Steve Harvey is a prominent American businessman, actor, author, game show host, and former comedian. Harvey is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book Act Like a Lady Think Like a Man, as well as three other books. In addition to this, he is also the founder of the Steve Harvey Global Entertainment Company, which is a shell company for most of his other successful businesses. So, considering Steve Harvey’s impressive list of achievements, we will be diving into how this inspiring man came to be in this Steve Harvey Success Story special.

“The Dream Is Free. The Hustle is Sold Separately.”

After years of studying the lives of the world’s most accomplished people, we noticed that success leaves clues. In fact, it is one of the primary reasons we write success stories about extraordinary people like Steve Harvey.  We also chose to write about Steve Harvey because has an an inspiring rags to riches story, that everyone should know about. 

In addition to this, we also know that every story possesses hidden gems that can inspire us, inform us, and better us in new ways.  So, with that being said, if you’re ready to learn how Steve Harvey transformed his life from ordinary to extraordinary, then let’s dive in.

THE STEVE HARVEY STORY

Early Days | Steve Harvey Success Story

As a young boy, Steve Harvey had a dream. In his early days, when he was just in grade school, he made up his mind that he wanted to become famous and be on television. In fact, he was so determined that this is what he wanted to do with his life, that he bravely stood before his entire class one day, after the teacher gave every student the opportunity to tell the class what they wanted to be when they grew up.

This was a big leap for Steve Harvey, because not only was he young, and knew little about the real world, but he had a severe stutter. A stutter that many people would use an excuse for why they couldn’t do something.

Steve Harvey’s decision to stand up in front of his class, and tell the world what he intended to do with his life was a defining moment for him. Here’s why; after being asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, and after sharing his vision with his teacher and his entire class that he wanted to be on Television someday, he was ridiculed. He shared his vision, his dreams, and as typically happens to far too many starry-eyed kids with big dreams, someone belittles them.

In Harvey’s case, it was his own teacher who tried to snuff out his dream.

She assured Harvey, that he would never make it onto the television or in the entertainment industry because of his severe stutter. This teacher leveled with Harvey that his dream was a pipe dream, especially considering no one in his community ever had, or would make it big in the entertainment world.

Challenge Accepted

But, Harvey didn’t let this teacher destroy his dream. Instead, he used his teacher’s doubts as fuel. He personally took her naysaying as a challenge, and committed himself to proving her wrong someday.

Now, even though Steve Harvey chose to challenge his teacher’s naysaying, he still had to go through some serious trials and tribulations before he would take his leap.

In fact, before ‘making it”, Steve Harvey spent years bouncing from job to job. He worked as a autoworker, an insurance salesman, a mailman, a carpet cleaner, and many other jobs. That’s right, before he became the successful person he is today, he struggled just to make ends meet. But then, at the age of 27, he deciding to finally go after his dream. And this is when things became really difficult for Harvey.

Steve Harvey finally took a leap of faith to pursue a career in comedy. And, for the following three years, he would struggle with homelessness and barely scraping by.

For three years he was homeless, and living out of his Ford Taurus all so he could continue to pursue his dream.

Turning The Tide: From Homeless to Famous

For three long grueling years, Harvey would do small stand up comedy gigs, and local shows to scrape by. Barely making enough money to survive, he persisted on this path as it was part of his plan for breaking into show business.

Unfortunately, things would get so bad for Steve Harvey, that he eventually found himself having to bathe in the sinks and toilet stalls at hotel bathrooms. It actually got so bad for Harvey, that he hit his breaking point during one of his bathing sessions.

One day while lathering up with soap, and being unable to come out to finish his “bath” for fear of being seeing by a flood of men who happened to be in the bathroom because of a break in a conference that the hotel was hosting, Harvey made up his mind to call it quits.

Interestingly, on the day Steve Harvey was considering giving up, instead of calling his dad to ask him if he could move back home, he instead decided to check an answering machine his parents set up for him for anyone who was looking to contact him while he was on the road.

Low and behold, on that answering machine was a message from the Apollo Comedy Club inviting him to come on to their show. Harvey seized the opportunity, and even though he didn’t have the means to fly across the country to be on the show initially, he found a way.

After Steve Harvey landed his debut on the Apollo Comedy Club which put him smack dab where he wanted to be, on television, and he never looked back.

Harvey proved his teacher wrong.

Upward and Onward

Steve Harvey has been on television in some way shape or form every single day since that fateful day. He went on to becoming known to many as ‘The King of Comedy’, becoming the host of the Apollo Comedy Club, which would eventually come to be known as It’s Showtime at The Apollo. He made his way onto T.V. shows, into movies, hosting his own T.V. show, and becoming the host of the extremely popular show Family Feud.

Harvey has had a long, an extremely accomplished career in the entertainment industry. And since 2017, he’s been successfully running various businesses under the name of Steve Harvey Global.

One thing that’s important to keep in mind, is that despite all of Steve Harvey’s success on the big screen, and his accumulation of millions, he had to work for it. Harvey earned every bit of the success he now has, and he did it because harbored an effective success ethos.

Success Ethos | Harvey Success Story

Steve Harvey’s success ethos is comprised of a handful of key attributes, and the one most responsible for his initial success was first and for most, his willingness to take a shot at making it big. He was willing to risk it all for success, and he did for three long years. Had he never risked going for it, he never would have reached his mountain top of success.

The next success attribute responsible for Steve Harvey’s success, was his determination to push through till the very end. And even though he seemed like he was about to quit on that fateful day, he showed faith and hope that there was still a chance at success by first calling that answering machine.

Steve Harvey has also shown to have a fierce dedication to his work. He’s mentioned during interviews how he makes sure to always have something going on in terms of money-making activities (i.e. shows, event, movies, and other business activities).

He makes it a point to keep himself busy, never ceasing to have a job/show to work on, because he never wants to be homeless again. In short, much of his success can be attributed to a strong work-ethic.

Lastly, Steve Harvey attributes much of his success to faith. Harvey is a Godly man, who is convinced that had he not read and believed in a few passages from the bible, namely proverbs, that he wouldn’t have had the faith necessary to the heights of success he has reached.

