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.

Jenn Tully

They instilled confidence in me. I often think about HOW they did that? As a mom myself now, it is something I strive to do everyday for my daughter. Through many years of reflection on this topic, this is what I have distilled the magic recipe down to: they weren’t afraid to try new things and encouraged my brothers and I to do the same, they placed as much focus on the journey as the outcome, the indulged and encouraged a million question from me from a very young age, they valued and modeled resourcefulness, they exposed us to the arts (live theatre, live music, art, fashion) and that always made me feel like its ok to be vulnerable and put yourself out there. Read more>>

Lauren Hackett

My parents have always believed in me and encouraged me to pursue what fulfills me. Due to financial and social barriers, neither of my parents were able to pursue the career they truly desired, so it was important to them that my sister and I could. Growing up, I was super interested in interior decorating. My mom and I would design rooms in the house together and have fun setting the table for dinner in lots of creative ways. Read more>>

Vielka Kano

I grew up in a small town in Costa Rica where most people followed traditional values and the country is 90% catholic. My dad was a psychiatrist and he was different. He liked us to wear bright, fun clothes -no dresses allowed- and kept our hair short so we could run and climb trees easily. He wanted us to be free and not worry about what people usually do. Read more>>

Kerry Siggins

The best thing my mom did for me was teach me how to be accountable, seek feedback, and advocate for myself. She didn’t swoop in to save me; instead, she made me figure things out, owning my actions, responses and attitude. Read more>>

Jonathan Dumas

My mom once told me, ‘I wanted you to know that you were LIMITLESS.’ Read more>>

Taylor Lancaster

My Parents taught me how to just be myself.. they never wanted me to conform to anyone else but ME. They also instilled independence and a hardworking attitude within myself, by simply letting me be ME. With that, gave me the freedom to go for ANYTHING I wanted, without conforming to the societal norm. Read more>>

Nell Alexander

One of the things I appreciate the most about my parents was how I was raised growing up as a child, to the man I am now. They taught me the key values of prayer, respect, hard work, and persistency in which I’ve experienced many situations where all 4 had to come into play. I remember when I was around 7/8 years old, my dad would always take me to the gym with him every Sunday and I would watch him play with the older guys, wishing I could play with them. Read more>>

Jacy

My mom is the hardest working person I know. I owe it to her for being so supportive of me throughout my journey as an artist and all of my hardships. She installed determination into me. She taught me to get things done, work harder than everyone else, and don’t let anything stop you from your end goals. She also taught me to be loving and kind, and that being mean doesn’t get you very far. Read more>>

Chris Cree

My parents have always fully supported me in whatever it was I wanted to do. When I was 12 years old and wanted to be a beekeeper they only brushed it off the first time or two I talked about bees. By the time it was clear I was hooked on bees they agreed to buy me my first beehive for my 13th birthday. Read more>>

Lindsay Sizemore

My parents are great. From a young age, my dad especially, instilled into me a great work ethic. When I was a child, my work was school and it was very important to my parents that my grades were A’s and B’s. I started my first job the day I turned 16 at our local McDonalds. I learned the value of money and working hard to achieve what I want in life. No matter what my insane dreams were, my parents believed in me and even at 27, they continue to push me while also being my biggest cheerleaders. Read more>>

Alyssa Stickley

While I don’t know the exact personal anecdotes about what my parents did right specifically, I hope these insights provide some guidance and understanding of how their actions and experiences influenced my conscious consumption lifestyle and advocacy through marketing. Read more>>

Malachi Gregory

My parents did me so right by not letting me quit music haha. A little backstory. I didn’t have a profound introduction to music – my parents weren’t musicians (outside of my mom playing the clarinet in high school), and I definitely was not a prodigy. Around the time I was eight my sister was three, and my mom wanted her to take violin lessons. Going to the shop with them, seeing all the instruments excited me, so I wanted to try too. But I didn’t want to do the same thing as my little sister! Read more>>

Tom(Bojun) Tan

I am always thankful to my parents for being compassionate and generous throughout my career. They have always trusted me and supported my professional choices and career goals. In hindsight, their support aided my development significantly. When I was about to enter the workforce and felt pressure, they advised me to earnestly pursue decisions I wouldn’t regret, reminding me that each failure is a learning experience. Read more>>

Julia Fennell

I have always been a very creative person. I don’t think I have stopped drawing since I could first hold a pencil! My parents were always super supportive of my talent and did everything they could to help me shine within the arts. Read more>>

Yesenia Hudson

My parents allowed us to creatively thrive first and foremost through travel. My mother is Nicaraguan and since I was a baby, they took us to visit so that it was woven into our childhood. Read more>>

Samantha Whitehead

Against all odds, my mom, a resilient and determined single mother of three, defied expectations by venturing into the world of business with no prior background in the field. Faced with the challenges of raising a family on her own, she embarked on a journey to establish her own successful gym. Struggling against financial constraints and time limitations, my mom demonstrated unparalleled dedication and work ethic. Read more>>

Nico Misleh

When I was a kid back in the early ’90’s, my mother (a former early childhood educator) recognized the public school systems, and schools in general, were failing in a lot of ways. She recognized that schools tended to put people in boxes, and limit in many ways their ability to be creative and entrepreneurial. She decided the best thing she could do was homeschool us (back when it felt like it was just us and the Amish). Read more>>

Rev. Judith Guasch, M.Div.

