Published May 7th, 2026
BY GRACE GRAHL
Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and while most celebrate with a hug, card or breakfast in bed, many moms do more for their families and communities than can be celebrated on this special holiday. Here are just four of the many amazing mothers of Carmel High School students who impact their families and careers.
In her free time, Chi Ping-Shih works in real estate by purchasing lots and flipping houses. Courtesy of CHI PING-SHIH
Chi Ping-Shih grew up in Taiwan and has taught a variety of subjects since she was 17 at her sister’s afterschool program. Now she teaches Mandarin Chinese at the Defense Language Institute and is a realtor, developer and investor for Compass Real Estate.
She has lived in Carmel since 2017 with three children, including sophomore Jasmine Jin, and had previously moved from Taiwan to Washington D.C. in 2006 because her husband was assigned as a diplomat, leaving her to reconsider her career path.
“I thought about either being a teacher like I did before, or being a chef,” says Ping-Shih about her career pathways during the move. “I decided to do both. I got my master’s degree for teaching foreign languages, and I also got my chef’s license.”
The 51-year-old dog aficionado was also recently diagnosed with ADHD, which she embraced, crediting her multi-tasking and communication skills to it.
“It’s a good thing for me because I can do a lot of things at once,” Ping-Shih concludes. “It’s a gift for me, and I enjoy it. That’s key because some people hate their job, but I love everything I do.”
Jayme Rock-Willoughby has spent over half of her life in schooling to become a cardiologist, achieving her lifelong dream of working in the medicine field. She has lived in Carmel since 2020 with her family and two daughters, including junior Maddie.
Jayme Rock-Willoughby enjoys playing with her dogs and chai tea lattes from Rise and Roam. Courtesy of JAYME ROCK-WILLOUGHBY
Growing up in Michigan, Rock-Willoughby feels like the Midwest values run deep through her family, giving her the work ethic of working hard to achieve her dreams. This is proven in her career path, with a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology and biology, a master’s degree in business and certifications in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, nuclear cardiology and echocardiography.
“I’m overseeing processes and procedures in the lab and helping grow our field locally,” the cardiology division chair at Montage Health shares about her daily tasks. “I’m also reading echopardiograms or ultrasounds of the heart, looking at people’s heart rhythms or CT scans.”
When Rock-Willoughby isn’t working 12-hour days or in the clinic, she’s watching Ohio State football games or her daughters’ sports. She enjoys the small town feel of Carmel which reminds her of her hometown.
Lesley Varney is moving on to a new chapter as she has recently become a consultant with Four Seasons Yachts, a luxury boat which will be traveling around the Mediterranean. This new opportunity will bring together her interests such as travel, working with clients and providing luxury experiences for guests.
Lesley Varney enjoys working for smaller luxury companies where she knows everybody and makes permanent connections. Courtesy of LESLEY VARNEY
The 49-year-old golfer grew up in the Monterey area and travelled a bit after college before moving back to Carmel to let her children grow up in the same place she did. She has two children, senior Carson and sophomore Morgan, along with her 14-year-old dog Cricket.
“My degree is in economics, but growing up in the Monterey area led me to start working in the hospitality industry right out of college,” Varney explains. “I worked in hotel sales and marketing and started with boutique hotels where we would sell group business.”
These past experiences have helped her achieve this new role because while the mother of two ran her marketing consultant business, she helped connect people with shared interests, develop brands and businesses and share their story to the right company.
In her free time, Varney enjoys golfing with her ladies team at the Carmel Valley Ranch and supporting Carmel High through her position as Padre Parents treasurer.
Christina Biggs has loved wildlife since childhood, bringing home frogs, snakes and other critters found near her grandparents’ house in Michigan. Now she channels her love for wildlife into her work by rediscovering species and helping local sealife thrive.
Although Christina Biggs enjoys working with all animals, she is especially fond sealife, including belugas. Courtesy of CHRISTINA BIGGS
“Previously I worked as an exploration director involving going out to remote forests and looking for species not seen in the wild in years,” says the 52-year-old marine molecular ecologist. “We rediscovered a bird that hadn’t been seen in almost 200 years in Papua New Guinea called the black-naped pheasant-pigeon.”
Although Biggs no longer works with endangered species, she is still involved in the field, with her work including collecting environmental DNA samples in the ocean and analyzing them in BLUeDNA Institute, a research institute she founded.
“When I’m in the field, I’m usually out on a boat and scuba diving,” Biggs explains. “When I worked at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I mainly worked with cephalopods. We did all the aquaculture of all the different octopuses and squid and cuttlefish.”
Biggs enjoys spending her free time with her children, including her youngest daughter, senior Lily. She also enjoys scuba diving, a hobby that found its way into her work.
