we cannot lower the mountain, therefore we must elevate ourselves. -todd skinner

We cannot lower the mountain, therefore we must elevate ourselves.

-Todd Skinner

HEATHER WHITESTONEMISS 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 multi-millionaire-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 Anheuser-Busch.

• $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 customer-oriented, 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, 1951Neurosurgeon

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 well-respected 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 ex-husband 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