Parents teach us many things including how to be a parent. We can learn from their mistakes, sure, but we can also learn a lot from the things they got right. We asked successful entrepreneurs and creatives to open up to us about their parents and what they felt their parents got right.

Sara Clance.

Often times we focus more on what we did wrong so that we can learn from our mistakes and do better. However, when I became a parent myself, my parents have taught me to focus on the positive. That has stayed with me throughout the years. My Dad has always told me “Be the light so that you help bring people up.” My parents have struggled in so many ways. My mom is an immigrant from South Korea. Raising kids in America in such a different culture was incredibly hard on her; it wasn’t easy for us kids either. Read more>>

Melissa Victor.

So often times you hear stories from creatives where there family says things like “Hey maybe you should get a REAL job?” or the famous quote from Sister Act 2 “Singing does not pay the bills, singing does not put food on the table”. During my toddler years, my mom knew that I was going to be a performer. If you ask her, apparently I would watch Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and get on my rocking horse and pretend to be Belle and would shout “Let’s go Phillipe!” while watching. Read more>>

Raquan Roberts

I was raised by my beautiful, sweet, kind amazing mom, a phenomenal woman/mother and some of the greatest gifts she’s given me in life are Love, encouragement, faith, and time. One of the best things my mother did was show me hard work ethic and that you can be and have anything you want as long as you keep God first and work hard and to never give up no matter how hard it may seem, Read more>>

Shawnda Dorantes.

Although my parents were financially stable and resided somewhere in the middle upper class, they didn’t overly spoil me. Yes they gave me a car in high school but I was responsible for my car payments, gas, and paying half the insurance. I was responsible for paying my cell phone bill and any other luxuries I may have wanted. When I finally graduated from high school I immediately became responsible for all my own expenses except for rent, food, and healthcare. Read more>>

Brooke Farr

My parents have always been my biggest supporters. They have always encouraged me to choose an occupation I would enjoy. Both introduced me to art in their own ways. With my dad’s background in carpentry, there was no shortage of weekend projects I could help out in. We made beds for the garden, touched up paint around the house, and attempted many “Do it Yourself” projects. My mother had a more traditional artistic influence. As a former art student, she was very knowledgeable about drawing, painting, and sculpting techniques. Read more>>

Angela Carroll

My parents did many things right as I was growing up. They really emphasized the importance of education in my life. It was engrained in me from my early childhood. They were trying to prepare me for the world that we were living in. I had a few things against me one that I would grow up to be a women and that I was Black. This was a harsh reality that I would have to fight to be treated equally. I remember learning that I would have to work twice as hard, study twice as hard and definitely would have to get a degree to even be considered on a level playing field which really wasn’t level. Read more>>

LaTasha Walker.

What my parents did right was showing me what hard-work and dedication to your field means. My mother was a supervisor of a cleaning company, and my father was a small business owner. My mother took her job very serious as a supervisor of a cleaning company because she was a firm believer in “Whatever you do in life, make sure you are the best at it.” My mother, God rest her soul, was a person that kept her space clean and organized. She instilled those values into myself and my sibling. Being able to stay organized is a must when running a small business. I’m the owner, the employee, the driver, the delivery person, the social media marketing manager, and the accountant. Read more>>

Sonya Hernandez

My parents have instilled the desire in me to show concern and love for others. I remember as a young girl having different family members live with us. We were shown how to sacrifice our time and space. We were also taught never to view the suffering as a lost hope or cause but instead we were expected to show them dignity and support. During that time my special needs brother required a lot of support and ongoing care. I saw both of my parents selflessly pour into others when they themselves truly needed support. Read more>>

Megan Luttrell

My mother was an artist and a singer. She lived and breathed the arts. She instilled her love of art and music in me from an early age. I remember watching her perform and thinking, “Wow. That’s MY mom!” My dad was incredibly supportive of her creativity pursuits, and has been nothing but supportive of my own musical journey. Both my parents did everything they could to expose me to music and the arts, and encourage me when I showed interest. I was incredibly fortunate to be able to have piano lessons as a kid and to be in band and choir. Read more>>

Lauren Schloesser.

