Top Nine Unbelievable Failure to Success Stories
The Beatles were rejected by numerous record labels including Decca Records, which said, “guitar groups are on the way out” and “the Beatles have no future in show business.” The Beatles did wind up getting signed by a record label.
The Beatles sold moऊनre singles in the UK than anyone else, and the Beatles have moved more units in the US (more than 177 million) than any other group.
2. Colonel Harland Sanders was a 6th grade dropout. When he was 65, a new interstate highway diverted traffic away from his restaurant leaving Sanders with only his secret fried chicken recipe and a Social Security check.
So he began selling his recipe and franchise idea. According to the news, he was rejected over 1,000 times. Then he found a partner with whom he build the KFC franchise powerhouse (over 15,000 restaurants).
3. Mary Kay Ash sold books door to door while her husband served in the military. When her husband returned from duty, they divorced. Ash was left with three children at a time when divorce wasn’t acceptable.
Ash was frustrated when passed over for a promotion because she was a woman. So, she and her second husband planned a business, Mary Kay Cosmetics. One month prior to launch her husband died.
With a $5,000 investment from her oldest son, Ash launched her business. Forbes reported 2014 revenue as over $3.5 billion.
4. Jack Canfield was rejected 144 times before he found a publisher for his book, Chicken Soup for the Soul. When Jack told the publisher he wanted to sell 1.5 million books in the first 18 months, the publisher laughed and said he’d be lucky to sell 20,000.
That first book sold more than 8 million copies in America and 10 million copies around the world. Canfield’s book brand is now a $1 Billion brand.
5. Steve Jobs was fired from the company he founded — Apple. He also failed with NeXT computer company and the Lisa computer.
When Jobs returned to Apple, he led the business to become the most profitable company in the US.
6. Oprah was demoted from her job as a news anchor after her boss told her she was too emotional and “not right for television.”
She went on to create one of the highest ranking shows in American history and is one of the richest and most influential women in the world.
7. Albert Einstein wasn’t able to speak until he was almost 4 years-old and not fluently until he was about 9. Throughout elementary school his teachers thought he was lazy, distracted and would “never amount to much.”
He was even expelled from school for his rebellious behavior and rejected from the Zurich Polytechnic School. Today, his name is synonymous with “genius.” He developed the Theory of Relativity and his discovery won him the Nobel Prize. He remains one of the world’s greatest pioneers of physics.
8. President Abraham Lincoln saw his share of failure and defeat in his lifetime before becoming one of our nation’s greatest leaders.
Thirty years prior to winning the presidental election, he lost his job, failed at business, had a nervous breakdown and lost 8 elections. Instead of giving into the failure, he persisted to become the 16th President of the United States of America.
9. Walt Disney, the man behind the happiest place on earth was fired by the editor of a newspaper because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
He then started a number of businesses that failed and ended with bankruptcy. That didn’t stop him from bringing life to one of the most beloved animated characters, Mickey Mouse and becoming the recipient of 22 academy awards.
Failure is often misunderstood as quality for the weak and doomed, but more times than not, failure is the very driving force behind the strong and successful.
You know these famous people by their many successes…but what you might not know is that they failed greatly first. If there is anything that their inspiring stories can teach us it is this: Never Give up
