S2 – EP. 006 – Phil Knight

Introduction

Have you ever heard of a little company called, “NIKE!” Nike is the world’s largest supplier and manufacturer of athletic shoes, apparel, and other sports equipment.  Last year alone, Nike made over $34 Billion in revenue or sales worldwide. And, they own more than 26% of the global athletic footwear and apparel market. With over 74,000 employees worldwide, they spend over a billion dollars on advertising in the US alone.  How is that for a lofty dream started by a guy who started selling running shoes out of the trunk of his car!

And that guy is none other than Phil Knight, the co-founder, and brainchild of Nike. Prior to stepping down in 2016, Knight served as the company’s CEO and chairman.  He is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.  He also owns a film production company called Liaka. Currently, Knight has a net worth of over $30 Billion.   

Listen to the podcast and learn how Phil Knight created Nike against some incredible odds. Most people would quit but Knight teaches the world how to overcome test and trail to build the largest global athletic footwear and apparel company.

Success Principles

Here are a few of the success points, I learned from Knight:

Using perseverance and determination to overcoming obstacles:

1)       Knight wanted to start a shoe company, but he had no money to start a company.  He also wanted the shoes to be manufactured in Japan. He didn’t even know of an athletic shoe manufactory in Japan.  Most importantly, he had no money or job. Oh and then there is the icing on top — And NOBODY believed in his dream except his professor, not even his father.  

2)      Gets to Japan and he doesn’t know any shoe manufacturers.

3)      Two months after the company is formed and he has been selling shoes, he received a letter from some coach claiming that he was now the exclusive distributor of Tiger shoes and ordered him to stop poaching immediately.  

And so much more… 

 

 

S2 – EP. 005 – Elon Musk

Introduction

Maybe you haven’t heard it yet! Elon Musk is the official real-life Iron Man. He is the co-founder, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla, Inc., CEO and Lead Designer of SpaceX, and the Chairman of SolarCity.  Musk is an entrepreneur, engineer, inventor, businessman, and investor.  He is listed on the Forbes’ list of The World’s Most Powerful People and he, currently, has a net worth of $20.8 billion. Now, how is that for a guy that came to America with nothing.

Interesting fact: For those of you interested, Elon Musk works 12 hours a day every day and sleeps between 6 to 6.5 hours per night. The average American work about 8.8 hours a day excluding weekends according to the US Bureau of Labor Statics.  Prelaunch of any one of his company’s Musk worked 100+ hours per week.  In order to survive those types of hours, Musk drunk 8 diet cokes and several large cups of coffee.

Early Life

Now, let’s discuss Elon Musk’s early life. He was born on June 28, 1971, to parents Maye and Erron Musk in Pretoria, Transvaal of South Africa. Musk’s mother, Maye, was a model and nutritionist from Canada.  His father, Errol, is an electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor from South Africa. Musk is the oldest of three siblings.

As a child, Musk was an avid reader.  Starting around age 10, he became interested in computing.  When Musk was around 12 years old, he taught himself computer programming, created a video game, Blastar, and sold it for $500 to a magazine called PC and Office Technology.

As a result of being bullied throughout his childhood, Musk tried to stay out of the other children’s way and didn’t make many friends. I’d imagine that because he didn’t make many friends that it caused him to read more books.  As a result of reading books, Musk formed a philosophy about work.  At some point during his childhood, he read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series.  Musk took to heart the lesson he learned from those books – “you should try to take the set of actions that are likely to prolong civilization, minimize the probability of a dark age and reduce the length of a dark age if there is one.”

During his early years, Musk also played and mastered chess. “He’s able to see things more clearly in a way that no one else I know of can understand,” says his brother, Kimbal. He discusses his brother’s love of chess in their earlier years, and adds, “There’s a thing in chess where you can see 12 moves ahead if you’re a grandmaster. And in any particular situation, Elon can see things 12 moves ahead.”

