Michelle Gordon — Redefining the landscape of parenting as a lifestyle

MICHELLE Gordon is ideator & founder, IMAGINIT Services, editor, B3 Parenting Magazine, Indulge Food & Wine Magazine and The BossMom Magazine 

AW: What was your first job?

MG: My first ‘play-play’ job was during the holidays as a photographer at Pulse, which I credit today for opening my creative eyes. However, my first ‘real’ job was with the then national airline, Air Jamaica, where I was a flight attendant and purser for 17 years. 

AW: What would you say is your best career achievement to date?

MG: I have several amazing achievements! But the one that stands out most to me would be redefining the landscape of parenting as a lifestyle, through the introduction of platforms that impact and empower children, and encourage more open relationships between parents and their children.

My upcoming collaboration for Mother’s Day 2022 with Food for the Poor — BossMom Builds — is definitely my most ambitious project to-date. Providing one home each for three mothers will improve their capacity to live up to their potential, and to feel more confident about the future of their families, and also that of their businesses. A place she is proud to call home, a place her children know as their safe space… I can’t think of a more beautiful Mother’s Day gift for any mom. 

AW: When would you say you have worked the hardest?

MG: When I was in school! Haha! Using the definition of ‘hard’ as difficult and arduous, I don’t work ‘hard’. I genuinely love what I do, so although I work ‘a lot’, it doesn’t feel hard to me at all. 

AW: What is your go-to thing for inspiration/motivation?

MG: I’m really grateful for the access that the Internet gives us to such a wide variety of sources for inspiration. No matter what we go through, someone else has been there before, and now it’s so easy to tap into and learn from other people’s experiences. But for me, one of the first Bible verses I ever memorised remains my anchor — Philippians 4:6-7: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 

AW: What is your advice to young women who are looking to pursue a career in your field?

MG: My field is parenting — which remains loosely defined as a professional career. Being prepared to ‘stay the course’ is important, especially as the category is so dynamic with a broad range of new and varied thought leaders emerging globally. Many of the projects that I undertake require support of, and partnership with other entities. In publishing, advertising and marketing is needed for success. With events and special projects, sponsorship comes into play. If you’re venturing into these areas, you will hear ‘no’ more often than you’d like. But if your standard is excellence, the ‘proof will be in the pudding’. You must prepare to take the ‘no’s’ and somehow turn them into yeses.