For Women’s History Month, we’re focusing on mothers across the music industry—artists and executives who are shaping culture while balancing the realities of care.
Across these conversations, one thing becomes clear: the pace of the industry doesn’t always align with the realities of motherhood. What comes through instead are honest experiences of adapting, making trade-offs, finding clarity, and leading in ways that aren’t always recognised.
Together, these voices raise a bigger question: what would it look like to build a music industry that can genuinely support both?
Photo Credit: Njaheut Gilles
ESINAM
Esinam Dogbatse is a Belgian-Ghanaian multi-instru- mentalist based in Brussels. With her artist moniker ESINAM, she creates a musical world of her own, fil- led with rhythms, grooves, melodies and loops.
Solely carried away by sound, ESINAM succeeds in blending her soulful voice with traditional African percussion, adding here and there some electronic influences combined with sensible melodies and flu- te improvisations. Her compositions carry traces from numerous geographical, cultural and musical influen- ces, which she collected from her personal history and through various travels, encounters, tours and colla- borations.
What has your experience been navigating a career in music while also being a mother?
The experience of being a mother itself is already a big life challenge! It's definitely a transformation to embrace, a new definition of myself. I am grateful that I could be back on stage quiet fast; but also taking moment of break when needed, and be focus on my child. I am enjoying witnessing her growth, and I am deeply inspired by her.
Mothering while being a musician is challenging spacially when breastfeeding is part of the process. I felt sometimes alone, and vulnerable because of the huge tiredness. Trying to find the right balance, adjusting. Sometimes it has been overwhelming, but also empowering.
With time and patience, I learned a lot, I keep learning, I find tricks, I trust the process and I see that my daughter is an amazing travel partner. I am so happy to bring her along on tour even if it is not always easy. She has traveled the world in her first year and half and showed us how positif it was for her. When I brought her as baby, backstage I usually had nice feedback, smiles or kind reactions about being a mother.
The real happiness is to find the right balance beetween mothering and making music. Being an artist is not my main priority now, but my career is co-existing with my family life.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers working in the music industry?
Being patient is the key. Trust your intuition. Stay passionate. It is all depending of the child, and the age too.. but if you feel that your baby has to come with you on tour, do it !!
Transmission, is also very important. Transmission of our passion for art, and the love for the music. I beleive that a child will learn so much coming along, and witnessing the kind of life we have.
ESINAM on Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp | Spotify
Cristina Lazic
Italian-born and London-based, Cristina Lazic is a rising force in underground electronic music, crafting sets that flow between hypnotic subtlety and infectious energy through a fusion of elegant minimal, groovy tech beats, and melodic, spacey textures. Shaped by influences like Laurent Garnier, The XX, Moby, and The Chemical Brothers, she has performed at UNVRS, Hï and Amnesia Ibiza, Space Miami, Sunwaves, Exit Festival, and KOKO London, with releases on Crosstown Rebels, Bedrock, Factory 93, and Moxy Muzik.
In 2024 she founded La Zic, a platform uniting a record label, learning hub, and community for underground music lovers, while advocating for diversity and gender equity through her work with shesaid.so and MDLBEAST’s Hunna program. Her mission is simple: move people physically and emotionally, and keep underground music thriving with integrity, inclusivity, and her unmistakable sound.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers working in the music industry?
Being a parent requires ongoing effort, discipline, and responsibility. For me, finding balance has meant carving out time for myself, prioritizing my health, and learning to say no to opportunities that don’t feel aligned with my role as a mother — such as extremely intense touring schedules. Setting those boundaries has not limited me; it has actually strengthened me. I’ve become a better leader in my work and more present in my motherhood. Overall, I’m happier and more grounded because of those choices.
What changes would you like to see to better support mothers and caregivers in music?
I would love to see more structured childcare support at festivals and music events. At the moment, this kind of support is largely nonexistent. An agency or organization that provides childcare services for musicians and their team members while touring would make a meaningful difference. Practical support like this would allow parents to fully focus on their work, knowing their children are safe and cared for nearby.|
Cristina on Instagram | Soundcloud | Youtube | TikTok | LA ZIC
Nyeesha D. Williams - Founder & CEO of The Serenity Haus
Nyeesha D. Williams is a Grammy-nominated music executive and the Founder & CEO of The Serenity Haus, a management and development firm integrating touring logistics, strategic partnerships, and performance systems within high-demand creative environments.