Just before he turned 18 years old, he left South Africa and headed to for Canada.  Musk left South Africa because of its mandate for mandatory military service for all white males. And he did not believe in or want to take a part in the military’s mission in stomping out of the National Movement against apartheid that was occurring in South Africa at the time.

In Canada, he attended Queen’s University.  After about two years, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania.  From the University of Pennsylvania, he earned two bachelor degrees one in physics and the other in economics.  After obtaining his degree in economics, Musk enrolled at Stanford University and began a Ph.D. in applied physics and material science in 1995.  After two days, however, he dropped out of the program to become an entrepreneur and start a company. He saw the internet exploding in San Francisco and he wanted to be a part of that movement.

From Zero to Hero

Just after arriving at Stanford, Musk determines that the internet is booming and that he should become a part of this movement right now.  He took steps to meet with school officials to make sure that if the business went south that he could still come back to school.  Letting the business go south, however, was not in the plans.

S2 – EP. 004 – Michael Jordan – “How to Become a Legend in Your Lifetime!”

Introduction

Michael Jordan “MJ” is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (“NBA”), a businessman, Olympic Gold Medalist, actor and former NBA Professional Basketball Player.  Additionally, he owns seven restaurants and a Nissan automotive dealership. He has been and is called the greatest basketball player of all time.  Formerly, he played with the Chicago Bulls for 15 seasons and the Washington Wizards for 2 seasons. Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to win six NBA championships and was awarded the league MVP five times.  Additionally, he still carries endorsement deals from Nike, Hanes, Upper Deck, 2K Sports, and Gatorade.  Today, Jordan has a net worth of $1.39 Billion and is the only professional athlete to ever become a billionaire.

Early Life

On February 17, 1963, Michael Jordan was born on to the parents of Deloris and Michael Jordan Sr. in Brooklyn NY.  Deloris was a bank teller and Michael Sr. was a supervisor.  They met in high school and soon after graduation married.  Jordan is the fourth of five of the couple’s children.  When Jordan was around 2 years old, the family moved from Brooklyn, NY to Wilmington, North Carolina.

From an early age, Jordan’s father stated that Jordan was always competitive and that he loved to win. Frequently stating that his son had a competition problem and that he was always trying to outdo himself.  Jordan’s first love baseball not basketball. Jordan learned baseball from his father.  They often played catch in the yard and enjoyed watching baseball games together.  Around the age of 12 years old, Jordan started playing baseball with the Dixie Youth Association, and was award North Carolina’s “Mr. Baseball Award.” Wanting to follow in his big brother’s footsteps, he, however, started playing basketball.

In middle school, Jordan received awards for both baseball and basketball including Outstanding Athlete.  In high school, Jordan played baseball, basketball, and football.  As a baseball player, he was an outstanding player. He played in the positions of pitcher and center field.  The fire for basketball, however, had not been lite until Jordan tried out as a 5’ 11” sophomore for the varsity team and didn’t make it.  Generally sophomores did not play on the varsity team, however, a sophomore who’s 6” 7’ stature was selected and it was not Jordan.  When Jordan saw the list without his name on it, it is reported that he ran home and cried and determined that he would show them and have his revenge. Jordan started getting to school early in the morning and he stayed late until the school closed to practice.  While his name was not on the varsity list, he did make the junior varsity list.  As a sophomore, he scored 30 pts a game.  He even had a couple of 40 pt games, but they never called him to the varsity team.  So Jordan continued his hard work ethic during fall, winter, spring, and summer.  After his sophomore year, Jordan also quit playing baseball and football so that he could focus all of his attention on basketball.

When Jordan returned to school in the fall, he was no longer 5’11”, but 6” 3’.  During his junior year, not only did he make varsity but he scored 35 points his first game.  He averaged 25 points per game and was invited to the Howard Garfinkel’s Five-Star Basketball Camp. College scouts watched Jordan dominate the court and North Carolina University signed him during that camp before his senior year.  As a senior, Jordan led his team to become No. 1 in the state of North Carolina but didn’t win a championship.  The summer following he attended the McDonald’s All American Camp and scored the winning basket for his team.  On that day, Jordan set a new record score of 30 points which still exists and became McDonald’s All-American High School MVP.

