In the shining world of fame and fortune, there’s a dirty little secret no one likes to admit but everyone knows: nepotism. Call it legacy, call it “family values,” but the truth is, some careers are launched not by talent or grit, but by that last name.

From Hollywood’s red carpets to Wall Street’s glass towers, the nepo baby pipeline is alive and thriving. We’ve heard the same tired line: “I worked hard to get here!” But how hard is it, really, when your starting point is your dad’s production company or when your last name makes HR forget you have failed every internship interview you’ve ever had (and lets be honest, its probably been only one).

Take Hollywood royalty like Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, who landed Chanel campaigns, while most 20 year-olds were figuring out what to do with their degrees. Or the ever-polarizing Jaden and Willow Smith, whose career launches were practically family projects. And who could forget Brooklyn Beckham? He’s tried photography, cooking, and whatever else sounds good, thanks to being the son of David and Victoria Beckham.

Let’s be real—talent helps, but connections close the deal. For every nepo darling basking in the limelight, there’s someone equally talented (or let’s be honest, way more talented) grinding away in the shadows, wondering how they missed the memo about being born into the right zip code.

But are there more types of nepotism? Nepotism isn’t just kids of famous parents; it can come in many ways, and some are closer than you might think. Take your highschool, do you have any friends that are the kids of a teacher you might now? Same logic applies to them,those kids always have an easier time in work and grades; this doesn’t mean its bad, on the contrary, does parents worked their way up to teaching, and thanks to that most of those kids are inspired to teach also!

At the end of the day, success in a nepotistic world isn’t just about what you bring to the table—it’s about whose table you were born sitting at. And while the rest of us are still waiting for our invitations, they’re already picking out dessert. So, here’s to the nepo babies living their best lives—just don’t expect us to applaud too hard.