Isabelle Daza and Adrien Semblat for Smart Parenting April 2025 cover
HONG KONG - Isabelle Daza once described being a mom of three as “so full-on.” The 37-year-old actress, model, podcaster, and business owner is as hands-on as she can be with her children—Baltie, 7; Valentin, 3; and Esmeralda, 2—while balancing work, fitness, and personal time.
Her day starts early at 6:30 AM when she prepares the kids for school and ensures they have breakfast together before heading out. She drops Baltie off at the school bus stop and then takes Valentin and Esmeralda to playschool. Only then can she carve out some time to work out, either a Pilates or a strength session. Afterward, she heads to a co-working space to take calls and respond to emails.
By noon, Isabelle is back in mom mode with school pick-ups, having lunch with Valentin and Esmeralda, and putting them down for a nap before tackling another round of work.
“It's very structured,” Isabelle told Smart Parenting over Zoom during one of her morning work hours spent at a co-working space. “If my schedule is not so busy, I'll either go for a walk, or I'll stay at home with them and be there waiting for them to wake up like a loser,” she added with a laugh.
Living in Hong Kong
Isabelle and her family moved to Hong Kong right before the COVID-19 pandemic when her husband, Adrien Semblat, was offered a job. “And then, when we got here, the pandemic happened. So we moved abruptly. We were living in Hong Kong with no furniture for four months,” Isabelle shared. They later spent time in France and the Philippines before settling back in Hong Kong in 2022, where Valentin and Esmeralda were born.
She appreciates how child-friendly it is, with its abundance of parks and efficient public transport. School drop-offs, in particular, are something she cherishes.
“I feel like it's my duty to do that, and I enjoy it. I don't want to pressure parents to do that if they don't have the time, but I feel it's a special time we have together,” Isabelle explained.
On weekends, their family goes on hikes or attends children's birthday parties. From where they live, they are fortunate to have access to a mountain and a beach. “We try to expose the kids to as much nature as we can because it's very healing for us. We see the effect if we stay inside and they watch cartoons the whole day on the TV,” Isabelle shared.
While Isabelle describes herself as a “closet tiger mom,” she makes sure her kids’ schedules balance structure with fun. Baltie takes tennis, football, and painting classes. Valentin is into rugby and Wing Chun, a form of martial arts. Meanwhile, Esmeralda enjoys painting and has expressed interest in trying ballet.
“I'm really enjoying being a mother because I have a lot of help that allows me to be somebody with a lot of patience,” she admitted. “I recognize how privileged that is.”
'I think [parenting] is getting a mix of everything that suits your style and family life. Because you’re the only person who truly knows what's best for your child.'
“I was only introduced to nature hikes when I got together with my husband,” she shared. “It took me years to appreciate that being with nature is actually soothing and healing.”
She shared that while they rarely go hiking as a family, they traveled a lot. She also tries to do that for her kids, letting them discover new places even when they're young. “Even when people say, like, they're never going to remember it. It's more of the experience that we have with them,” she stresses.
However, one parenting principle she has carried on from her mother is healthy eating. She limits her kids’ sugar intake and encourages them to eat fruits like her mom did.
Isabelle on screen time
Isabelle grew up in a household that watched TV together. She is mindful of screen time by setting rules and making sure to balance them with outdoor time.
“When you turn off the TV, they fight, shout, and scream. I call it ‘the scaries,’” she said. To ease the transition, she created a routine: “We shake off the scaries,” where the kids jump up and down, physically shaking off their frustration before moving on to another activity.
Her rule: no tablets, only TV on weekends.
She also makes sure the kids only watch during weekends, not on their tablets, and tries to model screen time behavior. “I know handheld devices are dangerous for kids under 13. But that doesn’t mean TV is bad—there are shows where they learn a lot. I try to balance it.”
Breaking parenting norms
On social media, Isabelle doesn't shy away from showing her sense of humor, going beyond the usual curated content many expect from a personality.
Her background in early childhood education has shaped her approach, but she acknowledges that parenting is an ever-evolving journey. She draws inspiration from experts like Dr. Shefali and Dr. Becky Kennedy, tailoring their insights to what works best for her family.
“I think [parenting] is getting a mix of everything that suits your style and family life. Because you’re the only person who truly knows what's best for your child,” she said.
She’s also passionate about raising kind, grounded kids. This led her to create Yaya Luning, a storybook teaching children to treat household helpers with respect, and Tralala the Tiger, an animated story explaining complex concepts to children, ranging from COVID-19 to self-love.
“I want my children to be kind—like allowing other children to play with them and greeting the janitor when we walk into a building. And I want them to have integrity.”
Her husband, Adrien, shares the same values. “When we’re with family, no one’s on their phone. We go on nature walks, and everyone is present with the kids.”
On motherhood and marathons
Being a mom has honed Isabelle’s time management skills. She playfully calls herself her children’s “secretary,” carefully scheduling their activities on top of her own responsibilities.
Lately, she’s taken on a new challenge—running marathons.
