ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2008 > April > 07 > Entry
Do you have a career success story?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s always interesting to hear that a big celebrity got their start as a dog washer, or by delivering pizzas. Since fame and fortune can be such a fusion of talent and ambition mixed with the fate of being in the right place at the right time, it’s not really a huge shock to think that someone could make such a leap.
What impresses me more than that are top executives, entrepreneurs, and other accomplished professionals who started out with very humble beginnings, and are now regarded as experts in their fields and are respected by thousands. In many cases, they have battled the odds or have had to overcome unusual barriers to get where they are.
However, I the stories that I think are most worthy of celebration are the lesser-known, but no less impressive success stories of every day people.
It could be the former addict, who cleaned up her life and went on to finish college and to become the head of well-known philanthropic organization.
Or maybe it’s the former cashier who worked two jobs, raised four kids and managed to start a successful business.
But it could also be someone born into extreme poverty, who by all accounts should have become just another statistic; but instead he became the first college graduate in his family, and is now happily employed in a good-paying, secure and fulfilling career. To others, his job may seem ordinary, but he is living his own personal dream every day.
It’s clear that in order to appreciate where you’re going, you need to look back to where you’ve been. How far have you come?
How many of you have started out from your own humble beginnings, only to rise through the ranks to find your own personal success. What jobs have you worked to get yourself to where you are today? Do you know someone who’s beaten the odds to achieve their dream?
Comments
By Gary
April 8, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this
Success story? Yeah. I was a big success. I could make people laugh. I started out in open mics, and just destroyed entire rooms of people. I did my act in every venue in Atlanta. All Black comedy clubs. Red Lobsters, Coffee cafe’s. The Punchline. Eddie’s Attic, the Starbar. Funny Farm. Other comedians hated me, and would try to blackball me from gigs, but I persisted, even when the other comics stole much of my act and I was accused of being the hack. I simply wrote new material that was even funnier. Boy did that get their goats.
So now I am considered the best comedy writer in the world. I go onstage to try out new material, just to see if it’s funny, and to get that very short lived satisfaction of making people laugh.
I’ll be at the starbar in little five points through may.
By Cheryl Norwood
April 21, 2008 1:41 PM | Link to this
I started out life as a Navy brat, not a totally bad start but my parents divorced when I was five. I lived in public housing, cheap apartments and mobile homes throughout my childhood. I put myself through college with a mixture of grants, scholarships and working several part time jobs. I even worked my way through graduate school. Today I am a senior real estate paralegal. I make a good salary, love my job, and have a comfortable middle class lifestyle that might not impress anyone out there, but considering my roots this is a very good life! I can still think back to the nights we had nothing left to eat but dry cereal and we supplemented our diet with dandelion greens. The fact that I can go to the grocery store and buy whatever I want is still a real treat for me. I was the only in the family to graduate from college and only one of 3 out of 21 first cousins to graduate from college. When I was in graduate school I lived off of tuna and ramen noodles and ketchup packets from fast food places—I made “tomato soup” from them. I volunteered for university experiments and studies and sold blood. The economy may be tough but my early days make even these times seem pretty good!