Legacy

I'm not sure how old your parents are or if they're still with you. My mother and Nick's mother are still with us, but we both lost our dads over the last few years. Naturally, as each of our living parents ages, discussion of what happens to their affairs and who will handle them punctuates many of our conversations.

While I've always wanted to leave something behind for our children, I've been more focused on ensuring that I can provide them with a life that allows me to be the parent I want to be today while ensuring that they don't have to worry about Nick and me or our survival as we get older.

Me with Joseph Holland, owner of Harlem's only Ben & Jerry's franchise in 1992.

Today, an influencer I've been following for almost as long as we've owned Sugar Hill Creamery came to the Lexington store to shoot some content. After she shot everything, she, her husband, and I got to talking about being raised in Thailand, which is where they're from. We talked about the Thai education system, the relationship between tax money and infrastructural improvements, and the lack of free speech and democracy. The influencer's husband talked about how his dad created a plan for where he would go to school a decade before he was born. He mapped everything out for him so that he would have every opportunity to achieve whatever he wanted. After I shared our story about building our company, the influencer said, "Well, it's great that you have left this legacy for your children."

For her, legacy and inheritance were synonymous, which by definition they are. But I've always thought of our business as a solution to my now and not the vehicle that allows me to create the strategic plan for our children years into the future.

Joseph Holland's work with his Ben & Jerry's store got coverage in the New York Times and People Magazine. It was located on 125th Street & 5th Avenue in a building that is now no longer there.

A couple of weeks ago, I got to meet a man named Joseph Holland. Originally from Hampton, Virginia, he moved to Harlem in his 20s after graduating from Harvard Law and turning down a corporate job in the early 1980s. He said he had been called to the neighborhood.

In 1992, he opened the only Ben & Jerry's that I believe has existed in our neighborhood. His reasons for doing so were not exactly our reasons, but his decision to operate for the six years that it was open paved the way for Nick and me to open Sugar Hill Creamery 25 years later.

The kids riding their scooters and bike across an Open Street this weekend

Between what the influencer said to me about leaving a legacy for our children and thinking about the impact of Mr. Holland's actions in the early 1990s on how I've been able to live my life for the last seven years, I've been really thinking about the impact of legacy.

For me, legacy is all about the impact of a person's life or actions that pave the way for others to do more.

The legacy I hope to leave behind for our kids is the example I set for them as an engaged parent and citizen of this world. I hope to leave an inheritance that includes both monetary and social-emotional returns that allow them to live a fulfilling life that serves them and those around them.

When you think about what you'll leave behind, do you think of the money and tangible items, or do you also think of all the intangibles that will pave the way for your kids and those you may never meet?

The former is the tradition, but the latter should be the norm.

Petrushka
Your Local Ice Cream Lady & Life/Business Coach

P.S. The next New Mom's Group starts on August 22nd. Tell a friend!

P.P.S. If you're looking for support as you transition to a work-life balance that works better for you, let's talk!