Every success story is just that — a story. Everyone can rattle off the names of business leaders who started with nothing, took an idea to market and turned it into a company, and even in some way changed how the rest of us work or play. Some of these leaders are featured on magazine covers, top CEO lists and news and business television programs. They’re quoted, heralded and revered.
And sometimes, behind the public persona, is a deeper story about the challenges they encountered on the way to the C-suite or other great accomplishment.
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We’ve seen time and again throughout history that some of the world’s greatest achievers have triumphed over hardships of various sizes and types. It’s like climbing an impossibly steep mountain in a snowstorm. It can be done, but the difficulties often threaten to thwart success.
Jim Haudan, co-founder and CEO of Root, believes that adversity plays a vital role in growth and greatness. As he puts it, no adversity, no growth. “Instead of avoiding adversity, we need to hug it! It is the fuel for greatness,” he writes. According to Haudan, “You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to enjoy it. But, you do have to believe in it and the role it plays in turning a storm of energy into a true source of strength.
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It is the learning that comes from the adversity that creates the opportunity for growth.”
For some business leaders, adversity and challenge can show up in many forms, and also more than once. Consider Cameron Chell. An entrepreneur since age 14, in 2007, he founded Business Instincts Group (BIG), a Venice, CA-based venture firm for high-tech startups for which he serves as CEO. Beyond BIG, he’s launched a number of other companies including CurrencyWorks, which creates digital currencies for a range of brands.
But his challenge-laden backstory is incredible.
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Along the way, and in the midst of his entrepreneurial journey, he’s experienced periods of homelessness and drug and alcohol abuse. He’s also dealt with a cancer diagnosis. He’s seen the highs and the lows, from the top of the mountain to rock bottom. The good thing is that adversity has helped him in his business life.
“There are so many great lessons that I’ve been given,” he says, “but the one that I hang onto the most every day now is that I stay very, very present. So, I only do the next thing in front of me. It’s almost counterintuitive because we’re taught to be visionaries, we’re taught to be what’s the next big thing.” He stresses the importance of being able to see what’s down the road and anticipate the next move. “If you’re not a great chess player, you’re not a great CEO,” he says, “The reality is if you just don’t get done the next most important thing, none of it matters.
Like Cameron Chell, Amy Freeman experienced homelessness. She was only 12 when her parents divorced, and by age 16 she was living on her own, eating rice, beans and canned soup and not going to school. What she lacked in family and material resources she made up for with a strong sense of self-motivation, working in a variety of restaurant and country club jobs to support herself. By age 30 she was a corporate sales manager in the hotel industry and, as luck would have it, in 2005 discovered a small specialty spice company that she believed offered the potential for franchising. Just a few years later she was the CEO of a national retail chain with more than 50 stores.
“Facing adversity early on taught me that while it’s okay to get mad or feel hurt, you need to resolve and move on before negativity and isolation take hold,” she says. “Influencing people and building trust will never happen in that state of mind. I persevere and practice reflection to ensure I keep a steady course, stay authentic and never forget that being a leader is a gift and not a title.”
Often, adversity is a catalyst that changes a person’s outlook and behavior, leading them to do things differently. That’s what happened with real estate business owner Chad Mureta, who was involved in a serious car accident that put him in the hospital and very nearly left him without an arm. His real estate business couldn’t continue without him running it, but he needed the money to pay his medical bills. That’s when he read a magazine article about mobile apps, a then-new industry. He began sketching out app ideas while in his hospital bed, then identified a development company to produce them. An $1,800 loan to produce a security app ultimately earned him $140,000. He then went on to launch and sell three app companies and has produced numerous apps.
Although he’s enjoyed considerable success, Mureta claims that he’s not a tech guy. “I couldn’t tell you how to program an app, but I can tell you how to make it a success,” he says. “I researched the market [and] the consumers, and saw opportunities for people like myself. I kept researching and kept expanding my knowledge to grow my business and income.”
HIs advice to other entrepreneurs is simple. He recommends not being intimidated by a lack of experience in an industry if there’s an opportunity. He believes that if someone has a thirst for knowledge and the willingness to find and connect with the right people, he or she can become an entrepreneur.