Art
1.
In her 20s, she was a divorced,
depressed, unemployed single parent.
She was “as poor as it is possible to
be in modern Britain, without being
homeless...by every usual standard, I
was the biggest failure I knew.”
1. J.K. Rowling
Novelist, screenwriter,
and film producer
Her Harry Potter
series of books have
sold more than
400 million copies
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/10-famous-failures-that-will-inspire-you-success.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/03/23/rowling.depressed/index.html
Photo Credit: By Executive Office of the President [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
He was a failure as a carpenter, cook, and waiter. Fast forward to 2019, he is now the billionaire owner of NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. What did he say for his failures?
Mark Cuban
“I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter how many times you failed,” Cuban says. “You only have to be right once. I tried to sell powdered milk. I was an idiot lot of times, and I learned from them all.”
As a boy, he was told he was
“too stupid to learn anything.”
As an adult, he was fired from
his first two jobs because he
wasn’t productive enough.
5. Thomas Edison
Inventor and businessman
Held patents for more than
1,000 inventions, including
the motion picture camera
and electric lightbulb
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/celebs-who-went-from-failures-to-success-stories/6/
Photo Credit: [Public Domain] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Edison,_1878.jpg
She was demoted from her
first-ever job as a news anchor
because, according to her boss,
she was too emotional and not
a good fit for television.
7. Oprah Winfrey
Television talk show
host, media mogul, and
philanthropist
Often called the world’s
most influential woman
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/celebs-who-wentfrom-
failures-to-success-stories/10/
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jan/03/
broadcasting.schoolsworldwide
Photo Credit: Alan Light, Flickr, CC2.0
He was raised by a single mom
in the projects of Brooklyn and
dropped out of high school. Later,
he was rejected by every major
record label and told the market
was too small for his style of music.
15. Jay Z
(Shawn Carter)
Rapper, music producer,
and entrepeneur
Holds an estimated net
worth of $520 million
16. John Green
Writer and vlogger
His YouTube channels
have millions of
subscribers and his
books top charts of
best sellers
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/09/the-teen-whisperer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_oK5Zo9-So
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr, CC2.0
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141027163932-
461078-jay-z-a-profile-in-failure
Photo Credit: Joella Marano, Flickr, CC2.0
After his first on-stage
performance, his manager
told him, “You ain’t goin’
nowhere, son. You ought to
go back to drivin’ a truck.”
4. Elvis Presley
Singer and actor
Sold more than
600 million records
and known as the
King of Rock & Roll
He was a college athlete who
received no athletic scholarships,
wasn’t chosen by any team during
the NBA draft, and was once
viewed by one of his coaches as
“the weakest guy on the team.”
Jeremy Shu-How Lin
Professional NBA player
Earned millions of
dollars in salary and
endorsements; also,
named as one of
Time Magazine’s
“Top 100 Most Influential
People in the World”
His business ideas failed
and he went broke five times
before he succeeded.
20. Henry Ford
Founder of Ford Motor Co.
Created the Model T
automobile, revolutioned
assembly line production,
and built a thriving business
https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/OnFailingG.html
Photo Credit: By Hartsook, photographer. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
When they first auditioned for
a record contract, these band
members were told “we don’t
like their sound, and guitar
music is on the way out.”
9. The Beatles
English rock
band
Most successful
music group of
all time
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/celebs-who-went-from-failures-to-success-stories/13/
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-group
Photo Credit: Badgreeb Records, Flickr, CC2.0
His first book was rejected
by 27 publishers.
14. Dr. Seuss
(Theodor Seuss Geisel)
Author and artist
Sold more than 600
million copies of his 44
children’s books
Due to poor grades in
high school, this man was
rejected all three times he
applied to the University of
Southern California.
6. Steven Spielberg
Director of 50+ films
Won three Academy
Awards and has an
estimated net worth
of $3 billion
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/celebs-who-went-from-failures-to-success-stories/9/
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/10-famous-failures-that-will-inspire-you-success.html
Photo Credit: David Torcivia, Flickr, CC2.0
After failing to make his high
school’s varsity basketball
team, he went home, locked
himself in his room, and cried.
