Mickey Guyton on How She Balances Country Stardom With Motherhood for New Endeavor (Exclusive)

Mickey Guyton is using her fame to support a cause close to her heart. The country music star is highly sought after, with a seemingly endless slate of events and appearances at which to appear. However, that doesn’t mean Guyton can’t take time to be an advocate for a cause she strongly believes in–school zone safety.

In an exclusive with PopCulture.com, Guyton reveals how she has partnered with 3M to launch its School Zone Safety initiative, dedicated to “improving school zone safety centers on the belief that every child deserves a chance at an education.” They plan to serve 100 schools across the globe by 2024. Guyton said that she decided to lend her voice to the initiative because “it really resonated with me having a son and going through the stresses of being a parent. We don’t even realize how stressful and beautifully heartbreaking parenthood is.” 

“To think of all of these children that are going to school it’s scary,” she said. Guyton noted that 3M’s focus on renovating zones with underprivileged schools is “incredible,” and it is “really scary” to see how distracted drivers can be in school zones bustling with students.

This year, the Grammy-nominated artist has already helped kick off the first of ten U.S. school zone transformations, speaking with Robert Churchwell Museum Magnet Elementary School students in Nashville. “An artist by the name of Woke3 painted this beautiful mural, and these children, these kids that looked like me, were so excited to be a part of that,” Guyton said.

“No matter who you are, when you see a school zone again, you remember that that’s someone’s child going to school every single day. And if you go and check the statistics of what happens to kids from five to 29, the the statistics of the likelihood of your child getting in a car accident or hurting themselves is terrifying.”

The country singer, 37, welcomed her first child with attorney husband Grant Savoy, son Grayson Clark, on Feb. 8, 2021. She announced the birth on Instagram, calling it “The hardest and most beautiful thing I have ever done.” Guyton says that becoming a mother informed her decision to join the School Zone Safety initiative and other important issues that affect mothers and their children.

“I’ve taken an interest in working moms,” Guyton explained. “I’m a working mom. And so often, it’s unbelievable to me that we’re allotted three months to adjust to motherhood and then trust someone that you don’t know to take care of your child as you work. And that’s something that I don’t know how to change in our country.”

“We’re taught it’s almost like we live to work and our family is put on the back burner,” she continued. “And I hope in corporate America that we start looking at that and seeing how important it is that we support new moms. I know I wasn’t okay at three months after a postpartum.”

Guyton herself has worked to maintain a balanced family life with an ever-growing career, including having her brother-in-law look after her son. The musician said she values her moments with Grayson, and spending so much extended time away from him can be challenging.

“I had a work trip where I was gone for nine days, and I lost my mind,” Guyton said. “It’s so hard. I found myself crying at a bar because I missed my son. So it’s something that I’m still figuring out.” However, she mentioned that if she has to bring her child to an interview, “that’s just going to be how it is. And we need to normalize that.”

Guyton is currently “excited” to be writing and recording music in Nashville in preparation for her next album and revealed that she is working with Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line, calling him “a saint of a human being.” Sadly the country music world has been in mourning since the death of the legendary Naomi Judd on April 30. Guyton, who met Naomi and her country singing partner and daughter Wynonna as recently as the April 11 CMT Awards, gave her condolences. She said the Judds had left an enduring impression on her as country icons and innovators.

“What I love about the Judds is their transparency and their willingness to be like, hey, take me as I am,” Guyton said. “I’m not necessarily the girl next door, but I tell real stories, and my life is real.” Judd’s death was later reported to be suicide, and the music matriarch had suffered from severe depression for many years. Guyton said she believes Judd’s death is another example of why a greater spotlight needs to be placed on mental health awareness.”It’s really sad that we lost her the way that we did,” she said. “We need to bring awareness to mental health. That is real.”