Related: Steve Harvey’s Net Worth

In His Own Words

Steve Harvey has, in his own words, on multiple occasions, provided us with the seeds of his success. Here are just a few of those instances, where he has attempted to use his words to show us the way:

1. “Failure means you’ve now learned another valuable lesson that pushes you one step closer to success.” – Steve Harvey

2. “If you want to be successful, you have to jump, there’s no way around it. When you jump, I can assure you that your parachute will not open right away. But if you do not jump, your parachute will never open. If you’re safe, you’ll never soar!” – Steve Harvey

3. “Success is not a comfortable procedure. It is a very uncomfortable thing to attempt. So you gotta get comfortable being uncomfortable if you ever want to be successful.” – Steve Harvey

4. “I told the same $25 a night jokes over and over until they paid me $250, then $25,000, $75,000, $125,000, $500,000… $58,000 with the Kings of Comedy in one night! Repetition is how I became successful. I told those same jokes until I built an empire and a lifestyle beyond my wildest dreams! Never give up!” – Steve Harvey

The quotes above tell us a lot about success, and if you’re looking for even more insights, you’ll certainly get them by watching the embedded video below.

Related: Steve Harvey Quotes for Success

So, give it a watch, as it sums up Steve Harvey’s take on success very succinctly.

_{^{Video Credit: The Official Steve Harvey | Subscribe Here}}

Conclusion

There you have it, the Steve Harvey success story that describes his journey from being a young kid with a sever stutter, who’s teacher tried to kill his dream, to a homeless and starving artist living out of his car, to finally getting his shot, and making the most of it. 

We’ve uncovered his success ethos and the key success attributes that helped him find his way out of the poor house, and into a world of massive success and fame. And because we believe repetition is the mother of skill, the father of action, we’re summing up those success qualities for you one more time, here they are:

Fearlessness |  Persistence |  Work-Ethic | Faith

With that being said, you now have some key success insights you can now leverage to find your own massive levels of success. So, take your leap, put in the work and be willing to make sacrifice some comforts, don’t give up, and have faith that in due time, your day in the sun will eventually arrive. 

Until then,

STRIVE

PS – If you enjoyed our Steve Harvey success story, then you’ll love this collection of short but empowering success stories.

Entrepreneur and world-renowned e-commerce pioneer Jeff Bezos is something of a household name these days. People know the name and know it stands for greatness, perseverance and ultimate success. Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon, owner of The Washington Post, and founder of the space exploration company Blue Origin. His successful business ventures and accolades have made him not only one of the most famous people in the world, but also one of the richest of all the world’s billionaires. So, considering such an impressive list of accomplishments, we aim to dig a bit deeper into how this visionary entrepreneur came to be in this Jeff Bezos Success Story feature.

“Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History.”

First things first, we believe success leaves clues, which is why we study uber-successful people like Jeff Bezos. Every story possesses potential insights that can teach, guide, and benefit us in unimaginable ways, if we simply take the time to look.

That said, if you’re ready to discover more about how Jeff Bezos became the e-commerce juggernaut of the 21st century, then let’s dive in:

THE JEFF BEZOS SUCCESS STORY

Early Days

Jeff Bezos was born in1964 in Albuquerque, New Mexico to a struggling teen mother. His parent’s divorced when he was just 17 months old, but his mother found just enough work to keep the lights on and the family fed.

Bezos’ mother eventually married again, and their life would slowly normalize after his adopted father graduated from college and found work as an engineer in Texas.

Potentially influenced by his step-father, Bezos had a love for mechanics, machines, and especially computers. While studying at Princeton University, he initially he set out to study space as a physics major, but he eventually latched onto computer science and electrical engineering, believing he could make a bigger contribution in these fields._^[1]

That Beginning Career in Finance

After graduating from Princeton in 1986, Bezos found work at several firms on Wall Street, including Fitel, Bankers Trust and the investment firm D.E. Shaw. In 1990, Bezos became D.E. Shaw’s youngest vice president. 

On the heels of that success and with the financial backing he needed to start his own business, he began laying the groundwork to become the entrepreneur he always wanted to be. After working four years in the finance industry, Bezos would eventually make his move by quitting his job to start his own online business.

Bezos managed to eventually launch an online bookstore and the rest, as they say is history. Because as legend has it, this small startup would grow to become the famous Amazon.com of today, even though it originally started off as a modest online bookstore.

Those who were around during Amazon’s early years remember buying new and used books and the innovation that it took to bring that formerly brick and mortar business to the world wide web.  Amazon was a great starting point for Jeff Bezos and his success only grew from there.

Amazon and Cementing a Legacy

Amazon.com got it’s start on July 16, 1995, after Bezos asked 300 friends to beta test his site. It was a risky move and he was betting not only his financial investments but also his name and his reputation on his ability to build a successful company in the new and still very volatile online market.

In the months leading up to launch, Jeff and a few friends were building the software needed to run the site and operating out of a garage and basement. His dedication and determination to make it work is the stuff that inspires new entrepreneurs today to keep pressing onward with their dreams.

In the first month, the site was selling books across the US and in over 30 foreign countries. In two months, sales reached $20,000 a week, growing faster any of the team members could have envisioned. Two years later, Amazon.com went public and really started to make a name as an upstart e-commerce company.

Two years later, they proved the skeptics wrong and had not only held its ground but grown by leaps and bounds, becoming an e-commerce leader. While many business went away during the dot.com bust of the early ’90s, Amazon flourished and saw sales go from $510,000 in 1995, to $1.6 billion just four years later, to then over $17 billion by 2011.

By September 2018, Amazon was valued at more than $1 trillion, making it the second company to hit that milestone, and reaching it only a few weeks after Apple did. To this day, Amazon is still valued at a whopping $1.1 trillion.

Owner of ‘The Washington Post’

Towards the end of 2013, Bezos made headlines once again on the worldwide stage among business owners and wealthy tycoons when he purchased The Washington Post, one of the oldest and most well known news publications in the United States.