My parents have always served as an inspiration for me to follow my dreams and to do what will lead to happiness- even if that means having an untraditional career path. Being raised by two hard workers in artistic fields served as inspiration to follow in their footsteps and start my own creative endeavor. Read more>>

Christina Snead

ON MY WEBSITE : My mother was from Cebu City, Philippines. She loved the culture, the people, the food and land. She sacrificed a lot so that I would have opportunities that she could only dream of. She loved fashion and beauty, tweezing brows and blue eyeliner. I am forever motivated and inspired by her. She was love, laughter and beauty full. Berkana finds ways to sponsor the youth in the Philippines to help them grow, learn and make dreams come true. Read more>>

Elianna Radin

One of the biggest reasons why I am where I am today is because of my parents. Creativity has always been in the culture of our family, so from a very young age I was surrounded by art, which is something I’ll always be thankful for! I was given so many opportunities that kids don’t always get the chance to have. I participated in an art show for the first time at age 4 with my pencil drawings alongside my dad‘s paintings that were inspired by my work. I debuted a more professional body of work (paintings) in 2011, for a show called “Night and Day: the sun always rises” when I was 7. Read more>>

GEORGINA MONTOYA

People often search for new opportunities, for a better life, and growth. That was the case with my parents when they had to make a hard decision that would change our lives. My dad got a job offer in the auto industry in Michigan. Of course, it was an opportunity that my dad could not pass, so we all moved from Chihuahua Mexico (where we are originally from) to Michigan back in 2000. Read more>>

Giovonni Ravenell

I am so blessed and grateful to have the parents that I have. At a young age, I saw both of my parents work hard to provide for my siblings and I. My father taught me to always ask questions, pay attention to detail, and if I say I am going to do something, do it! I’ve witnessed both of my parents working overtime to get me through my undergraduate program when I thought that I may have to sit out a semester. Everything that I have accomplish thus far in business and in personal development, after God, it’s them to give thanks. Read more>>

Terrell Scott.

My parents taught me the power of hard work and to never give up! They would never allow me to quit anything that I started and would always encourage me to give my best in everything I do. Once the season started with a sport I would have to play until the end of the year. Read more>>

Ana Aguilar

My mother showed me that it is always within my power to get something done, no matter the obstacles. She raised me on conversations about the importance of education, and she took it upon herself to teach me everything she knew. I did my first multiplications before I ever started kindergarten. It gave me a huge head start, and that gave me a great deal of intellectual confidence. She was my first teacher, and an incredibly dedicated one. Read more>>

Rikki Techner

My parents taught me a lot. One of my favorite lessons comes from when I decided to go vegetarian at 12. My parents were amenable, as long as I was willing to cook for myself and I gave them a presentation on every vitamin and mineral needed in the human body and how to get them through a vegetarian diet. After a million complaints, I sat down at my Windows 99 computer and began my research. As I learned about vitamin c and calcium, I came across information on how to adapt meals with meat to make them vegetarian. Read more>>

LaTonya Smith

I can’t think of two better people than my parents. They are the epitome of love, grace and sacrifice. And while they did so many things well as it relates to raising me, two things stand out – (1). Instilling in me the importance of believing in myself and (2). Creating a safe space for me to grow, to fail and to land. These two things equipped with the confidence to dream big, to take chances and to not be afraid to fail. My parents taught me that failure is a part of learning and that true failure only occurs if you quit. Read more>>

Melissa Oatman

My parents taught me that education is so important, whether it is in a formal setting or informally seeking the answers that you need. They taught me that it’s important to see things from different perspectives. I remember one instance when I was struggling in a college course. I told my dad, “I think I may fail this class.” He replied, “That’s ok. You will do better next time.” He taught me not to be so hard on myself, which I was a pro at. My mom was my best friend, and I looked up to her a great deal. Read more>>

Jeffery Mitchell

One thing that my mom did right was forced me to play the piano. I really didn’t want to… yet she she kept pushing and praying for me to learn. Because of that I’ve been allover the world playing and sharing my talent for the last 14 years. Read more>>

Hailee Clark

My parents have always been very supportive of me and never told me to settle. They had a huge impact on my journey because they always believed in me and never held me back from anything. When I told them I wanted to drop out of college and move to Nashville to become a Celebrity MUA, even though they were hesitant at first, they still supported me and I think in the back of their mind, they knew I would accomplish my goals. I’m so happy they have always stuck by my side and now I’m able to repay them back. Read more>>

