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.

Jamie Ross

Love is not handed to us in a perfectly packaged box, neat, tidy, kind, and beautiful. No, Love is a humble, ever-changing, lesson-learning time machine. Read more>>

Marguerite Nesteruk

Both my parents are a huge part of who I am today. I am very close with both of them and have had the privilege to be their eldest daughter. When I was in middle school my mom decided to go back to school to study Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine. Read more>>

Emily Hall

Silence. The gift of being quiet and peaceful with my inner world. This was not a neglectful teaching of silence where one is ignored or muted, rather it was permission and guidance to be alone. Read more>>

Dr. Portia Lockett

My parents laid a profound and positive influence on my life and career! The environment and values instilled in me during my formative years significantly shaped my perspectives, decisions, and paths. Read more>>

Diedre Goree

My father was a policeman and my mother was maid and they stayed married forever. As parents of 8 kids they worked harder than hard, but somehow they showed us integrity and true grit. Read more>>

Mahjabeen Sulemanjee-Bortocek

As cliché as it may be, my father is my hero! As a young immigrant man, he moved our family to the United States where my life would forever change. The the opportunities that opened for me could have never happened in my native country, Pakistan. Read more>>

Arielle Harris

When I was growing up , I had alot of feelings. Happy , sad , anxious and scared but the feeling that overwhelmed me the most was shyness. If I was upset , I would tell my sister and she would tell my mom but there were things I was even too shy to tell her. Read more>>

Harsh Garg

My parents have been my rock throughout my journey as an actor, and I attribute much of my success to their unwavering support and encouragement. Read more>>

Verity A. Buchanan

I was so excited to see this question on the roster, I had to jump on the opportunity to talk a little bit about my parents. My parents both read to me from the time I was a baby. Read more>>

Lauren Gertz

Within my career as a wedding planner it is very important to work with grace, patience, love, optimism, ambition, and organization. My parents always made sure to give my brother and I lots of attention, love, and positive influence. Read more>>

Lacy Saunders

My parents instilled a work ethic in me, as well as the understanding that personal freedom is pretty proportionate to the degree of personal responsibility for one’s self and time. Read more>>

Tricky Lake

My mother is the reason I can do what I do everyday. We were very poor and I had won an art show in elementary school. The prize was lessons at the Baum School of Art and that changed my life. Read more>>

Joshua Verduzco

My three brothers and I were born and raised by our parents. My mother and father were strong in their faith and utilized scripture from the Bible to raise us throughout our childhood. Read more>>

Maggi McDonald

I grew up in a highly creative household and my parents encouraged creativity and self-expression through art and music. My mum is a ceramicist and also a social worker and she has been an inspiration to me in so much of my journey. Read more>>

Dave Bishop

My parents, particularly my father, played a pivotal role in shaping the person I am today and influencing my career path. As a Baptist minister, my father was not only a great provider but also a compassionate leader in both the church and the community. Read more>>

Emily Rasowsky

My answer to this one may actually be a bit unorthodox. I think this question is curious because it implies that somehow our parents can do things that are “wrong”. Read more>>

Brittani Martin

My parents made it their number 1 priority to make sure I was actively supported no matter what on earth it was that I wanted to do. Read more>>

Esther Salata

My family immigrated to the United States from Mumbai, India when I was seven years old. From that point on, my parents instilled in me a strong work ethic. Read more>>

JDymonds

Growing up in poverty can make you bitter but because of my mom she made us feel grateful. She bust her tail raising my brother & i waitressing. Read more>>

Rachel Thundat

Since I was 11, I knew storytelling was what I wanted to do with my life. As I continued down that path throughout high school, going to college for acting seemed like the logical move. Read more>>

Yasmine Charles

There are lots of lessons to be learned from ill-equipped parents. My foundation was built on abuse, dysfunction, and chaos. By the time I was 5, my parents had separated. Read more>>

Meg Goodman

I am the first-born daughter of two loving and educated parents, each with master’s degrees. My parents have stressed the importance of education for as long as I can remember and made investing in it a priority. Read more>>

