Vanessa Simmons has big career aspirations that center around her daughter, Ava Marie. The budding actress tells Rolling Out that she accomplishes much with her pyramid system that places her daughter at the top.
“It’s definitely a huge balancing act and takes organization,” says Simmons of motherhood coupled with her career goals. “My daughter comes first in all of it.,” adds the star. “When I put her first, everything else is allowed to flow. I’m more organized than I have ever been. That spills over into my professional life as well. It’s most important for me to keep her at the top of the pyramid and let everything else happen as it may.”
Speaking of fate, Vanessa moved from New York to California several years ago in hopes of advancing her career as an actress. “It was definitely an adjustment moving here without knowing anyone,” shares the celebrity of her experience with relocating. “It’s hard not being so close to my family. That’s definitely the biggest adjustment just leaving that safe haven and being in a completely new place and starting over.”
Although difficult, Simmons has her daughter as motivation. “She is a little miracle in my life and she’s come along and helped me restore faith in myself and confidence in myself. She [teaches me] something new every day. Which is not something that I expected when having a baby. I didn’t expect for her to come along and teach me things, but she did.”
Little Ava is Vanessa Simmons and boyfriend Mike Wayans’ first child together. The couple welcomed their daughter into the world on February 13, 2014.