We cannot lower the mountain,
therefore we must elevate ourselves.
-Todd Skinner
HEATHER WHITESTONE
MISS AMERICA
• The first Miss America
with a disability on
September 17th,
1994.
• Deaf since eighteen
months old.
After contracting a virus,
her mother accidentally
dropped a pile of pans
on the kitchen floor and
Heather did not flinch.
• Throughout her childhood, Heather barely heard
the voices of discouragement that hearing
people often hear.
• She did not hear the doctor telling her family that
she wouldn’t develop past a third grade level.
• She never heard the voices who said she could
never dance ballet, let alone speak.
• Determined to live a normal life, she
attended regular public school.
• The only deaf student.
• Helen became Heather's role model.
 Could not keep up with her class work.
 She asked to attend a special school
 Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, she
moved two grade levels per year.
 Caught up and returned to Alabama to
graduate from public high school with 3.6 GPA.
Jesus her biggest role model and influence in
her life: key to all of her success.
 Financial problems, she competed in pageants to earn
scholarships.
 Decided to compete for Miss Alabama.
 Twice, made it to the Miss Alabama, but came in second.
 Ready to quit, family and friends encouraged her to try.
 It had taken Heather six years to correctly pronounce her
last name, so she knew winning Miss Alabama was
possible.
She became the first woman with a disability crowned
Miss America in the pageant’s 75-year history.
She always believed the biggest handicap is
negative thinking and
People handicap themselves by concentrating only on
the negative instead of the positive.
STARS FIVE POINTS
1. a positive attitude,
2. a goal,
3. a willingness to work hard,
4. a realistic look at your problem and
5. a support team.
Willie Gary
• Born in Georgia
• The sixth of 11
children
• The family lived in
shacks. No shoes.
WILLIE GARY
• Grew up in a poor migrant family
• Beat the odds to become a multimillionaire-nationally renown attorney, who
is known for giving back to the less
fortunate.
• Raised in migrant farm communities in Florida,
Georgia, and the Carolinas;
• Unwavering desire to receive an education.
• Florida All-State High School football player and
received an athletic scholarship.
• Admitted to the Florida Bar and opened first black
law firm in Martin County.
SUCCESS
Became a millionaire, within two years of opening
law firm, Willie Gary was a millionaire.
Reputation and nickname as "The Giant Killer"
Won lawsuits against Disneyland and AnheuserBusch.
• $40 million settlement with Florida Power
& Light over electrocution of seven rural
Palm Beach County residents.
• $500 million jury award in 1996 from
Loewen Group, a Canadian funeral home
company he sued for breach of contract.
• Firm employs 150 people, including
21 lawyers, eight partners, two
investigators, dozens of paralegals,
a medical director and a public
relations specialist.
• Represents more than 7,000
clients, including two groups of
more than 2,000.
CHARITIES
• Given away $10 million to Shaw
University,
• $100,000 to help build a new Baptist
church in Indiantown
LIFE IS GOOD!
Owns two private jets: the Wings of Justice
and the Wings of Justice II,
Several cars, including two Rolls Royces
• Forbes Magazine listed him one of top 50
attorneys in the United States,
• Believes religious beliefs have awarded him
throughout his life.
• He is the father of five children and
husband to one wife, Gloria.
David Neeleman
• Began JetBlue Airways in
2000 with $130 million.
• Focused on customeroriented, low-fare airline
Became first low-cost
airline since deregulation
in 1978 to quickly
become a major carrier,
with more than $1 billion
in revenues
MOTTO
• Key to success is: employee happiness
and customer service
• His motto: "Bring humanity back to flying."
• American of Dutch descent,
• Born in Brazil.
• Did Mormon missionary work in slums of
Rio de Janeiro.
• Mission required him to live with the
poor.
• Lessons he learned inspired his airline's
corporate culture.
• Inequities of privilege and poverty
influenced him.
 Respect for the individual customer is motto
 JetBlue tries to eliminate differences that
affect how customers are treated.
 Offers only one class of seats.
 Corporate office, no reserved parking, and
same coffee served on airline.
 Neeleman takes a business flight, he serves
drinks with the flight crew.
• Set up a crisis fund for JetBlue
employees. Every worker can donate
voluntarily from their paycheck to the
JetBlue Crewmember Crisis Fund.
• Funds disbursed to employees when
a crisis strikes – elderly parent or
sick child.
ADHD
• Known as relentless innovator —
introduced electronic ticketing, computer
reservation system
• Adult learned he had ADHD
• Credits learning difficulties as source
of energy and creativity, and the
ability to think differently.
• “When I was growing up in the ‘60s,
not a lot was known about learning
disabilities and ADHD,” Neeleman
said.
