CJ'ers Celebrate Mother's Day 2021

Mother's Day was yesterday, Sunday, May 9th! In this past year of distance, one thing that's been made even more apparent is that the special people in our lives should be cherished and celebrated. In that spirit, we asked CJ employees from across our global offices to share stories about their moms and motherhood.

Jillian Marble, Client Development Director, Westborough, MA

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: I was volunteering at my oldest daughter's Field Day, when a classmate of hers said, "Hey Grace, is that your dad?" My daughter confidently walked up to him and said, "No, that's mom. Actually, that's one of my moms. I have two of them. Families are all different and that's awesome." He smiled at the two of us and we all went off to play kickball together.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? My wife and I split the weekend so we each get a day to be properly spoiled!

Shreya Balaji, Client Partnership Manager, Bengaluru, India

Tell us about your mom: My mom is one of the strongest women I’ve ever met and she's a huge inspiration for me in terms of everything—self-confidence, hard work, passion, and so much more! She has never under-delivered on anything she's taken up and can do everything from painting to event management if she puts her mind to it.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? I've ordered flowers and a cute little photo frame with our pictures to be delivered on Mother’s Day and plan to give her a truly deserved day of absolutely no work at home!

Deanna Leganski, Sr. Client Development Manager, Chicago, IL

Tell us about your mom: My mom is the ultimate hype woman for her children. It doesn't matter what our family, the community, or the world is doing, she's focused on helping us create the life of our dreams. Even if it hurts, like supporting her daughter in moving across the country to pursue adventure and love, she's always 100% supportive. She's my best friend and deserves all the love this Mother's Day.

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: My mom bought a leash for her cat but has yet to take the cat (Queen Clarisse Renaldi, Queen of Genovia) on a walk.

Ed Gaier, Lead Client Integration Engineer, Westborough, MA

Tell us about your mom: My mom has incredible depths for love and care, but she's also made of iron. As I grew into adulthood and started my own family, I'm amazed with how much she overcame during her lifetime and how resilient she is. She immigrated to this country as a kid, was the first of her family to break with tradition and marry an American (a trend her siblings followed) and carried so much responsibility raising two boys. I still don't know how she did all this.

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: She doesn't remember this, but when I was in college, my mom told me that no matter what job or field I go into, there is going to be someone else in the world that does it better and that I'd have to work hard to just to compete. It was the dose of humility I didn't realize I needed at the time.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? Likely ordering gifts online. Did you know that CJ's network has a lot of brands to help you with Mother's Day gift ideas?! #shamelessplug

Victoria Pace, Client Development Manager, Chicago, IL

Tell us about your mom: My mom is the most incredible woman! She taught me to advocate for myself and never settle for less than I deserve. She exemplifies a strong, independent, and vibrant woman that we can all learn a thing or two from. She is my rock and I am so lucky she is my mom!

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: Getting matching tattoos a few years ago! After months of convincing and brainstorming, my mom—in true mom fashion—finally responded "ok" to my text asking to get olive branch tattoos. To always remember that the power of peace is enough to drown out a world full of noise. This is a memory I will never forget!

What's something about your relationship with your mom that you weren't expecting? How many times I would FaceTime my mom in one day. She always answers and listens, honestly, if I were her, I might ignore my calls more often.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? I will be headed home to celebrate! Pedicures are definitely on the agenda.

Grace Saccoccio, Client Support Specialist, Westborough, MA

Tell us about your mom: My mother, Beth, has always been a role model and overall "cool mom". She's a badass who raised two kids, the CFO of an ASL interpreting company, has completed several century (100 mile) bike rides, taken flying lessons, was the first female drummer at her high school in the 70s, bought her own house, can fix most things, and bakes an amazing lemon cake. This is all while being a great supporter and cheerleader for everyone in her life. My sister Caroline and I owe her so much.

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: To this day, my mom's ability to find stuff I've lost is like magic to me!

