Mother’s Day Reflection

Would My Mom Be Proud?

I am an unapologetic mama’s boy.

Let’s keep it all the way 100. As a child, that was not meant to be a compliment. It was not a flex. It was something people said like it was supposed to embarrass me.

And honestly, the reason I was probably called that is because I was more connected to the traits people mistakenly label as feminine. Sympathy. Emotion. Passion. Empathy. Sensitivity.

People correlated those traits with weakness, as though having access to your emotions somehow made you less prepared to succeed in a male-dominated world.

Well, let me skip to the end of the story.

They were wrong.

Not only were they wrong, those traits are a huge part of the success you see in me today. My ability to connect with people, understand people, listen, care, lead, teach, sell, serve, and build relationships all came from the same qualities some people tried to make me feel small for having.

And in no small part, I have my mother to thank for that.

She recognized those things in me. She nurtured them. She taught me that strength was not about pretending not to feel. Strength was not about being loud, cold, detached, or dominant.

Real strength is character.

Real strength is empathy.

Real strength is having enough emotional discipline to care deeply without being controlled by your emotions.

We are living in strange times right now. There is this loud push, often led by young and inexperienced men, to embrace some exaggerated version of hyper-masculinity. To me, much of it is rooted in insecurity and a crisis of identity.

They are promoting and exaggerating certain masculine traits while trying to eliminate anything they view as feminine. The result is not strength. It is narcissism. It is deeper insecurity. It is a superficial sense of power and wealth built largely on things that are ultimately fleeting.

I reject that ideology.

And today, as we honor our mothers, I think we should pause and ask a deeper question.

Are we only honoring them with flowers, brunch, cards, and social media posts?

Or are we honoring them with how we live?

Because everyone has a mother. And whether your relationship with your mother is beautiful, complicated, painful, distant, or somewhere in between, the idea of motherhood still forces us to reflect on what it means to nurture, sacrifice, protect, love, teach, and build.

For me, honoring my mother means continuing my commitment to empathy, strength of character, self-development, and impact.

It means conducting myself in a way that would make her proud.

Not just today.

In business.

In relationships.

In how I treat people.

In how I lead.

In how I respond when things get hard.

In how I use whatever influence I have in this world.

The older I get, the more I realize that many of the qualities people once tried to label as weaknesses are actually the source of my strength.

I am strong because I care.

I am strong because I feel.

I am strong because I listen.

I am strong because I was taught that impact matters more than image.

So today, honor your mother through celebration.

But more importantly, honor her with your actions and the character you display year-round.

Ask yourself this one thing:

Are you living, leading, loving, and doing business in a way that would make your mother proud?