Rocky Road to Success: Sean Combs Making – Records and breaking records
Sean Combs was born in a low-income housing project in New York City’s Harlem district. His father was murdered...
Archive for category: Rocky Road to Success
Rocky Road to Success: Janis Joplin – Singing for her soul
One would not expect an icon of the 1960s west coast rock and roll counter culture movement to hail...
Rocky Road to Success: Fred Smith – Betting on Himself
Fred Smith’s father also had a keen interest for ways to create business when it came to the basic...
Rocky Road to Success: Dolly Parton – A life-long song
Dolly Parton was born in rural Tennessee in 1946. She was brought up in the rustic Smoky Mountains in...
Rocky Roads to Success: Eleanor of Aquitaine – A Talent for Staying in Power
Eleanor of Aquitaine was born around the year 1122, as exact records of a birth that long ago do...
Rocky Roads to Success: Simon Cowell – Failure Was Not An Option
Born in London just before the rise of the swinging 1960s, Simon Cowell’s mother and father counted their professions...
Rocky Roads to Success: Michael Dell – Ahead of the Tech Curve
Michael Dell was born in Houston, Texas in 1965 to an upper middle class Jewish family. Even in...
Rocky Roads to Success: Robin Wright – Talent Strikes Twice
Robin Wright was born to non-entertainment industry parents in 1966 Texas. After a move to California however, she...
Rocky Roads to Success: Wes Bentley – The Path of Most Resistance
One could be forgiven for assuming that Wes Bentley, an actor who has already lived a dramatic Hollywood existence...
Rocky Roads to Success: Sacajawea – From Wronged to Strong
Sacajawea’s early life was fraught with peril. Born into a tribe of the Shoshone Native Americans, she was kidnapped...
Rocky Roads to Success: John Mackey – His Whole World
A seemingly go-with-flow attitude early in life couldn’t mask John Mackey’s inner success engine. Born in Houston, Texas to...
Rocky Roads to Success: Hillary Clinton – A Flourishing Ambition
Hillary Rodham Clinton was born into a middle class family in 1947 Chicago. Clinton’s parents were extremely supportive of...
Rocky Road to Success: Dabo Swinney – A Life of Good Play-Calling
Dabo Swinney is a collegiate American football coach who took a long-shot team to the national championship in 2015....
Rocky Road to Success: Elizabeth Taylor – Shine Bright Like A Diamond
Elizebeth Taylor was born in a suburb of London during the all-too-short years of peace between World War I...
Rocky Road to Success: J.R.R. Tolkien – Fantasy is Reality
Born in South Africa to upwardly mobile parents, thanks to his father’s promising career in banking, J.R.R. Tolkien was...
Rocky Road to Success: Chelsea Handler – A Handle on Success
It’s a bit difficult to be noticed when you’re the youngest of six kids and everyone in your neighbourhood...
Rocky Road to Success – Jon Cryer: Nobody’s Second Choice
Jon Cryer was born into an east coast family that had an appetite for show business. They had been...
Rocky Road to Success – Jennifer Hudson: A Girl Dreaming
Jennifer Hudson spent her childhood in and around the Church, constantly surrounded by family and friends. Born in a...
Rocky Road to Success – Henry Miller: Owning his Opportunity
A true American wanderer and success story, Henry Miller was actually of German descent. He was born in Germany...
Rocky Road to Success – Adele: Changing to Stay the Same
Adele began her singing life when she was only four years old, after already having lived through hard times...
Rocky Roads to Success – Yasiel Puig: No Permission Needed to Win
Yasiel Puig began his dream in humble environs in early 1990s Cuba. While his father was working in a...
Rocky Roads to Success – Rosalia Mera: Designs on Success
Rosalia Mera was not meant to be a success. She was a female born in Spain at the end...
Rocky Roads to Success – Ludwig van Beethoven: Hearing Between the Notes
At the time of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth in late 1770, many children died in infancy. Indeed, four of...
Rocky Roads to Success – Carrie Fisher: Forcing A Balance
Carrie Fisher was born into wealth, fame and privilege; she went on to international acclaim and superstardom with her...
Rocky Road – Tyrann Mathieu: Breaking Away
Born in the most famous area of American bayou country, New Orleans was the setting for Tyrann Mathieu’s rise,...
Rocky Road – Stevie Nicks: A Vocal Success
Stephanie ‘Stevie’ Nicks was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1948. However during her upbringing Nicks was a child of...
