So many of us parent the way our parents did – because it’s the only example we’ve had a chance to see up close. We think one of the ways to remedy this is to create a space where people can share stories of the things they feel their parents did right, so we can all learn from those examples.

Zane Berry

My parent’s are both artists, my Dad a bronze sculptor, and my Mom was a photographer. They both encouraged us to fill our free time and boredom with drawing, and making things as kids; which is very lucky considering most people aren’t encouraged to do art at all growing up, much less taught that it even has value. Read more>>

Lexie Williamson

My mother was a manager in retail for majority of her career. She always instilled proper management and communication skills within me. She taught me how to be compassionate but yet firm. As a woman in any part of higher authority, you tend to get looked over, or thought to be weak minded. She showed me how to stand up for myself and others. I have been able to take all of the advice she has given me to become an understanding and approachable manager with The Select! Read more>>

Donte’ Churchill

What my parents did right is they had me as a son! Just kidding! I am extremely thankful for my parents because they kept me out of harms way. We moved to the suburbs, I played sports and I was able to find a crew of fellas who lived in the neighborhood and were about the same things. There are at least 10 of us that have been friends for over 30 years! Read more>>

Charlie Byers

My parents have always been supportive of me. My mother has a masters degree in business and marketing and my father once owned his own restaurant and worked in food business his whole life. Read more>>

Islande Lallemand

My parents are first generation immigrants from Haiti. My parents gave some great tools to be successful in the US. The first thing is work ethic. Growing up my dad work 2 jobs to make sure we had everything we needed. Another thing my parent did right was to make sure we have togethernesses. Read more>>

Tiffany Skyers

As a child my parents allowed me space to explore my interests and encouraged the things they saw me gravitate to. They saw my love for art at an early age and as a result bought me supplies regularly. As I grew, my family realized my craft would push me past Crayola Crayons. Read more>>

The Reverent Few

I’ll always attribute my folks to my inherent self-worth, but it did come from little league sideline cheers or in the way movies paint supportive parents. They offered a real life look into pain, suffering, heartache, loss – I had front row seat to their vulnerability, even if it was hard to witness. Read more>>

Jesica Williams

My parents did a lot of things right, even though I haven’t always realized that. They are both interested & curious about living a holistic lifestyle and they exposed me to that in my teenage years as they began to uncover some paradigm shifts. Read more>>

Dominic Richards

My parents instilled in me the value of hard work and not just doing a job, but doing it right. They taught me to follow through on what I say because dependability is what keeps people in my life whom I choose to be in my life. They showed me how to love myself for whom I am and not try to be someone I’m not. In summary, my parents showed me the way to be successful and happy. Read more>>

Erica Francis

Momma Francis always taught me to never give up. It’s something I almost did my Freshman year in college at Central Michigan University. Before we get into that, it’s important to know that I’ve had a dream of being a news anchor and reporter since high school. Read more>>

Valencia Griswold

My parents instilled a lot of wisdom in me at a young age. But, the most impactful lesson they taught me was to be grateful. As a child, I would complain about what I did not have. My parents, my mom, in particular, would say: “Valencia, you’re being ungrateful; stop that.”. Read more>>

Matthew Sanchez

I was adopted by a loving lesbian couple along with my fraternal twin brother and little sister. Our only concern was living with a family that would keep us all together. So when I and my brother found out we were gonna be taken in with our little sister we were beyond happy! So when you ask me, “what did my parents do right? I say everything. Read more>>

Laura Casillas Morales

There are a lot of things that I think my parents did right and have helped me overcome obstacles and shape the way I am and the life that I live. The core 3 things that they preached and lived that I believe are the ones that have marked me more are these ones: 1. Honor your word 2. Work hard 3. Have faith, it will all come out the way it’s supposed to. Growing up my parents always emphasized the importance of committing to do what you said, what you promised. I remember playing Monopoly when I was around 8 years old and a property in the game was auctioned. Read more>>

Kasi Haire

My husband, Daniel and I work together in managing our Farmers Market businesses. We both grew up in an entrepreneurial household. Both of our fathers owned service companies and we each played a special role in our fathers’ businesses. Growing up we learned vital lessons of customer service, leadership and the role owning your own business plays within your family. Read more>>

