Lesley Billingsley, a former special needs teacher, model/actor and first generation Canadian of Guyanese parentage, is unapologetically a full-time mother by choice and an advocate for mothers to be themselves and not who others want them to be, as well as for minority communities to rise above their circumstances.
“A lot of people, including family members with no ill intention, ask me if I’m ever going back to work or if I’m going to get a ‘real’ job. Generally, society doesn’t consider parenting as a real job. Parenting is something they think should be passed on to a daycare provider or babysitter and mothers with some professional skills and training should go get a real job,” she told Stabroek Weekend in an interview from her home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.