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The Cow Cocoon
Learn with Truman what a cocoon is—a special, safe place where you are happy and loved. Join him on his adventure to find his very own cocoon!
A book by local St. Louisans: Writers Rachel Nolen & Maria Price Illustrator Dayne Sislen
Available at CowCocoon.com
by beth chesterton
PHENOMENAL FAMILIES WHEN WE SEE IGNITED, successful people, we don’t often think about what growing up was like for them. But if you tuned into the Olympics this summer, then you probably saw footage of parents, grandparents, siblings and other relatives cheering on their Olympian. I was moved by the direct connection between these athletes and their families. It’s not often we get to see the people alongside the superstars they raised. You have to admire parents who inspire their kids to greatness. Raising one outstandingly accomplished child is a feat, but some families churn out multiple phenoms. Let’s look at a few of these families. After reaching the pinnacles of success, Venus and Serena Williams cited specific ways their parents prepared them to go the distance. They say that their parents instilled in them the values of competition and resilience that would lead them to become two of the most successful tennis players of all time. They credit their mother with teaching them to be strong women and their father is considered by many to be one of the best self-taught tennis coaches in history. Their parents started working on this dream early on—deciding before the Williams sisters were even born that they would be tennis champions. Another famous sibling duo, the Wright brothers, also were raised by inspiring parents who cultivated their skills and innovative spirits long before their groundbreaking inventions. Orville Wright once said, “We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always encouragement to investigate whatever aroused our curiosity.” Their mother was an inventor herself and solved household problems by designing and building her own appliances. Always committed to developing her sons’ creative minds, she allowed them to take days off of school when they were engaged in stimulating projects. In business, Denise and Maggie Sullivan have knocked it out of the park. While you may not have heard of the Sullivan sisters, they were the CEOs of Campbell’s Soup Company and Frontier Communications—collectively managing more than $13 billion in earnings and employing more than 37,000 people. Growing up, their mother taught them to embrace ambition, and their father took them to work long before it was in vogue. From the start, their parents assumed the girls would become successful business leaders, and in turn, almost every single Sullivan childhood touchpoint was handled with an eye toward developing skills and traits they would one day rely upon when leading major endeavors. Obviously, we can’t all raise back-to-back superstars and Olympians—especially when just getting the kids to bed feels like a Herculean feat. And, frankly, we don’t all need to be raising business tycoons and famous inventors (although, I give kudos to the ones that do), but we do have the chance to inspire the next generation to pursue their passions and believe in themselves. You can set an intention or set aside a little time to support those around you by highlighting their strengths (children or otherwise). We can’t see ourselves without the help of others, so one of the best ways you can encourage people is by expressing the ways they add value and what they do well. Igniting creativity, passion, innovation and a lifelong commitment can begin with a small spark of sincere and specific encouragement.
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BETH CHESTERTON IS A MASTER CERTIFIED EXECUTIVE COACH AND AN EXPERT IN ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 | townandstyle.com
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