Persevere Through Failure
By: Emily Kozel
Driving Through Failure
"failure is simply the opportunity to being again, this time more intelligently."- Henry Ford
Steve Jobs and Henry ford are both legacy's today, but before success there is failure. Henry ford invented the ford car. Steve Jobs invented the Apple computer and numerous other Apple products. Before Jobs had made the Apple computer, there where only dos computers. They were just used in the military. Fords situation was similar. Cars existed however they were only owned by wealthy people. Both Ford and Jobs took an already existing product and refined them for people to use. Fords' first company was called Detroit Automobile Company. That closed down in 1901. People thought that it was too much for a car with bad quality. Steve Jobs actually got kicked out of his own company! Unlike Ford. He wanted to make a product called "Lisa". He spent tons of money trying to make it. Finally people at his company kicked him out. Unlike Ford, Jobs company did not go out of business. Both Henry and Jobs made it past the rough times. They pushed through the failure to become the legacys they are today.
Sometimes You Need To Fail To Succeed
She is one of the most famous people in the world. People love her. But people used to not think of her like that.
As a child Oprah was abused. She ran away from home at the age of 13. She became pregnant at the age of 14 and lost her baby shorty after birth. She didn't let that get her down. Oprah moved to Tennessee, where her dad lived. When she was in high school she had a part time job at a radio station. She got a full time scholarship to Tennessee State and majored in Communications. But after she graduated, that is when the problems come in.
She landed a job at WJZ-TV as a co-anchor for the evening news. Anchors those days where mostly, if not all, older white men. Oprah and her partner did not get along well either. The man who was the main anchor did not like Oprah. The only reason they hired Oprah is because they wanted more viewers. They made a big deal about her coming, so more people would watch their station. When the first show aired with Oprah on it viewers where disappointed. Oprah had received a lot of hate and racial criticism. The ratings went down for WJZ-TV news in the evening. Oprah was doing a story about a family and how their house had burned down. After covering the story Oprah went to the family and gave them blankets and some necessities. Her boss at WJZ-TV said that is was breaking the rules to give emotional care to someone that she has done a story on. So, they decided to fire Oprah and she was told that she wasn't a good fit for television. Oprah did not give up. She kept working hard and she started to become more popular. She secured her own talk show and is now one of the most famous woman in the world because of it.
A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes
Walt's first cartoon series called Kansas City was not a success. At age 22 he went bankrupt. With only 40 dollars in his pocket he left on his way to Los Angeles. He had one bag with a few items. He went to become an actor. His brother Roy lived in LA and knew there where no animation headquarters there. From that thought Roy had decided that he would like to start an animation business together with his brother Walt. They made a show called Oswald and The Lucky Rabbit. Because they did not own the rights to the characters the entire organization was taken away from them. On a train ride back from New York Walt created Mickey Mouse. Which is now of course the icon of his whole gigantic company. A while after Walt created Mickey Mouse, he went on to produce Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. That movie went off with a bang. That was one of Walt's top selling movies.
Singing Through Failure
When Katy Perry was young she was born into a very religious family. She did not have much of a childhood. Her parents would only let them listen to religious music. Though from a young age Katy had a very obvious talent. She was an amazing singer as a child too. When she turned 13 she asked for a guitar for her birthday. She started writing songs, but having a very religious family she could only sing religious songs. She made a church album. Her label had dropped her. She didn't know there was other styles of music, until she went to her friends house and listened to a nonreligious song. That moment would have changed history.
Katy liked how the artist just let out all her feelings not caring what people thought. She started writing more songs about her life. At the age of 17 she moved out to LA to continue her career as a singer songwriter. She did not have much money and was counting on a record deal to give her money. Soon after moving she had got a deal with a record label. The people started to tell her who and what to be, but Katy did not want that. Katy thought her career was taking off, but in reality her career was going no where. That label dropped her too. She was not going to give up yet. She went to Capital Records and was able to secure a label deal there. They did not want Katy to be anyone but herself. Katy's first single came out and it was a hit. Ever since then Katy has been mooning her way up. She was the first woman to get 5 singles in a single album to hit number 1. Most people think Katy Perry was an overnight success, but she worked hard to get where she is today.
The Sharp Sting of Failure
Vincent Van Gogh is known for his famous paintings. Back when Van Gogh was alive, people did not like him. They thought he was crazy. He had not gotten along with anyone, and he would argue with people all the time. Most people knew him as the guy that cut off his ear, but what people do not know is why. Van Gogh had just moved to Paris where his brother Theo lived. Van Gogh lived in a small yellow house with Paul Gauguin, another fellow painter. Van Gogh and Gauguin got along great for a while. They would paint together, drink, and talk about what each others next paintings would be. But after a while Gauguin realized that he was not getting enough done when he was living with Van Gogh. Their friendship was failing. Vincent did have some different thoughts and feelings then Gauguin did. Gauguin was thinking about moving out. One night Vincent had asked if he was thinking of moving out, and of course Gauguin had said yes. Vincent was livid. He proceeded to tear out a piece of news paper that had said, "The Murder Took The Fight" "Biography.com" and handed it to Gauguin. Gauguin had gone outside for a walk when he heard the footsteps of Vincent. Gauguin turned around and saw Vincent holding a razor in one hand and part of his year in the other. Vincent had then went out to town and try to give his ear away. He was sent to the hospital later. Vincent Van Gogh was so upset with the failure of his friendship and roommate that he cut off his own ear.
Works Cited
"Henry Ford Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/henry-ford-9298747>.
"Katy Perry." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/katy-perry-562678>.
"Oprah Winfrey." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/oprah-winfrey-9534419>.
"Steve Jobs." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/steve-jobs-9354805>.
"Vincent Van Gogh." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/vincent-van-gogh-9515695>.
"Walt Disney." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 31 May 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/walt-disney-9275533>.