He also acquired a few additional smaller publications and included them all under the umbrella parent company for a grand total of $250 million.

Needless to say, you know you’ve made it when you begin buying historical and reputable news organizations. And indeed, by 2013 Jeff Bezos had “made it”.

Blue Origin

Of course, Bezos was making other big moves prior to 2013. For instance, in 2000, Bezos made an entrepreneurial move once again when he founded Blue Origin. This time Jeff’s eyes were on the sky as this was an aerospace company that was set up in order to design and develop technologies aimed at make space travel accessible and affordable for more people.

For a decade and a half, the company operated quietly and once things were really kicking off, around 2017, Bezos began selling $1 billion in Amazon stock annually to fund Blue Origin to further fund and push developments of new aerospace technology.

Two short years later NASA announced that Blue Origin was one of the select few companies to being assisting with 19 technology projects designed to help NASA once again go to the moon and finally reach Mars. Today Blue Origin is making headlines for Bezos and itself with unprecedented advancements in space travel.

Stepping Down as CEO and Moving Forward

In February 2021, Amazon announced that Bezos would step down as CEO in the third quarter of the year. But this was not the end for Bezos and he still plans to be involved with the company that he helped to build, literally from the ground up.

Since stepping down, Bezos has transitioned to executive chair of Amazon’s board and continues to be highly involved with the trajectory of the company.

As of late, his sights are set on launching a network of Montessori schools, and pioneering the robotaxi industry.

With that said, he shows no signs of slowing down or putting an end to the curiosity, motivation, and drive that made him into the crowning example of possibility that he has come to be known for.

Related: Jeff Bezos Net Worth

Success Lessons Learned From The Jeff Bezos Story

With that being said, our Jeff Bezos success story wouldn’t be complete without a few insightful words from the legend himself. As such, here are a few supporting Jeff Bezos quotes to help shine a light on the thinking that helped him achieve the impossible:

1. “If you want to be inventive, you have to be willing to fail.” – Jeff Bezos

2. “Work hard, have fun, make history.” – Jeff Bezos

3. “The No. 1 thing that has made us successful by far is obsessive compulsive focus on the customer.” – Jeff Bezos

4. “If you double the number of experiments you do per year you’re going to double your inventiveness.” – Jeff Bezos

5. “It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.” – Jeff Bezos

If you’re looking to learn even more about Jeff Bezos’ story of success, then you’ll enjoy this thorough documentary about his rise and reign:

_{^{Video Credit: Frontline PBS}}

Related: Jeff Bezos Success Insights

Final Thoughts

There is still likely much in store for Jeff Bezos and the world has likely not heard the last of him. Time will tell what lies ahead but there is still much that we can learn from Jeff Bezos’ story and the examples he has given of how hard work, a laser-like focus on innovation, and a willingness to experiment, even if that means failing, can and does pay off.

Any entrepreneur who is struggling and feeling like throwing in the towel would do well to read the story of Jeff Bezos and learn how to keep a forward focus and a fire under their feet.

Success is out there and it can be yours with the right dedication, approach, and inspiration!

Till you reach your aims,

STRIVE

PS – If enjoy our Jeff Bezos Success Story, then may also enjoy reading about Elon Musk’s story, or even the story of fellow visionary Steve Job’s success.

Tyler Perry is a highly respected American director, actor, filmmaker and entrepreneur, and he’s the brains and the talent behind the extremely popular “Madea” franchise. Perry is also a New York Times best-selling author, and the mastermind behind over 17 movies, 20 stage plays, and 7 television shows, and the founding of Tyler Perry studios. So, considering this impressive list of achievements, we will be diving into how this entertainment icon has came to be in our Tyler Perry Success Story special.

“If I Made It, You Can Too.”

– tyler perry –

Certainly, Perry knows a thing or two about success and achievement, and because we believe success leaves clues, we decided to dig into Tyler Perry’s story. Our aim is to unravel a few success gems that you’ll be able to use and benefit from in your own life.

So, if you’re ready to learn about Tyler Perry’s inspiring success story while gaining a few insights that could potentially lead to higher achievement, let’s get started.

TYLER PERRY’S STORY OF SUCCESS

Early Days | A Painful Past

Tyler Perry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1969. He had two other siblings and was raised in a home with no shortage of problems. Perry experienced horrific physical and psychological abuse at the hands of his own father._^[1]

He also often witnessed his father beating his mother on countless occasions as well, and he experienced sexual abuse by a various adults in his youth as well. Things were so bad, that Perry described his own upbringing as a living hell. A hell that he’d often have to seek refuge from by either hiding underneath the floorboards of his home, or escaping within his own mind to an imaginary park when things would get too difficult in his life.

Between his teen years and his twenties, Tyler’s trauma would eventually turn to rage. During these years he would go on to burn down a house, burn up a car, steal, get kicked out of school, become violent on occasion, and was ultimately a miserable wreck to be around. Needless to say, Tyler Perry had an extremely painful past. But, his early challenges wouldn’t last forever.

After watching an episode on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Tyler Perry learned about the therapeutic effect writing could have on his life. As such, he took up writing letters to himself to heal his wounds from the past. And, as fate would have it, those letters would eventually become the foundation on which he would build his future off of.

The Slow Climb

Tyler Perry would eventually use those letters he wrote to himself as the basis for his first play ‘I Know I’ve Been Changed’. At the age of 22, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia and would go on to invest his life savings into this play.

But, his success was not immediately forthcoming. In fact, his play wasn’t well received at all initially However, Perry persisted. While holding various small jobs to pay the bills, Perry would take a shot at getting his play off the ground for a few weeks at a time each year.

And instead of taking the advice from many of the well-meaning friends and family members around him who urged for him to go and find a respectable career, he chose not to give up. Instead of quitting, he would double down each time on his play by tweaking it, and then sending it back out into the world.

And each time he tried his luck again with the play, it wouldn’t receive the warm reception that he was going for. Fortunately though, the reviews for his play slowly improved, giving Perry something to work with. So, for seven long years, Tyler Perry kept working on his craft, methodically revising and improving the play until the day came when audiences finally started warming up to his work.