Dana Makstaller

My parents show up. I mean that both literally and figuratively. When I first started Kin, I knew they were nervous about my new venture. Although I still had a full-time job as the Managing Director of Aras Creative Co, a creative studio in Cincinnati, starting Kin was a financial and a large time commitment. Read more>>

CECE

The best thing my parents have ever done for me was tell me that all they ever wanted was for me to be happy. This applied to all areas of my life, whether it was my short lived soccer career, my gymnastics phase, or my music career. Their number one priority was making sure that I knew that if something did not make me happy anymore, they would not pressure me to continue to do it. Knowing this from a young age, I was able to explore my creative self and express myself in different ways. Read more>>

Kielyn Simonson

My parents always worked hard and taught us to do the same. My mom went back to school when she was 40 to get her master’s degree and become a nurse practitioner. Her program was two hours away, and she had me and my two sisters at home at the time. The gumption and dedication it took for her to rise to the challenge and make it work is impressive, and I channel her when I need to do something hard in my own business. Read more>>

Mychal-Bella Rayne Bowman

I am grateful that my parents kept me in school, taught me morals values, work ethics, that there’s life after acting, spend to be frugal & a good steward, money, be confident in yourself, treat people right., & last but certainly not least to remain humble. Read more>>

Carolina Villanueva and Maria Villanueva

We both agree on this… Our parents taught us to love and admire nature and to live simple lives. Since we were little our we spent so much time at the farm, where we played among coffee plantations, ate fruits picked from the trees, participated in planting and farm duties and simply enjoyed the outdoors. Our parents have always been very simple and they have always taught us the value of things, of work and of family. Read more>>

Karen Ceesay

My parents have always supported me pursuing the arts, my father’s nickname for me was “Hollywood” starting around age ten when I first started taking acting lessons and performing in plays. They never missed a production. When I got to college & decided I wanted to be an engineer, my mother couldn’t believe I gave up on acting. Read more>>

Jennifer Nelson

I think as parents our goal is to parent better than we were parented. Growing up, my mom was the best cheerleader and my dad was the toughest coach. We had a family rule: finish the season and then you can decide if you want to try another sport or hobby. Read more>>

Beth Bradley

My childhood was a little less than typical. Okay, much less. Don’t get me wrong, I am immensely grateful for my parents and my siblings and the experiences I had growing up. But my family is different than most. You see, I’m the oldest of 18 children. Yep, 18. My parents have adopted 15 children over the last 25 years or so. My siblings span a wide range of ages, races, and abilities. The whole crazy adventure started when I was 10 years old, and my parents told me and my two biological sisters that they were adopting a little boy. Read more>>

Brittany Douglas

What did my parents do right? From a child’s viewpoint sometimes we can only express what our parents did wrong. Let me start by saying as an adult I understand that my parents did the best they could with the tools that they had at the time of raising me. Read more>>

Khyati Kapur

We are an immigrant family from India who came to the United States over 35 years ago. My parents both grew up underprivileged and education was a luxury, not a necessity. My grandfather was a principal of a school. He ensured that his sons received proper education, knowing this would be an investment for their future. Read more>>

Grace Bell

I would never have had the kind of success I’ve experienced at a young age if it weren’t for the support of my parents. Both of my parents were doctor’s and because of their education we were always expected to go to college. When I started selling my artwork in high school, it took over all of my spare time. By the time I was a senior, I started realizing I was going to have to choose between going off to college and the business I had worked so hard to grow over the past year and a half. Read more>>

Ashley Chukwu

Oh that’s a tough one lol they’re truly great, I think they’ve done a great deal of things right .If I had to pick one thing that was really the game changer, it is that the word no has little power over me. They taught me to never take “no” for an answer. Read more>>

Mallorie McBride

Oh gosh, my parents did so many things right! I’m very lucky and that’s not lost on me. Growing up they were always encouraging me to try new things, give my all to them and to always see things through. Along with this, they also did an incredible job of instilling confidence in me – I credit my drive and ambition to that, wholeheartedly. Read more>>

Sheterria Elliott

My parents are my world, My mother Sherria Elliott & Father Terry Elliott have definitely molded me into the woman I am today. Growing up with Albinism you’re always looked at as the underdog, the joke of the conversation, the weirdo. But At the age of 23 I now have evolved to a space in life nobody other than my parents could see me reaching. Read more>>

