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Mickey and Miney Mouse. Photo By Steven lozano –

20 Famous People Who Failed In Their Areas Before Succeeding

Ever watched a YouTube video and thought, 鈥淭his was the best 10 minutes of my life!鈥�. Or read a memoir that had you feeling like you could conquer the world? I know! We鈥檝e all had one of those moments when a grass-to-grace story lifted your spirits or rekindled a flame that had died out.

Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and James Dyson have referenced failure as a much needed push to re-strategize that which one wants to achieve. Oprah and Dyson are both billionaires. I鈥檇 take their advice any day.

These 20 famous people (including the three mentioned) went through a string of failures, rejections, self-doubt and abandonment before forming their successful stories. Let鈥檚 have a look at how they harnessed these not-so-good-times into fueling their careers.  

From the 鈥�60S

1. Sir Isaac Newton (1643- 1727)

Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton. Photo By Bonhams –

Isaac Newton was the father of firsts. He built the first reflecting telescope, invented the three laws of motion as well as the law of gravity, and created what we all dreaded in math class, calculus!

All through his teenage years and early 20s, Newton had his fair share of struggles. He was, ironically, not the smartest in class. His college tutor often expressed disappointment in his poor performance in geometry. So, when exactly did the magic happen?

In 1665, Newton鈥檚 College was closed indefinitely. He continued his studies while at home and through this, grew an interest in the world of science. He got so good at it that he created one of the most important and basic laws in physics, the three laws of gravity.

From the 鈥�80s

2. The Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Abraham Lincoln. Photo by Alexander Gardner –

Abraham Lincoln鈥檚 impact on slavery made him one of the most famous presidents in the world. His journey to the seat, however, was not an easy one.

Lincoln came from a family that lived from hand to mouth. They were so poor that they could hardly afford regular schooling. Hungry for education, he equipped himself with enough knowledge to read, write and speak eloquently.

Between 1832 and 1843, Abraham lost his job, began a business that he failed terribly at, had a mental breakdown, was not elected in the state legislature, and lost in the bid for Congress nomination. On top of all that, his partner, Ann Rutledge, passed away in 1835. Talk about taking a bunch of Ls!

Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. A decade later, he lost the nomination for Vice President and was, once again, not elected to the U.S. Senate.

Things took a turn in 1860. Lincoln was nominated by the Republican National Convention as their presidential candidate and on March 4th,1861, he was inaugurated as the 16^th president of America.

To learn the top 10 facts about Abraham Lincoln, click here.

3. Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)

Charles Darwin (1809鈥�1882) in his later years. Photo By
Julia Margaret Cameron –

From a school dropout to the inventor of an evolution theory. Charles Darwin was a famous British naturalist that impacted the world of science. He created the theory of natural selection, an ideology that has been used by scientists to justify the nature and adaptation of species over time.

When Charles joined Dr. Butler鈥檚 Shrewsbury School, he enrolled in a course within the field of medicine. He grew dissatisfied with the subject and lacked enough interest to keep him in school. He did the one thing (aside from bad grades) that would get you a proper scolding from your parents, he dropped out. Yikes!

A disappointed Robert Darwin, Charles鈥� father, sent his son to Cambridge to give schooling a second try. What intrigued Charles wasn鈥檛 how to tackle existing problems, it was how the living species existed within the environment and what exactly it was that linked them.

Charles鈥� flame was lit and no one could stop it. In 1837, he began his research dedicating his time and compromising his health to find these answers.

After days, weeks, months, and years of hard toiling Charles came up with the theory of natural selection. Though he had formulated it in 1839, he publicly published it two decades later, at the age of 50.

4. Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

Louisa May Alcott, writer, abolitionist, and Civil War nurse. Photo ByGeorge Kendall Warren – Wikimedia Commons

鈥楴ever get tired of trying, and never think it is impossible to conquer your fault鈥�, a well-known excerpt from Little Women, Alcott鈥檚 best-selling book. Words presumed she would often tell herself, given the hardships she went through from a young age.

Louisa was born into a poor family, one with a cruel father and a submissive mother. In an effort to restrain her from abandoning home, Louisa鈥檚 mother would tie her to a chair. It was during those moments that the young girl took an interest in writing.

When she was 15, Louisa dropped out of school and took up a job to help provide for her siblings. She was a servant, teacher, nurse, and seamstress. She became inseparable from her pen and her passion for writing turned into a full-on career.

