Modelable Issues with Parent Child Components

I am trying to create some reusable component with three MaryUI Select components (MaryUI isn't the issue). Source, Status and Owner. From the parent Livewire page I pull possible existing Source Status or Owner if we are viewing the object or leave as blank if we are creating. The issue is where we have a blank Source or Status for example and we have a default value set from the database. User is set on the parent ownerId and works with preselecting the correct user. In the child Livewire component I am doing the following to get the default value but the issue is the parent overwrites the found default value with in my case an empty string.

<?php

namespace App\Livewire\Components\Ui;

use Livewire\Component;
use App\Models\FieldDefinition;
use Livewire\Attributes\Modelable;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;

class Status extends Component {

    public $statuses;
    public $object = 'contact';

    #[Modelable]
    public $statusId;

    public function mount($object) {
        $this->object = $object;

        $this->loadLeadStatuses();
    }

    private function loadLeadStatuses() {
        $def = FieldDefinition::getOptionsForField($this->object, 'status');

        if ($this->statusId == '') {
            $this->statusId = $def->firstWhere('is_default', true)->id ?? '';
        }

        $this->statuses = $def->map(function ($option) {
            return ['id' => $option->id, 'name' => $option->option_label];
        })->toArray();
    }

    public function render() {
        return view('livewire.components.ui.status');
    }
}

I did a test where I hard coded statusId in the parent and it populated correctly. It seem there's something that will always override the child property even if the parent property is null/ empty. Is there a work around? I know I can use events and such but that seems hacky! The reason I want it to work like this is that these three inputs are used a lot over the system I am making and not ideal to duplicate the same methods and such possibly 7 or 8 times each.

Parent Class, removed unrelated code:

class Create extends LivewireModal {

    public $lead;
    public $countries = [];
    public $counties = [['id' => '', 'name' => 'Please select a country first']];
    public $countryCounty;

    public $leadSources = [];
    public $leadStatuses = [];
    public $sourceId = null;
    public $statusId = null;
    public $ownerId;
    public $users = [];

    public $name;
    public $company_name;
    public $email;
    public $phone;
    public $website;
    public $amount;
    public $address;
    public $city;
    public $country;
    public $county;
    public $postcode;

    public function mount() {
        $this->lead = new Lead();
        $this->ownerId = auth()->user()->id;
    }

    public function create() {
        abort_if_cannot('create_leads');

        $this->validate();

        $lead = Lead::create([
            'name' => $this->name,
            'company_name' => $this->company_name,
            'email' => $this->email,
            'phone' => $this->phone,
            'website' => $this->website,
            'amount' => $this->amount,
            'source_id' => $this->sourceId,
            'status_id' => $this->statusId,
            'owner_id' => $this->ownerId,
        ]);

        $address = $lead->addAddress([
            'type_id' => $this->getAddressTypeId('other'),
            'line_1' => $this->address,
            'city' => $this->city,
            'county' => $this->county,
            'postcode' => $this->postcode,
            'country' => $this->country,
            'is_primary' => true,
        ]);

        add_user_log([
            'title' => 'Lead created: ' . $lead->name,
            'link' => route('leads.view', $lead->id),
            'id' => $lead->id,
            'section' => 'Leads',
            'type' => 'created',
        ]);

        $this->dispatch('closeModal');
        $this->dispatch('refreshLead');

        $this->dispatch('pg:eventRefresh-lead-table');


        LivewireAlert::title('Lead created successfully')
            ->success()
            ->toast()
            ->position('top')
            ->show()

    public function render() {
        abort_if_cannot('create_leads');

        return view('livewire.leads.create');
    }
}

Main Blade:

@props([
    'object' => 'contact'
])

<div>
    <livewire:components.ui.source :object="$object" wire:model="sourceId" />
    <livewire:components.ui.status :object="$object" wire:model="statusId" />
    <livewire:components.ui.owner :object="$object" wire:model="ownerId" />
</div>

Livewire View:

<div>
    <x-ui.field required>
        <x-ui.label>Status</x-ui.label>
        <x-mary-choices-offline
            class="rounded-box"
            wire:model="statusId"
            :options="$statuses"
            placeholder="Select a status..."
            clearable
            searchable
            single
        />
    </x-ui.field>
</div>