The summer is a good time to take stock of how your kids are faring. Are they doing something that excites them? Do they wake up every morning eager to get going? Are they happy? 

I did not ask about their grades, because if you answered “yes” to those questions, their GPA truly doesn’t matter. It matters if they are thriving. 

For my book “Raising an Entrepreneur,” I interviewed 70 parents who raised highly successful adults about how they helped their kids achieve their dreams. It was a diverse group, and the cohort included people of different races, religions, incomes, family structures and educational backgrounds.

While many of these young people were not great students, all of them excelled because they found interests and communities that lit a fire in them.

Here are the four things that the parents of the most successful people always did when their kids were young: 

Every successful adult I spoke to had a passion growing up. With the exception of the artists, who maintained their practice into adulthood, many of these leaders pursued careers that have nothing to do with what they loved as kids. 

So why was it so important that the parents encouraged whatever passion their children had?

Since the activity was something they chose for themselves, they were excited to work hard at it. They learned grit and perseverance and became quite skilled. These experiences taught them to believe in their ability to succeed when they put their all into something.

Although many of the parents didn’t understand their kid’s passion, they supported them, because they saw the joy their child got from it. The most successful adults grew up knowing that their parents would always be there for them, no matter what they tackled.

The most successful entrepreneurs I profiled in my book are risk takers. 

In my research, I found that the people who are most willing to take risks are the people who weren’t punished for, or taught to fear, failure when they were young. This approach reminds me of a Billie Jean King quote I love: “We don’t call it failure, we call it feedback.”

Their parents always taught them that while it’s good to compete, to fight to succeed, and to win, it’s also good to lose. Setbacks are a chance to learn, grow and develop a sense of resilience.

The parents I interviewed always cheered on their children’s efforts, rather than only focusing on their achievements. 

Children who are invited to be curious learn that if they keep exploring, they will figure out a way to improve, or expand, or reinvent something they love and know a lot about. 

The future entrepreneurs in my book were taught by their parents to ask, “Does it have to be this way? How can I make it better?” These questions are often how the most successful companies get started. 

Many parents told me that they didn’t want their kids to be satisfied with something “because that is the way it is.” 

As their children grew more capable, the parents also resisted the temptation to do or fix things for them. Instead, they give their kids the tools to solve problems themselves.

Most of the entrepreneurs in my book were taught early on to empathize with others, and they grew up wanting to solve the concerns and problems of the people around them and in their communities. 

They were raised with a genuine desire to improve people’s lives. Their parents never told them that the goal was to make the most money, although that was often the result. 

This sense of compassion is what led them to want to create that piece of art, or product, or service that could bring people a sense of ease and joy. In turn, that foundation helped them build successful careers and lives. 

Margot Machol Bisnow is a writer, wife, and mom from Washington, DC. She spent 20 years in government, including as an FTC Commissioner and Chief of Staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and is the author of “Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dream.” Follow her on Instagram @margotbisnow.

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Nahjae Olin was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City. She and five of her siblings grew up in a one-bedroom apartment just one block away from the place she now calls home.

In 2019, the 26-year-old preschool teacher had just moved back in with her family after graduating from college. By the end of that year, Olin tells CNBC Make It she had started planning to find her own apartment.

“I was back from school in 2019, and towards the end of the year, I was going through a rough time with my mom and knew I needed to move out,” Olin tells CNBC Make It.

After searching online for apartments and seeing how expensive it would be to live alone or even with a roommate, she decided to apply to the city’s housing lottery. She submitted her first of many applications in 2020. By the time she finally heard back in 2022, she had submitted over 100 applications.

The New York City housing lottery program helps residents find affordable housing, including rent-stabilized apartments. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development defines affordable housing as housing costs no greater than 30 percent of a single person’s or family’s income. 

