For millions of viewers, Dylan Dreyer is a steady and familiar presence on their television screens — a beloved Today meteorologist, a bestselling children’s author, and a mom who shares the sweet (and often chaotic) realities of raising three boys. But long before she became a household name, Dylan was a young graduate chasing a dream that felt just far enough out of reach… until one person helped push that dream into reality: her mom, Linda.

During a heartfelt Today segment celebrating the women who helped shape their lives, Dylan looked back on the moment she still calls the beginning of everything — a last-minute phone call, a long car ride, and a mother who refused to let anything stand in her child’s way.

“I’ll never forget when I got the call from Erie, Pennsylvania,” Dylan recalled, smiling as the memory surfaced. “They wanted me to come in for an interview. It was an eight-hour drive, and my mom said, ‘We’ll go.’ She got behind the wheel, and that was it. My first job in television. I wouldn’t have gotten it if it weren’t for her giving me that ride.”

That simple, decisive “yes” changed Dylan’s life — but Linda’s influence didn’t stop at transportation.

Growing up, Dylan says her mother rarely ruled with an iron fist. Instead, Linda believed in making her children responsible for their own decisions. She gave them freedom — sometimes more than they expected.

“When I was in high school, I asked if it was OK to sneak out of the house,” Dylan admitted with a laugh. “Mom didn’t say ‘Absolutely not!’ She just let us make our own choices.”

There was a risk in that freedom, of course. Mistakes could — and did — happen. But lessons learned through experience have always stuck more deeply than those enforced through fear. It’s a philosophy Dylan has carried forward into her own home today.

Now a mom to three — Calvin, 5; Oliver, 2; and baby Rusty — Dylan says she tries to replicate the same balance of safety and independence.

“I’m letting them explore. Letting them take risks,” she shared. She wants her boys to be brave, curious, and resilient — qualities she learned directly from Linda.

Dylan wasn’t the only one reflecting on family during the special Mother’s Day segment. Her fellow co-host Sheinelle Jones took a moment to honor her own mom — a woman she calls a “petite powerhouse.”

Sheinelle’s mother, Sheila Kinnard, raised her daughter as a single parent for years, carrying the weight of every responsibility without compromising joy along the way.

“She’d look at me and say, ‘It’s just us. We have to be tough, kiddo,’” Sheinelle said. “Times weren’t always easy. But as a kid? I didn’t remember any drama. I just remember love.”

Her voice softened, filled with gratitude: “She was resilient — and she taught me to be resilient, too.”

Together, Dylan and Sheinelle reminded viewers that behind every strong woman, every devoted parent, every successful professional, there is almost always another strong woman cheering the loudest from behind the scenes.

Even at ages 5, 2, and under 1, Dylan’s sons are starting to shape their own independence — sometimes in surprising ways. Whether it’s climbing something a little too high or racing ahead at the playground, they’re learning to test their boundaries. And Dylan is learning when to step back.

She still hears her mother in her ear: Let them try. Let them learn. They’ll be OK.

It’s a parenting approach that takes patience — and courage — especially with three energetic boys. But seeing their confidence grow makes every nerve-wracking moment worth it.

“I want them to feel capable, loved, and secure,” she said.

And she knows firsthand that a little independence can change everything.

That long-ago drive to Erie wasn’t just a ride. It was the moment a young woman realized someone believed in her dream just as strongly as she did. It was a mother quietly saying: Go ahead. I know you can.

Today, Dylan stands where she once only hoped she might someday be — in front of the camera, with a career she loves and a family she treasures. But she hasn’t forgotten the person who helped put it all in motion.

“She’s always been my biggest supporter,” Dylan said of her mom. “I wouldn’t be here without her.”

From the newsroom to the nursery, from weather maps to bedtime stories, that support lives on — now passed from one generation to the next.

Every achievement tells two stories: the one about the person in the spotlight… and the one about the hero who helped them get there.

For Dylan Dreyer, both stories are full of love, trust, and a mom who helped drive her forward — literally and figuratively — toward the life she was meant to live.