Today we’d like to take a moment to applaud the parents who despite many challenges, did they best they could and did right by their kids. We asked folks to share stories of what they feel their parents got right and have shared highlights below.

Nicole Marie Majewski

What did my parents do right? This is a powerful question for me at this season of my life and brings forth alot of big meaning for me. I lost my mother 7 years ago and my father unexpectedly in January 2023. Reflecting on what they did right and how they’ve impacted my life and who I am as a person is important for me right now and Im grateful for the opportunity. Read more>>

Dan Shaked

My parents moved from from Israel to the US in the 70’s to study. They were part of a large group of immigrants, many of which they are still in touch with until today from all over the world, that lived in a studio dorm with a few kids and a culture shock and a big dream. My father, in addition to knowing his business and financial skillset, loves to meet new people and generates interesting work opportunities. My mother, also a pianist, incorporated the arts throughout my childhood. A Mathematician herself, I learned piano, clarinet and was always involved in theater, dance and singing in various camps and organizations. Read more>>

Lisa GistarbBrown

My parents were hard workers, and did everything so me and my brother can have nice things. My mother held multiple jobs in her career I followed her footsteps. She was a registered nurse for about four years joined the retail industry and department of education. My dad was big on making sure he had kept job security always saying be independent and get a side hustle if needed. He was a retired veteran and forklift driver, he also did carpentry and mechanical work for those in need. This really impacted me and had become independent. I left home at 19yrs old, I worked a total of 32 job’s from 1993-2007 while attending school. Before settling down to get married in 2007. My father saying a man is the head of the house and bread winner. I always thought that until 2013 when I loss a good job in Healthcare. The year 2018 I decided to be independent again and make my own money and not have to ask anyone for things. Read more>>

Kim Bell

My parents did a lot of things right! First of all, when I was in high school – and as soon as I was legally old enough to work, my dad took me to a shopping center to look for employment. We literally started on one end of the shopping center and walked down the row of stores, stopping in each store to ask if they were hiring. That’s how I got my first real job. While I was still in high school, I was working multiple jobs, which included working in a retail position at that shopping center. Read more>>

Selah Marting

My parents have impacted my career path in multiple beneficial ways. Firstly, just having the support to not go to a traditional university and go to a dog training school instead, changed everything. I always knew I wanted to work with animals and my parents never tried to push me towards a more “acceptable” career. My mom passed on her love of animals and overall caring and kind personality. My dad taught me how important working hard and doing a quality job is. Read more>>

Jenika Gunter

My parents have always been supportive of me no matter what decisions I made. The decision to become a massage therapist raised their eyebrows but once I explained more as to why I’m passionate about learning the craft and furthering my education they were on board. I practiced on both of my parents while in massage school and it helped me gain more confidence. Read more>>

Janie Kruse Garnett

This is a compliment and such a wonderful gift that is so often overlooked – they didn’t do things for me. They didn’t do my homework, write my essays, mend my sweaters, book my flights. And they had very high standards which they showed me by their own actions and also introducing me to excellence and explaining *how* things were excellent. Museum trips were the norm, and auctions and so on. Prices were explained like “see the dovetailing on this drawer – this is how it has lasted for 200 years. This is why it’s the best.” So the result was that you had to figure “it” out and you had a wealth of examples with the reasoning explained to guide you. Read more>>

Mimi Connelly

I always exercised my creativity from a very young age. I spent most of my days creating resaturants and hotels in my living room with fake food, cash registers, table cloths, room keys, the whole nine yards. I would always have my parents and sisters come “visit” and “stay.” I’d spend a lot of time alone and creating my own little worlds. When I was twelve I wrote my first novel, although it was absolutely terrible, my parents always always supported me. They always made me believe I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. And that energy has never dwindled. I remember joking a few years ago about how weird of a child I must have been and my Dad cut me off, and he was like I never thought this, I was always astounded by your creativity. Read more>>

Adeleh Yarmohammadi

From the earliest stages of my upbringing, my parents bestowed upon me the invaluable gift of exposure to a diverse array of fields. Their guidance led me down a path of exploration, where I was able to delve into various domains and truly discover my own capabilities. It wasn’t long before I came to realize that art courses through my veins, infusing every fiber of my being with a profound sense of purpose and joy. Their nurturing guidance enabled me to unearth a passion that resonates with the core of my identity, reminding me that genuine happiness flourishes when one embraces their innate artistic inclinations. Read more>>

