I was born on the west side of Chicago, and there was quite a bit of poverty. My family and I didn't have exactly the best or the most optimal financial situation in my youth, but we turned out well. My mom always made sure that we got a proper education and that we dedicated ourselves to our work.
When my parents were paying for my sport, it wasn't just me out on the ice. Pretty much every dollar my mom made teaching went into my skating.
My mom and both of my grandmothers have always been into fashion, so it's been around us our whole lives.
The Almighty has plans for us to make a place so we can go on and make a difference. It all has to do with my faith; I am deeply religious. It goes back to my roots, to my mom and my dad.
My mom is just authentically herself all the time. She loves herself. She loves her sense of humor. She brings people in when she talks. She brings people in when she laughs. Watching her, I think that that's when I first learned and was encouraged to be myself and to sort of love and live in that way.
My mom was an artist, and she had this amazing ability to transform everything into something beautiful.
My mother, Marnie Fahr Steyer, was a lifelong smoker - up to three packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day. I like to think that, if Mom were still with us today, she'd be happy with the strides we've made to protect our children from the ongoing health crisis of tobacco addiction.
As a child, I went to peace and ERA marches on the back of my mom and grandmother. Through them I learned that I wanted to find a way to make the world a more kind, compassionate place.
My mom taught me German before I knew English. And I went to French immersion school.
Violet speaks Spanish and understands it. She loves Cuban food! My mom is very good at teaching her about our culture, whether it be the food or Spanish or explaining to her that she's Cuban.
My mom and I had a kids' clothing store called Smooch for six years, and I did all the buying before I even had kids.
My mom keeps me grounded and all that. She makes me do chores.
I want to work, but the balance to find between working and being a mom is challenging.
I am compelled to continuously see the bright side. It is in my DNA. My kids look at me and say: 'Mom, you're so happy!' And I do feel happy. I feel joyful inside. I can't explain it.
First of all, I was a good Christian kid. My mom and dad taught me never to fight. So I never fought. The other kids picked that up right away. They said, 'Oh, he's not going to try to do anything.' They'd push me, shove me, hit me. I'd just stand there and take it.
My mom's now enjoying Medicare. She's already retired. She earned it. But for those of us, you know, the X-Generation on down, it won't be there for us on its current path.
I was brought up as an only child, and we were very close. But when I was 14, we got evicted. We came home to a padlock, and I looked up at my mom and she was crying, and there was nothing to do.
My mom is still whispering in my ear, 'Look as good as you can.' She taught me that being the best you can be in your appearance as well as your intellect was primary.
I went to see 'Phantom of the Opera' with my grandma and my mom when I was very little. The stage, the voice, the music... Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been a massive inspiration to me for some time - the storytelling, that deliciously somber undertone in his music.
My mom and dad were actors when they were younger and had a horrible experience of it. My dad became a literary agent and my mom a casting director.
I'm comfortable around girls because I grew up with two sisters and a single mom. I feel very lucky for all they have taught me. They tell me to be myself, have fun, and focus on eye expressions.
I remember watching Regis and Kathie Lee interview celebrities, and my mom looked so happy. I just did the math. I wanted to make my mom happy, and I wanted to talk to celebrities. Basically, I wanted Kathie Lee's job!
My dad was the one who really loved basketball, and he was the one that put the basketball in my hands, and my mom was 'Team Mom' of all my teams. I used to play for three or four teams at once and she would just spend her entire afternoon driving me from practice to practice to practice.
I grew up in a working class family. People thought I might go work at a mill. My mom wanted me to learn how to lay carpet because she was concerned about my future. Nobody had high hopes for me. But I was a hustler.
I always had a standard of, back when I was doing the country music I always told people I would never record a song that I wouldn't sit down and sing in front of my mom and dad.
Around 10, I got chubby. I knew I'd crossed a line when the only pants that fit were from the 'Junior Plenty' line at JC Penny. My parents had split up, my mom was going through a dark time, and my brother and I were getting bullied in our new neighborhood. Life was big and unsafe.
My mom was a little weepy. My dad was very logical about it. Once they realized you can't change, they wanted to know that you can be happy and be gay. Once they realized that, they were very cool about it.
Food brings back memories. I had a mom that wasn't a good cook, so I would eat my grandma's food. It was amazing because it brings back a time almost in Technicolor. I see her house, I see her stove; I think about what it felt like when I was sick, and it felt like love.
I'm not really out in the world all that much. I mean, I live with no phone signal, in the hills surrounded by trees, and I have, like, a mom and two baby deer that come by all the time, and my dogs and the squirrels are in a full-on feud every morning.
What makes me happy is just curling up in with my mom in her bed and watching a marathon of 'CSI' and 'Grey's Anatomy' episodes with pints of ice cream.
My mom brought me up to believe that my talent is a gift and a blessing.
You really get your sense of women, to begin with, from your mom.
I think I'm a disciplined mom versus a strict mom. But also, that job - the disciplining was from birth until about 12, and at 12, I set my kids free, and they learned to become independent human beings.
I was raised vegan. My mom would always make quinoa with squash and kale, hippie stuff like that. Now I eat meat, but I try to be conscious about where it's coming from.
Chanel No. 5 is my perfume when I'm feeling like a lady. It's old-school and warm - and it reminds me of my mom.
I think my mom and dad have an incredible work ethic, and we've grown up around it.
