This year, we celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday, June 21. To honor this special day, we’re featuring a few Bill.com employees and the important lessons they’ve learned from their father over the years.
We hope you will enjoy reading these heartwarming and inspiring stories.
“My father never raised his voice or screamed at me. He taught me patience, acceptance and unconditional love that I can carry and give as an inheritance for generations to come. He didn’t teach me patience and acceptance in words but he taught these values by being himself. Dedicated to all ‘Hero fathers’ out there for being who they are.” - Divya Venkata Subramaniam, Staff QA
“My father is the true definition of ‘grit’. He's a firm believer in fall seven times, get up eight. He models true resilience and taught me that success rarely happens on the first try. Of all the lessons I've learned from my father, the most important lesson I’ve learned is that barriers and boundaries serve as a great testament to your perseverance. You can't be afraid of them but rather take them head on to see what you're really made of.” - Jennifer Payne, Sales Enablement Manager
“The biggest lesson I learned from my father is that there are reasons and there are results. You get to choose one.” - Rahul Conda, Director of Partnerships
“When I was about 12 years old, there was a day when I was not feeling ‘great’ and I was also feeling a bit lazy. I made a decision to stay home from school that day, rationalizing that I was too sick for school. As I cozied up under a blanket on the couch, turning on an episode of “Hogan’s Heroes” (it was the 70’s), my father stepped into the living room to check on me before he left for work. He knew I wasn’t that sick and was just taking advantage of a few symptoms. Instead of getting upset, saying something judgemental or just leaving me be, he simply said ‘You know Randy, sometimes we just need to do things that we don’t want to do.’ With that, he went on his way to work.
Now, I can’t actually remember if I got off the couch and went into school that day. However, that line from my father has never left me. As I have gotten older and worked my way through different stages of life, I have thought about it often. It has helped me to stop making excuses and do things. Not always, but on many occasions. I think about it more and more as the world changes around me and it is a constant reminder that I need to do the things I don’t want to do, things that make me uncomfortable. I hope that I can model this behavior for my family and those around me. I will definitely keep trying, even if I have to miss another Hogan’s Heroes.” - Randy Von Feldt, VP of Strategic Partnerships
“Where do I even start about my Dad? I always describe him as an ‘ologist’ and an ‘ographer’. He taught at a community college for about 47 years. He taught geography, geology, oceanography and dabbled in meteorology. He practiced photography. He was a pilot, a bicyclist, a runner and always an adventurer. On family camping trips we would always learn about rocks, earthquake faults, clouds and other science stuff. I can talk at length about stratus, cirrus, cumulonimbus clouds, subduction zones, liquefaction, strike-slip faults, schist rocks, metamorphic rocks, sandstone, limestone and rocks galore. I have a concept of maps and know how to use and read them. He taught me to drive a manual transmission car. I can sort of fly an airplane once it’s in the air. I have a sense of adventure—all thanks to my father. He’s a little crazy, a little zany, super funny and when he wants to make a point, he whispers (so you have to lean in to hear him).
Here’s what I’ve learned from him over the years: safety first, do first and ask later, experiment safely, look at things around you, you’ll never know unless you try or ask, life is hard, know where you are, secure furniture to your walls, duct tape can fix almost anything, strawberry milk shakes are the best, always have jumper cables and know how to use them, track your car’s mileage, have lots of flashlights and batteries, love, laugh, and have fun.” - Jennifer Zimmerman, Employee Engagement and Development Manager