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Growing up I wasn’t allowed to watch many television shows, so my memories of  The Mary Tyler Moore show have stuck with me. Upon hearing about her passing I took a minute to reflect on what I learned from Mary Tyler Moore. I realized that she shaped my young vision of success as a woman.

Would I be a woman entrepreneur without the Mary Tyler Moore show? Probably. Would it have been harder to buck stereotypes if she hadn’t provided a blueprint for a successful career woman? Maybe. So, thank you Mary Tyler Moore for being such a good example and influence. I believe there are many successful business women and women entrepreneurs today that are a legacy from the role you chose to play.

The Mary Tyler Moore show was unorthodox in its time because the main character was a single woman. Not a wife, not a mom, a single career woman. Children view television as “real life,” and to that effect I assumed it was normal to be a woman living in the city with an exciting job. I thought it was incredibly cool that Mary’s apartment was so tiny that her living room couch pulled out into her bed! Growing up in small town Pennsylvania one of my life goals was to live in a loft in New York. Now I wonder how much of that dream came from the Mary Tyler Moore show.

I would like to thank Mary Tyler Moore for establishing the norm that a woman didn’t need a man to be happy. While I am very happily married, I never worried about men, nor did I need one to feel complete. I was excited to have a killer career, travel, and enjoy city life. If you remember the ending of the Mary Tyler Moore Show intro song it was “You’re going to make it on your own!” I absolutely made it on my own and surround myself with other women entrepreneurs who created their own success.