Rocky Road – Michael Sam: Facing Forward
Before Michael Sam entered high school, five of his seven siblings were either dead or in jail. In the...
Rocky Road – Louisa May Alcott: Written for the Future
Born and raised in the early 1800s in American New England, Louisa May Alcott spent her childhood in what...
Rocky Road: Ryan Tedder – The Man with the Music
Ryan Tedder is an Oklahoma native, born in Tulsa and raised there, as well as Colorado later in his...
Rocky Road: Kalpana Saroj – Arranging her Own Future
Raised in Vidarbha, India, Kalpana Saroj lived her young life as any normal child would: she played with other...
Rocky Road: Jarryd Hayne – Cross and Conquer
Born in the late 1980s in Sydney, Australia, Jarryd Hayne is a modern day global folk hero. But he...
Rocky Road: Harriet Beecher Stowe – Spoken Out
Harriet Beecher Stowe was born during the infancy of the United States. In 1811 Connecticut, there wasn’t much room...
Ava DuVernay: producing history
Ava DuVernay was raised in the infamous city of Compton, near Los Angeles, California. Growing up she...
Ellen DeGeneres: funny on the up
Ellen DeGeneres spent most of her formative years in a place not many would expect: the Southern United States....
Jesse Ventura: a better body of work
Born in Minneapolis to parents who had each seen service in the Second World War, Jesse Ventura could be...
Winston Churchill: no impediment to liberty
During the first part of his childhood, Winston Churchill lived in Dublin, Ireland with his mother and father, who...
Steve Jobs – a keen intellect and visionary
Steven Paul Jobs was born with vision, the ability to see what is possible through effort. His birth parents...
Mary Kay Ash – pioneering female entrepreneur
Mary Kay Ash was born in deep south Texas in the early 20th century. Ash’s mother, a nurse and...
John Rzeznik – creativity triumphs adversity
Raised in upstate New York, John Rzeznik had four older sisters whom he would eventually depend on for everything....
Martha Stewart. Domestic goddess
Martha Stewart – domestic goddess A true ‘Jane of all trades’ during a time when women were raised to live more...
Rachael Ray Food, Life and Happiness
“I like feeling like an ox at the end of the day. I like working hard” Rachael Ray’s early...
Blake Mycoskie A Goal of Giving Back
“We are all human beings and I believe that we all should have equal rights” Early life for Blake...
Arthur Blank The Blueprint to Success
“Passion and standing up for things can help create a sense of unity” Arthur Blank was born into a...
Arianna Huffington – A Super-Short Celebration Of Success by The Best You
Start up and stay there – You have to do what you dream of doing even while you’re afraid...
Jay-Z: Empire State of Mind
“I’m far from being god, but I work god damn hard.” Hailing from the projects of New...
Celine Dion: A Voice for the Ages
“I want to be more successful as a mother than I am in show business.” Celine Dion...
Becky Hammon – Digging In for the Win
“It’s a chance for girls to play and a chance for us to do something different.” Becky...
How Arnie Got To The Top by The Best You
“The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that. “Early and often” is...
Reba McEntire: A Rural Route to Success
“To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.” Born...
Michelle Mone: From Drop-Out to All-In
“I will never give up. I never have, even when times have been terrible.” As a young...
Leonardo Del Vecchio: The Vision to Achieve
“I am proof that you can you make money in Italy and be honest.” He was given...
Ingvar Kamprad: A Mind Made for Business
“Our idea is to serve everybody, including people with little money.” Ingvar Kamprad grew up about as...
Casting Queen – Profile Of Hollywood Casting Queen Marion Dougherty by The Best You
“Casting is a game of gut instinct. You feel their talent and potential in the pit of your...
Dorothy Hodgkin: Molecular Mapper
“I was captured for life by chemistry and by crystals.” Born in 1910 to parents that were...
Suze Orman: Financing The Future
“Many people are in the dark when it comes to money, and I’m going to turn on...
Slash: Creating Rock Heaven On Earth
“I had no aspirations to be a musician, but I picked up a guitar for two seconds...
Elon Musk: Post-Modern Genius
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour.”...
How Anita Roddick Made Trade Fairer
“If I can’t do something for the public good, what the hell am I doing?” Born...
Shaquille O’Neal Dreaming Big Since He Was Little
“I never worry about the problem. I worry about the solution.” A basketball legend was born...
Magnus Carlsen Checkmate Master
“Without the element of enjoyment, it is not worth trying to excel at anything.” Born in Norway...
