Growing up, I never really knew that some of the things my parents encouraged me to do would be so valuable. Now that I’ve grown up, I get it. Now, as a parent myself, I can only encourage my children as my parents did me and hope it resonates.

As a young girl, I always debated everyone and everything and wanted to get to the truth of things. For that reason, people always told me that I would make a great lawyer. So for many years I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. In 1981, when I was a “tween” (did that word even exist back then?), Sandra Day O’Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be a US Supreme Court Justice, the first woman to receive that honor. I wrote a letter to Ms. O’Connor congratulating her on her appointment to the US Supreme Court and letting her know that I wanted to pursue a career in law. I again felt compelled to write to her as she was sworn in on my ninth birthday, September 25, 1981. She was a great role model to me as a young woman, making history for women and ultimately becoming one of the Court’s most influential justices in a male-dominated world.

You can imagine my excitement when I received a personalized letter from her acknowledging my letter and wishing me well. I was fifteen at the time; she had been on the Court five years. It was a pretty cool moment in my life; my parents ended up having that letter made into a plaque and for the next 25 years it has come with me as I’ve moved from place to place. I now have it proudly displayed in my office at Baby Be Hip.

Recently, my Dad read an article on Justice O’Connor in Parade magazine and clipped it out for me. It was titled, “I Want to Feel Like I Can Still Make a Difference”. It was a follow-up story on Justice O’Connor (she is now 82 years old) and as she put it, “I’m not accustomed to sitting around and doing nothing.” That totally resonates with me today. This article is now hanging on my vision board because I too want to feel like I can make a difference in my life. It is a constant reminder from one I have long admired to keep charging forward in my life.

At a young age, I learned the value of role models and mentors in my life. I have many to be grateful to. While our parents are our first role models, I also feel it is important for children to have role models outside of the family as well. I was very excited when my daughter, Molly, and I had the opportunity to be on The TODAY Show last April with one of my mentors, Nell Merlino. Molly, 11 loves writing and fashion, and she had the wonderful opportunity to meet TODAY Show Style Editor Bobbie Thomas in the green room.

Bobbie is gorgeous on the outside but also beautiful on the inside. She believes that “beauty truly comes from the strength within.” I was honored to learn her back-story and share this with my Mol. Prior to going to NYC as a guest on TODAY, a friend mentioned I should look out for Bobbie. So, I did my research (loved her when I read her bio) and when I saw her in the green room, I had to introduce myself but more importantly, let Molly meet Bobbie. What more could a mother ask for as Bobbie “encourages self-esteem and confidence in the best way she knows how– a fusion of fun, fashion & friendship.”

On that trip to NYC, Molly’s eyes opened so big and bright. My little Molly, who always thought she wanted to stay local in Philly and be a teacher (a terrific career), decided that she wanted to live in Manhattan and be in fashion. She ended up buying the New York drawing that’s pictured above at one of the vendors in Central Park and now it hangs in her room. We are visual people, so this serves as her daily reminder to pursue whatever dreams she may have.

Whether or not she lives in the big city and works in fashion doesn’t matter, just as long as she knows the world is her oyster and she can be and do whatever she wants. I’m glad to know she has a pretty cool role model in her young life as well. I hope that she also knows that learning from others who are older and have done what she wants to do will continue to push her forward to connect with others and lead the life that she wants. Even though I never pursued a career in law, Justice O’Connor’s letter still means the world to me, and she continues to help me raise the bar for myself even as I watch her from a distance.

In summary, I want to share the final paragraph from the Parade article:

Quoted from O’Connor, “I had a good life, and the reason it was a good life is because I stayed busy doing the things that mattered to me. If I stopped doing that, I think my whole life would disintegrate. I want to feel like, to the extent that I’m able to, I can still make a difference.”

Thank you to all the wonderful role models and mentors out there who are modeling and teaching our young children (and frankly all of us), showing us that we can be who we want to be and that we each can make a difference. I would love to know – who has been one of your role models?