• “But thanks to the support of my
parents and teachers, I’m proof that
being learning disabled doesn’t have
to hold you back. Sometimes I even
think it’s an advantage.”
• Views his disability as distinct
advantage
• Believes should be viewed not as
disability, but opportunity to discover
some special talent and to harness
and use it.
Fannie Flagg
• Daisy Fay and the Miracle
Man
• Best known book, Fried
Green Tomatoes at the
Whistle Stop Cafe.
• Wrote screenplay for Fried
Green Tomatoes.
• Dyslexic.
• Challenged as a writer because she
"was severely dyslexic and couldn't
spell, still can't spell. So I was
discouraged from writing and
embarrassed."
• Writing career on hold for much of
the 1970s, but overcame her fear
and completed several novels and
screenplays.
Benjamin Carson, MD.
Born September 18, 1951
Neurosurgeon
Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery
at Johns Hopkins Hospital when he was
33 years old.
DR. CARSON
• Born in Detroit, MI.
• Mother 3rd grade
education
• Married at 13.
• Parents divorced
when he was 8.
• Mother stressed
education, while
working 2-3 jobs.
• Benjamin and his brother fell =behind
in school.
• In fifth grade, Carson was at the
bottom of his class. His classmates
called him "dummy" and developed a
violent, uncontrollable temper.
• Mother determined to change her children’s
lives:
• Limited television watching
• Refused to let them outside to play until
finished homework.
• Required to read two library books a week
and to give her written reports on their
reading
• She could barely read what they had
written.
• Shocked classmates identified rock samples
teacher brought to class.
• Recognized from one of the books he had
read.
• "It was at that moment that I realized I
wasn't stupid."
• Continued to amaze classmates and within
a year, at top of his class.
• Read avidly on all subjects.
• Determined to become a physician, controlled
violent temper.
• Graduated with honors from high school,
• Attended Yale University.
• Medical School of the University of Michigan,
where his interest shifted from psychiatry to
Neurosurgery.
• Excellent hand-eye coordination and
three-dimensional reasoning skills made
him a superior surgeon.
• 1987, Carson made medical history
when he separated Siamese twins,
joined at the back of the head.
• Previous operations failed, killing both
twins or only saving one.
• After 28 hours of surgery, with a staff
of seventy, Carson's operation
successful.
• South Africa 1997, led a 50-member team in the
successful separation of 11-month-old Zambian
twin boys, joined at the head.
• Twins did not share any organs but did share
intricate blood vessels.
• Rehearsed with a computerized, 3-D virtual
workbench.
• Operation lasted 28 hours.
Ladan and Laleh Bijani
• 2003, Carson member of
surgical team worked to
separate conjoined siblings .
•
•
•
•
Twenty-Nine year old law graduates
Doctors refused
Depressed
Turned to doctors in Singapore and Dr.
Carson.
• Twins impressed the world with display of
courage, bravery, and sense of humor.
• Doctors tried to talk out of operation but
willing to accept the risks and face
dangers.
Both died after a 50 hour
operation.
PRESTON TUCKER
• Visionary, innovator,
and entrepreneur
• Total of 51 were
built, of which 47
still survive.
• World War II ended, Tucker believed
American car companies making unsafe
cars that cost too much.
• Wanted to design an automobile that
would incorporate numerous safety
features and save consumers money.
Tucker automobile included
unknown safety features
• Cushion-edged crash chamber,
• four-wheel braking traction for panic stops,
• safety glass popped out in the event of a crash, a
• collapsible steering column, aluminum, fuel-injected engine
• seat belts
• Chassis had a steel reinforced V-shape front so that unless you hit
someone head on, you would deflect to one side. Tucker’s car had
• three welded roll bars to protect the passengers in case the vehicle
rolled over,
• steel bulkheads in the front and rear to protect against front and rear
collisions, and a wraparound safety frame to protect against side
collisions.
• Tucker’s was one of the first cars with independent suspension to
reduce the risk of the driver losing control of the steering.6
• center headlight that turned with the steering wheel, thus enabling
the driver to see at night.
Threatened
• Established car manufacturers considered
Tucker’s car a threat
• Car built for a fraction of cost because
incorporated an aluminum, fuel-injected
engine and safety features, some of which
still not in today’s automobiles.
• 1947, Tucker produced prototype in 50
cars.
• Inability to supply dealers with vehicles
contributed to indictment on 31 counts of
fraud.
• Tucker acquitted, a lack of public
confidence kept him from resuming
production.
Front
Back
•
•
•
•
Recent Tucker sales include:
No. 1038, a dark green car $577,500.
April of 2005, Tucker No. 1029 $461,500
September 2005, formerly owned by the
filmmaker George Lucas No. 1003, sold at
auction in for $385,000.
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON
• Born three months after
his father died.