S2 – EP. 003 – Martha Stewart – “Turning Your Passion into Profit!”

Introduction

Martha Stewart is the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.  Today she is the current Chief Creative Officer and Director and sits on the Board of Directors for Sequential Brands Group, Inc. She is a self-made millionaire, businesswoman, entrepreneur, author, and TV personality.  Stewart has written a number of books including cookbooks, entertaining books, and business books. She publishes the Martha Stewart Living magazine.  And she currently hosts Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, Martha Stewart Bakes, and Martha and Snoop’s Potluck.  Martha Stewart’s net worth is currently around $350 million, but it may be as much as $650 million. And, I say that because she was worth $650 million in 2015 before the sale of her company. Like many business owners, her net worth may be tied to her stock value.

Early Life

On August 4, 1941, Martha Helen Kostyra was born to the parents of Edward and Martha Kostyra in Jersey City, New Jersey. She was the second child of six siblings. The family moved from Jersey City to Nutley, New Jersey when Martha was about 3 years old.  The Kostyras were a middle-class family and of polish-catholic heritage.  Stewart’s father was a pharmaceutical salesperson, and her mother was a school teacher.  Some reports suggest that Stewart’s parents got married after they found out Stewart’s mother was pregnant.  Growing up, Stewart’s father was very strict and a perfectionist.  He instilled the value of self-sufficiency into to Stewart and her siblings and told her that she could be anything that she put her mind to do.  As a member of the family, Stewart learned various household chores.  Her mother taught her about sewing and preparing meals.  From her father, she learned a passion and love for gardening which passed on his knowledge and expertise to his daughter.  She started working with him in the garden around the early age of three.  While visiting her grandparents during the summers, Stewart learned how to can and preserve foods.  This did not work for Stewart growing up, this was more like family time and working together.

Starting at around the age of 10 years old, Stewart began taking babysitting jobs. But she was no ordinary baby sister, Stewart would also organize fantastic signature birthday parties.  Around 15 years old, Stewart began modeling in fashion shows as well as television and print advertisements.  While other girls her age were still babysitting, Stewart was enjoying an exciting and lucrative modeling job.

After high school, Stewart attended college and at the same time continued to work as a model to supplement her academic scholarship.  In 1963, she graduated with a double major in History and Architectural History.   It was while in college that she met Andrew Stewart.  Andrew Stewart was a young law student at Yale Law School.  In July 1961, they married while Martha Stewart was still in college.  Upon graduation, Stewart continued working as a model making $50/hour. During 1961, $50 per hour was a lot of money. Who are we kidding, it is a lot of money now for some people!

She would continue modeling until the birth of her daughter, Alexis.  In 1967, after the birth of her daughter, Stewart would go to work in her step-father profession as a stockbroker at Monness, Williams, and Sidel.

From this career, Stewart would learn a lot about the does and don’t about the business including never borrowing debt, never growing too big or too fast, and taking care of your customer because they are your company’s lifeblood.  Over the years as a stockbroker, she would have court-side seats of some of the largest company failures and successes. Stewart was ambition and quickly learned her new trade earning her a six-figure salary within a year.

From Zero to Hero

In 1972, however, Stewart and her family moved to Westport,

S2 – EP. 002 – Warren Buffett, How to Become a Billionaire 101!

Introduction

Warren Buffett is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, an American multinational conglomerate holding company that owns more than 60 companies.  Buffet, frequently called “The Oracle of Omaha” and a “financial genius”, is a businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is also one of the top three richest people in the United States and top five richest people in the World. With a net worth of over $90 Billion in January 2018, he is considered to be one of the greatest and most successful investors in the world.  And, Buffett has committed to giving away 99% of his fortune and already he has given away about $32 Billion.

