November 11, 2009
The Million-Dollar Parent: How To Have a Successful Career While Keeping Your Family a Top Priority
Kate Raidt
Aviva Publishing (2009)
ISBN: 9781890427153
“The Million-Dollar Parent” is a phenomenal book about how to be an amazing parent and still have a successful career and a fulfilling life. More than a parenting book, it shows you how to put family first and still find success in other parts of life. In fact, Kate Raidt divides her book into three sections on Family, Career, and Life.
Kate begins with what is most important—Family. She makes it clear that raising children and having a good relationship with your spouse is the top priority. Yes, you have to make a living, but family comes first over making money or trying to keep up with the Joneses. Kate offers extremely practical advice about teaching children the value of money, and also how to live within your means, such as buying only half the house you can afford so you have money for family vacations, to fund your children’s college education, and the other items that make life enjoyable.
Kate’s personal stories are at the heart of this inspiring book. She has learned things the hard way. Despite all Kate’s success, the reader feels she is more a friend with practical advice and some great experiences than some lofty guru. Kate describes herself at the end of her book better than I can:
By now, you have learned that I grew up in an tumultuous home with a broken relationship with my parents; I do not have a formal education; my finances were a disaster the majority of my life, and at the time my first child was born, I had zero parenting skills. I was not dealt a better hand of cards than you or anybody else.
One important factor that made me a fantastic parent and businesswoman has been my sheer determination to succeed and make it work. I refuse to raise my children in an unloving home. I refuse to dedicate more time to work than to my family. I refuse to allow society, peers or leaders to tell me differently…..I’m telling you—if I can turn my life around with the cards I was dealt, then you can, too.
Kate’s advice is both refreshing and full of common sense. She tells us what to do when we see a parent mistreating a child; she gives examples of how to teach our children about money as well as giving to others. She helps us learn how to work four hours a day and make sure our schedules allow time for our families. She takes on what’s wrong with American culture and how it relates to the family, and she gives simple solutions for how people can improve their individual situations. One of the book’s most fascinating points is Kate’s description of when she lived in Germany. Her husband is German, so she was able intimately to experience the German people’s lives, as well as have German visitors to her home in the U.S. She provides several comparisons between life in Germany and the United States that are eye-opening about American culture, including our relationships with food and our health care system.
As a parent and a former child, Kate also asks us to reconsider our education system. She grew up hating books—her learning skills did not fit the cookie-cutter shape of the school system, yet she went on to write her own book, besides becoming a top saleswoman for her employer, an award winning musician, and the lead actress in a feature film. Her point is that children have various talents and abilities, and we have to appreciate and provide a place for them. And yes, Kate really has all those accomplishments. You will have to read “The Million-Dollar Parent” to appreciate everything she’s accomplished in the short time since she was born in 1971.
Ultimately, two things stand out for me after reading this book. First and foremost, that family comes first, and Kate gives plenty of examples to make that clear and show you how to make your family your top priority. Secondly, never give up. By persistence, Kate has accomplished everything she has so far wanted, from finding a wonderful spouse to getting her band booked at the prestigious Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard. She also provides inspirational stories about others—like her co-worker, Connie, whose cancer kept her at home, but who still made top sales in her company—she sold to everyone who came to her house to deliver flowers or do work for her. Many more such stories are included in “The Million-Dollar Parent” of people with determination who have succeeded despite whatever obstacles life has given them—Kate even collects success stories of people who did what their gut told them.
Being a Million-Dollar Parent is only a few steps away if you follow the advice Kate Raidt provides in this book. Choose to be an unbelievably excellent parent, and choose to have all the success in life you want. You really can have your cake and eat it too! Let Kate show you how.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., and author of the award-winning “Narrow Lives”