Over the past two decades, she has supported the development and touring infrastructure of more than 50 artists and creative leaders, embedding recovery strategy and capacity planning across 15+ touring cycles and international performance markets. Under her leadership, Serenity Haus has led 30+ institutional partnerships spanning universities, festivals, and creative organizations, with programs and collaborations across six countries in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Drawing from a background in clinical systems and performance science, Nyeesha designs operational models that treat sustainability as executive infrastructure rather than personal resilience.
She is the creator of Tour Wellness & Care™, a framework implemented within live production and touring environments to stabilize performance and protect long-term capacity.
A 2025 Keychange U.S. Innovator Award recipient, she contributes to industry dialogue through the Music Managers Forum, ISPA, Americans for the Arts, and Mamas in Music, where she serves as Vice Chair of Strategic Culture & Wellness.
What has your experience been navigating a career in music while also being a mother or caregiver?
Navigating a career in music while being a mother has required intention more than ambition. The industry moves quickly and often rewards constant availability. Motherhood requires presence. Holding both has stretched me in ways I didn’t anticipate. There were many moments when opportunities were on the table, and I chose to stay home. Between my husband and me, I was often the one anchoring our children’s routines, tending to their emotional needs, and shaping the energy of our household.
That wasn’t accidental. It was a decision I made. And if I’m honest, there were seasons when that choice felt heavy. Watching opportunities move forward while I stayed back required maturity. It required me to confront my own ego, my own timeline, and sometimes my frustration. But what I never wanted was for my children to feel like they were competing with my career. Homeschooling adds another layer. It means I’m not just building a company — I’m building daily structure, education, and stability.
There are days when tour logistics overlap with math lessons, when partnership calls sit next to rehearsals. That tension is real. Over time, I’ve learned to think in seasons instead of sacrifices. Some seasons are for expansion. Some are for anchoring. And some calls for you to be behind-the-scenes and not in the limelight. And that, to me, is the most effective way to navigate while building a legacy as a Mother in Music.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers working in the music industry?
First, stop trying to prove that you can do everything at once. This industry rewards constant motion, but parenting requires steadiness. You cannot operate well in both spaces without being intentional about your capacity. Second, give yourself grace — not the kind that lowers your standards, but the kind that acknowledges your season. There is a difference.
The music industry creates a sense of urgency that isn’t always real. Everything can feel time-sensitive. But when you’re raising children or caring for someone, your timeline shifts. If you rush to keep up with every opportunity, you may win professionally, but lose where it's most important, and that's at home. So, before saying yes, I’ve learned to pause and ask these questions:
Does this align with the rhythm of my household right now?
What will this cost us emotionally?
Am I moving from clarity, or am I reacting out of pressure?
Lastly, your children don’t just need to see you succeed. They need to see you choose wisely. They need to see you rest, reset, and build in a way that doesn’t fracture the home. You can have a meaningful career in music and be a present parent. It just may not look like the industry's standard — and that’s okay.
Nyeesha D. Williams on LinkedIn | Website | The Serenity Haus
Rebecca Ayres
Rebecca Ayres is Managing Director of Sound City and a 2025 Music Week Women In Music Awards Roll Of Honour inductee.
Sound City is the UK’s longest-running independent new music showcase festival and industry conference, having presented over 7,500 emerging artists to more than 550,000 music fans and industry professionals from over 40 countries. The festival also serves as the UK lead for Keychange, the global movement for gender equality in music.
Alongside the flagship festival, Rebecca leads initiatives including Sound City Launch, which has supported over 600 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into education, employment and entrepreneurship, and Sound City Satellite: Music Careers Day, which has reached over 1,000 young people across the Liverpool City Region.
Rebecca also leads wider projects including Salt and Tar Music Weekender, part of a broader regeneration programme in North Liverpool, as well as international collaborations such as Sound City Korea and Sounds of the Xity in partnership with Modern Sky China.
What has your experience been navigating a career in music while also being a mother or caregiver?
I have been very fortunate to be supported by a wonderful company and team at Sound City. As a single mother of three young children aged 6 and under, I am very appreciative of a flexible work culture which I have cultivated with my team - being able to collect my three boys or stay at home if they are unwell at short notice has been essential and there is a lot of grace and understanding that goes with that. I have become better at time management - when you're a parent there are times you have to stop everything to give your full attention to your children and I have managed to become a lot more focused when I am working as a result.
What has been a meaningful or proud moment in your career since becoming a parent or caregiver?