LynnQuinEtta James

My parents did right by letting me go off and pursue my dreams. I came from a small town and being able to go off to the big city of New York, really helped me be a go getter in life forever. Read more>>

Joel Boyd

My mom & pops from a pretty early age always showed us the value of community and bringing people together. Our house was always the place people came to eat, get a listening ear, play games, pray, watch movies. Read more>>

Amanda Riley Ferree

My parents are a vital part of my success and inspiration. They really shaped and molded who I am today. Starting off in the early stages of my modeling career, my dad, not only was he my manager, but he was my number one fan, guide and mentor through all of the hurdles in such a challenging industry. Read more>>

Eliza Moser

My parents were always very supportive of my desire to be an artist, but beyond that, they modeled habits that would set me up for success. Read more>>

Margaret Russell

My parents supported me. They believed in my passion and supported my training. They were my constant cheerleaders. They also put me in my place when needed and didn’t let me run away from hard situations. Read more>>

Jackie Meyer

When I was 14, my parents signed me up to be a vendor for a local farmers market without asking me. I was super scared and upset at first, because I had never sold any of my crafts before. Read more>>

Lisa McMillan

My parents, especially my mother, raised me as a very independent and resilient person. My mother always said I can do anything I set my mind to, and while most parents tell their children the same, I really felt that she meant it. I took it to heart. Read more>>

Athena Cosby

My grandmother and mother have had a profound impact on my life and career. My mother, a devoted believer in Jehovah, instilled in me the importance of putting God first and relying on Him, even when faced with challenges that test my faith. Read more>>

Chaewon Suh

I know that I would never be a greater parent or even a person as my parents. My father taught me to embrace people, love than hate, and work hard but never forget to give. Read more>>

Cody Sexton

My old man, he was a hard-drinking bastard, but he had this stubborn streak, like a mule on payday. And my mother, well, she had a mouth like a sailor and a heart bigger than the bar tabs he’d rack up. Read more>>

L D Sledge

My father (always called him daddy) never uttered a cussword or had anything negative to say about another. He was not religious, although his mother, my grandma, was the superintendant for the methodist church in my tiny county town, Castor, in NW Louisiana. Read more>>

Charlie John

This is a big question for me since my parents have been my biggest cheerleaders for my entire career so far. My entire life up until I was 18 was all sports all the time – basketball and baseball. Read more>>

Joan Stuart Ross

My parents supported my college choice and its expense. However, they were worried that art would not work as a career. After six years at Boston Girls Latin School, I had a double major in religion and studio art at Connecticut College. Read more>>

Melissa Faye

My mother is an immigrant. As soon as she received her citizenship, she joined the armed forces. I watched my mother (a single parent of two) battle with every issue we as a society still battle today in regards to livable wages, affordable housing and more. Read more>>

John Rivera Pico

Although I don’t come from an artistic family, my parents always understood the value of fine arts and the importance they had on the growth and development of any child. Read more>>

Karolyn Martin

As a first year Law Student a lot of the lessons I learned from my childhood have continued to help me in this new phase of my life. My parents always stressed the importance of education. Read more>>

Scotte Mac

My parents split when I was pretty young, about 3 years old or so. My Dad was in my life a few years later but the two things they drummed into me was always educate yourself in whatever you get into, and never be afraid to leave your familiar surroundings, explore the world. Read more>>

Jessica Richter

I have such a passion for helping people have fun moving their bodies and slowing down their minds! I get paid to do that! I have had a lifelong career in the coaching industry. I think it almost started in utero :) Read more>>

Ben Smlatic

In 1994, my parents were living in a refugee camp due to the ongoing genocide and war that was ongoing in Bosnia. A few years later, they immigrated to the United States with nothing but the clothes on their back. Read more>>

Jonathan Jackson

My parents just let me do me and supported my endeavors even if they didn’t agree or understand. Loe them to death! Read more>>

Larone Gilmore Jr

For most of my life, I have always lived on the edge of my seat. Breaking reality of what I deemed what was normal, I have always wanted to reach for the stars. Read more>>