Positive role models can’t be purchased; it’s only through relationships and studying behaviors (consciously or not) can we learn to be adults, leaders, entrepreneurs, and just simply better at whatever we choose to do. Like so many others, I found my life examples in my parents. They probably aren’t perfect (and please don’t tell me otherwise; I wouldn’t believe you anyway) but they continue to be perfect for me. They have been entrepreneurs (their entire careers, as a matter of fact) before there were university degrees, it was an overused buzzword or podcasts like ”Entrepreneurs on Fire” (one of my faves), that existed.
Well, it’s about damn time: last week they, ALAS, retired. I am sick-to-my-stomach excited for them. They are tired. They are - really - the hardest working people I know. Even before we ventured from the Iowa cornfields to the waters of Cedar Creek Lake, Texas, they worked 7 (yes, 7) days a week. To say Dad is a workaholic is an understatement. His philosophy? If you don’t give it all you’ve got and you fail: shame on you. And Mom would follow my dad anywhere; along the way becoming a phenomenal self-taught, everything-business business manager. I am so proud of that woman I am honored to call Mom; she never ever gives herself enough credit.
It’s a shame neither my baby brother nor I desired to be in the boat business. Honestly, it would have been a dream to work side-by-side with my parents for 36 years. However, both my husband Michael (who I met thanks to our move to East Texas in 1985) and I say we would have never worked that hard toward the unknown. Even now, knowing what they achieved, a small but healthy empire, we still would not have sacrificed family vacations, no days off for the first (I am going to guess here, but I guarantee you Mom could give you an exact number) 15 years and caved on a daily basis to clients’ “emergencies” - from dead batteries to being in the middle of the lake gasless. Not sure why those are the problems of a dealership. We certainly don’t call Huffines when I shut the garage door on our Chevy Bison.
So you might think I decided to become an entrepreneur because I learned from my parents and I wanted to have what they had on a smaller, less-profitable scale. No way. If you would have asked me 20 years ago if I had even the slightest of desires to own and operate a business, my answer would have been an emphatic “Nope!!”. I believe I am 80% a reflection of my parents, and I really like who I am. However, I would not trade my mom’s years of sleepless nights, the lawsuits, and some of the employees who worked for beer money and would skip out many-a-weeks after payday. By the way, they did have a lot of great employees as well.
“Congrats,” said Terry who still works for the company. “ I enjoyed my time working for them: truly genuine, kind, hard-working people.” Yes, Terry!
Thanks to my husband, I’ve had the luxury of slowly growing Photography by Misty. My parents, on the other hand, went from a Pepperidge Farm bread franchise to a boat sales-and-service business with my dad’s brother. In Iowa, Mom managed the business side of things on a part-time basis (mostly catering to our family’s needs), we lived on 5 acres filled with every child’s dream of various animals and off-roading vehicles, we hunted, spent a lot of time with family and we had neighborhood parties on the reg. Although the work was too physically intense for my dad who has a bad back, my brother and I loved our plentiful country lifestyle. We were truly oblivious and spoiled children.
In order to save my dad’s health (little did we know what we were really getting into), we cashed in my parents’ retirement, sold almost everything we owned, and moved into a dilapidated trailer, where we literally had to “hover” to use the facilities (otherwise ending up with bare butt full of dirt from the crawlspace beneath). Our dog was infested with fleas and Texas allergies, of course I never had friends over and we rarely spent quality time with family.
Ha!! Never again question why owning a business wasn’t my dream life.
Please never feel sorry for us, however. For my brother and I, this life was short-lived, having moved to Texas when we were 16 and 13. My brother also found it as a way to reinvent himself. I, on the other hand, left a core group of friends and ended up hanging with the potheads at Mabank High my junior year. Actually, I am eternally grateful to them. I had friends who were fun and funny, and they never smoked around me. Guess they saved it until after my curfew. And, this is funny: even though our living conditions were quite atrocious, my Mom and I still headed to Dallas to do my back-to-school shopping at Bloomingdales. awww… Mom, still hooking her daughter up with clothes, makeup, and stylish cuts by LaDonna (who still after all these years does my hair).
And whatever trials and tribulations my parents have faced and conquered, they’ve done it together. We all did it together. Love and togetherness is the true American Dream. Derek and I have nothing but respect, love, and admiration for these two lovebirds who we get to call Dad and Mom.
And, no, my parents no longer live in that trailer, which I believe is in a landfill somewhere. They remodeled an adorable lakehouse, they upgrade vehicles more often than most people flip their mattress and they own two cabins in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. More than likely, you’ve laid your head on one of their pillows at Old Glory and/or Wildlife Overlook. And if you haven’t, you should.
Hadn’t thought about this before this morning, but I really think my dad would have been happy as a photographer. He’s always had a knack and a creative eye for it, and he loves people as much as I do. And, with my mom’s business skills they would have run a much tighter and profitable ship (ha! Get it? A ship?) than myself (just ask my associate photographer Jenny, who watches the money coming and going more than I do). So, what do you say, Mom and Dad: want to join me in taking Dallas headshots, DFW corporate event photography, and product photography?
I am 100% kidding. Nothing, truly nothing, would make my baby bro Derek and I more happy than seeing our parents, alas, bask in their hard earnings. I have already started planning their next three years: staying at their own cabins where the air is crisp and the sounds are those made by nature, revisiting their honeymoon in Yellowstone, and coming to stay with their children’s families.
Thank you, My Friends, for reading and ultimately helping celebrate a worthy couple.
2 Comments
Jul 15, 2021, 7:29:49 AM
Misty Hoyt - Thank you, James
Dec 21, 2020, 6:44:51 PM
james batson - great story attesting to to the strength and love of your parents misty