Known for her beauty and longstanding career as an actress and model, Garcelle Beauvais epitomizes what it means to be a CEO mom. She continues to reinvent herself, maintaining a career that is as diverse as her talents.

One can’t discuss career and motherhood without talking balance and what it means to do it all. When CEOMOM interviewed Garcelle, actress, television personality, and game show host, about balancing family life and career, she emphasized the need for women, especially moms, to take care of ourselves first, allowing us to be better moms. CEOMOM couldn’t agree more.

On July 7, 2017, you can see Garcelle in the latest Spider-Man installment, Spider-Man Homecoming. Although Garcelle couldn’t tell us much about her upcoming role in Spider-Man, we were excited to talk to her about her many other roles in shows like Hollywood Today Live and Window Warriors, as well as her most important role, mom to 3 sons, Oliver, 25 and twins, Jax and Jaid.

Read this excerpt from our interview with Garcelle from the January 2017 issue. Subscribe to read the full feature.

I once heard a working mom say that women should not strive for balance, because it is an unrealistic goal. They should instead seek counterbalance. Do you agree? What does balance mean to you?
Balance to me is at the end of the night when you lay down you feel like you did a good job at work and a good job with your kids. There are days I look back and think, “I did a good job.” There are other days I go to bed and I think, “I can’t do this.”

Whether it’s balance or counterbalance, how do you achieve either without compromising your role as a mom?
I think everything now is compromise. For me, it’s about my kids knowing that they are priority number 1. As an actor, getting a job out of town requires me to go away. I let my kids know that I am doing it for the family. I also need them to know that I have to take care of myself and fill my soul with things that make me happy.

I don’t want my kids to have unrealistic views of life. They are going to be unbalanced thinking that the world revolves around them.