Hot mama Tia Mowry covers the latest issue of Vibe Vixen. With the success of her first book, ‘Oh, Baby!’, the renewal of her and twin sister Tamera Mowry‘s reality show, ‘Tia & Tamera’, Tia has her sights set on being a business mogul. She says, “I’m the type of woman that looks up to Kimora and women that do it all.”
Mowry may have just relinquished her starring role on BET’s ‘The Game’ but, not to worry, Ms. Mowry has been a very busy woman. She chats with Vibe Vixen on all her upcoming projects, how she really feels about her departure from ‘The Game’ and its future, balancing her personal and professional life and so much more. Here’s what she had to say.
VIBE VIXEN: Congrats on your upcoming book! How did you venture into writing and this book deal?
TIA MOWRY: I’ve always wanted to write. Actually in college that’s what I kind of excelled at. I loved just putting all my thoughts together and jotting them down and basically doing research and all that kind of stuff, and I always wanted to write books. You know how you always had a vision? Well writing a book was always my vision, I just didn’t know what kind of book I was going to write.
VV: Were you surprised that your first book ended up being a baby book?
TMH: No. My mom will tell you, my sister will tell you, my brothers will tell you, I always wanted to be a mom. I love babies, I love little kids and I loved being able to talk about my pregnancy. And the experience, I loved the whole process about being a mom. I annoy my sister because she is pregnant now. Like I will call her up and be like, ‘Tamera, you have to remember this’ then she will be like, ‘Tia, every pregnancy is different.’
Sometimes I have to try to not overly override her with tips because I talk about those women in my book. Like, everyone will come up to you and tell you things you have to do but every pregnancy is different. My sister she was so sweet last night; she texted me that she was [imitates Tamera] ‘feeling so queasy and I’m going to throw up.’ I was like, ‘Okay Tamera, just suck on a lemon.’ Then also she actually read a chapter in my book on what you need for a nursery and she found those tips very helpful, so I’m thankful I can help someone with things that I had to find out on my own. And I just love helping my sister out and giving her tips! I’m just so happy that she is pregnant.
What was your favorite part about the entire writing process?
Two things: my whole process and I’m so happy I wrote it this way. I wrote it from a journalistic perspective, so I was jotting down stuff in my journal during my pregnancy because I wanted it to be authentic and from a realistic perspective and approach. You know it’s funny how you forget. In those 10 months, you really do forget your experiences—you remember them but it’s hard to relive them, so I really liked that part [of reliving them]. I also liked the tone of it. It’s how you would talk to your best friend or your girlfriend, very conversational. When you’re a mom you have so much information in your head and you want to try and figure out as much information as you can, but I didn’t want to seem like I was teaching a course in college; I didn’t want it to be like that. I wanted it to be a fun, crazy funny conversational piece.
Favorite part of the book?
My favorite chapter in the book I say would have to be the “Mama Style” chapter, because I felt that there are a lot of pregnancy books out there but a lot of them didn’t delve into style and fashion when being pregnant. My book talks about this: where you can buy different pieces online and price ranges and different kind of accessories style and informing women to embrace their body. Even with my sister, we were having a meeting the other day and she was wearing all black, and we as pregnant women tend to do that. We’re putting on a few pounds and you’re getting used to it, so it’s kind of like embrace that belly! It’s so beautiful, you won’t have it forever, put some bright beautiful color on that belly; that’s kind of what I talked about in my book.
How has your style changed since having the baby?
It’s so funny you asked me that because Tamera just told me, ‘Your style has really changed.’ My whole thing with being a mom is that you don’t want to lose your identity; you don’t want to lose who you were before. You can still be that hot, sexy mom. If anything, I like to think I’m wearing heels even more. I didn’t wear them that much until the end [of the pregnancy], so I’m now all about wearing heels. I wear a lot of vibrant, flowy, colorful clothes, before it was edgy. I’m a mom now, but when I go out, I don’t forget who I was before.
Speaking of before, you were a child star. How would you feel if Cree wanted to be in the show biz?
You know, it’s inevitable because his dad’s an actor, his mom’s an actress. I’m just telling you, I just looked at some pictures where we just did this photoshoot and he is just smiling and cheesing away in this picture [laughs], it’s great! So to deprive him of something that he really wants to do would just hurt my heart, but he has one ultimatum: he has to go to college, finish and have an education, then after that he can do whatever he wants.
We’ll see more of him on the show, but what else can fans expect on this upcoming season of Tia and Tamera?
Well, what they will see different this season is how I will balance being a working mom, and I think this is what a lot of women experience. Will you always feel guilty? Yes. Will that guilt ever go away? No. It is so hard because I really find myself crying sometimes because I’m away from my son but then I have to change my perspective some. This is actually making me a better mom, because I am providing him with the best, so it’s very bittersweet; you will see me doing that.
With Tamera, you will see her kind of struggling with where her home is because her husband’s family is up in Napa and he lives in Napa. You can tell that her husband’s heart is in Napa, but where is Tamera’s? It’s something that I think a lot of women can relate to when you first get married. You don’t really see men doing much sacrificing for their wives and their jobs on where they want to live; it’s always the women that give up their lives. But with my sister, you can see the struggle and juggle.
Now, Tia and Tamera is in a totally different category of reality shows such as Basketball Wives. How do you view those type of reality shows?
I haven’t seen Basketball Wives, but I heard about it. I am a huge fan of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, but I just think that Tamera and I have a different take on these reality shows. I remember when we were pitching our show to different networks, many of them didn’t want to pick it up because they felt like we didn’t have enough conflict. My sister and I were like, ‘We aren’t those type of people,’ so it’s all about us being positive role models. People always say it’s nice to see fresh, vibrant, funny women on television, and that’s my sister and I. That’s how our career has always been and we knew we weren’t going to change who we are for the show business, so it’s kind of something that has been accepted.
How do you feel about the reactions to The Game this season and the changes that have been made?
I basically agree with them. I do think the show is different and it’s taken a new turn, but it’s not a new show. It is more from a drama perspective now and these last few episodes have been amazing. It’s almost like you are watching a mini-movie, and for the fans that watched it from the beginning, they can’t adjust well to the difference, but new fans love it because it’s a real show. I have to appreciate that these characters are real and they come from a realistic perspective. We talk about topics that a lot of people don’t want to talk about.
So what would you tell the old fans now in order for them to get on board?
Just basically get on board because these are the same characters, same writers, same producers, the only difference is that it is shot differently.
Awhile back we got to see you in a different light when you appeared in Pleasure P’s “Under” video. Can you see yourself doing more music videos?
Oh my god! If Usher asks me to be his leading lady, I would def do it. [Laughs] I say that because I love his music and I’m a huge fan of his. I love Usher’s new video to “Climax.” I think the reason I say Usher because he would try to take it from an actor’s perspective, so I think I would be a great fit.
Looking beyond the vids, what’s next?
I want to be an entrepreneur especially in the baby world and with my sister. I want to build a brand from scratch and focus on it, whether it’s building a television show for positive women of color, movies and building a brand with my ‘mommy-hood.’ I would love to do more books and continue to come out with products that inspire women to be amazing moms and give them amazing advice. But I also love to act. I like to give myself a challenge. A lot of people didn’t think I could be this character on The Game coming from Sister Sister, so now I would like to even raise that bar and try to book a drama, whether that’s me being a doctor, lawyer or cop, so that’s my next thing that I definitely want to do. I want to continue to build my brand, continue to act and build my brand as a unit with my sister.