Sarah Jessica Parker: Success and The City
“When it comes to life and love, why do we believe our worst reviews?” It’s fitting that...
Robert Downey Jr – Down But Never Out
“The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.” Born in New York City...
Park Geun-Hye: A Tradition All Her Own
“I will end the history of division and conflict through reconciliation and fairness.” At first glance, following...
Sylvester Stallone: One Fighting Chance by The Rocky Road To Success
“Success is usually the culmination of controlling failure.” Born in 1946, Sylvester Stallone has been called Sly...
David Weir: Wheels Up by Rocky Road To Success
“I have never seen myself as disabled” David Weir was born with a barrier: from birth, he...
Andrew Carnegie: Founding The Future
While he didn’t get to live to see the future for which he paved the way, one imagines...
Catherine the Great – Empress of the People
The life and rise of Catherine the First of Russia is an improbable tale of a peasant who...
Maria das Gracas Silva Foster: Energy to Accomplish
From humble beginnings to being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world, Maria das...
Jim Carrey: Long Climb to Acclaim
From living in a van to the heights of Hollywood, Jim Carrey has seen every socio-economic level. Born...
The Rocky Road to success. Ruth First: An Apartheid Perspective
Ruth First was raised in apartheid South Africa, but despite being white, she and her family were opposed...
The Rocky Road to success. Michael J. Fox: Nothing’s Gonna Stop Him Now
Michael J. Fox was born in Canada to an actress and a policeman. Fox landed a role in...
Jane Austen: A Modern Woman in the Old World
There are many who think that Jane Austen would have been a fan of some of the better...
Howard Schultz: Making More Than Bucks At Starbucks
Born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, Howard Schultz was born to working-class parents. Schultz spent his youth...
Rocky Road: Valentina Tereshkova
The highest flying seagull It is not often the case that a mill worker not only dreams of the...
How The Boss Of Ann Summers Changed Women’s Sex Lives – Jacqueline Gold
The UK’s 16th wealthiest woman has been dubbed “the Queen of Sex” and “Princess of Pleasure”, but Jacqueline...
The Amazing True Story Of Mahatma Gandhi
How can one man bring down an empire that ruled one-fifth of the world? Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi did...
Dame Evelyn Glennie – Good Vibrations
Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in 20th Century Western Society to make a full-time living as...
Steve Jobs: The Elements of a Genius
Born to unmarried college graduates in a judgemental era and then adopted by an accountant and carpenter, Steve...
Vince Lombardi: The Greatest American Football coach
Vince Lombardi is arguably the greatest American Football coach of all time, and is on the short list...
Rocky Road: James Dyson – An Eye for Innovation
Despite his convention-defying appliances scooping him a cool £206 million in one year alone, James Dyson does not...
Oprah Winfrey: The Support That Made Her Shine
When she was 13 years old, Oprah Winfrey ran away from home to escape the sexual abuse she...
J K Rowling’s Inspiring Story by The Best You
J K Rowling’s story is a great example of how inspiration can be vital when the chips are...
The Dalai Lama’s Rocky Road To Freedom by The Best You
Tenzin Gyatso, Tibet’s 14th Dalai Lama was recognised in 1937 at the age of two as the reincarnation of...
Rocky Road: Stephanie Kwolek
Born in 1923 in Pennsylvania, USA, Stephanie Kwolek had no intention of being a world-changing chemist. She...
Rocky Road: Wangari Maathai
Born as Wangari Muta in Kenya in 1940, none could have known of the lifelong struggle for...
Rocky Road: Andrew Carnegie
A tough life can create a habit of hard work. Andrew Carnegie was born in poverty in...
The Inspiring Life Of Helen Keller
Early childhood and illness Born in the US in 1880, Helen Keller was struck blind and deaf by a...
Nikolai Tesla – The Amazing Life Of A True Genius by The Best You
Born in Croatia in 1856 to an illiterate mother and a priest, Nikola Tesla was no doubt a genius....
Marie Curie – A determined pioneer
The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only...
The True Story of Soichiro Honda – The Japanese Henry Ford
The son of a blacksmith born in Shizuoka, Japan in 1906, Soichiro Honda spent his early years with his...
The Secrets Of Bill Gates’s Success
Competitive and Precise Born in 1955, the founder of software giant Microsoft has a staggering personal fortune estimated...
The Rocky Road to Success Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin: Curiosity and Analysis
Not a household name, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin is one of the unsung heroes of 20th century science. Born in...