“I was able to do it because I have a good amount of help that I can delegate my kids to,” Isabelle said.
After she's done with her work and the kids are in their extracurricular activities, like art, sports, or a play date, Isabelle can train. More than the physical effort, she says, running a marathon is a mental game.
'Our job is to expose them (children) to as many experiences as possible so they can figure out what they love.'
“Take it on as a challenge. More than anything, it's a great proof to yourself. Because you're like, I gave birth. I can do this. I can run a marathon. And then when you run a marathon, you're like, ‘Oh my gosh, I can do anything,” Isabelle shares.
She’s grateful that her husband is very supportive, which is no surprise because he's also always been active. Adrien played football in France, and both believe that sports have many benefits for children.
“Sports has the power to change lives. It creates structure and discipline. It teaches you to socialize. It teaches you to work hard. It teaches you to prioritize. Not only does it expose you to like-minded people who have the same goals, but it also gives you structure and teaches you how to play fair and work hard,” she said.
True to her passion for wellness and movement, Isabelle also started a Zumba group for Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong—a simple and meaningful way to promote fitness, camaraderie, and joy among women working far from home.
She has also used her platform to support important causes, such as helping raise funds for a domestic helper who had reportedly suffered abuse from her employer.
The cover shoot: A family hike
True to her creativity and authenticity, Isabelle conceptualized and directed their first-ever family cover shoot for Smart Parenting. Instead of a staged studio setting, she wanted a family hike. “This is what we do on weekends, so I thought we’d have more fun this way,” she explained.
Like parenting, Isabelle described their experience as an adventure in itself. “We saw the highest point. There were a lot of stairs. The kids were climbing on the trees. But that's what we want,” Isabelle said.
“We want them to go wild and experience that. And then we get there, there’s a beach. So then they had time to swim. And then after the swim, we had some food, and they had some ice cream.”
Isabelle admitted that her kids don’t usually enjoy hiking like she and Adrien do. “I think that's important for people to know. Not everything we do as parents will be met with excitement,” she said. “But our job is to expose them to as many experiences as possible so they can figure out what they love.”
She recalled struggling with academics as a child, realizing later that she was a visual learner. That experience fuels her belief that parents shouldn’t try to fit kids into a mold. “When they're young, it's giving them a host of experiences, allowing them to do all these things. And they won't know unless they try,” she said.
'I don't show the same way, the same kind of love or the same kind of attention to each child because they're so unique.'
Isabelle added, “It's such a great time to be alive because we have this kind of zoomed-out perspective on children. They don't have to be this perfect valedictorian and ace all the tests because they can go out into the real world and create something, be an entrepreneur, or be a content creator and still have a huge impact and still be successful.”
“It depends on what your definition of success is. Is it having more time? Or is it earning so much money in the bank? Or is it helping people?”
RELATED: Isabelle Daza Didn’t Want To Pass Down Low Self-Esteem To Sons, Wants Kids To Have High EQ
Humor and parenting
Aside from her hosting stint in the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga!, Isabelle has been adored for her sense of humor. “I think humor is just a part of me. I love to laugh. I love to make people laugh. And once you get people to laugh, all the barriers are kind of let down in terms of social connections.”
She shares how she uses humor in parenting, “I always try to be silly around my kids. I try to see things from their perspective.”
The same goes for marriage. Isabelle believes you must know how to laugh with any partner you choose. “You know, you can't take life so seriously because life is already so serious.”
“Humor is so powerful and I try to inject it in my own content because it's just who I am. It's a part of me.”
For Isabelle, parenting is not about her or her husband but about each of her children.
“I don't show the same way, the same kind of love or the same kind of attention to each child because they're so unique,” she explains.
“My parenting is very individual, child-driven, and unique for each child. And I try to impart life skills that will, I guess, not keep them in a bubble because I don't want them to grow up being so privileged, not having grit, living in this bubble, like, oh, this is real life. This is real life.” This is why Isabelle helps her child understand life's realities as much as possible.
She also says she’s trying to be very patient with them: “Because if you have kids, but you're always annoyed and mad at them, and, you know, trying to avoid them or on your phone. Why do you have kids?”
Her parenting mantra: Enjoy your children.
“When I'm with them, I try to put my phone in another room. Otherwise, I'm addicted to it. I'm constantly chatting with my friends.”
She advises parents, “Make sure to have 20 minutes of just time where we're just playing. And it's very nourishing for me, too, when I see how their minds work.”
Isabelle cherishes the fact that her daughter loves to play with a baby doll, and her son Valentin is in his dinosaur era. “I get a peek into their world, and I like it,” she said.
From where we stand, Isabelle fully embraces the messy, beautiful adventure that is parenthood.
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Shot on location in Hong Kong
Photographs by Kim Lao
Styling and Creative Direction by Isabelle Daza
Makeup by Stephen Makeup
Hairstyling by Mildred Chan
Editor-in-chief: Ronna Capili Bonifacio
Layouts by Stephanie Ocampo
Social media by Zen Arganda
Associate Publisher: Bettina Santos