Early Life

On August 30, 1930, Warren Edward Buffet was born in Omaha, Nebraska to the parents of Leila, a stay-at-home mom, and Howard Buffet, a stockbroker and future 4-term U.S. congressman. He was born at the beginning of the Great Depression hit and it would last for the first 9 years of Buffet’s life and shape who he was as a person.  Buffett was the middle child and the only son of the Buffets.

When Buffett describes his childhood, he leans back in his chair as if he was thinking about the grand and great old times. He says, “I hit the lottery when it came to the gene pool.  I mean I could not ask for a better father.” Buffett looked up to his father and you may even say that Buffett got into the investment business because of his father.  His father was a stockbroker and later sold stocks for a living.  When mentioning his mother, however, Buffett remembers the frequent and intense headaches that she experienced.  In public, his mother was the model churchgoer, wife, and mother.  She was always happy and ready to help anyone.   Along with such “headaches,” however, she became very short tempered with her children.  She often tormented and mentally abused them by calling them names, berating them, and criticized their every moment while their father was away at work.  As Buffett grew older, he found peace by hang out at friends’ homes or staying away from home until his father returned from work.

As a child, perhaps even as an adult, Buffett never heard the words “I love you” from his parents. He was also never kissed or hugged. His parents did not believe in emotions or feelings. They were not allowed in the Buffett family. His parents believed in politics, money, and philosophy, but not LOVE. While his parents believed they were devout Christians, Buffett could not believe that there God existed when he had experienced such unloving parents.

Right from a young age, Buffett was a natural businessman.  Starting around the age of 6 years old, Buffett wearing a money changer, started going door to door and selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola, newspapers, and magazines. His grandfather owned a local store. Buffett would obtain products from his grandfather, sell it to his neighbors, and split the profit with his grandfather 50/50.  He enjoyed collecting things: bottle caps, coins, and stamps. In fact, Buffet loved anything that involved collecting, counting, and memorizing.

By the time he was ten, Buffett wasn’t just selling newspapers, although, he did that for a long time.  He took a lot of odd jobs, like selling peanuts and popcorn at the University of Nebraska football games, getting old race track tickets and cashing them in, or selling golf balls.

Also, the year that Buffett turned 10 years old, his father took young him on an East Coast trip.  This was a trip that Howard Buffett took each of his children when they turned 10 years old. For his trip, Buffett decided that he wanted to see three things: Scott Stamp & Coin Company, Lionel Train Company, and the New York Stock Exchange. While down on Wall Street, Howard Buffett and son visited Goldman Sachs, one of the largest brokerage firms in American, and met the Senior Partner, Sidney Weinberg.

Every day, I hear many people tell people to quit their job and start living their dream. That could be some of the best advice for some people. I mean if you have prepared to start a new company or a new career and saved some money so that you can quit your job. OR, that could be the worst advice that I have ever heard, if you have no plan, no money and no idea of how you are going to pay your bills.  Let’s be honest, you need money to live, pay your bills, to eat, to provide shelter for yourself, for clothes and pay your bills (oh, wait, I said that one already). If you want to be an entrepreneur or looking for a new career, this message is for you.

What does leverage your assets or skills mean?

Well leverages your assets means use whatever skills, strengths, or job that you have to now get the job, career or business you want in the future or tomorrow.

Listen to the Tip of the Week 1 to learn more! Enjoy my friends!

S2 EP. 001  – Dr. David Yonggi Cho

 

Introduction

Dr. David Cho is the co-founder of the largest church in the world with over 1 million members before Dr. Cho retired in 2015 and still currently holds over 480,000 members.  Dr. Cho has also written several books including “Successful Home Cell Groups” and “The 4th Dimension.”

Early Life

David Yonggi Cho was born on February 14, 1936, as Paul Yungi Cho, to parents Cho Doo-chun (father) and Kim Bok-sun (mother). Cho was the oldest of 9 siblings, five brothers and four sisters. His family owned and operated a small business that produced socks and gloves.  The family religion was Buddhism, and Cho, along with his brothers and sisters, was raised and trained as a Buddhist.

