Mother Stories
Meet Meena Harris: “Phenomenal Woman” Activist & Mother Of 2
Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano
Photography by Maria Del Rio
Jan 18, 2019
With 2020 just around the corner, the smell of activism and hope for change is in the air. For Meena Harris, it’s also in her blood. As the daughter of Maya Harris, a political correspondent and senior advisor to Hillary Clinton, and niece of Kamala Harris (a U.S. Senator and presidential hopeful), speaking up for what she believes in has always been a way of life. Alongside her various speaking and consulting engagements, Meena is currently pushing forward her own brand of activism with her inspiring and viral Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, which she launched two years ago, coincidentally while becoming a mother herself. With her two little girls (both under 3-years-old) along her side, the busy Bay Area native recently opened up her San Francisco home to us to talk activism, motherhood, her goal of electing a female president in 2020, and her affinity for really kick-ass wallpaper. Read it, and prepare to get fired up.
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- "We had just moved back home to the Bay Area from the East Coast and were temporarily living in a one-bedroom apartment in the Castro when one day when my husband Nik came back from a morning run and said, 'You have to come see this house.' It had been in the family of the previous owners for decades, and it was incredibly special to make it our home as we grew our own family. We moved in when our eldest daughter was two weeks old, however, which I would not recommend!"
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- Meena wears a jumpsuit by The Kit and Annie Costello Brown earrings. Her oldest daughter wears a Splendid sweater and Tea Collection leggings. Her youngest wears a Billieblush dress and Wunderkin headband.
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- Meena's bedroom wallpaper is by Pierre Frey, and rug by Revival.
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- "The aesthetic didn’t change so much as our approach to decorating. It took awhile, but I finally came to terms with the fact that for the most part you can’t have delicate or precious things when there are two active kids in the house. This translated to things like furniture that can be easily wiped down (e.g., metal dining chairs and bench cushions re-upholstered in leather). Storage and creating dedicated spaces to put away kids’ items and conceal them when not in use also became priority."
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- "I've always been into it, and prints generally, but this house is the first time where I've really gone wild putting it everywhere I possibly can. My favorite company is Pierre Frey."
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- "Everything should feel intentional and have special meaning. I would rather have an empty wall for simplicity than fill it with something random that has no story behind it."
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- "The dining room. Because, after two years, I finally convinced Nik to let me put up gold wallpaper."
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- "I feel like I spend my life trying to prevent kid stuff from taking over our space and creeping into every single room. Sometimes I’m successful, and sometimes I’m not."
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- The cutest trio.
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- Dress-up time! Rug by Revival.
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- "The living room. The girls often play there during the day or while dinner is being prepared. Once the girls are asleep, Nik and I sit on the couch and watch the news, and it’s also where guests tend to gather when we have company."
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- "Our dining table—it’s an antique in the same Edwardian style as the home, and we had it shipped from Europe then stained here in a darker color. My other favorite thing is the Muhammad Ali wallpaper in the powder room."
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- HD Buttercup bed, Brooklinen bedding, and West Elm dressers.
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- "Don’t overthink it, you’ll figure it out, just as mothers have been doing for centuries."
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- "Again, don’t overthink it, you’ll figure it out—and you’re already used to the feeling of constant exhaustion, so you got this!"
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- Wallpaper by Flavor Paper.
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- "That it’s your duty, and our family’s duty, to be informed and involved. The older one has known how to say 'Phenomenal Woman' and 'Black Power' since she learned to talk."
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- Meena wears a Mara Hoffman dress. Her daughter wears a Molo Kids top and J.Crew leggings.
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- "Whether or not we had girls, it really put into perspective that the work is not only about improving current conditions but it's also about laying the groundwork for the next generation."
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- "I’m the strict one." The aforementioned Dedar Milano gold wallpaper in the dining room.
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- "She can function with less sleep because she’s superhuman, and she’s a better cook."
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- "Your body and your personal space are not yours anymore." Meena's daughter wears a J.Crew top and leggings and Wunderkin headband.
