Some of my earliest memories include staring out the window watching people walk by my mom's office building. I would stay very quiet as I watched her talk for what seemed like forever on the phone, occasionally putting her pointer finger to her mouth, signaling me to be quiet. Running around the building, I pretended to take phone calls and sneaked into conference rooms imagining myself giving important presentations. This kept me busy on days when she would drag me into work. At one point, my mom even set me up in my own little cubicle down the hall from her. I would spend hours writing little notes and eating snacks from the vending machine.

Dear Mom,

Growing up, I watched you work long hours and come home from an exhausting day, stressed out of your mind. Despite that, you somehow managed to take time to make my lunch in the morning and make sure that I was always doing everything to the best of my ability.

At times I would be upset when you were not able to come to certain things. I learned how to be strong and independent.

However, you are always there when I need you the most, whether it is when I need to talk to you on the phone for hours late into the night or when I need to cry and vent my problems to you. You have the magical ability to hit pause, drop everything you are doing, and listen to whatever I need to say.

Overhearing your phone calls and intimidating work situations taught me how to talk to people, communicating in a mature fashion. Waking up to hearing your heels clip-clop on the kitchen tile inspired me to get my day started and strive to be my best – like you.

I watched you stay up late and stress-cry, hunched over your laptop while racking your brain to get work done. The next morning you would wake up with a smile on your face, positive energy consuming you.

Thank you for drilling into my brain to always have positive thoughts and ideas.

You taught me how to interact with people with the utmost kind and mindful words. After all, that is the best way to conduct not only business, but how to lead an influential life.

Thank you for giving me an overwhelming amount of ambition. After watching you juggle everything from setting up appointments to participating in boards, you truly are an inspiration. You showed me how to dig deep and find passion in everything that I do.

Now that I am in college, I fully realize how much your work ethic influences me each day. I find myself following your exact footsteps, from talking to people the way you do to staring at my laptop screen on the verge of tears. And in those moments I think of you and how you always told me that things will always work out, to always stay positive, and that working hard will get me to where I want to be and so much more.

So, thank you, Mom. Thank you for showing me that being a workaholic can be a good thing if done right. Because of you I am incredibly driven and ambitious. You taught me to work hard to succeed, and because of that, things will always work itself out. You are the best role model that I could ever ask for.