Jada Pinkett Smith on Why She's Most Proud of Daughter Willow

Jada Pinkett Smith is one bad momma.

For the talented actress and producer, having the confidence to do it all started at a young age when her mother taught her to love who she was.

“One of the freedoms that my mother gave me that was really extraordinary and helped me develop as a person was that she never policed how I dressed or what I did with my hair,” Jada told ESSENCE.com.

Those freedoms influenced Jada’s own parenting style, particularly when her daughter, Willow Smith, decided to make a radical change to her hair.

“I never knew how powerful that was until I had my own children and until Willow came along at nine and says to me ‘I want to shave my head,'” said Jada. 

While Jada was willing to let her daughter explore a new, bold hairstyle, she says the experience was still a shock.

“I’ll never forget her sitting in that chair and watching that hair fall off. She transformed right before my eyes and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness'”

“For Willow to stand there and say, ‘I’m Willow Smith and this is me,’ what more could you give a little girl? And I learned that lesson from my mother, because that’s what she gave me.”

Clearly, for Jada, Willow’s transformation was her own mother’s love coming full circle.