Growing up, both of my parents worked. In fact, my father worked two jobs. He was a full-time Chevrolet salesman, and on his day off which was Friday, he worked for a butcher at the farmers market. We had a tough time making ends meet at times, and the second job allowed him to purchase a lot of our meats at a discounted price. My mom worked Mon-Fri 9-5 at the same Chevrolet dealership. Read more>>

Alli McAuley

Like many people, I started my career working 9 to 5 in an office cubicle. Read more>>

Chisholm Weaver

Perseverance, ingenuity, and a keen interest in forever learning. My parents were entrepreneurs that had many successes but more importantly to my development as a person, many failures too. These failures allowed me to learn what it takes to create something bigger than yourself, whether it was a small failure like a failed contract or a more significant failure like the loss of a business; these struggles that my parents endured were done with grace and an interest in how things could be done better the next time. Read more>>

Stan Rogers

I was blessed with parents who have exposed me to the world at such an early age. Whether it be traveling stateside and across the country, or allowing me to participate in any activities and sports. My parents both were born in Chicago but lived two completely different lives. Knowing the turmoil and obstacles my father had to overcome just to make an “ok” living is the reason i understand grace and the importance of having strong morals and values to stand on when you have absolutely nothing left. Read more>>

Alfred Tyree

My parents excelled in nurturing a strong faith foundation for me, fostering my love for music through church involvement, and generously providing instruments for my practice. My mom, particularly, instilled in me a sense of purpose and the belief that I could achieve great things by maintaining a strong faith. I come from a lineage of talented musicians and singers, with my grandmother playing the organ and my mother and her siblings contributing as singers in church—a tradition carried on by me and my cousins today. Read more>>

Sheila Suderwalla

I have always known, from the time I was a child to the present day, that I am truly blessed because of my parents. They exemplified unconditional love not only to their children but to all. They instilled in me our Zoroastrian purpose in life, to have “Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds.” The many tears I have and continue to have over the recent loss of my beloved mother are tears of gratitude. Read more>>

Monica Halligan

My mother truly is my idol! She is the hardest working human I know. To this day she is hustling, climbing ladders, evolving, it is pretty cool. I got to grow up watching my mom go from working 4 am at the post office to becoming a CEO. That naturally instilled good work ethic in me. My mom was also a hairdresser at one point. So I was brought up with heavy influence in the beauty industry. Read more>>

Dr. Elizabeth Jarquín

Growing up, my parents always instilled in me the importance of education. Their focus was never on me getting married or having kids–it was always obtaining an education so that I could have a professional career. My mother never allowed me to miss school, even if it was a “take your child to work day” or I was sick; there was never an excuse or reason for me to miss school. Read more>>

Janisha Mickens-Ingram

Well, my biological parents did not raise me so they assisted me to be able to bring insight to my clients from a child perspective and even as an adult to assist in some way or another. My maternal grandmother instilled in me lots of compassion for others and showed what it looks like to want the best for others and be ok with them making whatever choice they decided. Read more>>

Romana Cottee

When I was 13 years old, I was advised by my primary school teachers to sit an exam which would gain me entry into a more elite, all-girls school for my high school education years. My parents asked me whether I wanted to take the exam and, providing I passed the exam, go to this ‘higher education’ establishment, or not take the exam and go to the regular, mixed gender school in my local area. Read more>>

Trent McKinney

“That’s why I’m fresh today.” Read more>>

Brittany Broussard

My Dad Taught Me Confidence & My Mom Taught Me How to Be Vulnerable . Read more>>

Eve Koguce

My parents loved me unconditionally. I believe this is the most precious gift a person can receive, especially early in life. Such kind of love gives you resilience that helps you later when you inevitably stumble upon hardships. Read more>>

Shaleea Venney

This is an especially important question to me because I recently lost both of my parents a year apart. I often reflect on this very question and I think the only correct answer is: they showed up authentically. We have a tendency to set up expectations in our minds of who we expect people to be and we become disappointed when they don’t meet those expectations. Read more>>

Leena Ponnapalli

So I have a twin sister and a brother who is 11 months younger than us. Our dad died when we were 7 years old and ever since then, it has been our mom parenting us. She was about 35 years old when he died. We are over 35 right now and I can’t imagine how difficult things must have been for her. Raising three kids, all almost the same age is a feat in of itself, and to have to do that on her own, she deserves all the accolades possible. Read more>>

Tori Jaquess

My parents always believed the best in me and taught me everyday to dream GIANT then go accomplish that! Read more>>

Jen Ehrhardt

My parents are amazing, and with every passing milestone in my life, they get more incredible. They let me be myself. They encouraged my love of reading. They stoked my curiosity about learning in general. When I was a preschooler, they enrolled me in a book-of-the-month club, so I could establish my own library, which I shared with my own children and my clients. Read more>>

Natasha Samreny

My parents gave me the world. They pushed my sisters and me to use all of our senses to interact with the world — to stay curious and to work hard. It was a house of reading, playing outside, and learning new things. It wasn’t until a recent relationship in my adult years, that I realized the long-lasting value of one of these skills — practice. Read more>>

Hillary Bielstein

As much as my younger self doesn’t want to admit, my parents’ best was a darn good job. They weren’t prefect, but I use what they taught me everyday. They have always strived to be self-employed and debt-free. But most importantly, they taught me to be myself, be open-minded, and to not care what others think. Being my true self and using the business knowledge they passed on has allowed me to tap into my full potential and take the leap to support myself with my own business. Read more>>

Sarah Stein

My parents created a loving and encouraging environment growing up. Both of my parents worked exceptionally hard to provide for me and my two brothers. Growing up my mom worked as an ER Nurse and my father was a teacher at a school for children with extreme behavioral issues. My father worked on the family farm after coming home from his teaching job and took college courses at night. Read more>>