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.
Phyllup Gilbert
Looking at me, by far my parents did everything right. Luckily I was born a healthy and strong baby who grew up to be a well groomed and mannered young man. My parents were never married, however they both taught me something different. Being that my mom was always a single parent and she had 3 of us to care for, I looked up to her for that because single parenting is not easy. Read more>>
Leandro Comrie
Like many kids, I used to draw and paint whenever possible. I was constantly drawing something somewhere. I was lucky to have been born into a family that was no stranger to the arts. My mother and my aunt studied art when they were young. My father was also an avid art lover. But I don’t think that was why they supported my decision to become an artist. I know that they supported it because they realized it made me happy. Read more>>
Reshma Mistry
My parents taught me to take risks in life. They still remind me to this day that you may not be comfortable at first, and there might be times when you doubt your choice, but with time you will come to realize without change there is no growth. In 1986, my parents left family, friends and a very comfortable life in England to rebuild a new life in the US. Read more>>
Jacqueline Cavazos
My parents migrated to the United States from Mexico in 1991, Here they worked day and night multiple jobs, while juggling having my older sister (a toddler at the time). They were blessed to be able to stay with family members who opened up their homes to them and gave them a plate to eat. Read more>>
Brittni Winslow
From setting up lemonade stands as a child, to learning how to sell items on Ebay as a teen, becoming an entrepreneur was a given for me rather than an accident. My father led by example by starting and running his own successful business and I always remember hearing him talk about how important it was for him to be his own boss. Read more>>
Alicia-Ann Samuel
Raising children can be challenging as a parent, but maintaining the overall family is even more of a task. The mistakes my parents made during the journey of building and supporting the family and allowing my siblings and me to see that process is what come to mind when I think about what my parents did right. Read more>>
Dr. Anne Etonga, DC
My mother and father were born and raised in Cameroon which is located in West Africa. They moved to the United States when they were in their early 20s to complete their undergraduate studies, start their careers and build their lives together. My mother attended Howard University where she completed her degree in Nursing, later becoming a Registered Nurse. Read more>>
Ericka Raye
One thing I can say that my mom did right growing up was taking my sister and I on her business meetings and allowing us to listen in. This turned me into the biggest go-getter I am today. Having business smarts is definitely critical, even in the creative or entertainment industry because you have to make sure you’re not signing contracts that could potentially cost you your morality or faith. Read more>>
Sarah Woods
Right or Wrong are such opinionated statements. I have learned a lot from both of my relationships with my parents. The one thing they both always followed through with…they believed in me. Even in times where they might have thought I should have made a different decision, they still said “if you believe in it, don’t give up.” behind it all). Read more>>
Vera Lotus Onatah
Oftentimes we reflect on what we wish our parents had done differently or the perceived mistakes that they made. One of the things that I feel that my parents did right was instill the art of studying and learning from a very young age. They made sure that I understood the importance of reading and applying the knowledge that I gained through exploring different topics into my every day life. Read more>>
Dave Miranda
My parents instilled a strong work ethic in me at a very young age. My Mother raised me as a single parent and worked extremely hard with the phone company starting out in customer service and worked her way up to a director position without having to kiss ass or pretend to be something she wasn’t, she just stayed true to her authentic self in a corporate environment that doesn’t normally provide many opportunities for women to rise up, Read more>>
Kendra Erika Fulmer
When I first graduated high school, I wanted to jet off to either New York or LA to begin acting, singing, performing. My parents quickly intervened in that and, it was my mom who told me that she would still support the performing career as long as I went to college to get a degree in something other than music. In hindsight, by the grace of God, my mom protected me from being another young predator bait, and meltdown story statistic in the industry. Read more>>
Olasunkanmi ogunade
My parents are one of the most real and amazing human beings ever. We were raised with so much love, and understanding and in the way of the lord. In regard to my career, my parents allowed me to be flexible and explorative. They didn’t force me to pick up a career that I didn’t love. Read more>>
Misty Texeira
Similar to so many folks that get into working in holistic health, I went through my own wellness journey in my early years. Conventional medicine treatments weren’t working and had little support to offer me. I was fortunate enough to have parents that sought alternative care, which was a huge turning point in my health and ultimately altered the trajectory of my life. I’m extremely passionate about homeopathy as it was one of the modalities that had such an impact on my life and wellness. Read more>>
Yoshika Green
My parents raised a lover of people and words which launched me into the two most fundamental elements in my business. Although both of my parents have left this earth (my mom just passed away), they taught me how to go for the big things, to never give up and to be an entrepreneur at a young age. They were the best cheerleaders. Read more>>
Edwardo Rivas
As I was growing up my sister and brothers were musicians playing music everywhere so music was instilled in me. My grandfather on my dads side was a violinist and played for Pancho Villa in the early 1900’s. My father grew up with brothers and sisters that were accomplished musicians who played for the Chicago/ San Antonio symphony. Read more>>
The Bartley Team
Both Damico and I attribute our work ethic to our parents. Me (Tamika) in particular, I was given space to take risks, even as a child. I would show interest in certain things and my mom would be fully on board. The best part about it was that my mom didn’t always need to understand it fully herself, she just supported me. Read more>>
Louboutin Kendoll
I was raised in a single parent household by my mother. My mother has ultimately impacted my life as well as my career. I watched my mother struggle to raise four kids, with me being the youngest. My mother worked 2 jobs sometimes even 3 jobs to provide for us. She taught and instilled in us a hard work ethic. She taught us that nothing in life is free l, and that we would have to work for what we want. She also, let us know that we could achieve anything we put our mind too and nothing is out of reach. Read more>>
Anadlu Cortes-Bowers
