Cynthia Bailey, the supermodel and Real House Wife of Atlanta, is gorgeous, savvy and very hard working. With such a successful career under her belt, we needed to get some of her tips on life, career and beauty. In this first of a three part interview, Cynthia gives us some tips on how to succeed in life. and if you need a few parenting tips for handling teenagers who talk back, we have you covered!
We are thrilled to have Cynthia Bailey join us on The Global Townhall. Interview with Maddie and Gabrielle Reilly.
Maddie Wheat: How hard have you worked to get where you are?
Cynthia Bailey: Oh gosh! Very hard! I am the hardest working woman in the world. I don't think there has been a time in my life when I haven't worked. I have a great work ethic. And I think it's the only way to get where you want to go. I am really proud of myself particularly this season on "Real Housewives" because you get to see all I've been doing with my school, the modeling business, now we're in the pageant business.
I feel like I do a lot. Sometimes it's hard to balance it all. I'm a Mom, I do have a 13-year old and I have a husband and they all need me. I just can't work all the time--I have to come home and cook, have to do homework and to move with my man. I have to find that balance to be everywhere I need to be and to be with everyone. And now I'm on "Real Housewives of Atlanta" so we actually do that as well, it takes up a lot of my schedule. I am busy and I'm just not one of those people who tries to make everything look easy. Because it's not. It's a lot of work and I'm always tired and if you ever see me on a plane, I'm the one with a blanket on top of my head, knocked out cold. I sleep every opportunity that I can, I try to take a lot of vitamins and B12 shots and whatever I can to keep my energy up, to stay focused and keep my eye on the prize.
Maddie Wheat: What are some of the most important lesson you've learned from your career and the experiences you've been through?
Cynthia Bailey: I think the most important is "Go For It." I've always been the type of person who will just go for it. I'm the first person in my family to come from a small town in Alabama to New York and began a modeling career. I don't think there's anything wrong with failing. I don't look at failure as failure. I look at it as "I didn't do it right." And then if I do it again and fail again, then I need to find another way to do it. Only quitters give up. Only people who quit don't have success in life.
Winners? I'm around a lot of winners and winners never quit. And I think that's the kind of the personality that I have. And I think some people are so afraid of failure that they don't try things. That's the worst mistake you can make. It's o.k. to fail. You just have to get up, dust yourself off and try again. You keep trying until you have success.
Maddie Wheat: Thank you for letting me ask you some questions.
Cynthia Bailey: And how old are you Maddie?
Maddie Wheat: I'm fifteen.
Cynthia Bailey: That's amazing. I was still playing with my Barbie dolls when I was fifteen. I never would have been on the phone talking with a celebrity about anything, I would have been too shy.
Maddie Wheat: Well thank you so much, I really enjoyed talking with you!
Gabrielle Reilly: Thanks very much, Cynthia. Maddie is really drawn to you. She hardly ever says, "Mum I really want to interview so-and-so."
Cynthia Bailey: Fantastic, I appreciate that. Your daughter sounds just amazing.
Gabrielle Reilly: She's so fiercely lovely, just like you. That kid is just fierce and lovely and sweet.
Cynthia Bailey: I love that. Where do you guys live?
Gabrielle Reilly: In Kansas City. But we travel all around the world. She's been fortunate enough to be invited in the House of Lords with Harry and William strolling by, meet many fascinating people and go on many extraordinary adventures. We travel all around the world together with my son also.
Cynthia Bailey: Let us know if in your travels you are ever in Atlanta. I would love to meet your daughter.
Gabrielle Reilly: That would be great. She's gorgeous and very smart. She's earned President Obama's Excellence in Education for the top 1% of grades in the country. And a really nice kid, we've never had a real fight.
Cynthia Bailey: Can I send my daughter to You?
Gabrielle Reilly: (Laugh) How old is she?
Cynthia Bailey: Noelle is 13. I would like her to live with you for a couple years. Seems like you've got this Mom thing figured out!
Gabrielle Reilly: The biggest recommendation I can make to you is around 12 or 13 is the age when they really start talking back. So hardline them on how they treat you and they will treat you well. They need to have some boundaries placed as to what they give back to you. For example, if they don't talk respectfully say something like " gee I'm sorry, if you talk to me like this I can't guarantee you're going to talk to your friends properly so you better hand your phone and iPod over for 4 hours." Or if it gets bad, ban them from a social event (but not a milestone event or anything because it's important they have a great social life that you have control over so they don't rebel.)
Cynthia Bailey: I can be a softie sometime. But I am going to start putting my foot down.
Gabrielle Reilly: You can be kind to them the majority of time if they know that you are going to savage them when they're not behaving appropriately. Then they stay within the boundaries. That old adage "you teach people how to treat you" is no different for a teenager. I'm sure you are a great Mom and I'm just preaching to the choir. I couldn't imagine that you would take too much.
Gabrielle Reilly: And so, how do you juggle being a Mom and having a career. Do you have any favorite time-saving tips?
Cynthia Bailey: Well, it's hard! It's really hard. I always struggle to keep that balance and do all those things because I am a Mom first and foremost. I'm also a wife and my husband needs me, my kid needs me. My career is very important to me so I definitely am very focused on my abilities and all the other things that I have going on as well. And I do need time to do my own thing, even if it's just to go and get a massage. I definitely need that balance to keep it all together. I never want to give the impression that it's easy, because it's not. There's always a lot to do.
Gabrielle Reilly: Amen!
Cynthia Bailey: I don't even like people that make it all look easy. Stop making it look easy!
Gabrielle Reilly: [Laughs.] Tell me what to do? I'm exhausted!
Cynthia Bailey: There's no way you can grow an empire and then take care of your husband every night, and do homework with your kid. It's a lot to do all that!
Gabrielle Reilly: Well thanks so much Cynthia. We can't wait for our audience to be able to read our interviews on your career and beauty tips.
Cynthia Bailey: Well thank you so much!
