Cherelle Griner is clear about one thing: First-time motherhood is tough. After giving birth to son Bash in the summer of 2024, the 32-year-old attorney found herself drowning in sleepless nights, endless feedings, and nonstop diaper changes. “I struggled to practice the self-care rituals that once came so naturally to me,” she says. “I had to relearn everything: how to work out, eat properly, and nurture myself.”
It wasn’t Griner’s first life-changing experience. During her final year at the North Carolina Central University School of Law, Griner’s then-girlfriend Brittney was wrongfully detained in Russia. The professional basketball player endured 293 days in captivity, with Griner fighting each day to free Brittany.
“I committed to doing only what I knew I could handle,” she says. “When I had a window to study, I studied. When I had time to focus on pushing for Brittney’s return, I did that. And when I needed to practice self-care, I made space for that too.”
I want to teach [my son] that going after what you want doesn’t always feel good.
Teaming up with the Biden administration, Griner was able to secure Brittney’s release in December 2022. The couple focused on getting their life back; they got married, and then last July, the couple welcomed their son Bash.
Once again, Griner found herself navigating a new normal. Though her self-care routine once involved 4 a.m. boxing classes, she rejects pressure to get “back” to her pre-baby self. “My body created a human being, delivered that human being, and is currently in the process of restoring itself,” she says. “I’m not the same person, I’m someone completely new—and I feel invincible.”
That resilience is a quality she and Brittney hope to pass on to Bash. “I want to teach him that going after what you want doesn’t always feel good,” she says. “But you have to keep pushing anyway—through the discomfort, the fear, and the doubt.”
Since welcoming her son, Griner has taken full control of her schedule, starting her own law firm from home to accommodate time with her family. “As a former educator, I’ve seen what happens when young children miss that foundational presence and support,” she says, “I didn’t want that for my child.”
If I could go through all that and come out the other side still standing, growing, healing...what can’t I do?
Raising Bash while climbing the legal ladder has brought its fair share of challenges, but Griner is driven by her commitment to advocating for those in need—a calling she’s felt since childhood. “As a kid, whenever there was a problem that needed solving, I would always be the first to speak up and address the challenge when others remained silent,” she says.
Next on Griner’s agenda: reforming the juvenile legal system through restorative justice, a holistic practice that focuses on repairing individuals involved in crime rather than punitive measures. Part of Griner’s solution calls for expanding diversion programs that offer young defendants alternatives to criminal convictions. “Whether it’s a skill-building course or a community service initiative, a diversion program can help a young person to recognize their own power,” she says. “And that mindset can change a child’s whole trajectory.”
Griner credits motherhood for giving her the strength to pursue those goals. Rather than holding her back, she says, becoming a parent has only fueled her. “If I could go through all that,” she says, “and come out the other side still standing, growing, healing...what can’t I do?”