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- "My mom—she was a teenage single mom, gave me an incredible life, and accomplished so much. Now that I’m a mother, I seriously don’t know how she did it."
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- "Do what works for you, and F other people’s judgments and opinions."
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- "Moana, Moana, and Moana."
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- "Eating a good meal together and getting outside."
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- "They are both incredibly strong-willed and independent but also are so loving. The older one is more serious, and loves books, but she also has a great sense of humor. The younger one is very playful, smiles constantly, and tickling her elicits the most delicious giggles. At first we thought she really loved us as her parents but quickly figured out that she shows that type of adoration for everyone, including strangers on the street."
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- "There are simply not enough hours in the day to do everything well all at once. Be mindful of that, decide what tradeoffs you’re willing to make and at what points in time, commit to those decisions, and remember that life is long."
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- Meena wears a Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet, along with a friendship bracelet from her 9-year-old cousin.
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- "I’m a lawyer by training and I’ve been at the intersection of law, tech, and policy/politics for most of my career. Recently I launched the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, which is a women-powered civic engagement platform."
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- "The Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign is a women-powered civic engagement and cross-media marketing platform that supports women's causes through promotion of the Maya Angelou-inspired 'Phenomenal Woman' message and t-shirt. We launched on International Women’s Day 2017, in response to the tumultuous 2016 presidential election, with the expectation that it would last just one month for Women’s History Month. Instead, on the first day, the campaign remarkably sold 2,500 t-shirts to benefit our nonprofit partners, and has grown ever since. I think audiences were really drawn to the Maya 'Phenomenal Woman' t-shirt because it provided a tangible opportunity to create positive social change in the form of nonprofit donations, social awareness, and inspiration to continue civic engagement elsewhere in their lives. Two years later, Phenomenal Woman continues to thrive, and recently we launched other activism-focused campaigns and products, such as #1600men, Phenomenal Voter, Phenomenally Black, Phenomenally Indigenous, and Phenomenally Latina, with plans to continue to grow and expand." Support the cause by shopping here.
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- "I’ve learned to be more accepting and even embrace the process."
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- "There were three, actually. My grandma was a force, too. All of us are who we are today because of her, which is to say, it's in my DNA and has always been a big part of my life."
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- "You can’t do everything, but you can do something. Figure out what you’re passionate about, or what inspires you, or what makes you angry, and engage with that thing on a weekly or monthly basis, or whatever works for you. Maybe that means owning an issue and learning it inside out, or maybe it means getting more involved at your kid’s school. All of us have the power to do something outside of our daily lives that has social impact—it’s just about committing to that, taking the first step no matter how small, and showing up consistently."
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- "FaceTime is key, and I take a lot of red eyes and early morning flights to reduce the nights that I'm away. I also got pneumonia immediately following one of these red eyes, so I don't know if you want to take my tips."
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- The sweetest little face.
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- Meena wears a Mara Hoffman suit. The girls wear Little Indians dresses and Tea Collection leggings.
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- "I’ve started letting the older one join my conference calls."
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- Living room wallpaper by Pierre Frey.
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- "Birkenstock chic."
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- "Cushnie, Argent, Arias New York, Mara Hoffman, Ulla Johnson, Gucci, and Harwell Godfrey." Meena wears Harwell and Godfrey hoops.
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- "Jeans and tees." Meena wears a David Yurman ring.
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- "All I want is uninterrupted sleep."
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- "90s fashion trends that are making a comeback." Meena wears a Cushnie top, Cushnie x Lee jeans, Birkenstocks, and Mercedes Salazar flower earrings.
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- "Under-eye concealer and blush are motherhood essentials."
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- "Do vitamins count? That’s about all I’ve been able to keep up with these days. I do try to get massages when I can."
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- "Preparing to elect a woman as President of the United States in 2020." For more on Meena and the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, be sure to follow her on Instagram.
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I do love your wall paper and I wish Kamala all the best
Love Kamala after last night