“Housing lottery is the way that the city of New York makes affordable apartments that we finance and we regulate available to income-qualified New Yorkers,” Emily Osgood, associate commissioner of housing opportunity and placement services, tells CNBC Make It. “There are so many more people that need housing than we have apartments, so the fairest way to give people a chance is through a lottery process.”

Per the city’s rent stabilization system, there is a legal limit to how much rent one can be charged in a year. NYC’s Rent Guidelines Board determines the rate at which rent in a rent-stabilized apartment can increase lease-to-lease.

“It’s important to know that the way New York City funds affordable housing, it can be affordable to people at different income levels,” Osgood says.

The income requirement is determined by the area’s median income (AMI), unit size, household size, and annual household income.

The average ratio for HPD’s housing lottery is 50 applications for each available unit.

“It may not happen the first time, but you’ve got to stick with it. It’s not an overnight sensation. The timeline is probably going to be long, but hang in there,” Osgood says.

Osgood also says it’s important to remember that after the lotteries close, paper applications are added to the system, and everything is randomized and sorted into batches. Each applicant is assigned a log number, which can be viewed in their Housing Connect profile.

“The lower the log number, the better. The closer you are to coming up soon in one of those batches,” she says.

To speed up the process, Osgood also suggests keeping the Housing Connect profile up to date and having certain documents on hand, such as pay stubs and copies of I.D.s for everyone in the household.

When thinking about moving out on her own, Olin tells CNBC Make It she knew she wanted to stay in the Bronx because it’s where her whole life is.

Over the years, Olin heard back from several housing lottery properties in Brooklyn but kept holding out hope for an apartment in her home borough.

Her persistence paid off in 2022 when she got an email advising that she’d been added to the waitlist for a one-bedroom apartment in a building in the Williamsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx.

Olin assumed she’d land in a studio “because I thought there was no way I could afford a one-bedroom apartment on my own,” she says. “As soon as I went to view it, I fell in love with it and wanted it. I could see myself living there and was absolutely obsessed.”

In May 2023, Olin signed a two-year lease on a one-bedroom apartment for $881 a month. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx is $2,230, according to Apartment’s List.

Olin’s building offers access to amenities like a laundry room, gym, and free Wi-Fi.

To qualify for this lottery, Olin’s yearly income had to be between $33,086 and $46,700, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. When she was selected, Olin had to submit proof of income, which included bank statements, invoices, and tax forms.

Olin says getting her keys and moving in is a moment she’ll never forget. “It felt like a full circle moment. To live down the block from the apartment I grew up in is great.”

She plays hostess to her siblings and her mom who cried the first time she saw the apartment and told Olin how proud she was.

“My family never wants to leave now. My mom gets to see that I’m not struggling or scraping by to pay for my rent like so many people,” Olin says. “She knew how stressful it was for me to move out and find somewhere to live at my age and with my income. It just felt impossible, and she was super proud, and it made me even more proud of myself.”

Olin has been living in her apartment for over a year and doesn’t plan to move out anytime soon.

“It’s so hard to see myself leaving…I feel like it’s mine right now, and I’m not at a place where I want to leave just yet, but I do know that if I never do, I will be so sad,” Olin says. “It feels like this was my first big girl responsibility and something I had to do for the first time by myself.”

For those looking to follow in Olin’s footsteps, it’s important to know that you don’t need to be a New York City resident to participate in the New York City housing lottery. Still, Osgood says those who already live in NYC are contacted first, no matter the log number.

You also don’t have to be a U.S. citizen or have a particular immigration status to quality, Osgood added.

“But if everyone in your household isn’t able to show documentation of income or provide any information about your rent history, you’ll get to a point in the process where it’s just hard to prove that you, in fact, qualify,” she says. “It can be challenging, but there’s no prohibition if you’re able to show that you’re eligible; we want you housed and want you to have that opportunity.”

Nkenge, who was born in the Bronx but raised in Harlem, also started her housing lottery journey in 2020. When she was selected for a one-bedroom apartment in 2023, she had submitted over 120 applications.

