choice of resorts in Mexico, which drummed up additional funds for Save the Children.
Each honoree told poignant stories of their motherhood experiences and all were introduced with short videos, many featuring their children.
Berger’s son, Matthew, for example, told how his mother just made it to the 5 p.m. basketball tournament finals when he was in high school, rushing in at the tip-off in 5- to 6-inch heels and all dressed up from meetings in New York City.
“This is really emotional,” said Berger. “I haven’t had my picture taken so many times since my son’s Bar Mitzvah. I like my dress better now,” she said. Berger, who’s been on the Mother’s Day Committee for 15 years, recalled when they chose their first honorees, one of them said out loud at the luncheon that she had been a terrible mother. “After that we improved our vetting process,” said Berger.
Berger spoke about her boys as being “my heart and my soul,” and said she felt lucky and honored to be their mom. She made a promise to her boys that she’d never miss anything if they felt it was important, though they didn’t know the stress she was under to make these events. She recalled being on a business trip to Miami when she realized she got the date wrong for her son’s first band concert and she had to be in Westchester at 7 p.m. that night. She rebooked her flight, which then got canceled, and had to rebook to a different airport. She got to the high school auditorium on time, but when she heard how bad the band sounded, she burst out laughing. “I got a lot of angry looks from other parents. I was literally the best mom and the worst mom at the same time,” said Berger.
Lowe’s Thalberg spoke about her experience founding Executive Moms 20 years ago as a “very personal desire.” At the time she wanted “to join something,” she said, but couldn’t find the right thing. Her friends encouraged her to create it herself, and she did. Thalberg’s mother worked the registration table at the Harmonie Club in New York and would talk to everybody and the lines would extend out the door. Seeing yourself in other women and feeling the simple power of sharing experiences is “so profoundly comforting and energizing,” she said.
One of her daughters is graduating college and starting her career in New York, and the other is a high school sophomore. “Seeing the exceptional young women they have become is for me the ultimate gratification and frankly validation of the very thesis that was the core of Executive Moms. So today is a very meaningful, full-circle moment for me,” Thalberg said.
Sephora’s Venkatesh told the crowd that being a mother “is one of the most important roles many of us play in our lives,” and there’s no handbook or training. “We learn on the job and our performance reviews come decades later,” she said. It’s not easy to be a fully involved mother and run a business at the same time, and it takes a village to raise a child. “I’ve had the most amazing village to help me,” she said, describing her big, extended family. Sephora, where she’s worked for 17 years, has been a huge part of her village, she said. “Everyone works hard and likes to win,” she said. Everybody supports each other “while getting great results.”
Newhouse, whose son, Ezekiel, was featured on the video talking about how, as an only child, his mother is his role model and has helped him become the best man he can be.
“I’m so grateful and so appreciate of this award,” said Newhouse. She thanked the committee and her own mother, who will be 91 on Friday. She spoke about packing a suitcase to the land of motherhood and what one needs to bring. Among the items are determination, laughter, opportunities to fail and succeed, and joy, as well as the 3 Ds: detours, distractions and disappointments.
Newhouse spent 22 years in the military and said there was nothing better until she became a mother. “It wasn’t always easy, when you come through divorce and you decide you’re going to retire, and you decide you’re going to start a business, all at the same time. God knows me so well he gave me all my hell up front,” she said. She thanked her son for taking the journey with her.
Finally, CNN’s Golodryga said, “Children make our lives better and worth living,” and that her own mother is her best friend and biggest supporter. Her mother posts photos of her on Instagram. “It’s very useful to have her stalk me online and on Instagram because now I I know which outfits I can repeat,” she quipped. She spoke about being the only child and an immigrant of Moldova. She and her parents came to the U.S. from the Soviet Union with only $270 and settled in Galveston, Texas. Her dad was an engineer and her mother’s first job was mopping the floors for free at a day care so her daughter could attend for free. Her mother went on to become one of the top female IT executives in the country. “She never made me feel neglected and I ignored the hell out of her,” she said. Her mother would be in meetings and she would call her incessantly, “and she would always take my calls,” said Golodryga.
As she covers the Russian war against Ukraine, and watches mothers fleeing their homes and desperate to protect their children, she realizes that it could have been her.
“I couldn’t get through all these horrendous weeks of watching this war without my mother.…She understands their pain,” said Golodryga, who also worries Putin may invade Moldova, too. She returned to Moldova recently with the U.S. ambassador to visit with Ukrainian refugees some 35 years after she herself fled as a refugee. She thought how proud she was to be an American and how grateful she was for her parents who sacrificed so much.