Why Former ‘Bachelor Star’ Catherine Lowe Loves Nurturing Her Family and Honoring Women On Mother’s Day
Some nine years ago, Catherine Lowe came to our attention as a reality star when she fell in love with her now-husband, Sean Lowe, and began her family-focused life.
A devoted mom of three young children best known for her turn on the 17th season of The Bachelor and subsequent January 2014 wedding, Lowe thoroughly enjoys cooking and outdoor playdates with her children.
In celebration of Mother’s Day, she has partnered with Mrs. T’s Pierogies, the second year of Mrs. T’s All-Star Moms campaign.
As a salute to moms, the campaign honors all that our moms do for their families each day — and provides support and encouragement for them to invest in their hobbies and interests.
From April 12 through Mother’s Day on May 8, Mrs. T’s will spotlight moms across the country by giving three weekly winners $5,000 to help fund their interests and hobbies, and a special pierogi prize pack.
On May 9, Mrs. T’s will select one nominated mom by awarding her a grand prize of $15,000 and a year’s supply of Mrs. T’s Pierogies — something that Lowe is extremely excited about.
“Mrs. T’s All-Star Moms program is really about encouraging and supporting moms to add a new dimension to their life or explore passions that they might have not have thought of before,” Lowe recently explained.
“Giving money and supporting women to be, not just identify as a mom, which is a great, wonderful, rewarding, fulfilling position,” she says, “but also introduce them to themselves and what they like to do. “
Read on for more from Catherine Lowe about finding the work-family balance, and why she loves filling her kitchen with food and love.
So, you have three young children, ages two, three, and five which I call ‘the cute and cuddly’ ages.
Catherine Lowe: Awe, they are cute and cuddly. They’ve got these big cheeks that they inherited from their mom and dad, and I love to kiss them.
What is your perfect or ideal Mother’s Day? What are you eating? What are you doing? How are the kids involved?
Catherine Lowe: Usually my favorite one is having flowers right when I wake up and a hand-written card. So, like a homemade hand-written card from my kids and my husband. Usually, my husband makes it something silly but sentimental and my kids all try to write their names or make a mark somehow.
Sean started doing that even when I had babies in my tummy, so he would write ‘Little Bean’ because we never knew the sex of our children beforehand. But it was always a card because cards mean so much to me. Then to just spend time with my family. I really, really have such a joy-filled family life that anytime that I can soak it up I really love taking advantage of that.
Are you off from cooking duty that day?
Catherine Lowe: Oh, no, cooking is my joy. I love that my kids get to see something that really fuels me and I love making up recipes. So, Mrs. T’s Pierogies, I just made an air-fried mini pierogi shrimp tempura bowl and it is so delicious. It’s really interesting because these pierogies are really versatile, but I love Asian food and I love trying to figure out how to incorporate different cuisines together and make them from whatever I have in my house. That’s my favorite thing to do.
Is there a go-to Mother’s Day or birthday breakfast that you enjoy making?
Catherine Lowe: I love French toast. I’ve always loved French toast more than pancakes. And my husband tries but I usually end up taking over for that and he’ll do the rest of the breakfast items. But French toast is like a decadence for me, so maybe I’ll have that.
Are there a couple of other recipes using Mrs. T’s that we wouldn’t think of?
Catherin Lowe: Yeah, so there’s like cauliflower and it’s like a Moroccan spice tagine flavored. So, you bake it with cauliflower and raisins and some almonds with Mrs. T’s pierogies in there. And you can add roasted chicken if you want to or not, but it has different spices, and different herbs on there. I’ll put up some recipes on my Instagram because these are just things you wouldn’t think of that are good for Mrs. T’s Pierogies, but everyone loves that.
I kind of want to try an Indian version because it could be really good in curry because it’s potatoes inside, mashed potatoes, and cheese which go with so many different types of cuisines. So, I’m excited about continuing to develop different recipes but the shrimp tempura bowl is perfect for the season.
I just made them as a side dish with some chicken and vegetables and things like that. We eat a lot of soup and we just eat a lot of basic stuff so I didn’t really do anything fancy to them.
If I said to you, “your phone’s off, nobody’s going to need you for a Sunday or part of a weekend or whatever,” what are you and the kids doing?
Catherine Lowe: Well, if it’s a nice day, recently we’ve gotten a little kids table outside, and we have turf so it’s helpful to get wet back there and not get really soggy. But there’s this, I don’t know where I found this but you put a bunch of shaving cream on this table and the kids just play with it. We put the kids in their underwear, and we just get messy and hose them down. If it’s a nice day, it’s such a good outside activity that’s super easy to do and the kids love it. Then they get in the bathtub and we give them a popsicle in the bathtub.
So, that to me, little things that maybe I got to do as a kid, like playing in the sprinklers or playing with a hose. We don’t have a pool and we’re in Texas so it gets really hot, and I like being outside but having a little bit of relief. So if we’re doing something, it’s something messy outside. That’s like if I have a whole day to do nothing else, it’s getting messy outside with my kids.
What does it mean to you that this particular campaign is celebrating moms and their efforts, and saluting them and everything that they do for their families?
Catherine Lowe: It definitely hits home. I feel like moms are superheroes in the community. They are doing so much to raise up the next generation. They’re doing it selflessly and sometimes we forget to take care of ourselves. And I think that nominating other moms is really the type of environment that we need to create, is understanding. A lot of it is breaking moms down and nitpicking the thing that they do.