Nkenge, who requested to only be identified by her first name for privacy concerns, tells CNBC Make It she started applying to the lottery because she was paying around $1,900 for a small one-bedroom apartment in Harlem, but wanted to reduce her rent costs to around $1,000 a month.

“I really want to save for a place, something that I can call my own and actually own,” Nkenge says. “I had a budget and I wanted to stick to that. That’s when the lottery ended up coming in right at the nick of time.”

Nkenge’s yearly income had to be between $36,798 and $59,340 to qualify for the lottery. While waiting for final approvals, Nkenge was shown three apartments — two in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan.

“I first walked into those apartments; they were definitely out of this world. They felt like a hotel,” Nkenge says. “I was greeted by a concierge and it just felt so elevated.”

Nkenge chose a one-bedroom apartment in the building in Manhattan. Her unit comes with a washer and dryer and the building has shared amenities that include a gym, game room, and rooftop.

The market rate for one-bedroom apartments in Nkenge’s building starts at $5,903 a month, according to StreetEasy.

“Living in an affordable home has not only made my life easier and less stressful, but it has also allowed me to have more access to things,” Nkenge said. “It has allowed me to save not only for owning a home but also even retirement, life insurance. That’s never something that I’ve had in the past, but now I’m able to afford that as well.”

Nkenge’s two-year lease guarantees her a rent of $997 a month, which includes a $85 utility allowance.

If she renews her lease in May 2025, Nkenge’s rent will increase by 5%, the current increase percentage rate allowed for rent-stabilized units in New York City.

An estimated 27,261,057 NYC residents applied for the city’s housing lottery between 1/1/2014 and 6/30/2020, according to the Department of HPD’s NYC Local Law 217 of 2019 report.

Nkenge believes even more people should have access to the program, especially people who look like her.

“A lot of the times when you’re not given the opportunity to be in certain spaces, it’s kind of hard to get in there to begin with. It’s about who you know, which,” she says. “Unfortunately, I come from a space where I didn’t really know a lot of people.”

Nkenge has been living in her apartment for a year and is taking advantage of her low rent by saving to buy a home, which she hopes to do in the next five years.

“You’re able to enjoy life better, have a better quality of life and are able to do the things that you love and accomplish the things that you want to accomplish,” she says.

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Working for the rest of your life may sound unappealing but many 100-year-olds around the globe say doing what they love and not retiring is what keeps them feeling youthful and fulfilled.

In a popular book about longevity, “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life,” the principle of ikigai is credited as one of keys to longevity and well-being. Ikigai means the happiness of always being busy.

One of the rules of ikigai is to stay active and not retire, and many centenarians, especially those living in the world’s blue zones, never do.

We spoke to several centenarians over the past year and a half about what behaviors and traits they believe helped them to live a long and happy life. Here’s why they say finding meaningful work and not retiring played a major role.

Virginia Oliver, 104, has been catching lobsters since she was eight years old, and she really enjoys it. So much so that the centenarian signed up for lobster-catching season this year.

Oliver’s secret to living beyond age 100 boils down to: “You’ve gotta keep living, you gotta keep working. It’s not easy,” she said in a mini-documentary about her life.

When asked about her future plans for lobstering by TODAY.com, Oliver said, “I’m not going to retire,” adding, “I’m going to do this till I die.”

Deborah Szekely, a 102-year-old, started her fitness resort and spa alongside her then-husband in 1940. More than eight decades later, Szekely still works at her business three times a week.

“We have fabulous speakers every night. I meet with the presenters [every] Tuesday, so I know what my guests are talking about,” she told CNBC Make It in May.

“Wednesday, I speak. And Thursday, I meet individuals who I want to know, or friends. So I work three days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.”

Every week that she shows up at her spa, Szekely said, “it makes a change.”

“When nature says, ‘You got to stop Deborah.’ Deborah will stop, until then she’ll keep going,” she added.