My sons coming to Sound City and watching one of their favourite artists Mick Head from the balcony and another band the love, The Lathums in a tiny venue, being able to see live music in a venue with them at such young ages has been such a privelige.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers working in the music industry?
Raising children is a full time job in itself so don't be hard on yourself. Also remember that in the UK you can take unpaid leave if you need extra time off work to look after your children.
What changes would you like to see to better support mothers and caregivers in music?
More roles with flexible hours so that parents are not put off applying for jobs they could be brilliant at because the hours state say 9-6pm. More flexibility for artists on tour including backstage facilities for parents with children.
Rebecca Ayres on Instagram | LinkedIn | Sound City
Rhea Pasricha - Head of A&R (West Coast) at Prescription Songs
Rhea Pasricha is Head of A&R (West Coast) at Prescription Songs, where she oversees the LA A&R team, signs new talent, and drives creative opportunities. Across 12 years, she has signed or supported writers including Emily Warren, Kim Petras, LU KALA, Vaughn Oliver, bülow, David Pramik, KBeaZy, and Peter Fenn, and manages Steph Jones (co-writer of Sabrina Carpenter’s Grammy-winning, multi-platinum hits “Espresso” and “Nonsense”).
Her credits include major records such as “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” (Beyoncé), “Unholy” (Sam Smith & Kim Petras), “Don’t Start Now” and “New Rules” (Dua Lipa), “Don’t Let Me Down” (The Chainsmokers ft. Daya), “Monsters” (All Time Low ft. blackbear & Demi Lovato), and “Stargazing” (Myles Smith), alongside placements with Machine Gun Kelly, Martin Garrix, Selena Gomez, BLACKPINK, and Anitta. She has also driven international songwriter signings and placements across London, Sweden, Australia, and Korea.
Born in Gorakhpur, India, and raised in the U.S. (with time in Singapore), Rhea studied Music Production and Business at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute. She began her career at Atlantic Records (working with Pete Ganbarg and Aaron Bay-Schuck) before joining Prescription Songs. She is also committed to supporting women in music, leading initiatives such as all-female writing camps and masterclasses.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers working in the music industry?
There’s no perfect work-life balance. Most days, something will feel like it’s falling short. Either missing a meeting or missing a milestone. Give yourself grace and remember you’re doing your best. And hopefully one day, your kids will be proud to see that you chose to pursue work you truly love and perhaps feel inspired to do the same.
What changes would you like to see to better support mothers and caregivers in music?
Better parental and caregiver leave policies, along with stronger support overall. I admire how many European countries offer longer leave and, in some cases, clear pathways for career growth and promotions when parents return to work. Too often here, caregivers feel pressure to skip leave or come back early to prove their value. But to me, being a well-rounded person makes me a better executive.
Rhea Pasricha on Instagram | LinkedIn
Siân Rogers - Company Director & Music Supervisor SIREN
Siân Rogers is a multi-award winning producer & music supervisor and SIREN’s Company Director. Siân studied music from a young age; playing piano, flute and singing in choirs including NYCGB, The CBSO Chorus & The Bach Choir. Siân joined the SIREN team and quickly fell in love with the art of producing music to picture. She has worked on global advertising campaigns brands such as Nike, Coca Cola, BBC, Google and Samsung to name a few.
As well as a vast array of high-end advertising projects Siân has also been involved music supervision for feature films such as ‘Raging Grace’ which won the SXSW Narrative Feature Competition award and currently the upcoming Rebecca Hall staring sci-fi ‘The End of It’. Siân is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, sits on the Board for The UK & European Guild of Music Supervisors and is currently on the jury for the 2025 BAFTA Television Craft Awards, BIFA Craft and the British Arrows Craft Awards 50th Anniversary.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers working in the music industry?
Find your own harmony… People talk a lot about balance but I really like the idea of finding harmony because everything is not always going to be equally balanced. Things move and change and it’s about being present where it matters most and the other parts shifting and finding the harmonies around that.
Don’t worry too much about what others are doing. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of simply adhering to societal norms because of a lifetime of conditioning - find what works for your clan and go with it.
We talk about it a lot in the SIREN x AWFC podcast Equalised Sound but find your tribe. Having a community of people navigating the same thing is invaluable, peer support is everything.
What changes would you like to see to better support mothers and caregivers in music?
Much discussed topics like flexible working (as a genuine norm, rather than it feeling like a favour) along with affordable, accessible childcare are absolutely key.
