The Influence Asia awards aims to become Asia’s largest Social Media award giving body which honors top influencers in the fields of health and fitness, parenting, food, lifestyle, beauty, fashion, as well as Youtube.
We at theAsianparent Philippines were so thrilled to hear that one of our distinguished Parent Advisory Board members, Amanda Griffin-Jacob, won the prestigious 2015 Influence Asia Award for Parenting.
As part of theAsianparent family, Amanda shares her insights and experiences to enrich what we stand for and to help us reach and influence many parents to raise happy, healthy, and confident kids.
Let’s take a look back at our Digital Mom Report event last October 2015 where we caught up with Amanda in a fun, rapid-fire Q&A portion where she had to answer questions in less than 20 seconds.
What’s your secret?
(laughs) There’s no secret. It’s really important to take care of myself. There are no shortcuts. It’s hard work. I have to watch what I eat. Take care of myself in terms of exercise. Just be happy. For me…you can see how I feel on my face. When I’m stressed or anxious you see it on my face. So that’s the secret, happiness and no stress–which is hard with three kids, sometimes.
How do you define yourself? Do you miss working full time?
I’m so fortunate. I consider myself a stay-at-home mom, predominantly. I’m different because I commute from Singapore to Manila. In Singapore, I’m ‘full time mommy’; I don’t have much help there. I’m the driver, yaya, cook. It’s really full on and I really enjoy that aspect. When I come here, I’m able to work.
Since you’re always shuttling back and forth, where is home now?
The Philippines will always be home for me. But I have to say that Singapore is where we spend most of our time because my husband works there.
Amanda’s website Glam-o-mama is a pioneering mommy website in the PhilippinesAmanda’s website Glam-o-mama is a pioneering mommy website in the Philippines
So, let’s talk about you being a vegan mom. Do you ever have meat cravings?
No. (laughs) I gave up meat eight years ago and my children are vegetarian. I always get asked ‘is it hard to that?’ and really quickly I’ll say, ‘no’ because children–babies–don’t have any control over what they eat. It’s all up to you so that’s your responsibility. It’s easy to make them eat healthy because you’re the one in charge.
How do you ensure proper nutrition given the limits of the diet?
There’s a lot of research that goes into it. I really had to know what I was doing because one of my fears was that I would be inadvertently leaving out nutrients that they needed. They’re vegetarian, not vegan. I researched as much as I could what vitamins and nutrients they don’t necessarily get as vegetarians and implement that into their diet.
Last question: What’s the one thing Filipino moms can learn from you?
I’m not an expert. I’m still learning. I love learning. Every day I learn something new from my children. I’m only as old as a parent as my eldest child, which is 5. So I’m continuously learning. I learn from other moms, too, so whatever they can learn from me, I learn from them. It’s like a joint sort of collaboration which is why I love theAsianparent.
Congratulations, Amanda! Keep inspiring other parents with your positivity!
Read: Digital Mom Report 2015
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