Ava Paloma on Wellness, Motherhood and Sustainable Success

Ava Paloma is no longer chasing the feeling that she has arrived. With projects including The Razor’s Edge and upcoming work with Netflix and A24, the actress and producer is learning to live fully inside the career she spent years building.

That sense of earned confidence also shapes how she approaches life away from the camera. As a mother, Paloma favors sleep over unnecessary sacrifice, timeless clothing over fleeting trends, and sustainable habits over quick fixes. Her family’s regenerative farm, Wildom Farm in Deep Creek, Maryland, has further influenced the way she thinks about nourishment, beauty, creativity, and longevity.

For Paloma, feeling well is not about achieving perfection. It is about creating a life—and a career—that can continue growing without losing what keeps her grounded.

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With The Razor’s Edge and upcoming projects with both Netflix and A24, you’re entering an especially exciting chapter professionally. When life and work become this full, what helps you remain grounded and feel most like yourself?

These opportunities have been incredible, and there's real validation in being part of recognizable projects. Years of hard work and uncertainty are finally paying off. But what's actually kept me grounded through it isn't the recognition itself, it's a shift in how I relate to the work. I used to think I had something to prove. Now it's more that I just need to keep showing up and doing good work. That distinction has changed everything for me. My path feels clearer, and I'm more confident, not because the uncertainty has disappeared—there's always some of that in this industry—but because I've had enough time in it now to know I can handle it.

If anything, all those years have humbled me more than they've inflated me. So the confidence I have now isn't false or performative, it's earned. There's a difference between chasing something and actually living inside it, and I think that shift, from "I love this, how do I make it happen" to "I'm actually doing this," is what grounds me. I'm not reaching anymore. I'm just here, doing the work.

You’ve said that sleep is one of your biggest wellness secrets, which sounds simple but can be difficult to protect, especially as an actress, producer, and mother. How have you learned to prioritize rest, and what difference do you notice when you truly get enough of it?

Being well rested solves so many of life's problems. I'm happier, more focused, and I make fewer bad decisions. I eat better. I'm easier to be around. Everything is better. The tension that builds in me when I'm sleep-deprived makes everything harder, so whatever I feel like I'm sacrificing by sleeping that extra hour is almost always a false equivalency. The laundry will still be there. The inbox will still be there. But a well-rested version of me handles both faster and better than an exhausted one ever could.

The first year of motherhood is hard, but the truth is, babies also sleep a lot. I know people cringe at the phrase "sleep when the baby sleeps," but genuinely, do it. Let the laundry go. Let the house be a little messier than usual. Ask your partner to pick up the slack when you need it. Sleep is the biggest fix there is, for your mood, your patience, your health, all of it.

Your approach to wellness is quite data-driven, from monitoring your bloodwork to staying mindful of your nutrition and fitness. How do you use that information without allowing health and wellness to become another source of pressure or perfectionism?

We actors are emotional beings, and that's a wonderful thing. It's why audiences love watching us; we're encouraged, even paid, to feel deeply and access all of it. But in real, non-actor life, being overly emotional can actually work against you. That's where data has become such a useful tool for me. I used to assume I was cranky because of some life event, or an article I'd read, some abstract global worry. It turned out, more often than not, I was just low in iron, or hadn't slept enough. I'm not villainizing emotion, I just think knowing the difference between "I'm sleepy" or "I'm nutrient deficient" versus genuinely overworrying about something like the state of the world matters.

Perfectionism, to me, is unattainable, it's really driven by a need to control something you can't fully control. But when your health is understood and quantified, and if you're naturally a driven person, that need for "perfection" can shift into something healthier: reaching for your own personal best instead. That's not to say I'm not competitive, I love watching incredible actors work and wanting to be in rooms with them. But as long as I'm better today than I was yesterday, I can own that, and genuinely feel good about it.

You spend a great deal of time in professional hair and makeup chairs, yet your personal beauty routine is refreshingly low-maintenance. What have those experiences taught you about what is genuinely worth keeping in your everyday routine, and what can be skipped?

To be honest, I love being pampered, I'm a big fan of all things self-care. But since having my son, I've maintained a much more efficient, low-maintenance routine, partly out of necessity, and partly because my priorities have simply shifted.

