Studies have shown that it’s the ages from five years to fifteen years that really shape a person, that by the time a child has finished secondary school, his or her values are already formed. Children go through school to gradually acquire knowledge that will prepare them for life.
Here are some CEOs that hit it big by having a big dream and live up to it by making things happen and excel in their field without a college degree. Who said that you always need a paper qualification to start something good? Taking action is way more important and there are good examples of people who we can learn from.
1. Dennis Albaugh, Chairman, Albaugh: Type of Business: Pesticides. Education: Associate's degree from Des Moines Area Community College. Fun fact: He has a collection of more than 100 classic Chevrolets2. Paul Allen, Founder and chairman, Vulcan: His Business based on Media, telecommunications. Education, he dropped out of Washington State College after two years. Fun fact: He persuaded Bill Gates to drop out of Harvard. They later founded Microsoft (MSFT) together.
3. Richard Branson, CEO, Virgin Group: Type of Business: Travel, radio, TV, music, venture capital_Education: No college degree. Fun fact: He became an entrepreneur at age 16 with the creation of Student magazine.
4. Maverick Carter: CEO, LRMR Innovative Marketing & Branding. Type of Business: Marketing_Education: 3.5 years of college at Western Michigan University and University of Akron combined. Quote: “Don't be afraid if you see an opportunity to go and give it shot. You can finish school later; it's always there.”
5. Michael Dell, Founder, chairman, and CEO Dell (DELL):
Type of Business: Computers. Education: Attended University of Texas, Austin; did not finish. Quote: “When I started our company, it was very much an idea outside of the conventional wisdom, and if there were people telling me that it wasn't going to work, I wasn't really listening to them.”
6. Felix Dennis, Founder and chairman, Alpha Media Group, formerly Dennis Publishing: Type of Business: Publishing (Maxim, The Week). Education: No college degree. Fun fact: He wrote a biography and published a magazine about Bruce Lee; sales surged when the martial arts star died suddenly in 1973.
7. Barry Diller, Chairman and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)
Type of Business: Media. Education: Dropped out of UCLA after three weeks_Fun fact: He started his career working in the mail room of the William Morris Agency.
TO BE CONTINED.
Next edition will feature other retail magnates or who I will like to call philanthropists who never finished college, but they made it into corporate spots.
•Richard Branson
CEOs Without Degrees (II)
This edition featured some retail magnates that never finished college, but they made it into corporate spots. This edition is the continuation of where the last edition stoped.
8. Barry Diller
Chairman and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI) Type of Business: Media.
Education: Dropped out of UCLA after three weeks. Fun fact: He started his career working in the mail room of the William Morris Agency.
9. Bill Gates
Co-chair and Trustee, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Chairman, Microsoft (MSFT). Type of Business: Philanthropy. Software. Education: Dropped out of Harvard Fun fact: As a schoolboy, he created a program that allowed people to play tic-tac-toe on the computer.
10. Mukesh "Micky" Jagtiani, Chairman, Landmark International (Dubai). Type of Business: Retailing. Education: No college degree. Fun fact: The billionaire mall developer flunked out of a London accounting school as a teenager and worked as a taxi driver before becoming an entrepreneur.
11. Dean Kamen
Founder and chairman, Segway. Type of Business: Motor vehicles. Education: Dropped out of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Fun fact: Kamen founded FIRST, a robotics competition for high school students.
12. David Oreck
Founder, Oreck. Type of Business: Vacuum cleaners
Education: No college. At 17, enlisted in the army, and flew B-29 bombers during World War II
Quote: "Things are never as bad as they seem to the pessimist and never as good as they seem to the optimist."
13. Amancio Ortega Gaona
President, Inditex Group. Type of Business: Fashion retailing (Zara, Kiddy Class, others). (A Coruna, Spain). Education: No college. Fun fact: Often cited as the richest man in Spain, he reportedly has never given any media interviews
14. Phillip Ruffin
Owner, Treasure Island. Type of Business: Casinos. Education: Attended Washburn University for three years and Wichita State University but never got his degree.
Quote: "You get the most experience from the business of life."
15. Alfred Taubman
Founder, Taubman Centers (TCO). Philanthropist. Type of Business: Shopping malls. Education: Attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor for three years but left to start a family and his career
Quote: "Become an expert in one fundamental area of your market or business. No one starts out as a generalist."
16. Ty Warner
Founder, Ty, Inc. Type of Business: Toys (stuffed animals). Education: Dropped out of college to pursue a career in acting. Later founded Ty Inc. Fun fact: The plush animals his company manufactured retailed for only $5 in the 1990s, but Beanie Baby-mania drove prices up to $30 or more for the hard-to-get characters.
We can all make it in life. Lets be hard-working and be prayerful.
