24-05-2025
Son Surprises Parents with Generous Gift to Relieve Their 'Financial Burden' in a Huge Way (Exclusive)
Sho Dewan paid off his parents' mortgage to honor their sacrifices
Social media helped grow his company, providing the financial stability for his gesture
His parents' unwavering support inspired him to pursue a career coaching business, WorkhapIn a heartwarming gesture, one son surprised his parents by paying off the remaining mortgage on his childhood home in Southern California.
Sho Dewan's parents immigrated from Bangladesh when he was just 5 years old and worked tirelessly to provide for their family. They always supported his dreams and allowed him to follow his own path.
Inspired by his father's advice to let his interests and strengths guide him, the 33-year-old turned his natural talent for job hunting and career coaching into a successful business. With Workhap in a strong position, Dewan was able to give back to the parents who sacrificed so much to raise him and his sister.
'My dad worked at KFC. He fried chicken, he mopped floors at 7/11,' Dewan tells PEOPLE exclusively. 'My mom worked at a casino her whole career… because those were, like, the first jobs you can get.'
Before immigrating, Dewan's father was a mechanical engineer, and his mother was a teacher. However, after leaving Bangladesh, the couple had a tough time rebuilding their lives in America.
'They were doing anything - just to put food on the table and then save up,' he explains. 'So that was definitely a big factor in me doing this. I just want them to relax now, because I know the first few years of us being in the U.S., they couldn't.'
With time, Dewan's father eventually went back to school, got a solid state job, and worked at the post office and a hospital. Now retired with a good pension, his parents live comfortably, but their grind during those first two decades was undeniable.
'It was just kind of always a dream of mine,' Dewan says of paying off his parents' house. 'I'd love to take care of my parents, because they took care of us.'
Since starting his career coaching company, Workhap, in 2019, Dewan had dreamed about the possibility of giving back to his parents, who bought their home over a decade ago. He always told himself that if he and the business were financially stable enough, he'd go for it.
Dewan knew he wanted his wife by his side when he told his parents the big news. The opportunity came when the couple, who wed in November 2024, was back in Los Angeles after spending some time in Hong Kong.
While searching through a drawer, he came across an old Mother's Day card that read 'Best Mom Ever.' The letter felt like a sign, the perfect way to share the news with his parents.
However, since they were meeting up a couple of weeks before Mother's Day, the timing made his parents a bit suspicious, leading them to believe it might be a pregnancy announcement.
In the video, his wife even clarified that they just wanted to give them a thank-you card to avoid confusion. Still, his parents were expecting different news, so the actual surprise caught them completely off guard.
'We live in a very cozy home. It's a three-bed, two-bath, single-story, family home,' Dewan says, noting that it's in "a good neighborhood" with "good schools" nearby.
His parents had already paid off more than half of their mortgage and locked in a great interest rate, at just under 3%. With rates now double that, there was never any pressure to rush, as they were in a good financial spot.
As Dewan and his wife discussed the possibility of buying their own place, they decided it was more important to take care of his parents first.
'The mortgage is not crazy. But from my standpoint, both my parents are retired, so it's more like I'd rather just have them not think about financial burdens anymore,' he says. 'My dad gets a pension, my mom gets some social security. So it's more like, why don't they just live their life with the money that they have instead of thinking about the debt that they've accumulated.'
Another reason Dewan decided to write the check, beyond honoring his parents for their sacrifices, was because they never pressured him to follow a specific path. His parents simply encouraged him to do well in school and choose a career where he could be great — advice that gave him the confidence to eventually start his own business.
Their constant support and trust in his choices made him feel free to pursue what he truly wanted.
"I'm a career coach. A lot of my clients who work with us need help with their careers and need my assistance for their job search," he says. "Social media, I mean, especially videos, have completely transformed my business and my life in general.'
Dewan began his journey on LinkedIn around late 2018, sharing what he was learning in his HR role and as a former recruiter. At the time, he still had a full-time job he enjoyed, but as his posts gained traction, he decided to take a leap of faith and go all-in on Workhap.
Many of his clients come to him feeling stuck in their careers. Dewan helps them define their goals and make purposeful pivots by focusing on the skills they want to use and the lifestyle they envision. It's not about landing a dream job right away, it's about finding work they enjoy that allows them to build a fulfilling life.
'If you really want an ideal career, it's often finding skills that are natural for you, that might not be so natural for anybody else,' he says. 'A lot of people say you should follow your passion, but I think it's more like follow your natural skills, and eventually those natural skills will turn to your passion because you're good at it.'
The Forbes contributor didn't start Workhap to build a million-dollar brand. It was more about enjoying what he did and seeing a market for it. But now, as things have grown, he realizes there's a big opportunity and potential for success.
"The only and sole goal – let's do things that I'm good at, that can help people, and now the fruits of our labor, for example, paying off our parents' house, that's a possibility because of this.'
Read the original article on People