Michael Jordan
Former NBA player
Winner of six NBA
championships
and five MVP titles;
called “the greatest
basketball player to
ever grace the court”
20. Henry Ford
Founder of Ford Motor Co.
Created the Model T
automobile, revolutioned
assembly line production,
and built a thriving business
https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/OnFailingG.html
Photo Credit: By Hartsook, photographer. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
http://www.newsweek.com/missing-cut-382954
Photo Credit: By Steve Lipofsky at
basketballphoto.com, CC-BY-SA-3.0
His mother died when he was
nine. His first love died when
he was 26. He suffered such
a deep depression that his
friends and neighbors worried
that he might kill himself.
18. Abraham Lincoln
16th President of the
United States
Led the U.S. during the
Civil War, preserving
the Union and
abolishing slavery
https://www.nps.gov/abli/planyourvisit/milksickness.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/
archive/2005/10/lincolns-great-depression/304247/
Photo Credit: Alexander Gardner [Public
He was fired from a
Missouri newspaper
for “not being creative
enough” and, later, his first
business went bankrupt.
10. Walt Disney
Animator, film
producer, and
entrepreneur
Holds the record
for most Academy
Awards won by an
individual
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/celebs-who-went-from-failures-to-success-stories/15/
Photo Credit: Harsh Light, Flickr, CC2.0
After his manuscript was
rejected by 30 publishers, he
threw it in the trash. His wife
retrieved it and urged him to
try one more time.
8. Stephen King
Author of more than
50 horror and sci fi
books (all best sellers),
including Carrie, the
one he tried to toss
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/celebs-who-went-from-failures-to-success-stories/12/
Photo Credit: Stephanie Lawton, Flickr, CC2.0
At age 16, he failed to reach the
required standard in the general
education part of a school
entrance exam and was rejected
from the polytechnic school he
had hoped to attend.
2. Albert Einstein
Theoretical physicist,
who developed the
general theory of
relativity
Winner of the 1921
Nobel Prize in Physics
In her first two television
jobs, she was fired and
replaced with other
actresses.
12. Kerry
Washington
Actress
Star of Scandal, Ray,
and Fantastic Four
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/scandalskerry-
washington-kate-mara-558887?page=2
Photo Credit: David Shankbone, Flickr, CC2.0
She was born to a teenage
mother, her father left when she
was a toddler, and she grew up in
the “poor, crime-plagued district of
Tottenham” in North London.
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins)
Singer and songwriter
The first woman in Billboard
Hot 100’s history to have
three simultaneous top 10
singles as a lead artist; her
YouTube videos have logged
more than 6 billion views
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/adele-inside-her-privatelife-
and-triumphant-return-20151103
Photo Credit: Diariocritico de Venezuela, Flickr, CC-BY-2.0
Music industry reps told her that
she didn’t have the right look,
wasn’t pretty enough to be a
headline singer, and that none of the
songs she’d written would be hits.
11. Lady Gaga
(Stefani Germanotta)
Singer and songwriter
Winner of five Grammy
Awards and named as
Billboard Magazine’s
Artist of the Year
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lady-gaga-profile-failure-jeff-stibel
Photo Credit: Sarah_Ackerman, Flickr, CC2.0
After dropping out of college,
she worked at Dunkin’ Donuts.
She was fired on her first day
because she squirted jelly
filling on a customer.
13. Madonna
Singer, songwriter,
and music producer
Top–earning touring
female artist in the history
of Billboard Boxscore
with more than $1.31
billion in ticket sales
http://stylecaster.com/famous-people-who-failed/#slide-7
Photo Credit: Jason H. Smith, Flickr, CC2.0
The first time this comedian was on
stage, he just “stood there for about
thirty seconds...saying absolutely
nothing, just standing there, freaking
out.” Later, he was fired from his first
sitcom after only four episodes.
Jerry Seinfeld
Writer, actor, producer
His successful TV show,
Seinfeld, is now in
worldwide syndication
and he is ranked as one
of the highest-earning
comedians of all timehttp://www.businessinsider.com/famous-peoplewho-
failed-before-they-succeeded-2016-10/#famouscomedian-
jerry-seinfeld-suffered-several-setbacksbefore-
his-big-break-2
Photo Credit: Alan Light, Flickr, CC-BY-2.0