12 August 27 - september 2, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Month XX–Month XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Mothers of invention How Miami’s musician moms are rewriting the rules of success. BY CARLOS OMAR GARDINET “M otherhood is earned, first of all, through an intense physical and psy- chic rite of pas- sage,” Adrienne Rich wrote in her 1976 book Of Woman Born, challenging the sentimental mythology surrounding motherhood decades before phrases like work-life balance entered the cultural lexicon. Rich understood that the lived experience of motherhood often bears little resemblance to the idealized version society celebrates. For artists, that tension can feel especially acute. Creativity demands vulnerability, de- votion, and the willingness to follow inspira- tion wherever it leads. Motherhood demands presence, patience, and an acceptance that control is often an illusion. Conventional wisdom suggests those de- mands are incompatible, that one identity in- evitably flourishes at the expense of the other. Yet across Miami, a remarkable group of women is quietly dismantling that assump- tion. They are writing songs between nap times, bringing children into studios, per- forming while pregnant, turning down op- portunities when necessary, and finding ways to continue creating without abandoning the responsibilities of motherhood. Motherhood has not silenced their cre- ativity. It has given it a new vocabulary. Their stories are not about “having it all.” They are about redefining what “all” means. For singer-songwriter Jahzel Dotel, moth- erhood never represented the end of a cre- ative chapter. It became a deeper connection to the purpose behind her work. “I wouldn’t want my son to think I quit because of him,” Dotel reflects. The statement carries the weight of a gener- ation of women who have been asked to believe motherhood and ambition exist on opposite sides of a dividing line. For Dotel, music was part of her identity long before she became a mother. She spent her childhood in the Domin- ican Republic, where her father ran a radio sta- tion from their home, introducing her to a world of sounds beyond traditional rhythms. Music was not something reserved for stages or studios. It was woven into everyday life. That relationship continued throughout pregnancy. Dotel remembers performing late into the night, sometimes finishing gigs at three in the morning. During a Bastille Day perfor- mance, she sang an entire set in French while pregnant. Rather than feeling limited, she dis- covered unexpected changes in her voice. “Hormones and pregnancy changed my voice,” she recalls. “I could hit higher notes more easily. I felt like a goddess.” Today, her son Jahbriel occasionally joins her at record- ing sessions and performances, growing up surrounded by the creative process. “I want my son to be exposed to different cultures and music,” she explains. “That will help him gain confidence and awareness.” For Dotel, motherhood did not pull her away from artistry. It strengthened her con- nection to it. “The best things in my career are happening now after motherhood.” That belief echoes throughout Miami’s creative community. Before welcoming her son Enzo, Latin Grammy-nominated artist Vikina feared pregnancy would slow the career she had spent years building. Instead, it became one of the most creatively fulfilling periods of her life. She released music, performed interna- tionally, and appeared at the FIFA Club World Cup opening ceremony while preg- nant. She also created “Estuario,” a deeply personal song about change and rebirth, ac- companied by a maternity music video fea- turing the women who shaped her life. After Enzo arrived, her perspective shifted. “Motherhood isn’t a pause. It changes every- thing,” Vikina says. “You don’t return to the person you were before. You build a new ver- sion of your life where your career and your family coexist.” That coexistence requires dis- cipline. Writing and recording now happen be- tween feedings, naps, auditions, and meetings. “What people don’t always see is that cre- ativity doesn’t arrive on a schedule,” she ex- plains. “It isn’t easy to squeeze inspiration into small windows of time.” Yet motherhood has also changed what success means to her. “I’m no longer driven by the idea that every project has to change my life,” Vikina reflects. “I have the most life-changing piece of art right in front of me every day.” For Milla Santana, motherhood has meant embracing dif- ferent seasons of life. A mother of two toddlers, Santana bal- ances raising her fam- ily with her role as an associate vice presi- dent at a public rela- tions and marketing firm while