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.

Arron Foster

My parents were incredibly young when they started their family and more or less forced to face a lot of challenges together. While this context doesn’t work for all, fortunately for me, it worked for my parents, who drew together and maintained their vision of a thriving, happy family. Watching my parents meet these demands through hard work, care, compassion, imagination and creativity was inspiring. Read more>>

Guillermo Ivan Duenas Lazcano

I grew up in a house full of books, jazz, paintings and creativity. My father was an artist and my mother used to be a musician when I was a child and in our little apartment at that time, they would hold gatherings and small parties with their artists friends almost every weekend and they always let me be around as a kid and even participate on those intellectual and philosophical conversations that inspired me at a young age to explore my creativity. They always gave me the freedom and courage to pursue my dreams even when I decided to move by myself to Cuba when I was only 14 years old to study theater and then to New York. They always believed on me even when the circumstances or the outcome wasn’t the expected. They let my fly to the sky and be myself. Read more>>

Siri Johansson

Retrospectively, my relationship with my parents, though occasionally contentious, has gradually revealed their profound support and earnest desire for the welfare of myself and my younger siblings. Despite their status as self-employed, career-oriented Swedish working-class individuals, facing the pressures of both finances and familial responsibilities, they prioritized our exposure to a diverse array of cultural and artistic experiences encompassing art architecture, design, music, nature, fitness, languages, and global cultures. Read more>>

Enoch Lee

A lot of things. I’m very lucky to have been raised by my parents. They aren’t perfect; no one is, but they acknowledged that every step of the way. If I had to choose one thing that they did right, I’d say that it was their willingness to let me make my own choices and guide me through understanding the consequences. In my early childhood, they would set boundaries and expectations. If I decided to cross those boundaries or do something prohibited, at that age, they were the ones instituting the consequences and explained the reasons to me. I think a lot of parents miss the explanation part. Read more>>

Jocelyn Thomas

My mother recently passed away this year so questions like this sit in the forefront of my mind nowadays. What did my mother get right? A lot! How did that impact my life and career? Tremendously! When I reflect over the adolescent years of my life, I always think about how my mother told me I could do anything. Sports, academics, making friends, truly anything. Most people believe it now, but I was an extremely shy child growing up and a true mama’s girl. So, making friends and fitting in was a challenge to me. Read more>>

Jesse Garcia

I was raised by my mother in a single parent home. She provided the foundation for me to be the man I am today. My mother comes from a difficult upbringing. My grand parents weren’t the people they ended up to be later in life, their early decisions resulted in my mother developing a learning disability that resulted in illiteracy. Now I don’t want you reading this and feeling bad, one thing about my mama is that she is a fighter, she never let her disability hold her back from anything. This is one of the traits she passed down to me. No matter what the circumstances may be, fight! This has helped me tackle numerous problems on my journey to success. Even when I get knocked down I just keep getting up, dust myself off, and keep trying. Read more>>

Meagan J. Meehan

I grew up going to art museums and/or sculpture gardens all over New York City, Long Island, upstate NY, and elsewhere. My parents really love abstract art so I was exposed to it at a very young age and it clearly cemented a love for shapes and colors in my brain. My parents also read to me a lot, which explains how I formed my love for storytelling which led to be becoming a writer. Until this day, they are very supportive of my endeavors and I am extremely grateful for that. Read more>>

Molly Coyne

I often say that my sister Maria and I won the “Parent Lottery”. My mom, Denice, and my dad, Shawn, are two of the most creative and supportive people I know. I can hardly recall a time when there wasn’t some kind of art project or VERY elaborate “doll-set” that wasn’t taking up precious space in the living room, landing of our stairs, or even our garage. They always encouraged us to create something that was uniquely ours rather than copy exactly what someone else was doing, and they always took interest in our art projects or school activities. They asked questions, They saw how proud we were of ourselves when we had a really great violin recital or when we brought home a new piece of art or painted pottery. Read more>>

Steve Dean

My Dad was a writer. Not a songwriter, but a storyteller. An author. He would have loved to have written articles for publications like Look and Life Magazines, about interesting people and/or current events happening in and around the 1950’s. After graduating from college with a degree in accounting, however, he decided that getting a real job was the way to a more secure way of life. My Mom was an acomplished pianist and singer. Not professionally, but nontheless, she was very talented, and probably could have been had she decided go for it. But, instead, she was the favorite soloist at her Church, she played the Family piano frequently, and she taught and directed a kindergarten for 25 years before retiring. She and my Dad were married 64 years. Read more>>

Hannah Knighton

My parents fostered the most loving environment, a sanctuary where I felt accepted and empowered to authentically be myself. Within this nurturing space, I was encouraged to pursue my passions and embrace risks, laying the groundwork for a resilient and adventurous spirit. My mom in particular played a crucial role in shaping my self-perception. As a black woman, she emphasized the importance of my voice, reinforcing that it was both valuable and necessary. Her unwavering support instilled in me the confidence necessary to navigate both the professional world and my personal life. Read more>>

Donna Feldman

I believe my parents instilled a lot of positive things that helped show me the importance of work ethic, of having integrity, surrounding yourself with loyal friends, and always putting family first. Read more>>

Sidawney Edwards

My mother, played a pivotal role in shaping the person I am today. My mother, a God-fearing woman from Kingston, Jamaica, exemplified the values of hard work and determination. Despite the challenges she faced, including long and grueling work weeks, she always put in the effort to provide for our family, which included her elderly mother and her children. Read more>>

