5 famous people who failed before succeeding

Failure is always painful but this is the first step to success. Often failures lead to success. Biographies of successful people tell us that the biggest failure is the turning point for many successful people. Failures become assets when we accept them and learn lessons from the mistakes.

Here is a list of seven successful people who failed in their first career.

Oprah Winfrey: Almost every one now knows American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey but very few know her struggle. She has a very struggling childhood.

She managed to get into a university with full funding and after completion, she got a job at a local television station for the news. She was fired from the radio station by the producer because she was “unfit for television.”

She then took a position with another station in Baltimore and got the chance to host a local talk show named, “People are Talking.”

In 1983, Winfrey re-located to Chicago and got the job to host a station’s low-rated talk show called AM Chicago. The show went from last in the ratings, to higher than Donahue, which was the number one show at the time. The show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was syndicated across the United States.

J K Rowling

J K Rowling is an inspiration to all who are struggling in their career and life.

Rowling’s life was not peaches and cream. She struggled tremendously.

She struggled all through her life. After completing her 'Harry Potter' script, she went to publishers.

In 1995, her 'Harry Potter' script was rejected by all 12 major publishers. In 1996, a small publishing house, Bloomsbury, accepted the script. She was given only £1500 in advance and the book was published in 1997 with only 1000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries.

The book won awards from Nestle Smarties Book Prize and the British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year in 1997 and 1998. Today, Rowling is considered one of the most successful authors. She has sold more than 400 million copies of her books.

Stephen King

Stephen King is now considered one of the successful writers in the world. Many of his novels are highly praised by critics and accepted by readers across the world. Most of his novels have been made into movies. However, he struggled a lot in the initial stage of his writing career.

His first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times before it was published.

King was so frustrated that he threw the manuscript into the garbage. The manuscript was later to be retrieved by his wife.

Today King’s books have been sold more than 350 million copies.

Colonel Sanders

Not many people know him but almost every one knows his brand-KFC. Colonel Sanders was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC).

He was highly unsuccessful in the most part of his life. At the age of 62, he set out with a $105 social security check in hand to pitch his chicken recipe to restaurants. Every one told him he was crazy but he did not listen to them.

In 1952, Sanders franchised his secret recipe "Kentucky Fried Chicken" for the first time, to Pete Harman of South Salt Lake, Utah and in the first year of selling the product, restaurant sales more than tripled, with 75% of the increase coming from sales of fried chicken. Today KFC is a popular brand.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney is well known for his cartoon creations. He was highly successful in his later life.

However, he was considered a failure in his first career.

In 1919, Disney was fired by the editor from his job at the Kansas City Star paper because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”

He proved that the editor was wrong.

As a film producer, Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honours.