A chip off the old block...

I am a proud mother of two - and my eldest was honored last week in New York City by the National Foundation For The Teaching Of Entrepreneurship (NFTE for short) as a Young Entrepreneur of The Year. This award was bestowed upon 39 young people from around the world for their accomplishments as new business start-ups.

You heard it right - my son owns his own business. A computer design and consulting business, to be exact. Terra Byte Technologies can design a customized system for you and help with the maintenance of it - it's so cool to have my own "tech guy" at home, when stuff acts up - he's johnny on the spot! And - he's only 18 years old!!!!!

Both of my children have grown up watching their mom build her business - so I like to think that I've had a wee bit of influence on how they view the working world. For my son, I have watched him from the sidelines as he's tinkered with everything in sight - and now, he's at the helm of his own company, determined to make it successful. During the media interviews prior to the actual awards ceremony, he said that I was a big influence on him and how he viewed owning his own business. That made me cry. Actually - I cried the entire evening. He was also the first recipient of the CA Technology Award (awarded by Computer Associates) for the innovative use of technology in his business. I cried when he walked on stage, to receive his plaque. And for a moment - all I could see was the little boy with the jeans, t-shirt and messy face, running up to me saying, "Hug Mommy, Hug!". How time does fly..............

As an entrepreneur for the past 15 years - I'll say this: Let your children know and understand that it's perfectly okay if they don't want to do the customary "9 to 5". Work is a factor of life we all deal with - but how we take it on is another story. As we were sitting in our hotel room, recapping the night's events - I told my son that he was, in fact, the "master of his destiny" and the "author of his life's manifesto". Big words - sorta kinda. But from the look on his face - I knew he understood every word I said......................