People say our life is fixed; our destiny is written in stone. But is it really? Everyone dreams of a life where they wake up to what they’ve always wanted. Their dream job; the perfect life anyone could ever want. It looks like a piece straight out of a fairy tale. Because dreams are caged. Jobs equal to cubicles. People work for others than working for themselves. That’s life. But is it?
No. As Eleanor Roosevelt has said, ‘Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.’
Around the globe, people have broken out of the cage, turned failure into success and inspired millions to follow their dreams. They aren’t extraordinary. They are men and women; young and old, who stood their ground and fought for their dreams. Experience, age, money, failure…Nothing stood in their way to follow their passion and become an inspiration.
If you’re in need of inspiration to take a plunge to follow your dreams. Here are the success stories of 5 entrepreneurs to motivate and inspire you.
1.Richard Branson
Richard Branson, a name that echoes in fame in the music industry, is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist. But his life was one of struggles. He was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age. His academic performance was so poor that his headmaster had told him that either he’d go to prison or he’ll be a millionaire. His headmaster was right.
After unsuccessful attempts at growing and selling Christmas trees, he launched his first successful business, a magazine named Student, which laid the foundations to his billion-dollar career. He interviewed famous personalities such as The Rolling Stones for his magazine. Later, he started a record shop which eventually led him to mortgage his family house.
It was after earning enough, he set up Virgin Records which went on to sign major musicians like the Rolling Stones, Paula Abdul, and Peter Gabriel; bringing in thousands of dollars as revenue. He is now worth 5.1 billion US dollars at least.
2.Jack Ma
Jack Ma is known for his stubbornness. His attitude of never giving up has inspired millions. After graduating, Jack Ma found it difficult to find a job. Actually, “difficult” is an understatement. He was rejected from 30 different jobs, including the American fast food restaurant chain, KFC. He applied to Harvard University 10 times and got rejected every single time.
Jack Ma’s luck turned when he discovered the internet and its lack of information about China. After which he started developing websites for Chinese companies paving the way for Chinese presence on the internet.
He founded Alibaba after quitting his job as the head of an IT company under the China International Commerce Center. It started as a china-based business to business marketplace site located in his office. Now, it’s a multinational company and Jack Ma is worth 35.6 billion US dollars.
3.Jan Koum
The founder of WhatsApp, Jan Koum had started his career as a cleaner in a grocery store to support his mother as she worked part-time as a babysitter. He taught himself coding as he worked in the store and later became an infrastructure engineer at Yahoo!
After working for 9 years at Yahoo! he left. Later, he applied to Facebook and was rejected. His success started when he discovered the App Store on his iPhone and its world of opportunities. Within a week he created Whatsapp Inc. which was hit among the crowd. Eventually, Facebook bought Whatsapp for 19 billion US Dollars. His rejection led to his success. The company which rejected him came to him. If that’s not motivation, nothing is!
4.Sophia Amoruso
Sophia was diagnosed with ADHD which affected her academics and spent her early years working odd jobs at places like the Subway. Following her parent’s divorce, she moved to California and survived by hitchhiking, shoplifting and eating off the streets.
However, she started an eBay account to sell vintage clothing under the name of Nasty Gal Vintage which made a fortune of nearly 23 million US dollars. She was titled the “Cinderella of tech” by the New York Times.
5.John Paul DeJoria
DeJoria his story of success inspires one to believe in one’s dream and passion. He served in the US Navy for two years, after which he took on odd jobs as a janitor, an insurance salesman, a door-to-door salesman and so on.
He was an employee at Redken Laboratories, which was his debut in hair care. He was fired which led him to form John Paul Mitchell Systems with Paul Mitchell, a hairdresser, while living in a car. Later, he founded multinational companies and is now worth 3.4 billion US Dollars.
The moral of their life and choices is this: they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things because they refused to give in. Their self-belief and determination helped them create a future which the world denied. They created their destiny. They weren’t privileged. They barely had resources to sustain their life. But now, they’re few of the richest people alive.
So, what are you waiting for? “Write your own success story and create your destiny. One day, you’ll be inspiring another just like you”
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