9 Famous People Who Failed Before They Succeeded

Sometimes we believe that people who have achieved great things in life were born under a lucky star, but throughout history we can see that success is simply the result of perseverance and failure.

Today, we at Bright Side share with you a list of 10 successful people that will inspire you to believe in yourself, even if you fail.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for “not being creative enough,“ lost the rights to his first character, ”Oswald the Lucky Rabbit," and drove his first business into bankruptcy. When Disney started to think about doing a full-length animated movie, almost nobody else thought this was a good idea. He even had to mortgage his house and take out a loan to finish Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs because he ran out of money. When the movie was finally released, it was highly praised by critics and brought in $8 million, making it the most successful sound film made to that date.

Mary Kay Ash

After working for 25 years for the same company, Mary Kay made a choice to resign because the company did not accept her ideas. After retirement, she decided to write a book to assist women in business. The book turned into a perfect business plan, and Mary Kay founded the world-renowned cosmetics company that bears her name.

Thomas Alva Edison

Edison is the best example of how important self-confidence and perseverance are. He failed thousands of times to invent a commercially viable electric light bulb, but to him failure was just another step on the road to success: "I have not failed. I have just found 9,999 ways that do not work." Eventually, Edison produced a bulb that could glow for over 1,500 hours.

Steve Jobs

In 1985, Steve Jobs was fired from his own company (which he created with his friends) because he was considered "uncontrollable" and his projects — unviable. Steve returned in 1996 when Apple, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, decided to buy the new small company he had created. Since then, Apple became highly successful again.

Howard Schultz

Thanks to the persistence and tenacity of Howard, today we can enjoy delicious Starbucks coffee as we work at our computers. It was very difficult for Schultz to convince investors to write him a check. His idea was rejected 214 times before he found someone who believed in it.

The Beatles

The most famous quartet the world has ever known was rejected by many record companies in the beginning of their career. On January 1, 1962, The Beatles came to London and recorded 15 songs at Decca Records. But Decca rejected the band, making one of the biggest mistakes in music industry history.

Milton Hershey

Milton Hershey worked at a candy factory from a very young age. In 1876, at age 18, he opened his first candy shop, but it did not succeed. So Milton decided to work for another candy factory where he learned much more than he already knew. In 1883, Hershey opened another candy shop which quickly became a success. Ten years later he took a risk and sold his business to start the famous Hershey Chocolate Company.

Stephen King

This famous American writer began his career with a novel that was rejected 30 times, so he decided to throw it into the garbage. His wife pulled the manuscript out of the trash and convinced him to finish the novel. Finally, Carrie was accepted by a publishing house.

Stephen King’s books have sold more than 350 million copies, many of which (such as It and The Green Mile) have been made into movies.

Soichiro Honda

Born in 1906 in Japan, he spent his early childhood helping his father in their bicycle shop. At 18, Soichiro built his first race car; he started his own auto repair business at the age of 22; he later founded the company “Tokai Seiki.“ However, during WWII, his factory was destroyed by a bomber attack. Honda decided not to restore the factory and spent a year manufacturing alcohol in his garden, until one day he decided to use a radio generator to power his wife’s bicycle. Two years later, Soichiro Honda started producing a complete motorized bicycle, the ”A-Type," the first invention of Honda Motor Company.