Life took a toll on Alcott鈥檚 mental health and she considered ending her misery by suicide. Luckily for her, her literature pieces gained recognition and received much-earned success. It was not until 36 that Alcott wrote Little Women (1868), the book that upgraded her life.

Alcott wrote a second installment of the book and proceeded to write children鈥檚 books after her newfound fame. Little Women remains a timeless piece still having a fan base nearly 20 decades later.  

5. Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

Thomas Alva Edison. Photo By Louis Bachrach –

Thomas Edison held the title of the greatest inventor from the U.S until 2018, when Lowell Wood beat him. Edison had numerous innovations, some of which are not known to many. His most famous works were the incandescent bulb, the alkaline battery, the phonograph, the movie camera, and the electric pen.

Edison didn鈥檛 just stumble upon his inventions. He worked tirelessly, investing his time and dedicating a better part of his life at perfecting them.

Edison repeatedly failed in his attempts. It is said that he made 9,000 trials before settling for the alkaline storage battery we know today. He also lost a chunk of money after investing in an idea that was meant to mass produce iron.

6. Vincent Willem Van Gogh (1853-1890)

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait, oil on board, 1887. Photo By Vincent Van Gogh –

Vincent Van Gogh was the most famous painter of the 1990s. Sadly, he received his flowers only after his demise. Would you believe that THE Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting during his entire lifetime?

On his first job as an art dealer, Van Gogh got fired due to his poor performance. He took up other jobs and at 27, decide to try his luck at painting. Selling his art became a tall order.

The self- taught artist received financial and emotional support from his brother. Moreover, he suffered from bipolar disorder and often had psychotic episodes.

After a dreadful incident that led him to cut off his ear, Van Gogh was admitted to Saint-Paul-De- Mausole asylum. During the one year and one week stay, he produced some of his best works including his magnum opus, Starry night.

In 1973, his nephew opened the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The entity has the largest display of Vincent鈥檚 work with 500 drawings, 200 paintings and over 700 letters. His art pieces live on to tell his story.

Fun Fact: In 2022, his Verger avec cypres piece was auctioned for a whooping USD 117,180,000.

7. Orville Wright (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright (1867 -1912)

The Wright Flyer airborne during the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, United States of America, 17 December 1903. Photo By Daniels John T, Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station – Wikimedia Commons

Orville and Wilbur Wright were the inventors of the fastest means of transport, the airplane. Kites and parachutes had already been developed but they failed to solve one key component of transportation. 

Prior to the Wrights鈥� innovation, the human ability to control movement in the air was deemed nearly impossible. A previous attempt in 1896 had failed and the brothers weren鈥檛 successful on their first one either.

In 1900 and 1901, Orville and Wilbur had their first two test drives of a human-controlled plane. They failed. A year later, the anticipated results and the proof of their hard work finally showed. They made history as the first people to fly a man-powered aircraft.

8. Winston Leonard Churchill (1874 -1965)

Landing at Gallipoli. Photo By New Zealand –

Before Winston Churchill was praised for his influence in World War 2, he was known for his massive failures and a number of pretty bad decisions in his political career.

During his time as secretary of the Navy, the British lost terribly in the Gallipoli Campaign. It was ugly. As a result, Churchill was removed from the cabinet and War Council. He was so humiliated that, according to his wife, the thought of him dying from anguish wasn鈥檛 farfetched.

Churchill got back into government in 1924. This was short-lived as the existing regime was voted out. The occurrence of the Second World War (1939- 1945) marked his revival and eternal celebration as the leader of the British victory.  

Read about 10 famous Generals OF World War II in the Discover Walks website.

9. Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Albert Einstein during a lecture in Vienna in 1921. Photo By
Ferdinand Schmutzer –

Albert Einstein performed so poorly in school his father believed nothing would ever come of him. His teachers called him a failure and at one point, he contemplated quitting.

After graduating from Swiss Polytechnic Institute, Einstein didn鈥檛 have much luck at employment. He took up odd jobs to keep himself afloat until he found a job as a patent clerk.

Albert enjoyed solving and analyzing the mathematical equations that come with his job. He explored the new found passion in various subjects of physics including gravity, light, and space.

Albert was convinced he had discovered something extra ordinary about the three subjects. Other scientists thought he was out of his mind. He became so engraved in his research, he neglected his wife and children. His family eventually abandoned him.

