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.

Nicole Marie VP

My parents are amazing and I’m grateful for them. I grew up with a deep curiosity for how things work and a love of music as a singer/ songwriter and producer, my gifts inspired by my grandmother yaya who sang and played the piano. I grew up going to church and learning who the lord was early in life. Read more >>>

Presley Souers

My parents divorce when I was just a baby so the only consistent person I had was my mother. I call her ‘Momma.’ Ever since I can remember, she has always cleaned. She cleaned multiple theaters in Branson, Missouri, offices buildings, churches, and homes. Because times were tough, she would often bring me along. Read more >>>

Miranda Boodheshwar

My mom is an artist and majored in art therapy when she went to college, and I think that really informed the way she introduced me to the arts. Art was always used as an emotional release. Art was there to bring joy, to blow off steam, but never to make me feel bad. Read more >>>

Erin McGrath Rieke

I’m so glad you asked me that, because recently I found myself surrounded by boxes of photographs, old home videos, and memorabilia in our storage closet–fragments from another lifetime that I’ve been revisiting as part of my ongoing I Am. I Am. I Am. Project. Read more >>>

Joel Gill

I owe a lot to my parents, but that’s probably not very unique. My dad was a Presbyterian minister. When I was young we lived in rural Indiana. The parsonage (pastor’s home) was on a farm. We were surrounded by cornfields and soybeans. There were old barns to explore, nests of kittens to find in the hay lofts and just so much to explore. Read more >>>

Adrianna Rabeda-Kowalczak

Looking back, I think one of the best things my parents did was nurture my curiosity and make sure I was always engaged in meaningful activities. As a very active and curious kid, they made sure I stayed busy after school—trying out different instruments, learning new languages, and exploring a variety of sports. Read more >>>

Carol Hannon

One of the greatest lessons my parents instilled in me was not to overthink decisions. Like so many immigrants, they came from Korea to America with a dream of something greater. Read more >>>

Avis Jackson

I was raised by a Single Mom, I am the youngest of five. What she did right was teaching me at an early age how to stay centered and have purpose. As I got older, I began to learn and was told, just how much she went through, and how physically and emotionally abusive situations that happened in her life from a little girl to a wife and mother was a tragedy that she turned into a light that she chose to shine for us her children. Read more >>>

Lu Hampton

I was constantly exposed to adventure and unconditional support in practically everything I explored in life. Because of this I always felt held and loved so deciding to pursue a career in the arts (usually a rather terrifying and challenging thing to take on) I felt excitement more than anything. I was shown just how big and caring the world can be if you share yourself authentically and confidently. Read more >>>