Laurie Fagen

My parents were always supportive of me, no matter what my choices were. Coming from a small rural town in Iowa, the thought of making a living out of acting was pretty far-fetched, yet they encouraged me to follow that dream, helped me with college, came to my shows and never once said “That’s not a good career choice.” I soon discovered that on my own, and laid out of college — they call it “gap years” now — knowing that I would go back, once I had a better handle on what I wanted to do with my future. Read more>>

Aisley Sengthong

I was four years old when my mom taught me a traditional Lao dance. I wasn’t a prodigy at dancing, but I did as well as any other preschooler could do. I sang my mom’s favorite songs with her whenever the radio was playing. Her favorite music to play during car rides would be from artists like Loso. And while we predominantly spoke English at home, I always tried my best to sing along with my mom from the back seat. My mom wasn’t surprised when my teacher announced that I was especially talented at singing songs I learned in class. I remember my favorite was ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. Music seemed to come to me easily. Read more>>

Karin Tala

One of the things my parents did right was not indulging my every desire. They taught me the importance of working for what I wanted. From a young age, I had to put in effort and earn things for myself. By the time I reached around 17 years old, I stopped relying on my parents for help and money. This newfound independence was incredibly empowering. Learning to do things on my own without constantly seeking assistance was a liberating experience. It taught me the value of independence and self-reliance. I realized that money doesn’t come easily and that it requires hard work and perseverance. Some days were tough, but those experiences were essential in teaching me the importance of money and how to manage it wisely. Read more>>

Sabrina Whipple

They kept it 1000% with me! My mom was always very blunt and honest with me about things! She sheltered me growing up but had she not, I wouldn’t be the woman that I am! She picked the right man to help raise me! He is also responsible for my upbringing! Thank you Ben C. Robertson RIP I love and miss you and thank you mama Janett S. Robertson I love you! Read more>>

Maximilian Johnsson

My parents are very much not artists. One is a civil economist and the other is a civil engineer, academics in short, and they treasure ambition more than anything. I have this one story on that subject that I think really shaped me as a person and it goes something like this: When I was maybe eight or nine years old my dad took me out to the local football field, and being Sweden as it was it was, it was covered in snow. We had brought our skis and my dad told me we were going to go around the track maybe twenty times, I don’t remember exactly but it was something absurd like that at least through my childish eyes. We started skiing, and naturally after maybe eight laps or so I was exhausted and ready to give up. Read more>>

Jeremiah Woodard

One thing my parents did right is instill a really good work ethic within myself, while also trying to maintain my sanity and treating others the way I would want to be treated. My dad has his own barbershop, he has such a close connection with his clients and that’s how I strive to be. I always make sure my clients are always comfortable and most importantly, have a good time. Read more>>

Suzanne Grzanna

My parents impacted my life through their music. They both are professional musicians and music was always performed in our household. I would attend their concert performances and aspired to share my music with others. My mother taught me piano and I practiced every day. The diligence of their work ethic modeled my later success. Without my parents, I wouldn’t be at the point I am right now. I am very grateful. Read more>>

Lauren Van Duzer

I’m inspired by my parents strong work ethic. Watching my parents bring ethics into every day tasks and work diligently to support and provide for our family was inspiring. Both of them had multiple jobs at various times. While that has its drawbacks, the blessing of it is that I learned how I want to show up in life and in my chosen career. Not only is it important to honor what you commit to, it’s important also to engage with respect, integrity & kindness. That’s become a compass that I live by. It’s impacted my career in ways I wouldn’t have imagined. Holistic dog ‘training’ is all about connection, which massively coincides with my core values. Read more>>

Susan Seay

I was the annoying as a child. My favorite question was “Why?” A question I asked often. My parents are not saints who are blessed with endless patience, but they definitely tried their best to endure my seemingly endless need to know why. “Why is the sky blue?” “Why do you put on your left shoe first and not your right show?” “Why are we having spaghetti for dinner and not steak like they just showed on the commercial?” Why? Why? Why? Raising a child who is deeply curious about almost everything, is not easy. I’m so grateful that in spite of my irritating barrage of questions my parents answered as them as best they could and then resorted to the parent classics like “I don’t know” or “Because I said so”. Read more>>

