A Few Wonderful Things About My Mom

1) She bought Madisonkanna.com when I was 10 years old.

How many moms got their children’s names as domains when they were 10? She saw the value of having your own domain name, so she got mine to save for me for over a decade. This is just the kind of thing my mom does. For as long as I can remember, she’s been relentlessly researching new ideas, habits, and opportunities that could help better my life or add to my success and happiness.

2) She Homeschooled me while running her own company.

My mom (and dad!) homeschooled me, and there’s nothing I’m more grateful for than growing up as a Homeschooler. I had the freedom to discover who I was without the confinement of school. I had the freedom to curiously engage in the world around me. I also grew up watching my mom publish books, speak at conferences and build businesses. I got to help with all of these things. I got a mom who is a driven woman, an entrepreneur, and a person with a relentless drive to learn. And somehow during everything my mom was doing, she was spending so much of her time and money Unschooling me.  She spent decades of her life making sure I had a personalized hands-on education that worked for me.

3) She gave me books but never made me read. 

Unlike so many other kids, I was never once forced to read a book as a child. Yet I saw my mom treat bookstores as though they were magical, sacred places. I saw her spend her free time inhaling books as though they were oxygen.  She always gave me new books, but never once forced me to read one. It wasn’t long before I chose to pick up some of these books, and became as enamored with them as she was. From meditation to Tony Robbins, my mom introduced me to the concepts and ways of thinking that bring so much joy and meaning to my life today. Through reading the books my mom gave me, I fell in love with the world.

4) She showed me you can be a woman with a career and also a close family.

These two things are often painted as either/or. I know it’s been hard for my mom to juggle her career and ambition with all of the time she’s spent raising us along with my dad. But she’s done it beautifully and showed me that I can someday, too.

5) She’s my best friend and my biggest supporter.