My mother raised five children, including her firstborn son and her set of quadruplets, of which I was the only girl. My Harvard-educated mother had worked at the Library of Congress before she became the woman who would dedicate most of her life helping her children become successful in their own rites. While my mother never made us feel the guilt of the loss of her own professional aspirations, I saw the gravity and suffering of her sacrifice. When I was 7 years old, I made a pact with myself to follow my dreams completely. Odetta is an attempt to help highly ambitious women pursue their professional pursuits in addition to their roles as mothers and caretakers. Odetta is a tribute to all women, but mostly to my mother who has never given up on her own dreams - she is currently writing the book she always wanted to write.