In 1950, his father, Doo-Chun Cho, ran for seat in Congress and failed.  The campaign was very expensive and the family struggled because of it.  To make matters worse, within a month after the election, the Korean War broke out and, within three months, the family business failed and went bankrupt.  Because of his family’s financial situation, Cho had to enroll in an inexpensive technical high school instead of a college preparatory high school so that he could immediately find work after school, despite having finished middle school with honors.

It was during this time, in high school, that Cho began to frequency visit a nearby army base where he befriended several soldiers.  They taught him how to speak English and he mastered it very quickly.  Cho spoke English so well that he became an interpreter for the commander of the army base and his high school principal.

In 1953, it was in high school that Cho, at 17 years old, was injured in the chest while exercising.  Despite the fact that he grew weaker, he was unable to obtain medical help because he was poor and the Korean War was still going on.  Later that year, he was diagnosed with a terminal case of tuberculosis and was close to dying. A young Christian girl, who was a friend of his sister, visited Cho on his death bed.  Cho’s Buddhist parents had forbidden her to visit their home, however, she persisted.  She prayed for Cho’s healing, preached the gospel to him and gave him a Bible.  Soon Cho became a Christian and his health greatly improved. Without any doubt, he contributed his healing to the Lord Jesus Christ and God.

After his conversion, Cho met a missionary of the Assemblies of God church denomination, named Ken Tice. Cho started interpreting Tice’s sermons for him. This meeting was also beneficial because it allowed Cho to meet Lou Richards who taught the Bible to Cho. From Richards, Cho learned and read about divine healing. Upon realizing that he previously lacked the faith to be healed, Cho repented and fasted for three days. During his fasting time, Cho received a vision from God of Christ.  From the vision, Cho believed God called him to be devoted fulltime to ministry to preach the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

In 1956, at the age of 21 years old, he received a full scholarship to Full Gospel Bible College, a Bible school owned by Assemblies of God denomination.  It was during his time at Full Gospel that he meet his class mate, a former registered nurse, co-founder of Yoido Full Gospel Church, and future mother-in-law, Jashil Choi.  Since Cho still suffered from TB, Choi was very kind and took care of him.  While his condition continued to improve, Cho was never cured of TB since TB can be cured only managed by modern medicine.  Despite his illness, he continued to do well in school and graduated in March 1958.

From Zero to Hero

From the very beginning, Cho’s objective was to build the largest church in Korea.  With unshakable faith, he did it. He built a church from 0 to over 1 Million registered members with over 800,000 people attending his weekly Sunday services.  He prayed, set goals, and executed a well thought-out plan.

S1 EP. 009  – Oprah Winfrey

 

Introduction

Oprah Winfrey is a media mogul, producer, talk show host, actress, author and co-author of 9 books, entrepreneur and philanthropist. She was the television host of the popular TV program, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” which ran from 1986 to 2011 for 25 seasons.  Currently, she is the brilliant mastermind behind a billion dollar empire.  Winfrey is the owner and founder of the TV network OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Harpo, Inc. which includes O magazine and book club.  Winfrey is also a partner of Oxygen and part owner of Weight Watchers and its brand ambassador.  In previous years, Forbes’ has listed her as The Most Influential Person In The World, The richest African American In the World, and The Richest Women in the World. Winfrey was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.  Today, she has a net worth of $3 Billion.

Early Life

Oprah Winfrey’s life is a life-story of triumph in the face of overwhelming odds, difficulties and adversities.  Her story is truly a story that exemplifies that you can become anything that you want to become.

Oprah Winfrey was born as on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi to the unmarried parents Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey.  Winfrey was named after a biblical character named “Orpah” in the Book of Ruth, however, either a misspelling in her name occurred in the hospital or everyone had difficulty and mispronounced her name calling her “Oprah” instead of “Orpah.” Whatever the case may be, “Oprah” stuck.  When Winfrey was born, Vernita, her mother, was a teenager. Winfrey’s father Vernon was a member of the Armed Forces.

