Adrienne Bailon-Houghton is a girls’ girl. The former Cheetah Girl will never forget her spots. “I love that the message of the Cheetah Girls was all about growl power, girl power, empowering women, and celebrating individuality and representation,” she says. “For a lot of people, it was the first time that there was Latina representation on Disney Channel. That completely changed the trajectory of my whole career because it really made me feel impassioned to continue to represent as a Latina. The thread of my whole career has been this women’s empowerment message and also Latino representation.”
Her presence was indescribably impactful to fans. “I think that the greatest compliment I get is when somebody comes up to me and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, you were the first person I saw on television that I said, ‘Mom, she looks like me. She has curly hair like me, or she talks like me, or I can relate to her in some way, shape, or form, or she’s proud to be Latina. That’s so cool.’ That means the most to me.”
Parenthood has provided a new profound richness to existence. “Now that I have a son, I think about how they view themselves in the world and how important it’s for them to see positive role models of themselves. I think about that every single day.” Adrienne is teaming up with Life Cereal to soothe the woes of many a frazzled parent. “With social media, one of the things that we can tend to struggle with is comparing how we raise our kids, which is why I was actually so excited to be part of this Life Cereal campaign about chaotic mornings. I created a reel showing the difference between how life as a parent can look on social media versus what it looks like in real life. And I loved that Life Cereal’s slogan was, ‘It’s not chaos, it’s just Life.’ They actually did an entire ‘Mikey’d Up’ documentary that you can see on their YouTube channel.”
Her partnership represents a full circle moment. “Funnily enough, it was my husband’s favorite cereal growing up. He then put me onto it, and now we’re raising our son on Life Cereal.” Half (46%) of participants responded that they go for faster and easy-to-prep foods in the morning. Life can be messy, but also sweet. “The campaign they did had such a great perspective. They did a study on how parents view the mornings getting their children ready versus how the kids view it. The parents say that it’s pure chaos. And they sometimes are disappointed in themselves as it wasn’t the way they planned it to be, or it didn’t look the way other people’s mornings look so perfect with their children or how social media may make it seem.” The study found that 71% of parents viewed breakfast as the most rushed meal of the day.
Meanwhile, other minds view hectic fervor with wonder. The majority of children ages 10 and under used positive words to describe their mornings like “happy,” “fun” and “exciting.” Adrienne gushes, “The children said, ‘Our mornings are magic. It’s fun. It’s wild, but it’s fun.’ They viewed it as some of the most memorable moments of their childhood. When the parents saw how their children viewed mornings, some of them even got emotional, myself included, because you’re like, ‘Man, we’re doing the best that we can and it is the best for our children.’ It’s still special and meaningful. And it also shows kids that even in the midst of the hustle and bustle and the chaos to enjoy life, to love life and even its wild moments. So I thought that that was so awesome, and to be a part of that has been really special.”
The results speak for themselves: nearly 2 in 3 (64%) parents were more confident in their parenting after ‘mic-ing’ up their kids and seeing firsthand how they view mornings. Additionally, a third of parents reported that they were inspired to add more fun and play to their morning routines based on what they heard from their child.
In other life news, Adrienne is returning to the big screen! “It’s my first film in a really long time. We got to shoot in Australia. I had never been before, and that was really cool. I’m a huge fan of our director, Adrian Powers, and I’m also a huge fan of Roku. So I think that all of that coming together made it an easy yes. It’s about a woman named Lauren Navarro who runs a food marketing agency. She represents this pasta sauce that is number one her biggest client. Second of all, it actually holds a very special place in her heart because it was the first meal she ever learned how to cook with her family – making spaghetti at home. Once her parents divorced, it continued to be the only thing that they did still together as a family. The owner of the company ends up passing away, and I have to go to Italy to find the new heir of the whole Russo pasta brand. And then you have to see what happens from there.”
As always, music is the center of her joy. “I’m thrilled by the music that I’m making with my husband and his group called Israel & New Breed. We just won a Dove Award, which was super exciting. We got to perform at the Dove Awards and next up is the Latin Grammys. We are nominated for Beth Christian Latin Album of the year.” Life always knows how to bring on the next excitement!
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Adrienne Bailon-Houghton Rolls with the Chaos of Life. Photo Credit: Life Cereal.