Success Realized

Sure, Tyler Perry’s success was slow to arrive, but after years of effort, many flops, and countless discouragements, his luck eventually started to change. It was 1998, when his production started to create sellout crowds, and got so large that he had to move his act to a larger theater.

Perry finally “made it”. His dream was being realized, and as his popularity and the demand for his show grew, so did his success.

In 2000 he presented a play known as ‘I Can Do Bad All by Myself’, and it brought to life the larger than life character known as Madea. And it was from this point that Perry’s success would go into overdrive. He produced a few more plays over the years, and then in 2005, his talent was sought on “The Big Screen”, and thus he made the leap into film.

He released his first film known as ‘Diary of a Mad Black Woman’ which would go on to gross over $50 million. Then he went on to create ‘Madea’s Family Reunion’, ‘Daddy’s Little Girls’, ‘Why Did I Get Married?’, ‘Meet The Browns’, ‘The Family That Preys’, ‘Madea Goes To Jail’, and many many others._^[2]

When success arrived for Tyler Perry, it came in the form of a flood, and his success has yet to cease or slow.

Tyler Perry Is Winning

He’s since gone on to become a New York Times best-selling author, create over 17 movies, 20 stage plays, and seven popular television shows, and is considered the most successful African American filmmaker in history.

He’s won two NAACP Image Awards, a Boston Society of Film Critics Award, two BET Comedy Awards, one BET Best Movie Award, and an award for best supporting actor by the African -American Film Critics Association.

Tyler Perry’s success and wealth continues to flourish. He founded Tyler Perry studios, a growing production studio based out of Atlanta, Georgia, which is currently the largest studio in the United States, and pulls in over $907 million in revenue a year._^[3]

He’s managed to consistently grow his wealth over the years, and has surpassed the billionaire mark in terms of his net worth. In short, Tyler Perry is winning.

Success Ethos | Tyler Perry Success Story

Now that we’ve covered Tyler Perry’s success journey, let’s tease out exactly what helped him achieve his massive success.

First things first, Tyler was intentional about what he wanted. He followed his dreams. His success wouldn’t really be much of a success if it wasn’t something he desperately wanted for himself. So, the fact that Tyler Perry was intentional about having a dream, and then making that dream work is important.

The next element that lead to Tyler Perry finally realizing the success he sought was his persistence and determination. Had he quit on year three, four, or five during those first seven years when he was struggling to get his play off the ground, his play never would have reached it’s potential. But, he persisted and iterated his offering until it became irresistible to his audiences.

And lastly, much of Tyler Perry’s success can be attributed to his focus. Had Tyler put his attention on two or three other plays in attempt to find success, he very likely wouldn’t have found the winning combination within his one play that would eventually win over the audience.

Here are a few of his own quotes on the matter:

1. “Know your intention as to why you do what you do. And I promise you, if your intention is right, you will be successful.” – Tyler Perry

2. “I don’t think dreams die – I think that people give up.” – Tyler Perry

3. “Narrow your focus to one idea, one. And make it work. That will give birth to all the others.” – Tyler Perry

Related: Tyler Perry Quotes

Success Insights

Here’s a great video that provides a few additional insights about Tyler Perry story and his journey towards success and fame.

_{^{Video Credit: Goldman Sachs (Subscribe Here)}}

Related: Tyler Perry Net Worth

Final Thoughts

There you have it, The Tyler Perry Story of Success. To wrap things up, here are some final thoughts about his success journey. Tyler has shown us, that no matter where we come from or how challenging our beginnings are, we can change our ending.

His story is a testament to the power of following one’s dreams, why self-trust is so important, and why you should persist in realizing your dreams if they are truly important to you.

Here’s a brief recap of the handful of qualities outside of talent that helped him achieve his goals and reach the heights of success that the world admires today:

Followed His Dreams | Persisted In The Face of Failure | Focused On One Thing

Having said that, we hope you’ll take some of these insights and apply them to your own life. We don’t doubt that you have a gift or talent of your own that the world desperately needs, and at the very least, higher levels of success that you’d still like to achieve.

So, till you reach your aims,

STRIVE

PS – If you enjoyed our Tyler Perry Success Story, then you may also enjoy reading some of these short but equally inspiring stories of success.

Earl Nightingale was a popular radio show host in the 1950’s, who achieved substantial financial and career success before the age of 35. He was the most listened to man in the history of the broadcasting industry. However, his meteoric rise to the enduring and legendary levels of fame which he achieved, came from his contributions to the self-development, motivational, and success industry; which was driven by his retelling of his quest for the secret of success. Without a doubt, he was one of the best story-tellers of all time, who’s scholarship on the subject of success and motivation is to this day, is unmatched. So, If you’ve been wondering “Who Is Earl Nightingale?”, this is who he is in a nutshell.

Of course, there is so much more to this titan of success. So, if you want to really know who Earl Nightingale was, and why you should learn more about him and his words of wisdom, then keep reading, as we aim to unravel his inspiring story, and some of his most prized secrets of success.

THE STORY OF EARL NIGHTINGALE

Earl Nightingale | A Success Story

Earl Nightingale’s story is a true rags to riches story. Nightingale was born in 1921 in Long Beach California. He was a Depression-era child, who at the age of 12, during the height of the Great Depression, had to move into a literal tent after his father abandoned the family. His mother moved the family to tent city, a makeshift form of government housing created to assist families during the Great Depression.

Nightingale’s experience with poverty, and watching his mother struggle to barely make ends meet to take care of him and his two brothers frustrated him. In fact, it bothered him so much, that he decided to figure out why some people have money, and lots of it, while many others struggled to earn the bare minimum.

This began Earl Nightingale’s quest for the secret to success. And from 1933 to 1950 he went on a mission to discover how people can go from poverty to success. He read every book he could get his hands on. He also questioned every adult whom he suspected of “that special knowledge” of the key to success.

And it was at the ripe age of 29 when he finally had his “ah-ha” moment. At the age of 29, he finally cracked the code while reading Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’. The words that stood out to him, and hit him like a ton of bricks was the following:

“We Become What We Think About.”

