Inside Jackie Matubia's World: Juggling Motherhood and Fame

Award-winning actress Jackie Matubia is preparing to give the public an unfiltered look into her life as she joins the cast of the upcoming reality series, The Mommy Club Nairobi.

Stepping into this level of openness brings its challenges, particularly when used to control the narrative. Matubia admits that being herself on camera was surprisingly difficult compared to portraying characters.

Speaking exclusively to Mpasho's Dennis Milimo, during the launch, Matubia shared that one of the most rewarding aspects of her life is simply "Always seeing my children smile.”

She takes pride in providing for them, ensuring they have the "best of the best" and, crucially, knowing "my mommy was not there" is something they will "never stand somewhere and say". Her constant presence despite her busy schedule is a source of fulfillment.

However, when it comes to the seemingly impossible task of juggling a demanding career and raising children, Jackie Matubia offers a dose of stark reality. She is refreshingly blunt, stating unequivocally, "There is no way of balancing". Rather than a harmonious blend, she describes it as a constant trade-off where "you're winning on the other side" only when "you're failing the other side".

This imperfect reality is, in her view, simply "part of being a mom, and that's part of being a career woman at the same time."

She illustrates this struggle vividly:

"When I'm winning in front of the camera, my children have slept without mommies telling them good night and so I have to recover. This back-and-forth is the kind of balance we have in our lives,” she revealed.

Jackie Matubia has a particularly poignant message she wants to convey directly to single mothers who are navigating the same challenging path of raising children while building a career. She wants them to understand that they are fundamentally not alone.

By watching her journey unfold on screen, she hopes single moms will realize that "Even Jackie Matubia goes through the same things you go through". Her simple, yet profoundly empathetic, advice to them is concise and powerful: "breathe".

Acknowledging the daily struggle, she reiterates, "I know it's tough. I also go through it on a daily. But the best thing is breath."

As she opens up her life to the public eye, including those closest to her like her nanny, friends, and workmates, Matubia is prepared for potential public scrutiny.

 Having been in the social media space for 18 years, she feels well-equipped to handle opinions, simply stating, "everyone has an opinion" but ultimately accepting it because “it's our lives. We welcomed you guys into our lives.”

In sharing her reality, from the fulfillment of seeing her children happy to the raw struggle of finding balance, Jackie Matubia offers a candid look at modern motherhood and a message of solidarity and practical wisdom – or rather, the wisdom of acknowledging the lack of perfect balance – to other single mothers facing similar pressures.