Candace Rice On Momtrepreneurship After Reality Star Fame On 'Floribama Shore'

For this Locked In interview, Camille ‘Milley Rock’ Paul catches up with Candace Rice’s on set of her first HYPE+ commercial shoot in Atlanta. During their behind-the-scenes chat on the rooftop of The Wellness Noir, the Memphis born and raised Personality and Entrepreneur got real about lessons from motherhood on the spectrum, being apart of the cast of MTV’s FloridaBama Shore series and how she manages to share her brand Butter Me Babe with her followers and fans. 

Milley Rock: When filming was delayed to  2021, you also became a mother, how close together did you find out you were pregnant and begin filming? 

Candace: Yes. So we shot that season right before You wanna know what's so interesting about that is that, um, my son's father would call into the show. Yeah, he would call in. 'cause we had our little gator phone, so he would call in and whatnot.

If maintaining a relationship during COVID is a challenge, having a baby during a pandemic is next level. As she opened up about her lessons in love, Rice reminded me of your favorite Type-B Bestie that keeps it real but keeps it exciting. 

Did not know we would be where we are now, but he would call in and whatnot. He was very supportive of the show. I told the producers all of this. They was like, are you sure? Then on top of that, the love was too strong. I got pregnant and then what ended up happening was I had my son early, and so I wasn't supposed to have my son until April. Actually, his due date was 4/20. Funny. Um, but ended up having him on Christmas, so I had him at 24 weeks. He was one pound, eight ounces.

Milley Rock: Baby where? Most women undergo like the whole body changes, because you look stunning. 

Candace: Thank you. Thank you.

Milley Rock: How did going through a premature birth make you appreciate your body and understand your power as a woman?

Candace: That was a process because… I felt, I felt like I failed for a while because I didn't know why I went into pre-term labor. I felt like I did everything I was supposed to do. I ended up going into labor so early. So all of those things were going into place, but for a minute I felt like I failed a little bit 'cause I I don't know why it happened. I do know that unfortunately on the flight back to Memphis, I caught COVID and I was like. I didn't know if maybe COVID sent me into pre-term labor, but I did everything I was supposed to do.

So my  pregnancy was pretty rough and I filmed a season during that pregnancy too, which that footage never came out. A lot of the fans know they're still waiting on that.

Milley Rock:  Do you feel like back then MTV was receptive to you being a mother? 

Candace: So when we came in and filmed it was Nilsa's wedding. It was so beautiful, so beautiful. Nilsa was getting married and it was almost kind of like a catapulting to like a new era of the show because now we're moving into like the Jersey Shore family vacation thing. Because now we're getting married, you know what I mean? We're no longer the young kids partying and drinking and going out.

So with all of that, I think , it was very well received when I filmed, they were so accommodating, . It was never an issue They loved telling my story because they was like, oh my god, Candace is pregnant. And also a lot of people dunno. My son's father was a part of that season. Yeah, he was there. Very supportive too. I will say that. He was very supportive.

Milley Rock: You made some statements here today while on set filming about being a mom on the go and also single! How has it been co-parenting and still finding time for yourself?

Candace: It hasn't been easy because it's still new. So it's like the transition has been, I've been making a transition. But I will say though, it's been a lot of teamwork that we've had to put into place. My son is on the spectrum and that does make it a little bit harder because he is level three still non-verbal. So there's a lot that falls on me as a parent and when you are a single parent and you are raising child with special needs, my God, I'm telling you, one of God's strongest soldiers, he was like, oh, give it to her. There was so much that was outta my control. I talked about this on my Instagram when it comes to the health of our babies and when we have our babies, especially when they're diagnosed with autism or they have any type of special needs. That's not a struggle that anybody wants to sign up for, but you can't do anything about it when it's handed to you. All you can do is what you can do. And so for me, I took initiative. I got him in all the therapy sessions. I did everything that I could to make sure that my son has the resources that he has to thrive. He’s in an incubator, what could I do? I couldn't even touch him. You know what I mean? But I think they let me hold him one time and they had to put him back in the incubator because they couldn't risk anything happening to his lungs. because his lungs were so underdeveloped, I couldn't touch my baby for three months. So. When you're in situations like that, it don't matter how much money you have, it doesn't matter what you look like. It doesn't matter how smart you are. It doesn't matter what you've done for the world, it doesn't matter. All you have is what God has given you, all I had was my faith. That's all I had, and I actually think when I look back on it was a beautiful place to be in because when all you got is your faith.