Shortly after Winfrey’s birth, Vernita traveled north to look for work, leaving Winfrey to live with her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee on a rural farm.  Her mother would eventually find work as a household maid in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but Winfrey spent her first six years of life living with her grandmother.  They were so poor that she often wore dresses made of potato sacks. While living on the farm, Winfrey’s only friends were farm animals whom she would played with and often gave them parts in her plays and games.  Despite being poor, her grandmother taught her to read and write before the age of 3 years old often having Winfrey recite Bible verses and speaking in the local church, where Winfrey was nicknamed, “The Little Preacher!”  When Winfrey attended kindergarten, she wrote her teacher a note on the first day explaining that she didn’t belong in kindergarten, she belonged in first grade. So, she was promoted to first grade and at the end of the year she was promoted to third grade.

Around the age of six years old, Winfrey moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to live with her mother. This turned out to be a tragic decision Winfrey because her mother worked all the time just to make ends meet and left young Winfrey home unsupervised.  Later, from age 9 to 13, Winfrey would be molested by her cousin and later for many years by other family members, mother’s boyfriends, or family friends.  Until she was 24 years old, Winfrey never told anyone about the raps and when she did her family did not believe her.  When Winfrey was twelve years old, she was sent to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee.  There she began making speeches at small gatherings and churches. It was during this time that Winfrey earned $500 for a speech and determined that she wanted to be “paid to talk.”  This time of peace was short lived, however, Vernita became pregnant and had Winfrey sent back to Milwaukee to help take care of the new baby.  Because of the abuse, Winfrey tried to run away from home at 13 years old. However, she was sent to a detention home.  The home turned Winfrey away because there were no empty beds.  She returned home, but began to argue and steal from her mother and hang out with older boys.

S1 EP. 008  – Jeff Bezos

 “Our Mission is to be earth’s most customer-centric company!”

Introduction

Jeff Bezos is a world-renown visionary leader, an American entrepreneur, business mogul and co-founder, chairman and CEO of Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company on the internet, as well as the world’s largest provider of cloud services.   Amazon sells a wide range of retail products sold by both Amazon and other 3rd party sellers and retailers, and also provides video and audio streaming for users.  Bezos is also the owner of the Washington Post and CEO of the company Blue Origin, a rocket company that has successfully designed and launched the world’s first reusable rocket. With a Net Worth of $90 Billion, Bezos IS NOW the richest person in the world and currently ranked 14th on Forbes’ Most Powerful Person in the World!

Early Life

Jeff Bezos was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as “Jeffery Preston Jorgensen.” to the teenage parents of Ted Jorgensen and Jacklyn Gise.  His parent were two teenager that met and dated in high school, Ted was 18 and Jacklyn was 16.  When they found out that Jacklyn was pregnant, they flew from Texas to Mexico to get married where Bezos was born when Jacklyn was 17.  Afterwards, Ted began drinking too much and the two struggled financially as Ted only earned about $1.25 while working for a retail store.  With such pressures on a young couple, it is no surprise that less than two years later, however, the pair would also divorce, when Bezos was just 17 months old.

When Bezos was around 4, his mother, Jacklyn met and married Miguel “Mike” Bezos, a Cuban immigrant who moved to the US when he was 15 years old in 1962.  Mike worked his way through college majoring in engineering at the University of New Mexico.  After marrying Jacklyn, Mike, his step-father would also adopt Bezos and give him his last name. After the wedding, the trio moved to Houston, Texas where Mike worked as an engineer for Exxon and home to Bezos’ mom. Later when Bezos was a teenager, Bezos and his family would move from Houston, Texas to Miami, Florida.

From the very beginning, Bezos showed an interest in scientific and entrepreneur ventures. For example, when he was a toddler he tried to take apart his crib with a screwdriver because he wanted to sleep in a regular bed.  Later, as a young boy, he would invent a solar cooking device out of an umbrella and tinfoil.  And, as a teen, he developed an alarm system to entrap his siblings in order to give himself some privacy.  After spending a miserable summer working at McDonald’s as a teen, Bezos, together with his girlfriend, started the Dream Institute, a 10-day summer camp for kids. They charged $600 a kid and managed to sign up six students.

