There is a certain ease to the way Isabelle Daza talks about motherhood. In between stories about school routines, family dinners, and juggling schedules across Hong Kong and Manila, she speaks with the confidence of someone who has fully embraced this season of life.

“I’ve never been more myself than when I became a mother,” Isabelle tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle. “This is what I was meant to do.”

Today, the host, entrepreneur, and content creator is raising three children with husband Adrian Semblat while balancing work between two cities. Their sons, eight-year-old Baltie and five-year-old Valentin, are growing up mostly in Hong Kong, while their three-year-old daughter Esmeralda often travels with her back to Manila.

The setup can be hectic, but motherhood has kept her grounded, guiding her in every decision she makes. “Definitely my kids are my priority,” she shares. “If I was offered a show where I had to be away from them for six months, there’s no way I can do that.”

Having a beauty queen for a mother like Gloria Diaz may sound intimidating to some, but Isabelle describes her mom’s parenting style as both progressive and grounded. While she admits she was never the traditional academic achiever, her mother encouraged her strengths in creativity, sports, and communication instead of forcing her into a mold that did not fit.

“My mom always celebrated when I just passed a class,” she recalls. “That gave me confidence in the real world.” Instead of pressuring her to become an honor student, Gloria focused on helping her daughters become street-smart, expressive, and confident in themselves. Isabelle believes that this freedom allowed her to flourish in her own way.

Motherhood also changed the way Isabelle understood her relationship with her mother. What once felt like disagreements or tension eventually became clearer. “When I became a mom, I realized my mom did the best that she could with what she knew,” Isabelle says. “There wasn’t much therapy or parenting resources before. She parented from her own experience, and I think becoming a mom made me appreciate her sacrifices much more.”

She admits that their relationship was not always perfect. Like many mothers and daughters, they argued. But over time, she learned that conflict can also become part of healthy communication. “I think it’s also healthy for moms and kids to fight because then you’re expressing your emotions and how you feel,” she says. “The worst thing is not being able to say what you feel because you’re too scared.”

That openness and emotional honesty can also be found in Isabelle’s own parenting style. She describes it as collaborative and curious, allowing her children to freely express their likes, dislikes, and personalities.

“I’m always curious about my kids,” she says. “I let them join conversations and decide certain things for the family, even simple things like where we’ll eat. I want them to feel heard.”

Like her own mother, Isabelle encourages her children to explore sports, creativity, and different interests while discovering what they genuinely enjoy. Other than being strict about food intake and screen time, she is focused on raising children who feel secure enough to express themselves honestly.

Despite constantly traveling between Hong Kong and Manila, she works hard to maintain routines that help her children feel grounded. Dinner together, bath time, reading books, and bedtime prayers remain sacred rituals inside their home. “At night, we all pray together and share what we’re grateful for,” she says. “They thrive on routine and knowing what comes next.”

She also makes it a point to involve her children in understanding her work instead of completely separating motherhood from career. When she recently moderated an art discussion in Hong Kong, she explained the project to her children, showed them the artist’s work, and told them why she had to miss dinner that evening. “I involve them in a way and let them understand what I do,” she shares.

Living between two cities has also required Isabelle to rethink the idea of balance. She openly admits that balance is not always realistic. Fortunately, she says, her husband has become a strong support system, allowing her to continue pursuing projects that still align with the kind of motherhood she wants to have.

“Definitely my kids are my priority,” she repeats. “I still love to work, but I’m able to choose the type of work that I can accept.”

Technology has also helped her manage modern motherhood. Artificial intelligence has become a practical tool in helping her organize administrative work, prepare scripts, and manage daily tasks more efficiently. “I’m thankful for it because it allows me to do my work very quickly,” she says.

That same honesty to her work, particularly her podcast Sexytime Podcast, which she co-hosts with her sister Ava. The show tackles relationships, intimacy, consent, and women’s wellness—topics that many Filipinos still find uncomfortable to discuss openly.

When they launched the podcast in 2021, Isabelle says they received criticism and judgment, even from people close to them. But she believed the conversations were necessary. “We wanted to create the kind of conversations we wish we had growing up,” she says.

One of the podcast’s earliest episodes featured Gloria Diaz herself, discussing sex education and openness within families. “My mom is always our biggest supporter,” Isabelle says. “She’s allowed us to make our mistakes and trusted us enough to find our way.”

Since then, the platform has grown into one of Isabelle’s most personal projects, attracting listeners from different age groups, even 70-year-olds. This podcast shares the same vision she has about motherhood—to make difficult conversations a little easier, and to make women feel less alone.

Isabelle’s view on health is no longer about punishing workouts or chasing exhaustion. “Wellness to me is sleeping eight hours, drinking water, and moving your body,” she says. “I always make time for myself, even if it’s just going for a walk or reading quietly.”

She also believes mothers should not feel guilty about setting aside time for themselves, especially in the middle of demanding schedules and constant caregiving. “I’m really good at taking care of myself,” she says candidly. “I think that’s one thing moms need to learn, because it does get overwhelming.”

For her, motherhood is not about perfection. It is about creating emotionally safe spaces for her children, for herself, and even for the women who listen to her work. And in many ways, that philosophy traces back to Gloria Diaz: raising children with enough freedom to discover who they are, while making sure they always feel loved, supported, and understood.