– Napoleon hill –

Early Career

Now, before Earl Nightingale’s made his key discovery, he went about to make his living by joining the Marines. Soon after joining, he would eventually get stationed in Hawaii.

In fact, he was aboard the U.S.S. Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. And he was one of only 334 marines who survived the attack on the ship out of a total of 1,511other crewmates.

Before his service would end in the military, Nightingale happened to stumble upon radio by volunteering to be an announcer on evenings and weekends. He volunteered for this job for the sole purpose of picking up what he thought could be a good skillset to have once he re-entered the civilian world. And his instincts paid off.

Earl Nightingale would enter into the broadcasting industry soon after his time in the Marines came to an end, and he took the industry by storm. He started off his Radio career in Phoenix, AZ.

But after a few short years, opportunity quickly presented itself. As such, he soon found himself working for one of the most prominent radio stations at the time; WGN radio out of Chicago, IL.

It wasn’t long after this, that Earl Nightingale really hit his stride. In fact, by 1957, at the age of 35 Earl Nightingale had officially “made it”. Nightingale was successful enough to officially retire.

No doubt, Earl was able to achieve such staggering success by applying the secret to success that he discovered just 7 years earlier.

The Making of a Legend

Earl Nightingale would lean into the next phase of his life as the owner of an insurance company. He invested his money into the purchase of an insurance company, with much of his new found wealth derived from his success within the broadcasting industry.

And it was this experience that would would ultimately lead to Earl Nightingale’s true legacy. As the owner of an insurance company, Earl would typically give motivational speeches to his insurance reps often.

However, one day he was preparing to do some travelling out of town, and the sales manager asked him if he could record one of his famous speeches to keep his team motivated while he was gone. Nightingale agreed to the request, and serendipitously, the result was one of the first audio-recordings of the self-development industry. It was a seemingly small act that would essentially become a revolutionary moment.

Word got out of Nightingale’s inspiring recorded sales speeches. And soon after, he was asked to record his accumulated advice on how to others can achieve similar success. And it was from here that one of the best motivational/self-help recordings of all-time was born: ‘The Strangest Secret’.

Once “The Strangest Secret” was complete, and word got out about how insightful and inspiring the work was, demand skyrocketed and caught Earl Nightingale off-guard. Once Nightingale partnered with friend Lloyd Conant to handle bottlenecking issues on orders, the audio-recording would become a national best-seller.

Amazingly, the wisdom from that recording is still impacting millions of people all over the world to this day. In fact, snippets from this classic can be found all over the web; here’s one such example:

_{^{Video Credit: Shree Dembla}}

Notable Accomplishments

Earl Nightingale went on to achieve numerous notable accomplishments over the timespan of his life. His life, and his accomplishments are a prime example of his success secret in action.

Here are a handful of some of his other noteworthy accomplishments:

• Awarded a Golden-Record Award for ‘The Strangest Secret’

• Hall of Fame Inductee for ‘The Association of National Broadcasters and National Radio’

• Awarded the Napoleon Hill Gold Medal for Literary Excellence

• Achieved Toastmasters International Golden Gavel Award

• Created Hit Audio Book ‘Lead The Field’

• Authored “The Greatest Discovery”

• Co-founded Famous Self-Development Company Nightingale Conant Corp.

Earl Nightingale Net Worth

The biproduct of Earl Nightingale’s stacked up accomplishments was a super-sized fortune. How large of a fortune? Well, at the time of his death in 1989, his net worth was estimated at roughly $38 million. Which is a lot of money, even by today’s standards.

That said, if Earl Nightingale managed to preserve his wealth over the years in a high yield savings account, his $38 million would be worth approximately $95 million after taking inflation into account.

Here’s another fun fact. Had Earl Nightingale invested his entire $38 million net worth into the SP500 back in 1989, it would be valued at roughly $497 million today.

Earl nightingale was not only a highly successful man, he was a very rich one.

Earl Nightingale Success Lessons

Below are just a few of Earl Nightingale’s key success lessons derived from his own words. These quotes are from two of his best-selling works. That said, they should provide a glimpse of the wisdom contained within his classic books, and best-selling audio books ‘The Strangest Secret’, and ‘Lead The Field.” Enjoy:

“Whatever We Plant In Our Subconscious Mind And Nourish With Repetition And Emotion Will One Day Become Reality.”

– Earl Nightingale –

This quote above is the essence of his discovery of the secret of success; namely, that we become what we think about. So, be careful what you put into your mind (news/media/etc…). And pay careful attention to what you are thinking about (because you’ll usually get more of it).

“We Will Receive Not What We Idly Wish For, But What We Justly Earn. Our Rewards Will Always Be In Exact Proportion To Our Service.”

– Earl Nightingale –

No doubt, this success insight stems from his experience through life, and his keen observations that the riches you receive, usually comes down to the exact value you gave through your product or service offering.

“Whatever The Great Majority Is Doing On Any Given Circumstance, If You’ll Do Exactly The Opposite, You’ll Probably Never Make Another Mistake As Long As You Live.”

– Earl Nightingale –

If success was easy, everyone would achieve it. So, the best way to ensure you are not successful, is to listen to and follow the crowd. This bit of Earl Nightingale wisdom is still accurate to this day.

“Never Give Up On A Dream Just Because Of The Time It Will Take To Accomplish It. The Time Will Pass Anyway.”

– Earl Nightingale –

One of the keys to success, aside from being vigilant about what we think about, is persistence. Too many people let their doubts (negative thinking) talk them out of putting in the effort because of what almost always appears to be an uphill battle. Pro Tip: All striving is an uphill battle.

“Success Is The Progressive Realization Of A Worthy Ideal.”

  – Earl Nightingale –

This is a great piece of wisdom by Earl Nightingale. It’s key because so many people think that success is what others say it is. But this isn’t true. Success is what you decide it to be. And so long as you’ve made up your mind what your success is, and you commit to making continual progress on it until you achieve it, you are on the path of success.