Albert spent years, and I mean years, working on his theory. In 1905, he published one of the substantial pillars that holds modern physics until today, the theory of relativity.

10. 碍贵颁鈥檚 Colonel Harland Sanders (1890-1980)

KFC fast food. Photo By Denys Vitali –

If you haven鈥檛 gotten a taste of some KFC chicken wings, then you鈥檙e absolutely missing out. And no, this isn鈥檛 a paid promo. After 1009 rejections by independent restaurants owners, Colonel Sanders decided to give selling his chicken recipe another go.

The idea of selling his new recipe came at the age of 65. It was a dream Colonel would stop at nothing to see through. In 1952, he opened the business鈥� first franchise and by mid-1960, several international outlets were up and running.  

From a door-to-door sales man to opening over 18,000 franchises in 118 countries worldwide!

From the 鈥�90s

11. Walt Elias Disney (1901-1966)

Mickey and Miney Mouse. Photo By Steven lozano –

Imagine being turned down 50 times for an idea you were so sure would make millions. Now multiply those 50 times by six. Yeah, rejection galore! That was a big chunk of Walt Disney鈥檚 success story.

Walt went through the wringer. He was fired from his job due to a lack of creativity, his first studio went bankrupt two years after going into business, his first cartoon character lacked intellectual ownership and was wrongly taken from him, and his employees abandoned his company when they saw his continuous adversities.

Things got so bad financially that Walt survived eating beans and dog food, allegedly. He continued to believe in himself and in 1928, Mickey Mouse was born. Other characters like Donald Duck, Pluto, and Goofy were created in the subsequent years.

Walt continued on and made Snow White, the most successful sound film until today. He passed away in 1966 having left a legacy and thriving business not only in the states but worldwide.

12. Elvis A. Presley (1935-1977)

Elvis Presley first national television appearance 1956. Photo By CBS Television –

Elvis Presley was once told that he didn鈥檛 have the vocals required to be a singer. He enjoyed music and was passionate about it so he kept pushing.

Presley tried out an audition that was looking to place as a vocalist in a band named Bond. He was rejected and bluntly told to that he had better luck at driving trucks than singing.

In July 1954, Elvis released his first single, That鈥檚 Alright. He had spent hours in the studio and just when he and his colleagues were about to leave, he began singing the Arthur Crudup song. The song went viral after being played on radio three days later.

That鈥檚 Alright was a hit and marked the beginning of Presley鈥檚 music career.

13. Steven Allan Spielberg (1946)

Steven Spielberg at Berlinale 2023. Photo By Elena Ternovaja –

Director Steven Spielberg has won multiple accolades including 3 Oscars and 11 Emmy Awards. His most well-known works were Jurrassic Park (1993) and Jaws (1975).

Spielberg applied to the School of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of Southern California. He was not accepted on his first application. Neither was he on his second, nor the third. In 1965, he enrolled and was finally accepted into California State University.

14. James Dyson (1947)

Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British industrial designer and founder of the Dyson company. Photo By Michiel Hendryckx –

James Dyson is a wealthy British inventor and founder of the tech-led organization, Dyson Limited. He began developing new ideas when he was 23.

Dyson grew his name and revenue by selling the easy-to-use Dyson vacuum cleaner. His idea of an efficient vacuum cleaner came from the frustrations of using the existing ones. He drafted a different concept of the machine and began to work on it in 1968.

For one and a half decades, Dyson invented over 5,000 models of the cleaner. He launched it in 1983 but the Europe manufacturing market wasn鈥檛 accepting. He took his product to Japan were its was sold for 2,000 pounds.

In 1991, Dyson set up his own research and manufacturing company in Malmesbury, England. He began producing the cleaner and the rest is history.

15. Stephen King (1947)

Stephen Kin Photo By Pinguino Kolb –

Stephen King grew up in a poverty-stricken home. He began his journey as a fiction author after borrowing his wife a typewriter. He nearly gave up on completing his first book but his wife, Tabitha, motivated him to continue on.

Stephen sent out his complete work to various publishers. He was rejected 30 times. However, one company decided to publish his book and within the first year, Carrie (1974) had sold over a million copies. He continued to write and launched his second novel 鈥楽alem鈥檚 Lot in 1975.

Stephen has written about 85 books, 30 of which were named New York Times best-seller.