Mary Bruno

This whole journey began when I was 8 years old when I began to ask myself questions about why I saw my mother very rarely and only lived with my maternal grandmother, my brothers and uncles, my father lived with my grandmother, if I saw him every days, but to my mother there were very few times that if at Christmas, birthday, Mother’s Day, etc. In my school there were always creative activities and one of those was art where I began to paint pictures, clay and it occurred to me that every time I could see my mother I would give her something made by me to tell her how much I loved her and get her attention . Read more>>

Sara B. Biniecki

Out of all of the possible questions with which you presented me, this is the one that feels most challenging and meaningful. It actually makes me tearful and emotional. Both of my parents have impacted my creative life tremendously, but in very different ways. My mom and I used to joke that we were born in the wrong decades. She would have loved to live a “Little House on the Prairie” existence, and she knew that with my teenage passion for music, movies, art, culture, etc., that I would have loved to have come of age in the 60’s + 70’s. Read more>>

Makayla Binter

I grew up as an only child raised by my single mother. We lived below middle-class in Upstate New York, but somehow were able to figure everything out. Granted, I ate my fair share of Ramen noodles and dollar meals from Wegmans, but we figured it out. My mom always encouraged me to do what I loved, try new things, and no matter what, follow what I wanted. When I wanted to try a new sport, she helped me join a team and encouraged me to make friends. She entered me into whatever it was I wanted to try; dance, music school, t-ball, soccer, track, basketball. Read more>>

Tamira Slade

My parents are hustlers. My mother grew up ova east my father grew up ova west. My mother is an educator, and my father is a video editor for our local ABC news station. Growing up wasn’t easy for them. They each beat the odds and pursued a college education to provide a better life for my older brother (Sir Tizzy) and my older sister. They taught us to strive for more than just the average; they taught us how much of a privilege it is as a black person to believe in a dream and go after it because many of our forefathers did not have that same luxury. Read more>>

Luz Serreli.

My mother has been a mother and a father at the same time, she taught me the love of work and service to others. your love, patience and perfection, in her day to day life., They make their example an inspiration for my work. I thank life for having her by my side. Read more>>

Athena Hiotis

My parents were immigrants from Greece; they both came at a young age. As with most immigrants, they worked exceptionally hard to integrate into their new surroundings and cultivate a fruitful life. They taught that perseverance to my brother and me, really teaching us that sometimes you have to just put your head down and work together what you want, even if that means sacrificing temporarily or working twice as hard as the next person. Read more>>

Brianna Cutler

Growing up I had my mom, I don’t know what it’s like to have parents. I had and still blessed to have my mom raise me. Growing up I didn’t have the best relationship with my mom but she did everything right! My mom ALWAYS was a visual representation of getting what you want and I mean anytime my mom said she was going to do something she damn sure made it happen. She showed me what it looks like to pick yourself up and continue to strive for better. I remember a time my mom was nothing but strength, not only for herself but for my brothers and I. Read more>>

Sharon Bennett

Both of my parents were from the country. Small towns between Houston and San Antonio, Texas. But, within ten miles of each other. They went to the same single country high-school and both played sports. My father was the football quarterback and captain of the basketball team. He graduated Magna-cum Laude and was the Valedictorian for class of 1953. He was the youngest of twelve children, whose father died when he was only six-years-old. Both parents were stern Christians who didn’t believe in sparing the rod and participated in church. Read more>>

Brian Culpepper

I learned a great deal from my parents and those lessons are applicable to my life and my career. My mom was taught by her father to “be good to yourself and everybody else.” That’s one thing that I’ve taken literally during the course of my life. I’ve always been kind to others because as my mom used to say, “you never know what someone is going through.” Read more>>

KELA

This question is so important because I do not feel I have given my parents the acknowledgement they deserve. They have always understood me to be a free flowing, curious, and creative child. My dad called it ‘rebel’ – despite the connotation, I believe he sees that the rebel in me is also in him, too. Read more>>