Final Thoughts

There you have it, the answer to the question “Who Is Earl Nightingale?”. We hope this brief synopsis of one of the world’s most influential motivational speakers, writers, and success scholars, has given you the insight you were looking for.

Without a doubt, he is someone to be studied. His philosophy of success is as relevant and true today, as it ever was. So, we hope at the very least, this Earl Nightingale profile has inspired you to dig deeper into the lessons and insights offered up by ‘The Dean of Personal Development’ himself.

Till you achieve your aims,

STRIVE

PS – If you enjoyed this Earl Nightingale biography, then you’ll love this inspiring collection of Earl Nightingale Quotes.

Gary Vaynerchuk is the forward-thinking entrepreneur who has mastered the art of commanding attention. He’s currently the CEO of Vayner Media, a full-service advertising agency that helps fortune 1000 company’s leverage consumer attention. On top of this, he’s also the Chairman of Vayner X, a modern-day communications holding company, a five-time New York Times best selling author, a highly sought after public speaker, and a prolific angel investor. Needless to say, Gary knows a thing or two about success, as such, we aim to unpack some of his success secrets in this Gary Vaynerchuk Success Story special.

“Work Hard. Work Smart. Be Patient.”

– gary vee –

Gary Vee, as he’s come to be known, is a successful businessman and multimillionaire, and his inspiring success story can both teach and guide us in a variety of ways.  So, with that being said, let’s dive in to the makings of this successful entrepreneur, to see what his story can teach us.

THE GARY VEE STORY

Early Life | Gary Vaynerchuk Success Story

In 1978, when Gary Vaynerchuk was just three years old, he and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus, a country which at the time was part of the former Soviet Union. His family first lived in Queens New York with relatives, but they would eventually move to Edison, New Jersey. _^[1]

His father initially took a job as a stock boy in a liquor store. And like most immigrants do, he worked his tail off and was smart with every penny he earned for many years.

Eventually this allowed Gary’s father to slowly but surely gain full ownership of his own liquor store.

Gary would learn much from his father about hard work and hustle, and would get introduced to entrepreneurship at the young age of six. His first taste of entrepreneurship actually came from his experimenting with selling flowers.

Legend has is, that Gary would take flowers from his neighbor’s yard, and then ring the doorbell of that neighbor and with charisma and wit, successfully sell the neighbors’ own flowers back to them.

Gary’s taste for entrepreneurship would grow, and by the age of 7, he was already running a successful lemonade franchise throughout New Jersey, where he had managed to set up 8 different lemonade stands, using his friends to run each location.

However, it was at the age of 13 when Gary Vee would really get his first taste of entrepreneurial success. His breakthrough would come from his ability to generate thousands of dollars every weekend through the selling of baseball cards. Gary learned much about the concept of supply and demand in these formative years.

Related: 35 Inspiring Quotes on Hustle

The Grind

Gary would eventually get pulled into his father’s business; where he was initially put to work bagging ice for $2 an hour. Gary would go on to work for his father for a handful of years in various roles within the family business.

However, after Gary learned about the power of the internet, he would go all in to improve his father’s business. And shortly after graduating from college, Gary would begin leveraging social media and strategic content creation in a way that would take his father’s business from $3 million in annual revenue to $60 million in just a few short years.

How did he do it? Gary set his father’s business up on the internet, renamed the liquor store business to Wine Library. Then, in 2006, he went on to create an extremely entertaining and educational show (called Wine Library TV) that showcased his analyses of various wines and liquors.

Gary leveraged his keen knowledge of wines, his energetic personality, and his consistent daily hustle to create over 1000 episodes to grow the viewership of the show over a five year period. On top of this, Gary paid special attention to what his audience was interested in, wanted more of, and then effectively executed on providing them the engagement and answers they wanted to see.

The result? An explosion in revenue growth for his father’s liquor store!

In his own words, this is what Gary has had to say about his initial success with Wine Library:

“I’ve always credited the success of that venture to my hustle and single-minded dedication to engaging with my fans and customers by answering every email or blog comment I received and going overboard to show my appreciation for their business.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

The Next Chapter

After dramatically growing his father’s business, Gary would start the next chapter of his entrepreneurial career. Taking what he learned from his success with Wine Libary TV, Gary would then leverage his seasoned social media expertise to create his own full-service advertising agency. He would name this new endeavor Vayner Media.

Gary started small with Vayner Media. In fact, in his early days, he had to use another company’s conference room, because he didn’t have the capital to rent the office space that would allow him to have his own.

But, he persisted, and did what he does best. He hustled to get attention, and that attention translated into business. And, after giving a successful public speech in New York, Gary’s media agency would take off._^[2]

Shortly there after, Gary would also ink his first million dollar 10-book deal with HarperCollins. Since then, he’s published multiple books with five of them landing on the New York Time’s Best Seller list.

Now, Gary runs Vayner Media as the CEO, is the chairman of Vayner X, and has since become synonymous with hustle, execution, and digital advertising. And when he’s not helping his client’s build their businesses, he is jet setting across the globe inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs with his charismatic and thought-provoking public speeches.

Related: 50 Gary Vee Quotes on Success + Life

Gary Vee’s Enduring Success

Gary Vee’s success continues to grow as he currently employs over 800 people at his media companies. He currently has over 12 million social media followers and growing. In addition to this, Gary is continually increasing his influence and fortifying his brand with other platforms. For instance, his popular YouTube Show, The Gary Vee Video Experience, and his hit podcast The Gary Vee Audio Experience.

He’s also recently partnered with Eric Wattenberg & RSE Venture’s Matt Higgins to launch a production studio named VaynerWatt. The company will be focusing on long and short-form content for networks and streaming services._^[3]

Gary Vee’s Success Secret

So, what’s the success secret to Gary Vee’s enduring success? Well, it must be said, that Gary Vaynerchuk does have a magical charisma about him, which has undoubtedly played a significant role in his ability to captivate his audience.

However, what has led to much of Gary’s success, and what will continue to help him be successful, is his uncanny ability to spot trends and zero in on what people are interested in. He says it best with this quote:

“Pay Attention To What People Care About, And Reverse Engineer It.”