From Kafanchan to London
The ambition of a baby soldier is to become a General one day, while the ambition of a rookie journalist is to become an editor or a publisher one day, so it is with other trainees of any profession. Biyi Bandele-Thomas had a great ambition that made him what he is today. Born in the Northern part of the country, in a small town known as Kafanchan, although his parents were from Abeokuta in Ogun State. He had been a writer and a director for about 20 years now, a profession he settled for when he was living in the United Kingdom. Today, he is the author of the novel 'Burma Boy', which has been translated into 15 languages. His many plays have been staged in every major theatre in the UK as well as one staged last year off New York's Broadway. Bandele -Thomas’ story is a lesson which other youths can learn from. According to him, “winners don't quit”.
Bandele-Thomas explains why he chose UK as a base, saying he didn't deliberately chose the UK. According to him, he visited London soon after his graduation from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Ile-Ife. His initial plan of staying just for six months soon changed. Saying he just wanted to travel the world and when he arrived UK in the first place, he got a job with a Nigerian newspaper. He was appointed as the arts editor. Bandele-Thomas was to later found a publisher for his first novel he wrote in Nigeria before going to the universit. According to him, “I found a publisher for that and since it had always been my dream to be a writer, and by pure serendipity, my career took off when I came here (UK). Six months turned into a year, and then four years and then five years. I go home quite often and apart from the Fela project and the Half of the Yellow Sun project, I'm going to do many, many more film projects in Nigeria.”
As one of the most prolific Nigerian writers in the Diaspora, he has tried his hands on theatre, journalism, television, film, and radio, as well as fiction, which earned him his reputation. Only recently, Bandele-Thomas was selected as one of the jury members of International Film Festival Port Harcourt '09. For Bandele-Thomas, mentoring is a passion. He already has plans for a membership programme that would see people being trained in every single department of production. “My dream is that someday, we’ll have in Nigeria the equivalent of Sundance Institute or Omaha in Uganda, where several times a year, they bring in the best professionals from all over the world as parent filmmakers. They just work together, " he said. A jury member of the forthcoming International Film Festival in the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt, Bandele-Thomas looks forward to the event.
Through Bandele-Thomas story, it is evident that the youths should be encouraged, motivated and inspired to take what ever life throws at them.
You do not have to give up on whatever you are doing. You could be having a hard time starting a business, restoring a broken marriage (or relationship) or trying to cope with the loss of a loved one. If you believe in your heart that you can make it, then there is nothing that can stop you. The truth is, you were not born to fail, you were not made to be a loser in anyway.
We do fail sometimes and we do lose some battles but this is because we allow the dark side to take over. We start to think negative and it is through those emotions that we lose and fail. One of the best ways to deal with this is to get hold of some encouraging words and try to learn from others.
Some of the things that discourage us at times are too insignificant to even allow them to determine our destiny. I do understand that at times it can be a situation that is beyond your control. What ever it may be, try to exercise some patience and look forward to another day. Do not make decisions when you are most vulnerable because you might regret them later.
A Cleaner as a Motivator
David Oreck is an American salesman, entrepreneur, and businessman. He is the founder of the Oreck Corporation, makers of vacuum cleanersand air purifiers, and is known through hisspokesman appearance in Oreck television commercials and infomercials.At 85, David Oreck isn't about to slow down. He still drives his mint-condition motorcycles to work, flies his biplanes out of New Orleans Lakefront Airport, and runs a few miles a day in Audubon Park. He likes to work hard and play hard, too. And the idea of retirement is unspeakable. Says Oreck, "You might just as well be productive."
Born in Duluth, Minn., Oreck joined the Army Air Force at the age of 17. A radar officer and navigator, he flew bombing missions over Japan during World War II. Then he made his way to New York City and discovered what would turn out to be his true calling - working as a salesman. Selling everything from Whirlpool appliances to RCA televisions and microwaves, he rose through the ranks to become general sales manager. Then, in 1963, he left to form Oreck Corporation.
While Whirlpool was unable to make a success of its upright vacuum cleaners, Oreck believed that with a redesign of the machine, he could give it a new lease on life. So Whirlpool gave him exclusive rights to market them throughout the United States. The company also gave Oreck free reign to redesign the machine and then produced his prototype for him under the RCA Whirlpool label.
On a cold snowy day in Chicago, carrying the vacuum cleaner under his arm a la Willie Loman, the call came. In New Orleans, the RCA distributor was fighting for last place and winning, and the company wanted to know if he’d be interested in taking it over. "I flew down to New Orleans that day. The sun was out. It was beautiful. I was still in my heavy winter overcoat. I said to myself, 'Wow. I’m missing something here.’”
As Oreck has explained, he had "a good idea, a lot of energy, and no money."[1] Oreck claims it took about 20 years of hard work to begin to achieve a semblance of success, but he was a believer in Winston Churchill's maxim, "Never, never, never give up."
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