Madeline Paldo was a recent retiree at age 100 when she spoke to Make It in September of 2023. Paldo worked between the ages of 18 and 99.

Working “kept me busy, and I enjoyed working,” she said. “Retirement, I don’t like too much.”

Paldo supported her family’s business based in Chicago where they produced electric signs, and she was responsible for office work which allowed her to interact with customers daily.

“I liked being with the public. I liked being with people,” she told CNBC Make It. “And I was the only one in the office that did all of the office work for our business, so it was enjoyable. I liked to go to work.”

Jayne Burns, who was turning 101 in the month following her interview with CNBC Make It in 2023, still worked four days a week as a part-time fabric cutter at a crafts store.

“I enjoy what I do, so I want to keep doing it,” Burns told Make It. “I’ll work for as long as I can or as long as they’ll have me.”

She tried to retire several times over the years but would “unretire” within a few months, she said. Working at jobs that she enjoyed gave her a daily routine which she values and allowed her to interact with new people.

“Staying busy keeps you from focusing on your aches and pains,” she said. “It makes it easier to keep going.”

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When Kema Ward-Hopper uprooted her family — and career — to relocate from the U.S. to Costa Rica six years ago, she wasn’t sure what to expect.

She and her husband Nicholas quit their corporate jobs as a research analyst and mortgage broker, respectively, in Houston, Texas, to pursue new careers as entrepreneurs abroad. 

The couple signed a one-year lease on a house in the middle of the jungle on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula with their daughter Aaralyn not knowing “a single person who lived there” and “how long we’d be able to find work for,” Ward-Hopper, 42, recalls. 

But, she adds, the risk has paid off: Even though she had to leave a career she loved in the U.S., and is earning less than she did while working there, Ward-Hopper says she is “a lot happier” living and working in Costa Rica than she was in the U.S. 

Ward-Hopper now balances four part-time jobs: She’s a health and fitness coach, a Spanish teacher, a host for wellness retreats and, most recently, an author. She self-published her first book, “For my Beloveds: An End-of-life Journal for Guidance & Wisdom,” in September 2023.

“I work 25 hours a week now,” she says. “A heavy week is about 30 hours a week, but that is rare and happens about once a month.”

Last year, Ward-Hopper’s different income streams earned her about $10,500, according to financial documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. 

Meanwhile, her husband Nicholas, 43, runs his own remote logistics business, earning him about $19,500 in 2023.

“Living here has allowed me to explore my passions so that my methods of earning income don’t feel like a job, it just feels like I’m getting to do the things that I love to do, which is to be of service to others,” Ward-Hopper says. “We make less money, but we’re still living pretty comfortably … our money definitely goes further here than in the U.S.” 

Last year, the Ward-Hoppers moved to a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house in Nicoya. Their biggest expense is rent and utilities, which totals about $628 per month.

In addition to the lower cost of living, Ward-Hopper says she’s found a “more fulfilling, less stressful” career in Costa Rica than in the U.S. because of the country’s relaxed, “family-first” work culture. 

“It’s common to see children in businesses where their parents work, if they’re off from school and don’t have another child care provider, and bosses aren’t so rigid that if you need to take time off from work or step away for a minute if your child is sick or needs something, you’re going to get in trouble,” she says. “As a working parent with young children, that cuts out a lot of stress.”

Ward-Hopper’s son, Nico, was born in Costa Rica in 2020. 

Costa Ricans also value a healthy work-life balance, she adds. The country has a shorter workweek than many other nations, allowing ample time for hobbies, rest and spending quality time with loved ones. 

Many businesses in her neighborhood don’t open until 9 a.m. or later. “You can’t visit a coffee shop and get your morning latte at 7 a.m. like you’re able to do in the U.S.,” she says. “A lot of places are closed on Sundays, too, and holidays, which I’d think helps their employees not burn out.”

Costa Rica is one of the happiest countries in the world, ranking 12th on the World Happiness Report’s 2024 list. 