Genesis Andino

Ever since I could remember, my parents have always given me the opportunity to express myself creatively. I remember taking lessons as kid such as guitar or ballet. I wanted to try a little bit of everything because I was so fascinated by all things creative. By not putting me in a box, I was able to learn more about who “Genesis” is and what I truly enjoy doing. My parents have always told me that I can do anything I set my mind to and this support has remained strong to this day. I feel confident that any direction I choose to go in, my parents will have my back 100% and as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized what a blessing this is. Read more>>

Sophie Spiers

My parents let me finger paint in the kitchen, sing Broadway songs in the living room, and run around the house in ballet shoes. They were super supportive of extra curricular activities, and believe me, I did them all. They also let me travel the world with school programs – I went to China when I was 12 and stayed with a host family; camped in Madagascar in high school; and welcomed several exchange students into our home. Nothing was off limits, which gave me the courage to try anything and everything. Read more>>

Morgan Worsham

My parents were always very entrepreneurial themselves. They both had businesses that they owned while I was growing up, so that was a great example. When I got into highschool and realized I was interested in photography, they really supported me! In about 2010 my dad got me a DSLR camera and a couple of lenses to use from a friend, and my passion for the craft was solidified! When it came time for college I had an academic scholarship, I felt I needed to go for something “practical” like business and then have a minor in photography. Read more>>

Ashley Wright

I was raised by a single father and he did everything in his power to instill confidence, curiosity and integrity in me. My Dad was always my biggest cheerleader, he encouraged me to dream big, take risks, and be myself. I cant thank him enough for what he did to build me up as a person. When I was a freshman in high school I was apart of my high school Orchestra. I came home one day to tell my Dad that I had a fantastic Idea to get the principal players of the orchestra to get together with me and start a sting trio that can play at local events. Read more>>

Linc McCoy

Coming from immigrant parents (Guyana and Trinidad), my parents always taught me to be consistent in who I am, how I treat people, remember to look out for family and never give up when God has placed you on the path. Those are a few of the solid ground foundational ingredients that they provided. With that, I have been able to achieve quite a bit from being the first in my family to achieve the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Five (highest rank within the Army’s Warrant Officer Cohort – 3% of the Army’s population achieves this rank). Ensuring that I treat everyone with dignity and respect keeps me grounded because watching my parents work multiple jobs to ensure we had food on the table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our heads forced me to ensure I never gave up on my vow to give back to them for their sacrifice. Read more>>

Morgan Hannaleck

My parents are some of the most genuine, caring, and passionate people in my life. They are very different from each other, and have always come together to give everything they absolutely could to me. My mom is incredibly thoughtful and has always gone the extra mile to show people she cares-there is not a single birthday, holiday, or event that goes by in our family that is not being celebrated by her. Although we live across the country from each other, I get a text from her every morning before she wakes up and every night before she goes to bed. Read more>>

Ariana Nicole George

I am so fortunate to have supportive parents who stand behind my artistic pursuits. They came to every show. signed me up for classes & workshops, drove me to and from rehearsals until I got my license. However, I am also so grateful that they worked hard to make sure I had options available to me. My parents made sure I knew the steps it would take for me to pursue this career and they taught me how to advocate for myself. They also encouraged me to pursue a liberal arts education, where I could not only focus on my musical theatre and voice-acting education but also have a degree that would allow me the flexibility to pursue a corporate job should I ever decide to go that route. Even if I never pursue work outside of performing long-term, it is nice to know I have the option (and it’s already helped me gain some great work experience post-grad!). Read more>>

Rachel Jung

My parents played a huge part in the success I’ve had. As a young child, they instilled hard work and dedication. They lead by example. My dad has successfully run his own architecture business for 43 years and my mom homeschooled my brothers and I. Their entrepreneur characteristics always inspired me, and though I didn’t always know I wanted to pursue my own business, I know later in life their example greatly impacted my choice. Read more>>

Chuti Tiu

What a great question! Because so often people can focus on what their parents did wrong. I’ve been blessed to have parents that showed a lot of love, to me and my siblings and to each other. Physical and verbal declarations of love and endearment are things I treasure and need in my life, and I’m grateful to have had that kind of emotional foundation. Read more>>