Sophie Hartley, Sr. Client Support Specialist, Santa Barbara, CA

Tell us about your mom: My mom Danielle is smart, quick-witted, thoughtful, the best bargain shopper I know, and ridiculously good at card games. She is an extremely strong woman and has been the glue for our family for as long as I can remember. She supported my siblings and me on her own for more than half of our lives now, made countless sacrifices for us, and really shaped us into the people that we are now—myself, a college graduate who enjoys the learnings and challenges of her job; my older brother, an attorney; and my little sister, already a licensed business owner under the age of 24. None of our successes would have been possible without her supporting us to become the independent and loving people that we are!

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: I'm grateful for all of the laughs with my mom, but recently while working from home during quarantine, I've been able to spend longer periods of time with her individually. One day, I was focused on work and she was singing Luke Combs' song about quarantine called "Six Feet Apart." She literally knew every lyric, but the song must have come out like a week before or less. I was thinking to myself, wow, how could she know every single word? Normally, she knows the words but might mumble some parts quietly. Well, turns out, she had the lyrics up on her computer and was waiting for me to notice she was reading them during her performance of the song. I turned around, so surprised that she knew all the words, saw the lyrics, and then we both burst into laughter because she was clearly trying to prank me!

Hunter Lassiter, Client Partnerships Manager, Chicago, IL

Tell us about your mom: Some people say that politicians are their heroes, some say professional athletes, celebrities, or philanthropists; my biggest hero is my mom. I know very few people who have been through as much adversity as my mom, and through it all, she sacrificed so much in order for her children to be happy. She's shown me what it means to be fearless, to live each day like it's your last, and what it takes to face hardships head-on. Though we've had our ups and downs, (as all people do with their parents) I've never once doubted her love and support. Knowing that she always has my back and that I have a safety net for support has enabled me to take so many risks in life that not everyone is fortunate enough to take. She's a role model, a free spirit, and someone who has touched the lives of so many people. I love you, Mom!

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: One of my favorite memories with my mom, which in retrospect is so random, is when she would draw different pictures on my Toaster Strudel for breakfast some mornings. I still think about that occasionally and it definitely brings a feeling of nostalgia. I'm not quite sure how she could draw such detailed pictures with icing on a small Toaster Strudel, but she did! It was always something that I would look forward to as a kid and was such a great way to start the day. It's wild how something so small and simple as that made such an impact on me growing up to the point where I still occasionally think about it.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? This year we're celebrating Mother's Day by spending the weekend at our lake house! It's been a long time since I've been home for Mother's Day, so the flexibility of being able to work remotely, combined with me and my family being fully vaccinated now, allowed me to fly home to North Carolina and spend a couple of weeks with her and my family.

Maddie Craig, Client Partnership Associate, Westborough, MA

Tell us about your mom: My mom is my hero, which I know is so cheesy, but she really is. In fact, my mom is the reason why I wanted to go into marketing. She has been in the industry for years, and when I was going into fourth grade, she decided to start her own marketing consulting business in order to stay at home more often so she could see us more. It was such a courageous step to take and I am truly grateful to have spent so much time with her since she worked from home. Not only that, but she has been extremely successful in her business and just celebrated her 13-year anniversary.

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: One of my favorite funny quotes of my mom was when she accidentally spilled some wine into her water and she just shrugged and said, "Jesus said it was okay" lol.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? We don't have concrete plans, but my sisters and I will likely go to my parents’ house (we're all vaccinated) and we’ll do whatever my mom wants to do. This will likely include going on walks, having really good food, and making her some Italian cookies as she isn't a big cake fan.

Morgan Vyzral, Client Partnerships Manager, Chicago, IL

Tell us about your mom: My mom is my biggest inspiration and role model in life. She is not only an amazing mother but also works very hard in her career and continues to succeed every single day. Thank you for being my biggest supporter and always making sure I am early to every meeting/appointment haha!

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: My favorite mom moment was going to New York City when I was eight years old for Take Your Daughter to Work Day and spending the entire day at Revlon Cosmetics headquarters together!

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? My mom and I will be flying down to Dallas to surprise my brother and spend the holiday weekend together!