16. Oprah G. Winfrey (1954)

Oprah Winfrey at 2011 TCA. Photo By
Greg Hernandez –

Despite going through physical and sexual abuse, Oprah Winfrey grew up to become one of the most influential women in the world. During her younger years, the high achieving girl earned a scholarship to Tennessee State College.

Shortly after her graduation, Oprah landed a position on Baltimore Prime Time news as co-anchor. With a young black female as part of their face, the network had anticipated huge success. This didn鈥檛 come to pass and Winfrey took the fall for it. She was demoted.

Oprah made a career switch when she joined Richard Sher as the his co host on People Are Talking. She discovered her interest in personal stories and completely ditched news anchoring. She moved to Chicago to host a morning talk show that was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Oprah grew into a producer, TV personality and business mogul with a net worth of USD 2.5 billion. She is the C.E.O of The Oprah Winfrey Network which stands at a value of USD 180 million.

Learn about 10 famous people with anxiety disorder, including Oprah Winfrey, here.

17. Michael J. Jordan (1963)

Michael Jordan as he appeared in an ESPN advertisement published on El Gr谩fico magazine. Photo Source

Michael Jordan began playing basketball when he was 9 years. He joined the Emsley A. Laney High School team in his sophomore year. When he wasn鈥檛 selected on varsity team, he was disappointed.

Jordan continued to practice until he joined by his junior season. He became a pro athlete and won 6 championships for the Chicago Bulls. In his career as a basketball player, Michael Jordan was named the Most Valuable player (MVP) in the NBA five times.

18. Harry Potter鈥檚 Joanne Rowling (1965)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Photo By C.Suthorn –

When Joanne walked into Bloomsbury Publishing in 1995, she hoped that things would work out in her favor. She had been in search of a publisher for her book Harry Potter and the Philosopher鈥檚 Stone and was yet to receive an approval.

Rowling had already been turned down by 12 other publications. Her 13^th trial became the key to a successful career. In 1997, Bloomsbury published a little over 5,000 copies of the book. Rowling received USD 4,200 in royalties. 

After changing the book title to Harry Potter and The Sorcerer鈥檚 Stone, it was released in the U.S. By December 1998, the fiction novel was named a New York Times bestseller. Three editions of the series were released by 2000. Its final volume was published in 2007.

搁辞飞濒颈苍驳鈥檚 Harry Porter series has sold over 600 million copies since its first publication.

19. Jerry A. Seinfeld (1954)

Jerry Seinfeld. Photo Source

Jerry Seinfeld is an actor and stand-up comedian who became famous for his role in the sitcom Seinfeld. His first attempt at stand-up was in 1976 when he was fresh from college.

Aside from stand up, Seinfeld took up acting on the side and had a role in the sitcom Benson. After 4 episodes, he was unexpectedly fired.

In one of his stand-up shows, Seinfeld recalls going completely blank on stage. He mentioned he didn鈥檛 know what happened but he couldn鈥檛 remember a thing. He came back for a second show and from then continued to build his audience.

In 1989, Seinfeld co-wrote and joined the cast of Seinfeld sitcom. The show took American TV by storm. It increased his popularity, and he became internationally recognized.

20. Lady Gaga/Stefani Joanne Angelina (1986)

Lady Gaga performing “Hold My Hand” during The Chromatica Ball at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on July 29, 2022. Photo By Raph_PH –

Lady Gaga鈥檚 achievements earned her multiple listings in Forbes and Times Magazine. She is a 13-time Grammy Award winner, a philanthropist, a business owner, and 叠颈濒濒产辞补谤诲鈥檚 2010 Artist of the Year.

Before all the glitz and glam, Gaga was an underground artist trying to break into the Hollywood scene. She was signed to Def Jam Recordings in 2006 but her contract was terminated after 3 months. She went back to New York and continued to perform on small stages.

In 2007, Gaga was signed to Streamline/Interscope Records. Her music didn鈥檛 receive much airplay on the radio. In 2008, her first album The Fame blew up. Her single Poker Face sold 9.8 million copies and was named best selling single worldwide.

See the 50 most memorable song lyrics of all time. 

As seen, behind every success story is an enacted vision, a pursued dream, and a zeal to consistently show up even on the hard days.

鈥�I鈥檝e failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.鈥�

–  Michael Jordan –