The Nicoya Peninsula, where the Ward-Hoppers live, is one of the five original Blue Zones. Blue Zones are regions in the world with some of the longest-living people and highest life expectancies, according to longevity researcher Dan Buettner.

Some of the factors that make Nicoya a Blue Zone, Buettner discovered, are the Nicoyans’ diet, which includes fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains as well as their focus on family and community.

Ward-Hopper would add the Costa Ricans’ attitude toward work to that list. “Work is a lesser part of conversations and how people identify themselves here than in the U.S.,” she says. “That mindset makes it easier to have a fuller, more joyful life outside of what happens at our jobs, which is so often out of our control.”

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This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.

After graduating from Syracuse University in 2017 and spending three years working corporate jobs in both advertising and marketing in New York City, Vienna Hintze wanted a change.

In 2020, the then 24-year-old struck out on her own and created her own digital marketing agency. In September 2022, she moved to Los Angeles while running her agency from her apartment, but still found herself longing for something more.

“I was kind of losing the why behind what I was doing,” she tells CNBC Make It. “I had moved out to L.A. and something just wasn’t working anymore. I had changed everything about my life except my agency.”

That restless feeling led to a talk with her therapist, who advised her to create a list of what she wanted from her ideal job. Hintze listed out that she wanted to work with her hands, be outside interacting with people and that she’d love to own an old pickup truck.

About a week later, she came up with the idea to start her own flower truck business, Main Street Flower Truck.

Since launching in August 2023, the business has brought in around $44,000 in revenue, plus an additional $4,500 in cash, Hintze estimates.

In May 2024, the now 29-year-old’s business brought in around $16,000 that month alone.

“If you’re living with your happiness, the money will follow,” she says.

Hintze grew up in Long Island, New York, and her father used to commute to his job as a firefighter in a pickup truck. Her mom held many different jobs but her love of gardening was a mainstay, Hintze says. So both the vehicle and the bouquets were familiar to her.

“Growing up, she had the entire backyard blossoming and blooming constantly,” Hintze says. “And some of my favorite memories with my dad was driving around in his little pickup truck.”

She decided to name her company after the street where she grew up, Main Street. But before she could move forward, she needed to obtain a key element: the vehicle.

Since she was still running her digital marketing agency full-time, she had only looked at, and taken test drives in, a few potential trucks. Eventually, by accident, she stumbled upon the perfect one.

When her parents came to visit her and her sister in Los Angeles last May, they decided to drive to Ojai, a small town in Ventura County about two hours outside of the city. While cruising along a back road, she spotted a bright green pickup truck with a for-sale sign in the window that looked similar to the one she drove while in high school.

“This felt very meant to be,” she says.

After the family pulled over to inspect the truck, Hintze wrote down the number on the for-sale sign. She called the owner that same day to ask if she could take it for a test drive. The seller agreed and told her that she had just replaced the engine and the transmission.

“I put my hands on the hood of the truck and just had this thought to the universe saying, ‘Please, if this is meant to be, please give me a sign.’”

The universe delivered: The owner told Hintze that the truck’s name is “Fiona.”

“My name is Vienna and every time I have introduced myself to someone in L.A., only in L.A., they’ve all asked me if I just said ‘Fiona’,” she says. “So that was my sign that, absolutely, I need to buy this truck.”

Two weeks later, she purchased Fiona for around $10,000 using money from her personal savings. Although she felt nervous about whether the flower truck would be successful, she was confident in her ability to run her own business.

“As scary as it was to pull the trigger on the flower truck, I already knew that I was the type of person to be all or nothing on whatever I do,” she says. “I was going to be 100% dedicated to it, and anything it takes to make it work I was going to definitely do.”

In August, Hintze began selling flowers from her pickup truck on the side while running her digital marketing agency. But as business began to pick up for her flower truck, clocking in for her marketing job got harder.

“It was like pulling teeth to get me to log in every day,” she says.