• Mother remarried.
• Abusive stepfather.
• Excelled in school.
• Undergraduate degree at
Georgetown University.
• Rhodes Scholar.
• Yale Law School
• 42 President of the U.S.
Sonia Velasquez, the philanthropic
journalis
JAMES EARL JONES
• Among most wellrespected
professionals in the
entertainment
industry.
BACKGROUND
• Born in 1931, in Mississippi and raised by
grandparents.
• Stuttered as a child, so severe he refused to
speak aloud.
• Remained functionally mute for eight years
until he reached high school.
• Credits high school teacher, who
discovered he had a gift for writing, with
helping him.
• Teacher believed forced public speaking
would help him gain confidence
• Insisted he recite a poem in class each
day. "I was a stutterer. I couldn't talk. So
my first year of school was my first mute
year, and then those mute years continued
until I got to high school."
• Appeared in numerous film and
television projects throughout the
1970s.
• Turning point: Star Wars; as voice of
Darth Vader's black helmet.
• Voiceovers for CNN and King Mufasa
in Disney's The Lion King
• Graduated from the University
of Michigan.
• Enrolled in the ROTC at
Michigan and an Army officer
stationed in Alaska.
•
•
•
•
Scary Movie 4 (2006) (uncredited) .... Narrator
The Benchwarmers (2006) (voice) .... Darth Vader
The Magic 7 (2006) (TV) (voice) .... 5-Toe
Kingdom Hearts II (2005) (VG) (archive sound) ....
Mufasa
• The Reading Room (2005) (TV) .... William Campbell
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
(voice) (uncredited) .... Darth Vader
... aka Revenge of the Sith (USA: short title)
... aka Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (USA: DVD
box title)
... aka Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (USA:
promotional title)
SUE GRAFTON
• New York Times
bestselling author Sue
Grafton published in 28
countries and 26
languages.
• Books in her alphabet
series, begun in 1982,
bestsellers with
readership in the millions.
• Daughter of a mystery writing attorney,
who wrote three novels.
• She wrote her first mystery, A Is For Alibi,
in 1982.
Why she started writing
• Started writing mystery novels as an escape
from her screenwriting life, which she hated.
• Her 6 year bitter divorce and custody battle, left
her awake at nights "thinking of ways to nuke
the guy...The problem was, I knew I would never
be able to carry it out in real life...I really am a
law-abiding citizen.“
• Her fantasies about how to murder her exhusband led her to think of murder
mysteries and soon she created private
investigator, Kinsey Millhone and the
alphabet series: A is for Alibi, B is for
Burglar, C is for Corpse, et al.
• She left screenwriting permanently after G
is for Gumshoe published.
Her Novels
• Self-disciplined, she writes every day in
her home office. And she dresses up to go
to work.
Philosophy
• Like her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone, she
believes that you should take responsibility
for yourself and when tragedy strikes, pick
yourself up, dust yourself off and look for
the next challenge.
Stephen Hawking
• Born 1942
• Theoretical physicist and professor at Cambridge.
• Known for significant contributions to the field of
quantum physics and black holes.
• Wrote the runaway bestseller A Brief History of Time,
which stayed on the London Sunday Times bestseller list
for a record-breaking 237 weeks.
• Severe disability and a
quadriplegic by motor
neuron disease (specifically,
amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis), he has had a
successful career for many
years, and has achieved
status as an academic
celebrity.
• Good but not exceptional student.
• A tutor said his mind was completely different
from all of his contemporaries.
• Popular.
• After arriving at Cambridge, struck by the motor
neuron disease, known as Lou Gehrig’s
Disease.
• 1985 contracted pneumonia.
• To help him breathe a tracheotomy performed.
• Lost his natural speech ability and uses an
electronic voice synthesizer to communicate.
• Voice synthesizer has an American accent, no
longer produced.
• Asked why he has still kept, Hawking claimed
has not heard a voice he likes better and
identifies with it.
• Hawking's belief that the average person
should have access to his work led him to
write A Brief History of Time
• It became a documentary in 1991.
MADAM C.J. WALKER
• "I am a woman who came from
the cotton fields of the South.
From there I was promoted to
the washtub. From there I was
promoted to the cook kitchen.
And from there I promoted
myself into the business of
manufacturing hair goods and
preparations....I have built my
own factory on my own
ground" Madam Walker,
National Negro Business
League Convention,
July 1912
Orphaned
• Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 on a
Delta, Louisiana plantation, he daughter of former
slaves.
• She transformed herself from an uneducated farm
laborer into of the twentieth century's most successful,
self-made women entrepreneurs.
• Orphaned at age seven, she often said, "I got my start by
giving myself a start.“
• She and her sister, Louvenia, worked in the cotton
fields. At 14, she married to escape abuse from her cruel
brother-in-law, Jesse Powell.