According to the Center For Disease Control, 36.6 percent of black children are autistic and 3.2 times more prevalent in boys. Level Three Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, is the most severe level and requires substantial support from a parent or Caregiver.  When Rice’s son Max, aka “Mighty Max,” was born 24-Weeks Premature, she remained positive, patient and prayed up.

Milley Rock: How did touching your son for the first time inspire you with your brand Butter Me Babe and focusing on skin wellness?

Candace: Butter Me Babe has been open since 2019. That was my first baby, but what was really special about everything was that they allowed me to use my little body butter on him when he finally got out the incubator. So we had time. They let me give him a bath in the hospital and I moisturized him with it and it was just so sweet. Oh my God. It was so adorable. But then, you know, me being like a overprotective mom because I’ve seen all of what my son has went through, I actually made my body butter different for him. A hundred percent organic. I don't want nothing to happen to my baby. I'm was a new mom. I was like, what if something happened? Like something gets in the body butter? Hair gets in the body butter and gets on his skin? And now he back in the incubator. I was like, no, no, no. I was very particular about that. We had great skin to skin moments when he finally was out the incubator and he was able to breathe.

Milley Rock: What is a Tip would you give to business owners struggling with the discipline of time management?

Candace: For the people that are listening, that are business owners. That has been a big thing with my business is learning to automate things. There's not, here's not so many things that I have to show up for because, you know, there's so many with technology now. You can automate a lot of things with your business. And so now for me, all I have to do is process and ship it out.

Just as a business owner, learning to outsource, and anybody that's listening, that's a business owner, learn to outsource and hiring people. Whether it has to be Americans or whether you have to outsource overseas or whatever outsource so that there's less on your plate.

I have to, because I can't do everything on my own. Then as a mom, my priority is always showing up for my son because with my son having autism, he needs a lot of my time. He needs me to reinforce things. He needs the structure. And so everything that I have in my life is around that.

Milley Rock: So where's the time for you though?

Candace: Oh, I got him on a sleep schedule. He go to bed at 8:45PM. So after that, I get time. I just take time. I tell any mom and all moms know this, sometimes you just wanna lay in bed and just scroll and not have to have a child just tugging on you like velcro. And so for me. It's taking the time to just lay there, be in prayer, have gratitude, thank the Lord for, for a roof over my head and things like that.

Milley Rock: What does free time for a mom on the go look like. What does that, you know, comfort time look like for you?

Candace: Oh girl. I turn up when I'm baby free outside. We go outside. Everybody who watched the show know I'm a Hennessy drinker. You know what I'm saying?

Milley Rock: So, I have my show, The Milley Rock Minute at 8:00 PM on Hypers Club Radio, and I always ask my guests, what are your three keys to having a good night out?

Candace: Pre-game number one. Yeah. We are in a, uh, tough economic time. So if you could Pre-game at the house. Make sure you eat. And then I would say the last thing is send any negativity off of you. Dust that off like , mental health is very important and I think that people's triggers and things that they are internalizing come out sometimes when they have them nights out. So dust it off. And I also say a prayer before I go out.

IMAGE: MTV

Milley Rock: You know MTV is music television. And you know, seeing them kind of go away from that and then focusing on the MTV app that carries more of their reality television program, which I'm sure you're very familiar with, it got some criticism and people were kind of sad about it. What does MTV mean to you as a reality television star, and maybe even as a person who is a music appreciator?

Candace: So when it comes to MTV and the changes that have happened, I just think that honestly that was the byproduct of the change of times. We're no longer sitting at home watching TRL and stuff like that anymore, like everybody is on their phones and we're watching content creators, we're watching influencers. We're watching people that we relate to personally. I know that there was a buyout, so I think that, that could be good for Florida-Bama fans because that last season that they didn't get to see there could be some type of renegotiation or bring up conversations about what's going to happen with that footage. Because the footage is shot. It hasn't been released to the public and so.

For now this Mom-On-The Go has sights set on the upcoming Florida-Bama Cast Reunion Cruise Happening May 18th, 2026 and learning the lingo and acclimating to her new landscape in Atlanta as recent signed talent to Hype+ TV. 

Milley Rock: Right now, what do you have coming up.

Candace: Shooting a movie in December. Um, so yeah, I'm a lead. Very excited. Shout out to Iconic. There is our Flori-Bama cruise coming on May 18th. The link is in my bio. We're gonna be on a cruise four to five days. We deport in Miami, May 18th. There's special tickets for fans. We're gonna literally be partying with fans.

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