What I've learned can't be skipped: sleep, hydration, monthly hair appointments (these grays aren't going anywhere on their own), the occasional at-home teeth whitening, a massage or quick back rub whenever I can get one, Korean skincare, always drying my face with a fresh towel, and my sister's product, Lather, more on that below. Everything else, the elaborate routines, the extra steps, the things that take more time than payoff, I've let go of without much attachment.

Also, funny tidbit: I am no stranger to those massage kiosks at a mall or even at a street fair. If I see that little donut headrest, I will be there, letting someone elbow out my knots in public!

Becoming a mother often changes the way women dress, but it doesn’t necessarily mean losing their sense of personal style. How has motherhood refined your wardrobe, and what does “elevated mom style” look like in your real life?

I used to live and work in the West Village in New York, and I loved dressing up, an Alice + Olivia piece, something girly and fun, was often my go-to. I still love getting dressed up, but now I have a toddler, so my everyday style has simplified: clean lines, and I've always loved a cinched waist. Almost anything I wear has to survive the possibility of getting stained or dirty on the very first wear. I actually keep a small pile of fresh white tees and a separate pile of "used" ones, because honestly, nothing feels better than putting on a crisp, brand-new tee. Add fresh sneakers or sandals, and I'm set. One thing motherhood hasn't changed: I still love showing off my waist. It's small, and it's one detail that still makes me feel elegant, no matter how simple the rest of the outfit is. To me, that's what elevated mom style really is: looking put together and feeling like yourself, while still being fully ready to get down on the floor and get messy with your kid.

In your style, you tend to gravitate toward clean lines, classic silhouettes, and timeless pieces rather than chasing trends. What makes an item feel both beautiful and practical enough to earn a lasting place in your wardrobe?

For something to earn a permanent place in my wardrobe, it has to do two things at once: make me feel put-together, and survive real life. I'm drawn to clean silhouettes because they don't ask for much, a great white tee, well-cut denim, a piece with a cinched waist, and they still look intentional even on the busiest day. Trends come and go so quickly that chasing them starts to feel like work, whereas a genuinely well-made basic just quietly does its job, day after day, year after year. Practicality matters more to me now than it used to; anything that can't handle a toddler grabbing at it, or a long day on set, doesn't make the cut. But I don't think practical has to mean boring. The pieces I keep coming back to are simple, but they're elevated simple, good fabric, a flattering cut, something that still feels like me.

“More lard, less Botox!” Your family’s regenerative farm, Wildom Farm in Deep Creek, Maryland, gives you a direct connection to the land and to where food comes from. How has that experience shaped the way you think about nourishment, clean living, and caring for yourself from the inside out?

"More lard, less Botox" pretty much sums up my philosophy at this point. My family's farm, Wildom, has completely shaped how I think about nourishment. My sister Julie raises animals on organic feed, no antibiotics, no hormones, letting them roam and forage naturally, and once you've tasted and seen food produced that way, it's hard to look at "clean living" the same way again. For me, caring for myself from the inside out starts with what's actually going into my body: real food, real ingredients, nothing engineered to just look healthy. It's changed the way I shop, the way I cook, and honestly, the way I think about beauty too. My sister also makes a product called Lather (yes, it's derived from pig lard, and it's awesome, better than tallow in my opinion) from the farm. It's simple, real, and exactly the kind of thing I'd rather put on my skin than chase some quick fix that doesn't address anything underneath.

Regenerative farming is ultimately about restoring and sustaining life over time. Do you see a connection between that philosophy and the way you now approach your body, motherhood, creativity, and the career you are continuing to build?

Absolutely, I see the connection everywhere once you start looking for it. Regenerative farming isn't about a quick yield, it's about restoring the soil so it can keep giving, season after season, without burning itself out. I think about my body the same way now. It's not about pushing hard for a short-term result; it's about building habits, sleep, nutrition, movement, that let me keep showing up strong for years, not just for one big moment. Motherhood works the same way. You can't sprint through it, you have to pace yourself so you have something left to give tomorrow, and the day after that. And creatively, I think the best work comes from the same place, not forcing something out of urgency, but staying rooted enough that good ideas have room to grow. Even my career feels regenerative in that sense: I'm not chasing one big break, I'm trying to build something sustainable, project by project, that I can keep growing for the long haul.