Jessica Glover

My parents are amazing. After 40 years of marriage, my father sadly passed away, however the love and support from both my mother and father during my entire life has been unmatched. From a very early age, my parents instilled in me and my two sisters the importance of being ourselves and truly understanding that there is nothing in this world we could not accomplish if it was our true desire. When I was about eight (8) years old, my mother lined me and my two (2) sisters up in the kitchen. She told us each to say our entire name. Read more>>

Shanda Brown

I was blessed enough to have two parents that indulged in my dreams and hobbies that I chose to lean into to. Whether it was dance at the age of 2, saxophone at 4th grade, or competitive cheerleading in 9th grade, my parents encouraged me to see any passion through. This type of work ethic and tenacity is what has stuck with me through the years as an entrepreneur and as I even shift career paths. Read more>>

Jasmine McClendon

Growing up in a single parent household my mother instilled in me that there was nothing that I couldn’t do if I prayed about it, put the work behind it and put my mind to it. I expressed to my mother that I had a passion to model when I was 13 years old because I loved taking pictures of myself and they always came out naturally beautiful. My mother took me to an agency and I had the height but my weight from the waist down did not fit the runway figure. At that moment I knew I had to find a different route for my passion. As a kid in Atlanta, I always loved going to the skating rinks. Read more>>

Karissa Cullett.

I grew up in a family of artists/entrepreneurs. Both my mother and father were creators in their own right, and both owned their own businesses. I saw that they had multiple talents and gifts that they would express from. It was never a dull moment in our house! They were always working on creative projects, and doing amazing things in the community. I always thought my parents were so cool. From a very young age they encouraged me to never work for someone else, and to think outside the box when it came to my career. Read more>>

Derrick Griffin

Aside from my mother playing the Flute in 8th grade for a fairly short period of time, I do not come from a music background. Growing up, my parents always played smooth jazz around the house. I vividly remember my father driving in his truck playing watercolors on XM radio and I always heard the saxophone. That was the instrument that I was in tune with from the beginning. Read more>>

Cornelia Leach

My mother was a single parent for most of my life, since I was 6yrs old. I believe she “did right” in so many areas. Starting with naming me as birth; I am named after my Grandmother who I did not have the chance to meet. Cornelia R. Streeter was an entrprenuer, worked in politics, had 9 children, was a leader in her community, and so much more! I feel that hearing those stories, seeing my mother do the exact same when raising me, was RIGHT! Read more>>

Brittney Hiller.

I was born with Pulmonary Atresia, a congenital heart defect where that fused a ventricle shut. Typically when we are born the ventricle begins to open and close naturally, mine did not. Immediate open heart surgery a birth saved my life. My parents assisted me in growing up understanding that yes, I was born a little differently than most, but I was encouraged daily to act like the healthy active kid that I was. Read more>>

Eu’Leshia White

My mom and family supported me since day 1! Without them, I don’t know where my business would be today. They all push me so hard & challenge me to do things I’ve never done before. They’re always like “Try It!” “I know you can do this” or “I know you can make that” when I’m in doubt. When I was younger, and didn’t have a car my mom and aunt would drop off packages to the Post Office, take me to drop off orders, meet people with orders, and take me to the stores to get the supplies I needed. Read more>>

Dr. Diamond Rashad

I learned about entrepreneurship from a young age. Even faintly, I remember my father fixing units and apartments between leases. The definition of a hard worker. Even now, his work in home remodeling is completely from word of mouth. Once I remember listening to a voicemail on his phone (because I’m nosy). The caller said, ” I’m calling because you worked on my sister in law’s kitchen five years ago and remember that you did an amazing job”. That blew me away. My father is completely his introverted self, is personable & works hard. And people never forget that. That’s one thing I hope to always carry with me in my work as well. Read more>>

Janie Charlot

Such wonderful timing for me. My father transitioned from this physical plane in 2018 and my mother did as well 3 years later in 2021. So I have spent quite a bit of time reflecting on their own lives, and also on their contributions to who I am. Now, that I am a mother myself, parenting is hard! Being a mother or father is possibly the hardest job you will ever do in this lifetime. You are totally responsible for another human. Read more>>

Ms Wy

My mother and my grandmother (along with the help of other family members? raised me. From the moment I could understand words I was always told to be independent and to “do what you need to do for you.” There was never a goal that I couldn’t reach and obstacles were only put in place to make one stronger. Read more>>