From Mark:
As we prepare to celebrate Mother's Day, I find myself reflecting on the incredible women who have shaped my life and the lives of our children. I can say with full confidence: I would not be the man, father, or business owner I am today without the strength, love, and commitment of two extraordinary moms—my own mother, Linda Scott, and my wife and partner in every sense, Renee Porteous.
My mom raised me and my two sisters through some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable. After she and my dad divorced when I was six, my mom took on the role of single mom while also returning to school full-time to earn her master’s degree in social work. We didn’t have much, but we had her, and she gave us everything.
Her career wasn’t glamorous. She worked with some of the most disadvantaged kids in the system—the ones most people had already written off. Parents saw her as a threat. The system saw her clients as lost causes. But my mom? She saw potential. She poured herself into helping those kids, even when it felt thankless. Her devotion to the invisible, the forgotten, the broken, was love in action. And it left a permanent imprint on me.
My first training program was called Max Your Life. It became the name of my first and still primary company in this industry: Max Your Life, LLC. In that training, I taught the concept of choosing your parents before you’re born—a soul-level agreement to learn, grow, and evolve through the people who shape our earliest experiences. My mom never quite understood that idea. If it were true, she once asked, “Why would I have chosen me?”
And here’s what I told her: Because you filled my heart with so much love, it now overflows for others.
Her strength, sacrifices, and quiet devotion were the foundation of everything I’ve become. I wouldn’t change a thing.
I always knew I wanted to be a father. I started imagining it at age 11, dreaming of how I would show up differently than my father had. I wanted to be present. I wanted to be an advocate. I wanted to provide the love and security I had always longed for.
But I never expected to find someone who would match that level of commitment—someone who would love our children fiercely and love them in ways I never imagined.I hit the jackpot with Renee.
Yes, we have had our fair share of challenges. Some emotional. Some circumstantial. Some that tested every ounce of our patience and partnership. But one thing has never wavered: Renee shows up. For our kids. For our clients. For our shared vision.
As a mom, Renee is the embodiment of devotion. She was active in the PTA from the beginning of our kids' school journey and served as PTA president for three years, plus a fourth year supporting the incoming president. That wasn’t just a title—it was an extension of her love for our children and her belief in building strong, supportive communities.
She wakes up before sunrise every day to drive Xen to the bus stop and then circles back to take Eden to school, each in a different direction. She somehow also manages to be an Uber driver, event planner, emotional support coach, and the ever-present foundation our kids lean on as they explore who they are and who they are becoming.
Renee makes space for Eden’s vibrant creativity and dynamic social life. She honors Xen’s early mornings, tech explorations, and deep sensitivity. She doesn’t try to mold them into anything but their fullest selves, and that is the greatest gift any mother can give.
This Mother's Day, I want to honor the powerful, unseen work of all moms.To my mom, Linda Scott: Thank you for showing me what perseverance, compassion, and unconditional love look like.To my wife, Renee: Thank you for showing me every single day what it means to mother with grace, grit, and soul. I love and appreciate you more than words can ever fully say.
And to all the moms reading this—the entrepreneurs, the caregivers, the quiet warriors behind the hustle—this is for you.
You make the world go round. You make the mission possible.Happy Mother’s Day.
From Renee:
A Mother’s Perspective
Being a mom is the greatest joy of my life.
It’s all I ever wanted, from the time I was a little girl. My grandmother used to call me a “mother hen,” and it was true. I helped raise my youngest siblings, who were 12 and 15 years younger. Nurturing came naturally to me, and I knew I wanted a family of my own one day.
But what I didn’t know was how hard that journey would be.
After several years of adventures on our own, Mark and I tried for years to get pregnant. After what felt like endless waiting, heartache, and hope, we were finally blessed with Eden and Xen through IVF. They were born eight weeks early. I remember feeling like a failure before I even got to start. Leaving the hospital without them, with empty arms, was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
I put my real estate license on pause when I was pregnant, fully expecting to return. But I never did. Instead, I stayed home with the twins and built a business with Mark around nap schedules, feedings, and the quiet in-between spaces.
When the kids were six, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I remember thinking, What if I don’t get to finish raising them? What if this is all I get? That fear changed something in me. It gave me a deeper level of presence, one that still anchors how I show up as a mother today.
I’ve been with them through every chapter—room mom, lunch monitor, PTA president, chauffeur, cheerleader, safe space. They just turned 15 in April, and I still wake up before sunrise to get them to two different schools, in two different directions. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Motherhood is the thread that runs through every part of my life—even my work. It’s why our business is built with care, community, and deep intention. And it’s why I believe so fiercely in creating space for others to feel seen, safe, and supported—because that’s what moms do.
To all the moms who’ve ever questioned if they’re doing enough or being enough:You are.And your presence is more powerful than you may ever know.
From Both of Us:
This Mother's Day, we honor not only the women who gave us life and love, but the ones who quietly carry the world while no one is watching.
To the mothers building businesses between bus stops and bedtime stories... To the grandmothers whose wisdom still whispers in our ears... To the women who mother through mentorship, friendship, and fierce compassion... To the quiet nurturers and the bold trailblazers... We see you. We celebrate you. And we thank you.
You are the heart behind the hustle and we are so grateful you're here.