Keke Palmer is one of those rare talents who seems to be everywhere all at once, and somehow, she still has time to glow while doing it. In a recent interview with Parents.com, she shares her secret to “doing it all”. 

During the 2025 Essence Festival of Culture, Palmer sat down with the popular parenting outlet to reflect on motherhood, career, and the deeper lessons she’s learning from her 2-year-old son, Leo.

“My son has boundaries with me,” Palmer shared. “He’s like, you could give me a kiss, but I don’t want [your] kiss to go on the mouth. Or he’ll say, ‘Not right now.’ He really is good at communicating, and so it’s made me be like, I need to be more like that.”

The actress, musician, and entrepreneur said Leo is teaching her how to honor boundaries, something that wasn’t common when she was growing up. “Back in the day when we were kids, our parents didn’t let us. They would be like, ‘Girl, you’re going to do what I said.’”

And even though Palmer practically grew up in front of the camera, she’s still evolving, something she talks about in her 2024 memoir Master of Me.

“I’m still growing, I’m still changing,” she said. “But in this era, it’s been about honoring the person that I’ve been… and also honoring the person that has created that.”

Palmer’s latest chapter includes a partnership that just makes sense, She is now the Chief Brand Officer for Creme of Nature, the iconic hair care line born in Chicagoland nearly 50 years ago. With her natural curls front and center on billboards and screens across the country, Palmer is excited to bring a fresh, authentic voice to the brand.

“I’m not just a front-facing ambassador, [I’m] actually a chief brand officer,” she said. “For me, it’s like this is what I do with [the] Keke Palmer brand—I tell the story of what this brand is.”

And with everything on her plate, mom guilt can try to creep in, but Palmer doesn’t let it stay.

“Don’t feel guilt,” she urges other working parents. “Your child is your child because you were meant to be their parent… Just don’t feel guilt where it pertains to receiving help with your child, because it takes a village.”

As for her sunny disposition? That came from surviving hard times and learning to let joy lead.

“Initially, my joyful spirit was a rebellion to some of the constraints I felt growing up in the industry,” Palmer explained. “It became less something that I was doing to survive and something that I started to embody… My joy is my sense of refuge through the inconsistency of life.”

So, now we know how Keke Palmer does it all. It is by setting boundaries, finding balance, and choosing joy on purpose.

Photo Credit: Keke Palmer Instagram