Gary Vaynerchuk

Equally as important, and what likely helps him be so effective and observing what works and doesn’t work in terms of building businesses and spotting trends is his penchant for relentless effort. Again, he has in the past summed it up for us well in his own words….

“While Everybody Is Hoping And Dreaming, I Am Going To Be Executing.”

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary has also demonstrated a knack for effectively leveraging technology, the people around him, and media to scale his reach. This knack has given him the ability to grab more and more attention for himself and his clients.

In short, he is great at getting the most out of his resources. It doesn’t matter if it’s his team, the technology he’s using, or his media channels. In his own words…

“You Always Squeeze The F*ck Out Of An Orange That’s Full. And When It’s Empty, You Find A Pear, Which Is Harder To Squeeze But You Hope A Grapefruit Comes Along. Email Used To Be 90% Opening Rates From For Me. It’s Not Anymore. Google Adwords Used To Be 5 Cents A Click. It’s Not Anymore”

Gary Vaynerchuk

Related: Gary Vaynerchuk Net Worth

Peer Into The Mind of a Master

He’s not P.T. Barnum, but Gary has indeed mastered the art of leveraging attention to get results. So, to give you a better look into the mind of this master, and a bit more insight on how Gary Vaynerchuk got to where he is today, watch this inspiring video below:

_{^{Video Credit: GaryVee (Subscribe to His Channel Here)}}

Key Takeaways

Gary Vaynerchuk’s success story has a lot to teach us. It shows us how an immigrant from Belarus worked his a** off, made the most of his situation, and leveraged the technology of the day to scale his brand and businesses to staggering heights.

His story also shows us that the American Dream is alive and well for those who choose execution over excuses.

That said, we hope his story also helps you realize that with massive hustle, a healthy dose of obsession with your customer’s wants and needs, and a little leverage, anything is possible.

So, put these takeaways to work for you, and get on with creating your own inspiring story of success.

Till you reach your aims,

STRIVE

PS – If you enjoyed this Gary Vee story, you may also be interested in the stories of fellow success icons like Grant Cardone or Elon Musk.

Mel Robbins is a former television host and lawyer, as well as a best-selling author, a popular podcaster, and a highly sought after motivational speaker. She’s written countless books and has sold millions of them already, including the New York Times Best-Seller ‘The High 5 Habit’ and the ‘The 5 Second Rule’. In short, Mel Robbins knows a thing to two about success and achievement.

So what is her secret? Well, every high achiever leaves a blueprint, and more often than not, their journey leaves small clues that anyone can pick up on, if they look close enough. Every success story we publish about visionaries, success icons, and high achievers like Mel Robbins, aims to unravel and reveal some of those clues for you. So, if you’re ready to see what Mel Robbins’ success story can teach us, then let’s dive right in:

THE MEL ROBBINS SUCCESS STORY

Early Days

Mel Robbins was born in 1968 in Kansas City, Missouri to Robert and Marcia Schneeberger. She and her family eventually moved to the Midwest when she was young. She was raised in the small town of North Muskegon, which resides in West Michigan, just outside of Grand Rapids.

Her parents were college sweethearts who married young. Her mother dropped out of school her sophomore year to marry her father and raise Mel and in due time, her brother. Initially her mom would work nights for the IRS, while her father attended Medical school. Eventually, her father graduated and become a Doctor, who specialized in neuromuscular medicine._^[1]

Both of her parents played a significant role in raising Mel to place a high value on having a strong work ethic, appreciating enthusiasm, and a commitment to service.

After graduating high school, Mel attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire where she earned herself a degree in History. She then went on to attend Boston College’s Law School, where she eventually graduated with a professional degree in law in 1994._^[2]

From Law to Life-Coach

Mel’s early career consisted of working for a Large corporate firm in Boston. She then went on to work for three and a half years as a public defender for violent felony criminal offenders in Manhattan, and as an executive in two technology companies. She also bought, ran and sold successful franchise businesses with her husband.

But, after practicing law for a handful of years, Mel started having second thoughts about being an attorney. It was stressful, it caused her lots of anxiety, and it was a title she wasn’t really excited to be associated with when people would ask her “So what do you do?”.

So, she hired a life coach who would ultimately encouraged her to become a life coach herself. And in 2001 she launched her own self-help coaching company that focused on personal development and executive business coaching.

Her business grew as she started to acquire clients all over the country. She eventually created her own radio show, blog, and things were humming along for Mel, at least for a while.

Transforming Trials Into Triumph

However, it was around 2008, when Mel Robbins experienced a serious inflection point in her life. Like many other Americans at the point in time in history, Mel Robbins life’s started to unravel as well.

Her husband’s restaurant business was on the verge of failing, she was over $800K in debt, her marriage was on the rocks, and she felt like she was on the cusp of losing everything._^[3]

In addition to this, she was suffering from bouts of depression and anxiety that had her not wanting to get out of bed.

She used a ‘5 second rule’ which she invented to help herself get moving and get into action. The idea behind the rule, is that during any moment of hesitancy, or moment when you know you need to do something, you automatically start counting down from five, and once you get to one, you take immediate and deliberate action on that “thing” you were avoiding, or know you need to do.

This rule became an effective method that allowed her to overcome the inertia that had a grip on her life. And it helped her land a job with Cox Media, which transformed into an opportunity on television.

Her enthusiasm attracted the attention of one of CNN’s chiefs, which paved the way for her becoming a high profile legal analyst for CNN. She especially made a name for herself at CNN after covering high profile cases, particularly, the George Zimmerman trial.

Mel Robbins would go on to transform her growing celebrity star power into in various shows. She even did a Ted Ed talk which eventually garnered over 29 million views.

Transformation

Mel has since authored multiple New York Time’s best selling books that have reach millions of people. All of which has helped her with becoming one of the world’s most-booked motivational speakers, thus allowing her to create a multi-million dollar enterprise in the process.

Mel also landed for a short period of time, her own syndicated talk show, ‘The Mell Robbins Show.’_^[4] However, these days, she’s leaning heavily into her podcast and YouTube channel which has garnered nearly 100 millions views and over 1.55 million subscribers.