Neelima Bhujel, Sr. Client Services Analyst, Bangalore, India

Tell us about your mom: My mom is the strongest person that I know. She is the wonder woman of our home. She loves to cook and try out different recipes which has definitely been passed on to me and my sister. She is beautiful, kind, and very supportive.

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: Recently we shared our WFH in pajamas stories on Instagram for Pajama Day at work, so I was trying to bring out my creativity and was hanging the phone around the house to get the right angle. At last, my mom came to the rescue and did the photo shoot for me 😆. She climbed on the bed, held the phone at an overhead angle. We did this thing for almost 15 – 20 minutes! I really had so much fun doing this with my mom. Also, one funny story that I recall is my mom getting angry—that's the cutest thing ever. She was unwell and we were making sure that she rests and for some reason she got angry. We got busy with something else for just a minute and the next thing we knew is she was in the kitchen preparing Rasgulla (an Indian sweet).

What's something about your relationship with your mom that you weren't expecting? I was brought up in a conservative and strict environment. So, while I grew up, I never shared anything with my mom. However, things gradually changed, and I could see the fun side where my mom was all in to explore new things. That definitely filled that gap and help me build a connection with her. I never expected to witness that side of her!

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? In India due to COVID, there is lockdown and a lot of uncertainty, so we can't go out. Since my mom's birthday is close to Mother's Day, my sister and I are planning to have a nice family dinner with homemade cake and all of her favorite dishes. We are all about FOOD!

Shelby Petrie, Client Partnerships Associate, Westborough, MA

Tell us about your mom: My mom is one of the most determined, resilient, and innovative people I know. She's a mother to four outstanding children and three very rambunctious dogs. Growing up, I watched my mom go above and beyond working as a nurse at night and a PTA woman extraordinaire during the day. She's crafty and charismatic and a force to be reckoned with.

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: About a year ago when the pandemic first hit, my girlfriend and I decided to drive from Massachusetts to Georgia to visit my family. What was supposed to be a one-week visit, quickly turned into a five-week visit. While we were there, my mom had the two of us plus my three other siblings all gather in the living room where she then proceeded to create and facilitate an "at-home" spa experience. She steamed our faces, rubbed our temples, and played mediation music in the background. My mom is always thinking of ways to bring us all together and make sure we're having fun. This is just one example out of many that I've had the enjoyment of experiencing.

Liane Soto, Client Partnerships Associate, Chicago, IL

Share your favorite funny or interesting mom-moments: I'm an only child, so growing up my mom would say she HAD to bug me because I had no siblings to do so. If you saw my mom walking down the street, you'd think she's the most serious person you'd ever meet. Frankly, it's quite the opposite.

Growing up with my mom, she was always (and continues to) get up to many antics—things that would take too long to explain, haha. Sometimes I would get my food ready and go back to the kitchen because I forgot something. By the time I got back my food was gone because she had hidden it.

Other times, when putting things away after getting home with groceries, we would have a toilet paper roll fight in the living room. Other times, it's involved marshmallows or popcorn! She'll sing badly in the car on purpose or she'll crank it up loud when we rock out to oldies. She'll run around the house and play hide-and-seek with the dogs. She'll lay on top of me when she's bored or I've been working too much and forces me to take a break. All of that and so much more.

Overall, my Mom is beautiful, strong, intelligent, caring, and MOST certainly fun. We don't always get along, of course. No one ever gets along with someone ALL of the time. However, at the end of the day, no matter how many times we argue or butt heads, she's mine and I wouldn't trade her for the world. I can't imagine my life without her.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day this year? I know my mother's tastes very well and one night she showed me a pair of shoes she loved but sadly couldn't find in her size. She knew exactly what I was thinking and forbade me from trying to find them, but I couldn't help myself. I searched all over and ordered them the moment I found them. She's worth it.

She also LOVES french toast. So this year, my Dad and I will take her to a popular brioche restaurant for an amazing breakfast worthy of someone as amazing as she is. Little does she know she'll be wearing her new stylish shoes to boot!