She knew she had a decision to make: Should she focus on running the flower truck full time, or her marketing agency? By February, she made the choice to pour all of her time and energy into growing her flower truck business.

Hintze decided to put her advertising and social media marketing skills to work for her own brand, and saw the results of her efforts pay off a few months later in April.

“I had some content start to go viral which felt incredible because, for the first time, I was marketing my own brand and it was the most authentic thing I had ever done,” she says.

That’s not to say Hintze hasn’t faced unexpected challenges. Since she spends thousands purchasing flowers, she used trial and error to figure out how much she should charge in order for her business to be profitable, for example.

″[At] the very first pop-up, I was selling huge bouquets for $7 and lot of that was just to prove to myself people will buy these bouquets, keep going,” she says. “I definitely lost money that day, but that’s OK.”

Her flower truck business brings in money in three ways, Hintze says: through pop-up events, corporate bookings and video shoots.

At pop-up events, she drives her truck full of freshly picked flowers that she’s arranged into bouquets to various locations around Los Angeles. She sells them for anywhere between $10 for a mini bouquet to up to $75 for larger custom arrangements made right on the spot.

“It’s always really fun to hear about whoever’s receiving the bouquet because then I customize it based on what they might like and their personality,” she says.

In between pop-ups, she books corporate events, parties and weddings. So far, she’s worked with a number of companies, including Lululemon, Free People and Universal Music Group.

For these events, the company or person can choose to rent the truck without flowers; rent the truck with flowers that can be sold to attendees; or rent the truck and pay for the flowers up-front to be given out to attendees for free. For these events, she charges based on how long they’re booking the truck and how many flowers they’d like to purchase.

Since flowers are seasonal, she earns more money in some months than others. Sales tend to fluctuate around holidays like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, she says.

In general, Hintze aims to book at least three events each month, which she says generates enough money to cover her living expenses. However, she tries to keep her personal expenses low so that she doesn’t outspend her earnings.

In May, however, Hintze had the most bookings since she began her flower truck business. She booked 10 events and brought in a little over $16,000 in revenue.

“I’m hoping to keep that momentum up for the rest of the year,” she says.

Here’s a look at the Main Street Flower Truck’s expenses for May 2024:

Hintze’s largest expense is flowers, which totaled about $2,304 in May.

Before a pop-up or other type of event, she swings by her local flower district to choose which flowers looks the freshest and brightest, she says.

“I always gravitate toward wild flowers and things that look very whimsical and fairy-like,” she says. “I think it makes it the most fun-looking setup for the truck.”

She then brings those home and begins prepping them for sale by removing leaves, thorns and cutting stems. Finally, she arranges the flowers into bouquets and places them into various vessels, such as antique milk jugs and vintage buckets.

Her other expenses come from gas and maintaining her pickup truck. While the truck hasn’t needed any expensive repairs since she bought it, occasionally, she’s had to learn how to fix mechanical issues on the fly.

“One of the biggest issues having an older truck is the amount that it breaks down and having to randomly jump start it the morning of a pop-up when you’re set to be there at a certain time,” she says.

Moving forward, Hintze plans on continuing to grow Main Street Flower Truck and help companies and individuals bring their floral dreams to life. But she isn’t thinking about expanding her one-woman business yet.

“People ask me a lot if I’m going to franchise the truck and have a fleet of flower trucks, and I don’t see that being the plan for maybe ever, but definitely for a while,” she says. “My goal is to have the flower truck be as successful as it can as its own standalone, and see how far that can go.”

She hopes that the truck can be featured in TV shows or movies one day. “In the future, I’m hoping that Fiona will have her red carpet moment,” she says.

Hintze plans to continue to enjoying the freedom and work-life balance she’s gained by starting Main Street Flower Truck.

“I’m excited to keep exploring the creativity that I have that was pushed away for so long and really develop a routine out here that keeps my peace of mind at the forefront,” she says.

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