With an entrepreneurial spirit heart, Bezos also excelled inside the classroom.  While in high school, he received straight As, became valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar.  He was also accepted early admission into Princeton University.

From Zero to Hero

While attending Princeton, Bezos majored in computer science and electrical engineering.  After graduating from Princeton, Bezos worked on Wall Street at Fitel, Bankers Trust and D. E. Shaw & Co.  While working at the investment firm D.E. Shaw, he became the youngest senior vice president in only four years in 1992. Afterwards, Bezos met and married his wife Mackenzie.  It was about a year later after his marriage to Mackenzie when Bezos was 30 years old, while still working at D.E. Shaw that Bezos got his first idea about Amazon in 1994.

In 2010 Princeton address, Bezos said, “I came across the fact that Web usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles — something that simply couldn’t exist in the physical world...

LeBron James – “I want to be the greatest of all time!”

Introduction

He was on the covers of both Sport Illustrated and ESPN before he was even 18. They said that he was the greatest high school basketball player that anyone had ever seen. At age 18, they said that he was even a better basketball player than even Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant at his same age.  They said that he had it all including an intelligent passer, strong shooter and a born leader. These words were spoken of and about none other than LeBron James.

Andrew Carnegie once said that anybody could be a genius and that a genius was someone with an obsessional desire to do some one thing and do it well, plus the willingness to act on one’s own initiative.  He must have known LeBron James because everything about that statement is true regarding LeBron James.

LeBron James known aka “King James” is the starting player and team captain for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Just to name of few of his outstanding awards, he has won 3 NBA championships, 2 Olympic gold medal, is the Cavalier’s all time leading scorer, and is the NBA career playoff scoring leader.  He is listed on Forbe’s 40 Richest Entrepreneurs under 40 with has a net worth of $275 million.  Some of his company endorsements with includes, but is not limited to, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Brands, McDonald’s, Nike, State Farm, and Samsung.  James is also a minority owner of the soccer team Liverpol, a team of the English Premier League football club and owns a stake in Beat Electronic.  As an entrepreneur, James started a sports agent and sports-marketing company LRMR.  This is the story of how King James rose to the top to become one of the greatest basketball players of our time.

Early Life

On December 30, 1984, LeBron James was born to Gloria James, a single mom.  Like most low income single moms, James’ mom found it hard to find a stable lifestyle while raising a child all alone.  So, James and his mom often moved from home to home.  Ms. James was a hard worker and a loving mother that did all that she could to protect her son from the violence of the streets of the neighborhoods where they lived.  This nomadic and unsteady lifestyle, however, started to take a toll on young James during elementary school.

In elementary school, James started to play pee-wee or little league football.  His team was coached by Frankie Walker.  James loved to play football and it was his hope to become a professional athlete.  During his first year in pee wee football, James, as a receiver, scored 19 touchdowns in six games.  Just in the fourth grade, it could be seen that James was developing into a great athlete.  On the other hand, it was also very noticeable that his grades were low and he was missing a lot of school.  When his coach received notice, James had virtually dropped out.  So, Coach Walker and James’ mother, Ms. James, decided and agreed to allow James to live with his family until his mother could provide a stable home.

After moving in with his coach’s family, James’ school life turned around.  In the Walker home, everyone, including James, was responsible for daily chores.  The structure did wonders for him.  As a fifth grader, he won attendance awards and his grades greatly improved.  It was also during this time that Walker introduced James to the world of basketball around the age of nine years old.  About two years later, James with the help and support of the Walkers was reunited to and lived with his mom.

As another advantage of living with the Walkers, James developed a friendship with Frankie Jr.  And these two boys became friends with four other boys—Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee and Romeo Travis.  Together they formed a mastermind team on the basketball court. On Sunday nights, the four boys gathered at the Akron Jewish Community Center where they met Keith Dambrot.  Coach Dambrot was a former head coach at Central Michiga...