Show Notes
TikTokker Mama Seebz on how she reacted when her daughter Aya (@notjustaya) told her she wanted to be a famous content creator. Seba got frustrated with her daughter Aya during lockdown – she was always scrolling on her phone. But then Aya and her brother suggested she join them, and she realised it was an opportunity to connect with her children on their terms. They started filming videos together: dances, cultural celebrations, and the “Arabic word challenge”, where Seba tests her children on their Arabic vocabulary. Now their videos get millions of views on social media, and Aya has moved to Sydney to work as a content creator full time. Mama Seebz shares a letter to Aya telling her to take pride in what she’s achieved. She tells host Namulanta Kombo about her own journey to New Zealand from Iraq, how they know which videos are going to be a hit, and how they deal with online hate.
Plus, she has some advice for other parents on how to react when their kids say they want a career as a content creator. Dear Daughter is an award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service about love, life, family, and raising children. It is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo, a mother on a quest to create a ‘handbook to life’ for her daughter, through the advice of parents from all over the world. Each episode, a guest reads a letter they’ve written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with the advice, life lessons, and personal stories they’d like to pass on. Expect extraordinary true stories, inspirational advice for parents, and moving accounts of families, relationships and raising daughters. In the current season, Dear Daughter: Stars, Namulanta hears from parents who are all ‘stars’ in their field. Why did TikTokker Mama Seebz go from telling her children to stop scrolling to becoming a content creator herself? What can The Receipts podcaster Audrey Akande teach her daughter about friendship break-ups? And why exactly did Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh lurk around building sites while pregnant? For more episodes like this one, search for ‘Dear Daughter’ wherever you get your BBC podcasts or go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter.
More from Dear Daughter
What shapes a father’s determination to educate his daughters? In South Sudan, Marco tells Namulanta Kombo why making sure his four daughters go to school matters so deeply to him, carrying forward a value passed down by his own mother, who even sold precious family cows to keep him in school. To find out more about Dear Daughter, to take part, or read our privacy notice, please go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter. Or you can contact the team via WhatsApp on +44 800 030 4404.
Fleur lives in Singapore. She tells Namulanta Kombo about adopting her daughter after years of fertility treatment, and the moment her life changed with just 24 hours’ notice. Now, the family celebrate her adoption day each year. To find out more about Dear Daughter, to take part, or read our privacy notice, please go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter. Or you can contact the team via WhatsApp on +44 800 030 4404.
From Jakarta, Indonesia, Yasmina writes a ‘Dear Son’ letter to her teenage son about growing up in a changing world. Yasmina set up a grassroots climate project for families after becoming increasingly worried about the impact of environmental change on her children. She tells Namulanta Kombo about her own childhood, why she wants her children to understand the environment, and the everyday choices her family makes at home. To find out more about Dear Daughter, to take part, or read our privacy notice, please go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter. Or you can contact the team via WhatsApp on +44 800 030 4404.
Skiers Sarah and Lasse made history as the first mother and son duo to compete at the same Winter Olympic Games, representing the Mexican team together. For Sarah, it was never just about medals. In this ‘Dear Son’ episode, she tells Namulanta Kombo about everything that went into getting there: the travel, the long training sessions, the sacrifices, and the determination it took to keep going as both an athlete and a mum. She also opens up about what it was like juggling those two roles, raising Lasse while still chasing her own dreams, and the balance between supporting him, encouraging him to aim high, and knowing when to step back and let him find his own path. To find out more about Dear Daughter, to take part, or read our privacy notice, please go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter. Or you can contact the team via WhatsApp on +44 800 030 4404.
As a child, Yeiwah was forced to leave Sierra Leone, growing up far from the country she has always called home. Years later, after becoming a mother, she returns with her young daughter, determined to give her what she never had: confidence and a strong sense of self. Yeiwah tells Namulanta Kombo that being bullied as a child left a lasting impact, making her fiercely protective of her daughter’s self-belief. She leads by example, embracing joy through singing and dancing, even when it leaves her daughter cringing with embarrassment, in the hope of raising a child who is unafraid to be seen. To find out more about Dear Daughter, to take part, or read our privacy notice, please go to www.bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter. Or you can contact the team via WhatsApp on +44 800 030 4404.