Some of the best start-up company stories that have ever been told began mostly in garages and bedrooms. The best stories begin with humble beginnings and patience, mixed with an exuberant amount of creativity, courage and kahunas. Sometimes, we ourselves find ourselves at a loss words when a business venture doesn’t go as planned or a suddenly you are unemployed. Does what kill you make you stronger? Are you pushing to reach your maximum potential? I would say if you aren’t, you should. The only competition you should face every morning is yourself. Get better at what you do. Do what you do best. Each and every one of these start-up companies started with something crazy and ended up with some other crazies buying a heck of a lot of it. Make way for incredible stories.
Walt Disney Company
Walt Disney grew up in stinkin’ Missouri, y’all. That’s not what you would assume if you’ve ever been to any of his phenomenal parks (Orlando is our favorite, of course!) you will know that this could only come from a mind of wanting something more. A mind wandering through life looking for more is bound to find it if it searches hard enough. Disney decided he would draw it. A retired neighbor ended up influenced Disney to pursue his passion for drawing by paying him to draw pictures of his horse. Can you imagine? Drawing pictures of Nelly allows Disney the catapult from which to gain absolute stardom? He later went on to learn how to make commercials, became a newspaper cartoonist, and as we all know and love, become the face of animation worldwide as the golden age of Disney is still going strong today.
Yankee Candle Company
At 16, Michael Kittredge from Massachusetts had a dilemma. He had nothing to buy his mama for Christmas. So, he melted some crayons laying around, 1969 was a crazy year, and some Yankee NEIGHBOR saw the candle and offered to purchase it (Do you see a trend starting?) I bet it didn’t smell like pumpkin spice, yet either! He used his profits to to double his original intention, by creating mum one and making another one he could sell (probably to yet another neighbor). From this man grew another strange American Dream, the brand Yankee Candle Company, which was just sold for just under 2 billion dollars last year. All it took for Mikey was some crayons, a lighter, and a dream.
Under Armour
Nowadays we don’t have to worry about running in just t-shirts. Now, we have all types and sizes of varieties of work-out gear attire to choose from, thanks in part largely to a former fullback from the University of Maryland. Kevin Plank was sick and tired of always having to bring extra shirts and swap them out in between plays underneath his jersey. He noticed something stranger, that those compression shorts he wore stayed completely dry. So, a plan erupted. In his grandmother’s basement he revolutionized the sportswear industry by creating a shirt using moisture-wicking synthetic fabric. Under Armour is now one of the most recognizable brands in the world, second only to fellow sports titan, Nike.
Under Armour is also recently gained new ground. They are now the official MLB team uniform maker and has an arsenal of awesome sports icons to choose from, like Steph Curry.
All of this has happened because some sweaty kid wanted a different way of living and chased his thoughts into reality.
Do you see a trend forming? Sell to your neighbors and friends first. See where it gets you. If they like your work, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes another fulfilled American Dream. YOU’VE GOT THIS.
Keep pushing and let stories like these inspire you to do what’s different. Go towards your end goal with a prize always in site. Do you want to build a business? Grow one? Do you want to quit and become a private investigator? Or have an awesome idea to upgrade boccie ball? Do you want to keep going even though you failed on your Firefighter exam? Do you want to throw your hands up and say ‘it is what it is’? Or do you shake off the dust, get back on your feet, and get to work? It’s up to you to decide.
Images were taken by Getty Images
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