Tell me about your new pursuits.
Catherine Lowe: I recently started learning piano, and it makes me so happy to give my kids a little concert and really show them that I’m working on something that I like to learn and do things that I like to do. Because they take to that. They see that mom is fulfilled; mom is trying to do something different. Instead of us encouraging them to do different things and fulfill hobbies, I think we really need to pour into ourselves.
What I love about the program is nominating other moms who you know their role, which can be extremely hard. You have a to-do list that is infinitely long, and every day they require something more, everything falls on you somehow. Especially when you’re a working mom, the responsibilities are even bigger. I love this program because it encourages women as moms to really look at themselves as women too with their own passions and not to forget about themselves.
The career-home life balance we seek, does it exist?
Catherine Lowe: It’s really challenging. I am lucky to have a great partner who is very hands-on and is a very good dad. But as you know moms have their own unique qualities, they can multitask in such a graceful way and they can handle a lot. I think that encouraging moms to find an outlet where they can do something they enjoy really adds a new perspective on their lives. That’s what your children will see and model and this will enrich your family.
Do you have a couple of quick parenting tips, especially for moms of younger ones?
Catherine Lowe: I would say be present and be grateful. I’m so aware of the wonderful responsibility it is to be a mom and I know that a lot of people want to be moms, so I don’t take that lightly. I know that even if something’s hard, I’m going to try to do it in a grateful way. I get to change his dirty diaper. I get to help my child go through this really hard time, this tantrum because some people don’t get to do that. And I am so grateful and so blessed that I get children to spend my time with and go through life with. So that’s my favorite thing, is being present with them and trying to take every day with a ton of gratitude.
Can you talk very briefly about a couple of the highlights of The Bachelor?
Catherine Lowe: I mean, I got to travel and meet different people. I think it’s such a surreal experience and it’s something very unique that you can’t equate it to really anything but maybe a sorority or something, but also being filmed. So, it was a really cool experience the travel. Obviously, I met my husband, and I learned a lot about that industry. So those are huge highlights. I got to go to Thailand and go on a junk boat and swim in beautiful places. And really learned a lot about myself. So, there were a lot of fun times filming.
Are you still following the show?
Catherine Lowe: Yes. I mean, you’re really invested, and that’s Bachelor Nation. They’re very invested in the relationships, and sometimes a lot, like too much that they’re invested and they feel like they have a say in your relationship or what you choose to do. But that’s why these shows have been so instrumental in society and long-standing. I love to be part of the Bachelor Nation, I think it’s a really great community and I just feel honored to be one of them.
What are you working on now or what do you have coming up?
Catherine Lowe: I have a couple of businesses. One is LoweCo., a stationery company and we have plantable cards. So that’s a really fun Mother’s Day thing, and Earth Day. So, we sell cards that are embedded with wildflower seeds and herb seeds. I also started a local gifting company but we do full-service luxury gifting. I also started learning piano. So, there’s a lot going on over here and I love it, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Do you have a mom tip that makes your life easier?
Catherine Lowe: My trick to success is waking up early. Which I do not like but it usually makes my day so much better, is if I get up and have a calibration before the kids get up.
How early are we talking?
Catherine Lowe: Like five. It’s not fun. But right now, it’s just a chapter. I’m going to take it as just a chapter.
With three young kids, do you find the time or make the time to be with your besties?
Catherine Lowe: Yeah, I think that right now a lot of my friends are going through a similar life stage so we’re really busy. But it is really important to get with your girlfriends because it’s another outlet to feel like yourself again before you were a mom. I do get together with my friends, mostly through events. So, we get to go to different fashion events together or different food events, or music or that kind of stuff. So, if we’re intentional and we look to the next month we’ll say, “Hey, let’s do this together.” And it makes a huge difference in just taking one night away and it’s not Groundhog’s Day every single day. It’s really, really fun and it fuels you, and kind of makes you feel younger.
Do you and your husband have date nights when COVID allows?
Catherine Lowe: Yes. Yes, so we are grateful that his parents live nearby so we get more date nights than probably a lot of people. But every night we’re intentional about when we put the kids down, just spending time together, watching a series that we like, and eating dinner together. We get a lot of great quality time together, which is my love language. When date nights happen they’re very romantic and they’re very nice because our normal go-to is to sit on a couch and be together, which is my favorite thing.
Do you think you will be on TV again?
Catherine Lowe: I’ll never say no to that. Sean and I love to take advantage of opportunities that sound fun to us. You never know, but it’s been nine or 10 years since we’ve been off of TV so we’ll see.
What is one piece of advice you have for young girls and women who watched you on The Bachelor and have been following you on all your social media?
Catherine Lowe: Know what your worth is. Know that you should be respected as much as your partner should be respected. When I was a kid, I didn’t really value as much as I think I should have, and I really looked to a boyfriend or somebody to define me. And I think that we as women are such dynamic people who have so much to offer that we shouldn’t sell ourselves short. And we should really have some level of when I’m dating on The Bachelor, it’s not just me hoping he picks me, it’s do I pick him too? Because I’m valuable, I’m worth something.
I think girls now should really try to step away from relationships and learn who they are, what makes them tick, and what makes them special because that will bring a lot to a relationship. I think a man, or whoever you choose to be in a relationship with, will really value that and take you seriously. It’s kind of like when you look at a job and you know what your value is. It might be high but that’s what you’re asking for because that’s what you deserve. Girls should really ask a lot.