Success Ethos

So what’s Mel Robbins’s secret to success? Well, her story shows she is no stranger to taking action and leaning into things. Having gone from law school, to being an attorney, to coaching, to writing books, building and selling businesses, to doing speaking events, and her more recently venturing into podcasting and managing a YouTube channel, it’s clear, she’s highly ambitious and always on the go.

So, we’d have to pinpoint much of her success to her drive, ambition, and worth ethic. It’s also clear that her infectious enthusiasm and energetic personality has very likely influenced her ability to land jobs in the entertainment world.

Having said that, here’s a few of her own takes on success in her own words:

1. “Ambition is the first step to success. The second step is action.” – Mel Robbins

2. “Picasso created nearly 100 masterpieces in his lifetime. But what most people don’t know is that he created a total of more than 50,000 works of art. That’s two pieces of art a day. Success is a numbers game. You are not going to win if you keep telling yourself to wait. The more often you choose courage, the more likely you’ll succeed.” – Mel Robbins

3. “If you want to reinvent yourself, you must ignore your fears, your excuses, your self-doubt.” – Mel Robbins

4. “Start before you are ready. Don’t prepare, begin!” – Mel Robbins

Related: Mel Robbins Success Quotes

Success Insights

If you’re looking for even more success insights related to what Mel believes leads to success, then you’ll enjoy this video she created. In it she reveals a handful of science-backed methods you can start using to begin manifesting more success and riches into your life. Enjoy!

_{^{Video Credit: Mel Robbins (Subscribe Here)}}

Final Thoughts

There you have it, the Mel Robbins Success Story which covers her unique success journey and some of the success strategies she has used to change her life and achieve her goals.

It’s clear that much of her success is related to her enthusiasm, magnetic personality, and a commitment to helping people solve their problems. But, she’s also tapped into her work ethic, drive, and ambition to take massive action. And the combination of this things have seemingly made all the difference in creating the inspiring life she now leads.

That said, we hope you’ve gathered at least a handful of helpful ideas from this write-up that you can use to inspire and improve your own life. To learn more about Mel Robbins, just visit her page here.

Till you reach your aims,

STRIVE

PS – If you enjoyed this Mel Robbins Story of Success, then you may also enjoy learning about the success journey of fellow motivational speaker, Tony Robbins (no relation) or the likes of Jen Sincero.

Many have learned about Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States through our history books and history classes in school. We’ve all been well educated on his great accomplishments like the Emancipation Proclamation, which led to the abolition of slavery.

We’ve learned of his great leadership in leading the United States through one of its most divisive moral, cultural, and constitutional crises. And we’ve also learned about his eventual reuniting of a country divided by a brutal civil war. However, what most of us have never learned about, is Abraham Lincoln’s motivational story of triumph over adversity. So, that’s exactly what we aim to highlight in this Abraham Lincoln Success Story feature.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S MOTIVATIONAL STORY

Most people know who Abraham Lincoln is, but the don’t about his story of struggle. Many of us have never learned about Lincoln’s personal challenges.

Our formal education rarely provides the insights of Lincoln’s struggles. The struggles that eventually helped him to become a man of character. And not just that, but also one of the most well-known politicians and presidents in history.

So, we aim to share with you some key personal aspects about Abraham Lincoln that can also inspire you to strive for greater achievement in your life. Our hope is that they’ll also encourage you to persist when adversity arises, as it eventually will.

As such, we’ve pulled together Lincoln’s impressive rap sheet when it comes to overcoming defeat. His list of failures and set backs are showcased to demonstrate that sometimes, even the greatest among us have to go through hell before finding our success.

“My Great Concern Is Not Whether You Have Failed, But Whether You Are Content With Your Failure.”

– Abraham Lincoln –

Early Life

Before we dive into Abe Lincoln’s struggle story, here are a few important details. Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Kentucky.

He was born into a one-roomed cabin with parents whom he stated where undistinguished. He was not given a great education, but he did love to read.

As such, he was self-educated. And took it upon himself to eventually go into law. That said, let’s get into how he went about becoming “The Abraham Lincoln”.

Abraham Lincoln’s Struggle Story

Without further ado, here is Abraham Lincoln’s inspiring list of obstacles endured, with a few of the most critical victories he managed to obtain over his lifetime:

1818: Lost his mother at the age of 9

1832: Lost his job

1832: Defeated for legislature

1833: Failed in business

1833: Went into debt (Took 10 Yrs. to pay off)

1834: Elected to legislature

1835: The woman he loved and was to marry died

1836: Had a nervous breakdown

1838: Defeated for Speaker

1843: Defeated for nomination for Congress

1848: Lost re-nomination

1849: Rejected for Land Officer

1854: Defeated for Senate

1856: Defeated for nomination for Vice-President

1858: Again defeated for Senate

1860: Elected for President of The United States of America

Related: Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Success

Last Like Lincoln

There is no doubt about it, Abraham Lincoln’s life is a collection of moments where he persisted in the face of hardship and failure. His record of obstacles , failures, and achievements are guiding lights that prove that success comes through outlasting our failures.

Hopefully, you’ve come to realize that any defeats you may come across in your life are only temporary. We also hope that you’ve come to realize that your success is just a matter of managing your failures and moving on and forward towards your goals without losing enthusiasm.

“Always Bear In Mind That Your Own Resolution To Succeed Is More Important Than Any Other.”

– – Abraham Lincoln –

If you try and fail, you can always get back up, dust yourself off, and keep moving forward. You can learn from your mistakes, knowing that each attempt was a learning experience.

So, if you’ve experienced any setbacks or failure lately, or if you’ve fallen off your proverbial horse, just remember good ole Abe Lincoln and his inspiring story of struggle. Remember how he conquered his countless defeats, and realize that you can do the same.

Then, dust yourself off and keep moving forward towards your biggest goals and dreams. Keep striving to achieve the impossible.

Till you reach your aims,

STRIVE

PS – If you enjoyed this Abraham Lincoln Success Story then you’ll also enjoy this article on inspiring short stories on success.