Mother\u2019s Day tributes<\/a> over the weekend, but this one hit different.<\/p>\nIt wasn\u2019t just about celebrating someone else or being a mum, but the woman she fought to become.<\/p>\n
Photographer Stephanie Teo, who was the third runner-up of Mrs World Singapore 2025, shared a deeply personal video on Instagram reflecting on her journey as a single mum.<\/p>\n
In the clip, she said years ago, she \u201clost everything\u201d.<\/p>\n
She left her marriage due to family violence from her ex-husband, and divorced when her baby was barely a month old. At the time, she had just $600 left in her bank account.<\/p>\n
Still, she chose to walk away.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into single motherhood because I believed walking away was the right decision,\u201d read one of her captions.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is not a story about losing,\u201d she added. \u201cThis is a story about rebuilding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie looked back on the woman she once was \u2014 someone who \u201ccried herself to sleep\u201d in 2021 \u2014 and how far she has come. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The years that followed were anything but easy. She worked three jobs for years and survived on just a few hours of sleep a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked really hard because I know I have a little girl depending on me,\u201d she shared. \u201cShe became the reason I kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slowly, things began to change.<\/p>\n
She bought her first car, then her first home. She started her own business and eventually got her own office. Along the way, she continued upgrading herself, even pursuing a degree part-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI rebuilt my confidence. I rebuilt myself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Mother\u2019s Day, I\u2019m proud of the woman I became.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n