Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Michelle Wingshan Kwan (follow her on Twitter) is my next pick for a famous and influential Chinese-Americans.

Michelle Kwan won national and international championships as well as Olympic medals.

Famous Chinese Americans

She started winning at the junior level!

Michelle and her older sister, Karen, started skating seriously when she was just 8-years old. She has an older brother, too … who played hockey.

Now this is the crazy part. She woke up every morning at 4:30!!! So, they could get to the ice rink by 5:00 am to start practicing BEFORE school. They went back again AFTER school. This sounds like the swim schedule of my brother, Micah. But he was in high school, NOT in the 3rd grade.

Michelle’s parents were immigrants from Hong Kong. They spoke English an Cantonese at home. A big problem was her parents couldn’t afford to pay for time at the ice rink for Michelle to practice and she almost quit at 10.

Another member paid for the training time so Michelle could continue. Good decision! And big help.

Imagine what we would have missed had this person not helped. And imagine what we might be missing now because other would-be Michelles aren’t able to continue for a similar reason.

Not only is Michelle a hero, her parents are heroes, too. They took her to practice day in and day out. But not only are her parents heroes, so is that friend who stepped in to help out at the right time.

Inspiration all around.

Need more inspiration?. Learn about Perry Chen Chinese-American.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.