Creativity is increasingly valued as a skill for the future workplaces. Educators and employers are paying more and more attention to creativity training, the effectiveness of which relies on an understanding of creativity influencing factors. Yet, the seed for creativity might be sawn early in life and nurtured through years in family and school. Links between parenting styles and creativity have been reported in literature. However, parenting styles only explain for a small variation in creativity, suggesting the roles of other factors. This paper goes further by exploring the links between parenting styles, self-esteem, and creativity. It is proposed that parenting styles' influence on creativity may be mediated by the child's self-esteem. The proposed model has implications for parents, educators, and employers in fostering creativity in their children, students, and employees. It also suggests that lack of creativity might be a deep-rooted issue that needs a long-term and consistent effort to improve, and that it is beyond equipping individuals with creative problem-solving techniques.