In honor of Mother's Day weekend, I'd like to share with you how moms in general, and mine in particular, have trained us to be successful in business. 

• "Have you finished your homework?"  Moms know the importance of education, and successful Realtors(R) and other business professionals know that continuing education is key to career growth, whether it is formal classes or reading business books on your own.  My mom put education above everything, so as a kid I knew that in order to play with friends or enjoy activities I had to do this first.  As an adult, it is a habit, and because of that I have more financial freedom to play with friends and enjoy activities.  Thanks, Mom.
• "You can play at her house after I meet her parents."  Moms know that who you associate yourself with will determine a lot about your future, and they want to make sure their kids are hanging out with other good kids in a safe environment.  As adults, we tend to associate ourselves with people who are like us in our personal lives (married with children, single and dating, DINKS, etc.), but at work we don't always get the luxury of choosing our office mates or coworkers.  Who you associate with professionally can significantly impact your reputation and the safety of your career.  As Amber Riviere says, 'beware of pirhanas.'  Your moms said it, too.  "If everyone wanted to jump off a cliff would you do it, too?"
• "Did you clean your room?"  Moms love a clean house; moms with 3 active children *require* a clean house to stay sane.  While I would not call myself a domestic goddess yet (though I strive to be), growing up I learned to love the predictable success and peace of mind that systems and organization bring.  If my mom had taken a class on writing computer code when I was in school, she could have converted all her organizational systems into some amazing software and become incredibly rich.  (sorry for holding you back from your destiny, Mom) 
• "Have you done your chores?"  Moms know that to keep a household running, certain things need to be done on a regular basis.  It isn't enough to just live in a home; without maintaining the lawn or keeping the inside of the house clean, it will soon become uninhabitable.  The same holds true for business.  If you don't nurture and care your business, the neglect will soon show and no one will be able to live there.
• "Tell me about your day."  I know not everyone had this - I learned that when I was still a kid from my own friends.  But my mom asked me every day over an after-school snack to tell her about my day.  She did the same thing with my brothers and we all thought that we were the center of the universe in that moment of time.  It was my first lesson in talking out the day, discussing projects, and working through communication problems with my friends.  I can point directly to this activity every time I successfully talk with a client, a peer, or an employee about a good or bad issue and determine how we will celebrate it or work through it.  I am a good communicator because of my mom.

We could each probably write a book about business advice from moms (there is probably already one out there), but this weekend in particular I wanted to honor my mom by telling her how much her guidance has meant to me.  My mom was a stay-at-home mother while I was growing up, and like many stay-at-home moms, she didn't always think she was as accomplished as mothers who worked outside the home.  But I'm here to tell you that I learned a lot from my time at Mom University (MU), and I wouldn't be where I am today without that education.  Thanks, Mamacita.

What did YOUR mom teach you about business?