I also believe that greater equality is paramount – the change I want to see most is genuinely improved parental leave. Leave that allows partners to step up as equal caregivers from the very beginning. When the load is more evenly shared at home women have a real chance to show up fully in their careers. It’s better for everyone involved.
I think spotlights like this one that shesaid.so are giving us are important so that mothers and caregivers in the industry are visible and signalling that ambition and caregiving aren’t mutually exclusive.
Siân Rogers on Instagram | LinkedIn | SIREN
Linda Ayoola - Global Head of Music at Apple Music
Linda Ayoola’s Accounting and Financial Management degree launched her career as a Senior Project Manager at the Royal Bank of Scotland. She led a global voting drive before pursing an expected career in music given the fact she always had one foot in the creative industry through her husband, Spoken Word Artist, Suli Breaks.
Transitioning from Africa Lead/Services Lead to Global Head of Music at Platoon (now Apple), Linda now oversees all genres with a global team and has nurtured stars like Ayra Starr and Amaarae. Rooted in her Nigerian heritage, she champions African music, organises TEDx events in Peckham, and has served as a magistrate.
What has your experience been navigating a career in music while also being a mother or caregiver?
My career and motherhood have really grown alongside each other. I joined Platoon very early on, so I experienced the intensity of helping build a company from its early days through to its evolution after becoming part of Apple, all while becoming a mother. I was actually the first person on our team to have a child, which meant we didn’t yet have a maternity policy in place. I remember working with the team to help put one together, which in hindsight was quite a meaningful moment. It reminded me that sometimes when you’re navigating something for the first time, you’re also quietly shaping the path for others.
Motherhood also made me much more intentional about how I structure my life. The music industry can easily become all-consuming, so I try to protect certain rhythms, things like office hours and family time, so I can be fully present in both spaces. I’m also very aware that none of this happens alone. I’m incredibly grateful for a supportive husband, family, and community around us. I really believe in the idea that it takes a village. My faith also keeps me grounded and reminds me that my identity and purpose are bigger than my career.
What advice would you give to parents or caregivers working in the music industry?
First, build your village early. Whether that’s family, friends, childcare, or supportive colleagues, trying to do everything alone isn’t sustainable.
Second, be intentional about your time. The music industry can easily blur boundaries, so creating structure, whether that’s office hours or protected family time, can make a huge difference.
And finally, recognise that becoming a parent can actually strengthen your leadership. It sharpens your ability to prioritise, builds empathy, and gives you a much deeper perspective on what really matters.
Linda Ayoola on LinkedIn | Instagram
Alexandra Greenberg
Alexandra Greenberg is the founder of Falcon Publicity and a recognised industry leader, named Billboard Power Publicist (2023), Touring Publicist of the Year nominee at the Pollstar Awards (2024), Industry Leader – Music PR by EDM.com (2025), and a Dance 100 Judge for NYLON House (2026).
Founded in 2019, Falcon Publicity navigates the continuous shift in public, media and industry relations in music, nightlife, entertainment, and culture. From major festival, venue and show launches from The Castro Theatre to Sphere Las Vegas for ILLENIUM and Anyma and specialty GRAMMY campaigns to album and single releases, Alexandra Greenberg brings to Falcon Publicity unparalleled experience. Her independent client roster features entertainment company Another Planet Entertainment and publishing company Prescription Songs as well as talents across various disciplines from John Carpenter and deadmau5 to ZHU and HAYLA just to name a few.
Prior to forming Falcon Publicity, Alexandra Greenberg served an 18-year tenure at MSO PR where she rose up the ranks from Account Executive to Senior Vice President. Greenberg also served as a publicist at innovative fashion & lifestyle agency People’s Revolution and began her career as publicity manager at former label Red Ant Entertainment. She is a graduate of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in public relations.
What changes would you like to see to better support mothers and caregivers in music?
Easy access to discrete, dedicated spaces for breastfeeding mothers is something I wish there was more of. I think people will find their co-workers in this period of their lives more present if they don't have to stress about pumping. This is a reality and it doesn't need to be that hard to figure out.
What has been a meaningful or proud moment in your career since becoming a parent or caregiver?
My longtime client deadmau5 headlined the Coliseum in Los Angeles with Kaskade as Kx5, a career defining moment for them and for me. I got to bring my son who was about 9 at the time to soundcheck and for him to see his mom at work around this massive show is a moment I'll never forget.