Mother's Day Retrospective

My mother has been one of the most influential people in my life. I’ve gotten my genes from her, my attitude, my work ethic, and more importantly, my sense of style. If there was one piece of advice that she gave me, it was to “never be dependent on other people.” By that, she meant that I should be emotionally and financially independent and entirely happy on my own.

Her reasoning stemmed from heartbreak. Her first fiancé (before my Dad) broke up with her the day before her wedding dress came in the mail. She grew from it, and taught me that lesson as a result.

When I thought about this further, I thought about all of the other women in my life (with their super supportive, loving and successful moms, too). As high-achieving women, we must have taken their advice pretty seriously. What is it about a mother’s advice that is so instrumental to who we are, that without it, our story is incomplete? So, I asked: What is the most important piece of advice that your Mom ever gave you?

Here’s what I heard:

“It’s really hard to like achieve a happy medium between aggressive Asian woman and submissive Asian woman like between the two stereotypes so she always tells me to work toward being firm in what I want, but still accommodating and not overly firm because if you’re too firm then people will think you’re some kind of dragon lady and if you don’t ask for anything you’re a submissive pushover!! I mean that can be generalized for women of any ethnicity though.” -Patricia Tang

“Why would you want to dress like everybody else? You look way cooler than them.” - Christian Hope Welch

“I would say the best advice she ever gave me was to first and foremost, bring a jacket everywhere you go (you never know when you’ll be cold!) but more importantly, to unapologetically be yourself. If that means whipping your hair around on a dance floor with strangers or pursuing a passion that maybe wouldn’t earn as much, she always encouraged me to be myself. There’s no rational way of ever becoming someone else nor does one ever know what someone else’s life entails so you’re better off accepting and embracing who you are as opposed to running after what you ‘think’ is a better life. From there, you can only love and focus on who YOU are as opposed to who someone else is.” - Ari Cohen

"Sparkle and shine like it was your last speck of glitter." - Leigh Healey

“You never get a second chance to make a first impression! Basically always present yourself in the best way (be kind and look cute!), because you never know when you might meet someone important or what impact you’re making on someone. Still something that sticks with me every day!” - Abbey Kutlas

“God has a plan for you.” - Annie Egan

“My mom tells me to ‘name it and claim it,’ which is when you've made a mistake you should acknowledge it. Also, my mom would tell me to be myself and not try to please other people, because the people you want in your life are the ones you can be yourself around.” - Caroline Thomas

I’m definitely my own person, but I’d be nowhere without my mom. Every mother-daughter relationship is different (like you see here), but perfectly original in its own way. Happy Mother's Day!