My parents were immigrants to the U.S. and came to this country in hopes of a better future. They never gave up on their hopes and dreams. They always made a way to make their dreams come true. Being the oldest of three other siblings, my parents never handed me down anything. If I wanted something varying from a new outfit to a new laptop, it was always something I had to earn as a result of good grades and behavior. Read more>>
Roshawn Cason
My Mom was a single Mom for the most part. I never thought I would be in the Beauty field, I can see why and how. My Mom was the definition of Beauty, From the inside out. She would not go on the porch with out her looking like what I would say a fully bloomed Beautiful rose. From head to toe she was always Beautiful. Also she always had me and my Brother Bennie, dressed with not a hair or clothes out of place. Read more>>
Sarah Shah
Such a fitting question to start with – if it wasn’t for my parents’ and grandparents’ sacrifices, I would not have the opportunities and privileges I have today. My dad immigrated to the United States in 1989 to pursue a master’s in civil engineering from the University of Texas and my mom joined him four years later after they got married. Read more>>
Lauren Starr
My parents have always been the inspiration behind my entrepreneurial spirit! I grew up watching the two of them run and operate their own small business. They would always stress the importance of smart financials, as a child the money I received was reinvested into something that would make me more money as opposed to being used to buy a toy. Read more>>
Arlene Schneider
I appreciate this question, and the older I get I realize each day how important the lessons I learned from my parents are. My parents were French Cajuns who grew up in rural south Louisiana. Neither spoke English. When they attended school, they were punished for speaking French. When they lapsed into their Cajun French dialect, they were rapped on the knuckles with a ruler or made to kneel in a corner Read more>>
Denise Gliwa
I credit my parents for my work ethic. My father started with nothing and began selling candied mints door to door. Eventually he opened a candy store and then another and then a factory and more stores. Since I was a child I worked in the stores. As a young child I may have stood at the door and welcomed customers and handed out shopping baskets. Read more>>
Rey Grandoit
I learned two things from my parents that have been integral to my life. It all started when I watched my immigrant Haitian father Jean go to work every single day without taking a vacation. His perspective was that he had a responsibility to provide for his family and to make an honest living. The people I saw in the inner city were people who sold drugs or scammed to make money, so he taught me “Integrity”. Read more>>
Robyn Sirmans
My parents did so many things right when it came to raising me, that it’s hard to narrow it down to just one. But I think the biggest lesson they taught me was that the world doesn’t owe me anything. I was raised to always be the very best version of myself by working hard every day to earn everything I had. Read more>>
Jenny Traub
My parents have some of the best hearts in the world. They always taught me to see the good in people. I have carried that throughout my career as a nice and in my interpersonal relationships. Read more>>
Rhonda Mesenbourg
Sam: Although I grew up in a very uniform community, my parents always kept me in diverse company. I’m grateful because this has allowed me to better understand and empathize with other people’s experiences in life that I, personally, haven’t been through. I’m able to better connect with a wide variety of people and have a solid appreciation for others that have different backgrounds, thoughts, and ideas from myself. Read more>>
Ejiroghene Mary Ukiri
I would like to preface my answer to this question by saying that my parents did so many things right. I actually cannot come up with something that they did wrong in the course of raising my older brother and I. Every decision they have made and lesson they taught me is both directly and indirectly responsible for the life and career that I am currently building for myself today. Read more>>
Robin Pokladnik M.Ed., NCED,
Neither of my parents went to college. Both were extremely bright. My father entered the army and my mother entered the secretarial pool following high school. They married very young and started a family. They were both voracious readers. They read books, non-fiction and fiction. They read multiple newspapers daily. My parents were very knowledgeable about current events both locally as well as state and nationally. Conversations about politics and other community concerns were held in front of the children daily. Read more>>
Johnna Wright Perry
I grew up in a tiny factory town. My mother worked at the factory, my dad owned an auto repair shop. While it might not seem relatable to apply my dad’s business to my work as a balloon artist in a large metropolitan area, I credit him with laying the foundation for how I approach business each day. Read more>>
Saudia Turney
My parents were both born in British Guyana, South America, and unlike many stories of children of immigrants my parents, especially my mother, had high standards, but never forced me or my siblings to move into a certain profession. I was not raised to believe that there was only one way to be successful. Read more>>
Rene Eder
I feel very fortunate, my parents did a lot of things right. In particular, my dad taught me to love what I do every day. Read more>>
Jamah Dacus
I was raised by a single mom, who worked morning, late into the night running a restaurant. I saw her tenacity, her kindness, her unstoppable energy and pure raw grit. She raised my sister and I to not follow the norms, to not follow the trends and to fully embrace our own unique creativity. Read more>>
Amy Erickson
My mom was a public school teacher, but she studied classical piano very seriously as a child and on through college. She understood what it means to be devoted to an art form and she taught me how to be disciplined about practicing my craft on my own– because that’s what musicians do. Read more>>
Kerry Burch
My parents were first and second generation immigrants to the United States, and came from families that worked service jobs. As public school teachers, my parents had a strong desire for their kids to go to college and become professionals (accountants, doctors, scientists). Growing up I never felt like we were poor, but my mom often worked two jobs and my parents were extremely financially disciplined: they paid for everything in cash. Read more>>
Bethany Brackebusch
My parents grew up very independent from a young age, at at 15 my mom was 100% independent from her parents which caused her to grow up quickly and learn a lot of life skills hands on that is hard for adults, let alone a 15 year old. With that being said, my parents have always supported me and my passions throughout life trying to provide me the life they never had. Read more>>
Nikki Simmons
I was raised by a single mom who worked very hard to ensure my sister and I never went without. She was and is now a massive inspiration for me. Whenever I’m feeling burnt out or tired from work between the two small businesses I own, I think of how difficult it must have been to care for 2 daughters alone. It was survival for her, and often times taking a break or relaxing after coming home from her jobs wasn’t an option. Read more>>