The Legacy of "Always Try": How My Father’s Silence Taught Me Success
How My Father's Simple Words Became the Foundation of My Business Success
In business, the most useful advice is often the simplest. For me, it came from my father in just a few words: "Don't say can't" and "always try." That quiet directive, paired with his steady belief in me, became the foundation for building and sustaining a publishing business through decades of industry change.
If you had asked me when I first started building a publishing and journalism business who inspired my career, I likely wouldn't have named my father. We had become somewhat estranged during my teenage years. Then, like many young adults eager to build their own path, I moved out, married, and moved on, putting distance between my ambition and my roots.
During those years, my father's world grew silent. He had been a decorated World War II officer, a diplomat, and later the security officer in charge of presidential visits for the Corps of Engineers when I was young. But as I moved on to build my own career, his world grew inward. He retired, lost much of his hearing, turned increasingly to alcohol, and eventually slipped into the fog of Alzheimer's disease. By the time I stepped back in to try to help him several years later, the opportunity for a deep, two-way conversation had passed.
Yet when I was recently interviewed about my career and asked about my greatest influences by Influential Women, his memory was the first thing that came to mind. The best business advice I ever received came directly from him: "Don't say can't, and always try."
Long before I entered the corporate world, my father was laying the groundwork for my success. But his silent faith in me meant even more than his words.
Growing up in abject rural poverty, he pushed past every obstacle to build a career for himself. He was the one who encouraged my writing, teaching me the basics of drafting press releases and pitching articles to publications. He gave me the tactical tools to be heard and the education to succeed, but more importantly, he believed in me and instilled the mindset required to survive in business: persistence, integrity, and absolute resilience.
Work hard. Find a solution. Keep going.
That philosophy has guided every professional and personal milestone I've achieved and carried me through decades of industry upheaval.
For a long time, I carried the weight of the years we lost. But regret is only useful if it drives action. Today, I am honoring his legacy the best way I know how-by writing a book about his life. I am taking the very skills he taught me and using them to tell the story of the man who refused to give up and instilled in me the motivation to keep going.
We don't always realize the impact of our foundations while we are standing on them. My father's life wasn't perfect, but his belief in me was absolute. In business and in life, learning to believe in myself, to try, and to never give up was the greatest gift he ever gave me.
The best business lessons are not always delivered in boardrooms or books. Sometimes they arrive early, simply, and without fanfare. My father's insistence on trying-and his absolute belief that I could-taught me the mindset that still guides every professional decision I make.
In business, as in life, the willingness to keep going remains one of the most practical advantages you can have.
About the Author
Kathryn Darden is the owner and publisher of Christian Activities, an online magazine she founded in 1988 as a local print handout and transitioned online in 1995. A prolific writer whose work spans local, national, and international print and digital outlets-including Yahoo, literary journals, and recent features in The Baptist & Reflector and Good News Lebanon-she focuses on stories of faith, arts, and culture.
A 2026 honoree of both Marquis Who's Who in America and Influential Women, Kathryn continues to advocate for substantive, purpose-driven media.