continuing to nurture her identity as a musician. She rejects the idea that those identities compete. “My executive leadership and my creativity enrich each other,” Santana says. “Who says stewarding a family isn’t an art form in itself? It’s the most beautiful piece of work I’ve ever been entrusted with.” Santana believes women are often pres- sured to maintain impossible standards. “We’re often sold the illusion that we can do it all at once,” she explains. “We aren’t meant to carry every season at full speed.” For her, ambition is not about constant vis- ibility. It is about building something sustain- able. “The quiet sacrifice is stepping back from immediate momentum to build a healthy foundation,” she says. For Monique González, better known as MoMo, motherhood did not mean choosing between two identities. It meant realizing those identities were always connected. Known for performances tied to the Miami Heat, major venues including Barclays Cen- ter, and collaborations with artists such as Pitbull, MoMo entered motherhood with the fear many artists experience: that becoming a parent might require stepping away from the dream. Instead, she discovered the opposite. “I have lived two different lives,” she explains. “But the mom and artist have now integrated.” At first, she struggled with the pressure of try- ing to exist as both. Eventually, she realized the separation itself was exhausting. “The artist and the mother are the same person,” MoMo says. “Sometimes chaos, sometimes soothing.” Motherhood did not diminish her ambi- tion. It made her more intentional. “Some mothers let go of their dreams when they be- come moms,” she says. “I wouldn’t allow my- self to do that.” Her son Cairo has become her biggest sup- porter. “I never want him to think I stopped chasing my dreams.” For artist Nikki Guerra, who performs alongside her husband Ariel de la Portilla in the Miami duo Mama Fuma, motherhood re- shaped how she sees herself as a creator. There was a time when she felt divided be- tween the artist and the mother. “At first, I was showing up depleted,” Guerra recalls. Eventually, she realized she did not need to choose one version of herself over another. “It made me more honest,” she says. “I’m pre- senting the truest form of myself.” Singer-songwriter Micky Blue under- stands that fear intimately. Before becoming a mother, she worried that having a child would bring her career to an end. The reality was more complicated. The challenges came behind the scenes: post- partum struggles, sleepless nights, financial uncertainty, missed opportunities, and navi- gating an industry where women are often forced to prove their commitment after be- coming mothers. She missed a chance to travel to South Ko- rea. She endured health challenges during pregnancy that affected her ability to sing. She learned to manage her time differently. But those challenges also strengthened her. “I’ve become a better artist and a better busi- nesswoman,” Blue says. Across Miami, these women are rewriting an outdated narrative that motherhood repre- sents the end of artistic ambition. Their music has changed. Their priorities have shifted. Their definitions of success have expanded. Recognition still matters. Albums still matter. Performances still matter. But so does legacy. Motherhood has too often been written as the final verse in a woman’s creative story, the moment when ambition fades into the back- ground and the spotlight moves elsewhere. Adrienne Rich wrote about the tension be- tween the lived experience of motherhood and the expectations imposed upon women. These artists are rewriting that narrative in real time. They are proving that motherhood is not a fare- well to artistry. It is not an erasure of identity. It is another movement in the composition. Their children may not remember every concert, recording session, or late-night re- hearsal. They may not remember every sacri- fice made behind the scenes or every opportunity their mothers quietly postponed. But they will remember something far more important: they watched their mothers choose creation over disappearance. They watched women who loved them fiercely continue to honor the dreams that existed before they were born. They learned that motherhood did not require becoming invisible. It meant carry- ing every part of themselves forward: the care- giver, the creator, the dreamer, and the artist. And perhaps that is the greatest master- piece these women will ever create. [email protected] ▼ Music For singer-songwriter Jahzel Dotel, motherhood never represented the end of a creative chapter. Photo by Daniel Hygge “I HAVE LIVED TWO DIFFERENT LIVES. BUT THE MOM AND ARTIST HAVE NOW INTEGRATED.”
