I was a raised by a dreamer and a pragmatist. No surprise that I fall somewhere in between.
My father was the dreamer. Rather than use his two college degrees to climb a corporate ladder, he ventured out on his own. He used his education and big dose of courage to chase down his dreams.
My mother was the pragmatist. She worked as a hair stylist and put my father through college so he could get those two degrees. And, it was her daily work that put food on our family table and kept the lights turned on.
I spent my childhood watching and admiring these two role models –my dad with his big picture aspirations and my mom with her perseverance and resolve. Their partnership proved to be a successful combination and I watched their dreams come true.
In my own life, I’ve been a busboy, grocery store cashier, a publicist, a real estate appraiser and a teacher but all I ever dreamed of was being a professional musician. I live that dream today because of what I saw my parents do on a daily basis.
There were no parental lectures on the virtues of hard work. There were no pep talks about living your dreams. They just did it and that’s how I learned.