Sunni Boenker

Growing up, my parents were very involved in all aspect of my school studies and extra curricular activities like sports. My parents taught me to have “Grit” and to always compete at my best. They believed that if you put in the training and hard work every time you practiced at something you would be successful in competition or test time. I have taken these lessons and applied them throughout my life for personal and professional endeavors. Read more>>

Devan Head

I’ve been extremely fortunate with my parents. They’ve always whole-heartedly supported every dream and creative ambition I’ve had, no matter how big or small they may have been. I recognize that’s not the case for many people, and I’m eternally grateful for how beneficial their support has been for my mental health over the years. Read more>> 

Shundrey Patterson

My parents taught me the art of resilience, that pushing back against that which could imprison me ( the ongoing challenges of an ugly world) could be an act of bravery of the higher sort. Read more>>

Sivan Ilan

Neither of my parents have a professional background in the arts or a creative field. Even though they didn’t relate to or fully understand my need for a creative outlet, they still gave me complete freedom and the confidence to pursue my creative interests and express myself through my art even as a small child. Read more>>

Diana Crowder

My parents supported my career as a professional ballet dancer for as long as I can remember. They recognized how important my dream of becoming a dancer was to me and they were there every step of the way without pushing me to do anything that I did not want to do. Read more>>

Amy Forsyth

Where to begin? I hit the absolute jackpot when it came to my parents. I truly have nothing but wonderful things to say about both my parents and my grandparents. Their influences have so heavily shaped me into the person that I am today and I owe them so much credit, specifically for my work ethic. Read more>>

Ben Law

Everyone is a product of their environment. It’s something that none of us can ultimately escape. When growing up the events that forge you into the person you are, both good or bad are going to stick with you. Likes and dislikes, opinions both original and inherited. Read more>>

Jennifer Ball

My dad was a small business owner and taught me at an early age the benefits and sacrifices of owning your own business. They both gave me a strong work ethic and taught me to treat others like you want to be treated. My dad loved everything outdoors and my mom was very creative in arts and talented in cooking/baking. I constantly catch glimpses of each of them in my everyday life now. Read more>>

John Sharp

For as long as I can remember, being an artist is all I have ever known. I’ve never had a plan B. When I was about 12, my mom signed me up for weekend art classes at the Flint Institute of Art in Michigan and that was an epiphany moment for me- my first taste at what a studio life would be like. Read more>>

 Emon Surakitkoson

Growing up in Thailand, my parents set examples for me of hard work and community. My parents worked, and made things by hand; they sent me to school where I learned how to schedule and organize. My mother is also a long time volunteer, donating her time to community causes and politics, which has inspired me, as an artist, to foster a creative community and to put effort into giving back to other artists and to helping new artists find platforms and spaces as they develop their own practices. Read more>>

Audrey Hinds

Having grown up in a small town, my parents did what they needed to do to survive. While my mom, graduated from a school for the hearing impaired and blind, my father was expected to leave school by the 8th grade to help on the family farm and earn income. Read more>>

Gisbel Chapa

To say that I have been extremely blessed with wonderful parents will always be such a huge understatement for me to truly express what my parents mean to me. To think that they have always sacrificed so much for my siblings and I is overwhelming. I am thankful that they always showed us what it means to be respectful, to put others before ourselves and most importantly to treat others the way we would like to be treated regardless of skin color, background, orientation, etc. Not to mention that is how we stay blessed in life, by blessing others. Read more>>

Ben newman

I was raised by a single mom. We were dirt poor. My Mom was an amazing thrifter and we spent most weekends at thrift stores and estate sales looking for hidden gems. My mom taught me how to use reclaimed, found materials for interior Design projects. Read more>>

Haleema Wright

There are 2 very important things, among the many, my parents did right. First, was instilling in me that nothing is impossible, and regardless who I was, what I did, or who I became, they would love and support me. Second, is “do you research”! Both my parents are bookworms and knowledge searchers. Read more>>

Kiara Wilson

My mother has done so many things right in my life and has impacted my life with my career path in a plethora of ways! As a child, my mother has literally always showed me genuine love, care and support in anything I wanted to accomplish in my world. Read more>>

Kayla “K-Roc” Middleton

I grew up in a single parent home in the projects of Richland Village in Columbia, South Carolina in the 90’s. My Mommy worked a lot to make sure she provided for us. Keeping food on the table and clothes on my back was a struggle and she never showed the pressure. Read more>>