Margot Machol Bisnow’s enlightening book, “Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams“, shares what she learned from interviews with 70 of today’s entrepreneurs — and their parents — to uncover what parents can do to help their child turn a passion into a pathway to success.
We chat with Margot to understand more about her book and raising a child with an entrepreneurial mindset.
Describe for our readers how you embarked on the research that led to your book.
When I met young entrepreneurs, I would ask them: “How did you turn out this way? —willing to work so hard to turn your idea into a business, to take on so much risk, to work so single-mindedly toward a goal?” And they all told me the same thing: “I had someone who believed in me.” I wanted to know if this applied more broadly, so I chose a very diverse group to interview— diverse in gender, race, religion, socioeconomic background, every family type — and to my amazement they were all raised the same way.
Does the way that parents raise their children make a difference in the career paths they choose?
Absolutely — although not in the way most parents imagine. You can’t make your child an entrepreneur. But you can raise children who are curious, creative, risk taking, confident, and resilient, and it’s these children who often become entrepreneurs.
Why should parents resist the urge to direct their child’s future?
If you try to choose your child’s path, you’ll stifle their fulfillment. So many young people today are unhappy because they are following the path their parents think will make them successful. The world has changed; that path often doesn’t work. Every entrepreneur I spoke to said, “I love what I do so I don’t consider it work. I work harder and longer than anyone else because I’m passionate about what I’m doing.”
Why tell a child to spend the next 40 years being miserable so they can earn a living?
What messages do young people need to hear from their parents that will encourage them to pursue their passion?
“We’re so proud of you for your success in that. You’ve really worked hard and it shows. We know that you can succeed at anything you put your mind to. We love you, we trust you, we believe in you. Don’t worry if you make mistakes; you’ll learn from them. We’ll always be here for you. We can’t wait to see what you’re going to accomplish next.”
Does success in school have any bearing on whether a young person has the entrepreneurial spark?
No. Of the entrepreneurs I interviewed, one-third graduated from top universities and one-quarter didn’t graduate from college. Many breezed through school; many were miserable in school.
The education system isn’t set up to nurture future entrepreneurs who often question rules, challenge authority, ask lots of questions, and want to do things differently.
Can you share an example of how a successful entrepreneur’s upbringing led to their success?
There are 70 examples in my book “Raising an Entrepreneur.”
These include the director of Crazy Rich Asians, Jon Chu, Aviator Nations founder Paige Mycoskie, Blue Bottle coffee founder Bryan Meehan, film director Unjoo Moon, Life is Good co-founder Bert Jacobs, League of Legends gamemaker Thomas Vu, Kiva co-founder Jessica Jackley, Charity Water founder Scott Harrison — to name a few.
They were all raised by their parents to believe in themselves, to pursue their passions, to find new ways to solve old problems, to see opportunity where others see the status quo, to work with single-mindedness toward a goal, to take on risk if something is worth trying to know that building something wonderful is its own reward regardless of how much money you make, to care about others, to want to make the world a better place, to view failure as feedback and setbacks as learning experiences, to know that they can succeed at anything they work at hard enough, and to dream big dreams.
If you were to offer parents one piece of advice for how to encourage their child’s curiosity, what would it be?
Ask lots of questions.
“What did you see? What do you think about that? Does it have to be that way? How could you make it better? If you really tried, do you think you could change it? Why or why not?”
Or: “What happened? Why do you think it happened that way? Could you have done it differently? Would you be able to improve the situation? How? Would it change anything? Why or why not?”
And if they had tried something that didn’t work out, praise them for their work ethic — that they tried hard — and ask them why they think they didn’t succeed: “What did you learn? What would you do differently next time? How could you get a different outcome?”
To learn more, visit Machol Bisnow’s website, raisinganentrepreneur
