蜜桃影视

This is part of our Community Cultivator series, which highlights how innovators across all sectors build and sustain global communities from the ground up.

It was her father鈥檚 dinnertime prayer that confused her. 鈥淗e’d always say, 鈥楪od, thank you for making me the richest man on earth,鈥� she recalls. So when Kathy Ireland鈥檚 kindergarten teacher asked, 鈥淲hat does your father do?鈥� she was too embarrassed to answer鈥攆earing that her classmates would think she was looking down on them.

In truth, John Ireland was a Liverpool-born union organizer who worked alongside C茅sar Ch谩vez and Dolores Huerta for the rights of grape pickers in California. His wife, Barbara Ireland, had a housecleaning business and sold clothes that she sewed herself; eventually she became a nurse and founded a fundraising walk in honor of a friend who died of breast cancer.

When the kindergartener finally blurted out that her dad worked for labor unions, the news was greeted with a collective shrug. 鈥淚t was so boring,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淭hey didn’t get it.鈥�

Ireland went on to become a world-famous fashion model, gracing the covers of Vogue, Cosmopolitan and, most famously, Sports Illustrated, and she followed that act with an even more impressive executive encore. As CEO of kathy ireland Worldwide (kiWW)鈥攍isted as the 15th most powerful brand in the world by License Global, the highest ranking ever for a woman-owned company鈥攕he oversees an extensive array of products including fashion for women, men and children; intimate apparel; accessories; fine jewelry; weddings and resorts as well as publishing, film, television, music, artist and athlete management. Alongside these ventures, she is a consistent advocate for human rights and religious freedom, with philanthropic commitments including the war on sex trafficking, improved access to medical care, recovery from addiction for men, women and children, and honoring America’s brave military members and their families.

Married 33 years and a new grandmother, Ireland recently caught Early Learning Nation鈥檚 attention on social media because of her enthusiastic participation in the #ClearTheList campaign, helping teachers obtain school supplies. 鈥淲e’re sending thousands of products into schools,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ome of them are from our own collections; others we’re purchasing.鈥�

For Ireland, the campaign was an obvious way to express herself philanthropically. 鈥淭eaching, like nursing, is one of the most underappreciated life commitments anyone could possibly make,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey are already overworked. Why should they spend their own money on school supplies, when they need it for their own families?鈥� She credits singers Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.鈥攁 married couple who first got together while in the group the Fifth Dimension鈥攚ith bringing the campaign to her attention. (Ireland鈥檚 new label, EE1, put out their latest album, Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons, which hit No. 1 on the album charts)

Here are Ireland鈥檚 5 top tips for leaving the world a better place than how you found it.

1. Figure out what your gifts are. 鈥淚 encourage people to really figure out their strengths and to focus on what makes them thrive,鈥� she says. 鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 pulling your mask down to give a smile.鈥� Ireland celebrates acts of kindness that give children hope and encouragement. 鈥淲e can all do our part to remove fear.鈥�

When it comes to parenting, she says, 鈥淚 can’t think of anything harder or more important than raising children. Being a mom, being a dad, does not get the type of respect that it deserves because there鈥檚 no paycheck attached. I often think of the Loretta Lynn song, 鈥極ne’s On the Way.鈥欌��

2. Know your priorities. Nobody can do everything. Ireland notes that many parents today are caring for aging relatives, often on top of professional responsibilities. 鈥淚 was 40 before I learned that 鈥楴o,鈥� is a complete sentence,鈥� she admits. 鈥淢y personal priorities are my faith, my family and being of service through my work. When I don’t honor that, I’m a disaster, not effective. I’m not as well equipped to deal with whatever’s going to hit me throughout the day.鈥�

3. Get acquainted with the gift of rejection. 鈥淲hen I was four,鈥� Ireland recounts, 鈥渕y very first job was a combination of business and design that was a solid indicator of what my life鈥檚 work would be. I sold painted rocks with my sister, from my wagon, door to door.鈥� Not everybody bought a rock, even after she slashed prices. Later, she had a paper route and encountered more rejection. Despite her success in modeling, she also remembers all the magazine covers she didn鈥檛 get, but the sense stayed with her that she could still believe in herself and persist in spite of rejection.

4. Use your voice. This piece of advice was the hardest for Ireland herself鈥攕omeone whose former job description was, in her words, 鈥渟hut up and pose鈥濃�攖o follow. 鈥淚t took many years for me to come out of that shy and selfish shell,鈥� she admits. 鈥淣ow I recognize that there are needs and opportunities so much greater than me. If sharing what we’ve been through can benefit someone else鈥攐ur struggles or failures, successes, all of it鈥擨 recognize… I recognize that comfort is irrelevant. There’s a lot of work to be done.”

5. Stand up for the vulnerable. When kiWW launched 28 years ago, the first product off the assembly line was a pair of socks. Surprise factory inspections were always a part of the manufacturing process. 鈥淵ou can have a beautiful product,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut how does it come to market? Anybody can clean up if they know you’re coming. That commitment continues to this day,鈥� and it stems directly from her father鈥檚 devotion to workers鈥� rights. Ireland recalls him fighting to get outhouses placed in the field so farm workers could relieve themselves with dignity. He also campaigned to equip the workers with long hoes, which were easier on their backs, even though the owners wanted them to work with short hoes, which supposedly helped the profit margins.

Ireland wasn鈥檛 born wealthy, but her entrepreneurial instincts have served her well over the years, and she is now the name that other models regularly invoke when they envision their post-fashion careers. She never forgets her father鈥檚 insistence on appreciating what they had. 鈥淲e used to take trips across the border, and Dad would always point out the housing conditions of the people who lived there, houses literally made out of cardboard,鈥� she says.

If her father鈥檚 example of gratitude has stayed with her, it鈥檚 her granddaughter, Daisy, who helps her stay grounded today. 鈥淣o matter what’s going on in your day,鈥� Ireland says, 鈥渨hen you look in Daisy’s eyes and she gives you that big smile, it’s like, 鈥榃hat? What was I bothered by?鈥欌��

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 蜜桃影视. Learn more here.