Rory Edwards

They both supported me unconditionally. They never corrected or challenged my decision to become an entrepreneur or provide for my family because they knew once I put my mind to something, nothing would make me lose focus or commitment. Unfortunately, I lost my father early on in this journey, but my mother, who is still with us at (88) is my biggest supporter and brags about her youngest son to anyone who wants to listen. Read more>>

Ricardo Diaz

My parents fled to Miami from Venezuela in a heartfelt move to give us a chance at a better life in the United States. It wasn’t easy figuring out life in a new foreign country as immigrant parents, but they still managed to be incredible parents. The most important thing they did right was allow me to dream. And they not only allowed me to, but pushed me to dream bigger. My hopes and aspirations were always given center stage by them, they would constantly give me reaffirmations, assuring me that I could do anything I set my mind to. They also went out of their way to help my dreams come to life, whether it was my mom driving me to South Beach in the middle of a school day for a commercial casting or my dad flying across California to make it to my very first gallery opening. My parents showed up, and they helped, and they taught me how to believe in myself. I wouldn’t trade my parents for the world. Read more>>

Giovanni Machorro

I love my family. My parents have been the most influential figures in my life; my mom’s love and kindness and my fathers grit and hard work pays off mentality has helped me in every aspect of life. I owe it to them for helping me through school, gf heartbreaks haha and for where and who I am today! Read more>>

Sophie Kochmann

Growing up the biggest and best piece of advice my parents gave me can be summed up perfectly in a quote by Mother Teresa “Spread love with you everywhere you go, let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. ” Read more>>

Horácio Toco

Let me share a lesson that my dad taught me. It was past noon when I notified him that a meeting had delayed me, but I was already on my way to our Friday lunch. Since he had arrived at the restaurant earlier, he had ordered ahead so we wouldn’t lose time. Our meetings, almost always weekly, were brief due to our busy professional schedules calling us back swiftly. Although we saw each other often, these were one of the few opportunities for ‘father-son’ talks. That day, I had decided to use our time to extract the greatest lesson he could teach me. I had tried this before but perhaps hadn’t been direct enough. Read more>>

Yuxin Cha

I have to say I’m very proud of my parents. They are super supportive of my decisions. I was born and raised in China, so my perspectives may be different from most artists in the U.S. Some Chinese parents don’t like their children to work in art because they don’t see the potential of the art industry. Some believe that only the kids who are not doing well in school will study arts. Read more>>

Joe Nickel

I can acknowledge how fortunate I was growing up to have two parents who raised me. Being a male dancer from a young age, I am sure at times they wished I did something more “normal” for a boy. Not that they didn’t like it, but in a way to protect me. My father embraced it and took pride. He’d joke that he taught my everything I knew. He was undoubtedly my biggest fan. What my parents did for me was model how to support your child’s passion and show me in many different ways that they supported and believed in me. Read more>>

Danielle Jade

My parents have always supported my creative pursuits both financially and emotionally. In a very large way, they have given me the freedom I need to be an artist and feel safe in my creation. They haven’t gotten everything right, but they have never once made me feel like I couldn’t have a career or future in any of my creative endeavors. Read more>>

Laura Marciante

I owe so much of who I am today to the unwavering support and encouragement of my parents. From the very beginning, my ideas were not just acknowledged but celebrated in our household. A vivid memory from my childhood is the time when, as an awkward kid with a peculiar fascination for stationery items, my parents went above and beyond to nurture that interest. Read more>>

Dominick Parungao

The most notable thing my parents have done to positively impact my life was simply listening to me when I told them filmmaking is my path. In high school, my parents and I had created a plan to set me up for the STEM field, meaning I signed up for many different AP courses. And I hated it. Slowly losing interest in my Calculus, Physics, and Macroeconomics courses, I found solace in a TV Media course that was offered and I put all my energy into creating projects. And I loved it. Read more>>

Tobi Gbile

When I was an angsty, One Direction obsessed teenager whose biggest concern was getting selected to be cheer captain and getting into the best colleges, the last thing on my mind was what my parents were doing right. Looking back, the biggest thing they did right, that has had the biggest impact on my life and my career, was teaching me that bad moments don’t last forever. Read more>>

Sharon Desiree

My parents have always prioritized education over anything else.School and good grades were required because the most important thing on this green earth is how you absorb information. As professional homebodies their favorite pastime, aside from studying; was movies. Every Friday night, for as long as I can remember, we would go to our local Blockbuster. Each member of the family would get to pick a film, and we would pass the weekend away catching up on the latest and greatest. My dad’s film influence involves anything with Jackie Chan, Jet Li, or Bruce Lee in it. Read more>>

Christina Bruce

Things my parents did right…that’s a tough one because is there a right or wrong way to raise a family? I grew up in a home where both my parents had careers and they were always bettering themselves. My mother was a physical therapist who moved high up in her company and later became a VP of education in the nursing homes that she over saw and my father was self employed while putting himself through BC to earn his teaching degree. Read more>>

TiShay (Ty) Ferrell

Both my mom and dad let me be free. What I mean by that is they understood that experiences are great teachers in life and they always pushed that on me. My Dad harped heavy on not following the crowd while my Mom’s belief was to never lose faith in my dream(s) no matter how rocky the road got. I found balance in both of those advices and it’s benefited my life greatly! Read more>>