• After the birth of her daughter, her
husband died two years later.
• Moved to St. Louis to join her four
brothers.
• Working for as little as $1.50 a day, she
managed to save enough money to
educate her daughter.
• Friendships with other black women,
members of St. Paul A.M.E. Church and
the National Association of Colored
Women, exposed her to a new way of
viewing the world.
Beginning of an Empire
• During the 1890s, suffered from scalp
ailment that caused her to lose most of her
hair. She experimented with many
homemade remedies and store-bought
products.
Madam C.J. Walker
• Married Charles Joseph Walker, a St. Louis
newspaperman.
• Changed name to "Madam" C. J. Walker and
founded her own business, selling Madam
Walker's Wonderful Hair Grower, a scalp
conditioning and healing formula.
• Claimed revealed to her in a dream. She did not
invent the straightening comb.
• 1910, settled in Indianapolis
• Built a factory, hair and manicure salon
and training school.
• Contributed $1,000 to the building fund of
the "colored" YMCA in Indianapolis.
• Expanded company to Jamaica, Cuba,
Costa Rica, Panama and Haiti.
• By 1919 Walker employed 3,000 people at
the factory and had more than 20,000
agents.
• Organized agents into local and state
clubs.
1917 - Madam C. J. Walker Hair Culturists Union of
America convention in Philadelphia.
Reward agents for their business success and to
encourage their political activism.
"This is the greatest country under the sun," she told
them. "But we must not let our love of country, our
patriotic loyalty cause us to abate one whit in our
protest against wrong and injustice. We should
protest until the American sense of justice is so
aroused that such affairs as the East St. Louis riot be
forever impossible."
The Estate
• Moved to New York; involved in Harlem's social
and political life
• Special interest in NAACP's anti-lynching
movement; fought for a federal anti-lynching law.
Death
• Died at age 54 and considered the
wealthiest African-American woman in
America and first African-American woman
millionaire.
Alberto R. Gonzales
• Born August 4, 1955
• 80th Attorney General of the United States
• First Hispanic to serve in the position.
• Born in San Antonio, Texas
• Second of eight children, and they lived in a two
bedroom house, which for many years did not
have hot running water or a telephone.
• Parents children of immigrants from Mexico with
less than a high-school education.
• Honors student at MacArthur High School.
• Enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving
for two years before being accepted to the
United States Air Force Academy.
• 1977 transferred to Rice University, earned a
degree in political science;
• Earned Juris Doctor (J.D) degree from Harvard
Law School.
• Only one of his siblings to finish college.
PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAILED
• Henry Ford went bankrupt five times before he
became an automotive industry leader.
• Walt Disney's first cartoon production company
went bankrupt.
• Oprah Winfrey fired from her television reporter's
job because she was "unfit for tv."
• Life is a series of trial-and-error
experiences. We are taught something
by a teacher, and then we try to do it
ourselves. The first time we do it we
probably don't get the results we want.
So we try again, and again, and
again. With practice we get better.
• Then we push ourselves as we try to do
something that's a little bit more
difficult. As we succeed, our
expectations increase, and so does
the satisfaction that comes from the
feeling of a job well done.
• You didn't get the date you wanted. You struck
out with the bases loaded.
You didn’t make the grade you wanted. You
didn’t get into the college you wanted. There
was a glitch somewhere. You failed. SO WHAT!
You don't win every game. You aren't going to hit
a home run every time you're up to bat. You
don't always get what you want. Failure is OK.
It's part of life. It should be expected.
You don't feel sorry for yourself. You
don't mope around. You pick
yourself up and do it again and
again and again until you get it
right!
Failure is as much a part of life as success.
Losing is as much a part of life as winning.
The most important thing to think about is
how can you ensure that you won't fail in
the same way a second time.
REMEMBER: You just can't fail the last time
you try.
Learn From Your Failures
• When you experience failure, take some time to
reflect upon what happened. Write down the
answers to these questions:
• Why did this happen?
• What could I have done differently?
• How can I do it better next time?
• What changes should I make in my strategies?
• What can I do to improve my planning and
preparation? Study these answers. Analyze
them. Then go out and do it better the next time.
Five Symptoms of Fear:
• INDECISION: You can't make up your mind. You don't know if
you should or shouldn't do something. So you do nothing!
• DOUBT: You're not certain as to what you should do. You can't
make up your mind. You're apprehensive.
• WORRY: You feel anxious. You're not sure you made the right
decision. You don't feel confident.
• PROCRASTINATION: You put things off till later.
• Don't allow these six symptoms of fear to keep you from
achieving your goals.
•
•
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reprinted with permission from "Jeffrey Mayer's SucceedingInBusiness