Shonda Rhimes has created some of televisions hottest series including Greys Anatomy, Scandal, and How To Get Away with Murder. Now producing several shows for Netflix, Rhimes remains one of todays top talents in television development.

Fans of Rhimes may not realize that she is also the mom of three daughters Harper, Emerson, and Beckett. The media mogul has previously shared her thoughts on the challenges of being a working mom and how she tries to keep a realistic perspective.

Rhimes sat down with talk show icon Oprah Winfrey in 2006, shortly after the launch of Greys Anatomy. Rhimes daughter Harper was just 4 years old at the time, where the television show creator shared what prompted her to adopt her first child.

Id rented a farmhouse in Vermont, and I took a navel-gazing trip to think about my life, Rhimes told Winfrey. The day after I arrived, 9/11 hit. So I was sitting in the middle of nowhere, watching the whole terrible thing unfold on CNN. When I finally turned off the television, I thought, Well, if the worlds going to end, what are all the things Ive ever wanted to do? I went home and hired an adoption attorney.

Discussing the massive impact that 9/11 had on the country and how it gave many individuals the motivation to take stock of their lives, Rhimes told Winfrey that the tragedy was a huge wake up call for her.

Up until then, Id spent a lot of time asking myself, Whats wrong with my life? I was feeling so unhappy, Rhimes revealed. September 11 woke me up to the realization that there was nothing wrong with my life when I considered what really could be wrong. Nine months and two days after 9/11, my daughter was born. I named her after Harper Lee. Now I cant remember what I did with my time before she got here.

Rhimes went on to adopt daughter Emerson in 2012, and welcomed daughter Beckett in 2013 via surrogate. After inking her multi-year deal with Netflix, the Scandal creator shared her view on juggling motherhood and her high-profile career.

There is no such thing as balance. That I will say right away, she told Business Insider in 2017. If you are a working mother you are often not there as much as youd like to be. I said this once somewhere, that if Im standing on set watching some amazing thing being shot, then I am missing my daughters science fair. Or if Im at my daughters dance recital, then I miss Sandra Ohs very last day, and very last scene being shot on Greys Anatomy Those are the trade-offs.

Rhimes chooses to accept the losses rather than beating herself up about them. You have to make a decision that youre going to miss one thing and be good at another, she explained. Ive always said if Im winning at one thing, Im failing at another. And a lot of people say, failure? And I say, yes! I like to call it failure because it makes me feel better.

The Private Practice creator has always made diversity a priority when casting, wanting art to imitate real life. I wanted to see people on television who look like me, and I wanted to see people on television who look like my friends, Rhimes told Business Insider. I didnt relate to a lot of the women on television because they didnt seem realistic. It was just about writing people I wanted to watch, and writing people who felt like the people I knew.

With Hollywood being so focused on physical appearance, Rhimes role behind the camera spares her from having to deal with that type of scrutiny.

I never once thought about how I look in this industry in that way. Probably because Im not in front of the camera all the time, she said. Im behind one, and Im writing words for other people to say and I try to be very encouraging of my actresses and my actors to be themselves.

Rhimes first Netflix show Bridgerton is scheduled to be released this year.

Link:
Why 'Grey's Anatomy' Creator Shonda Rhimes Says There's 'No Such Thing as Balance' When It Comes To Being a Working Mom - Showbiz Cheat Sheet