15 Celebrities Whose Failures Led To Success

The world's most successful people have unanimously suffered setbacks before their careers took a turn for the (much) better. In fact, some worked their way up through the most adverse conditions conceivable on their paths to stardom and massive success. Many celebrities and modern legends failed consistently for years and years at their chosen profession before achieving any kind of success. Other celebs failed less dramatically but were continually pipped to the post every time they got close to the big time. While some great successes pursued numerous different professions in their time, others stuck doggedly with their craft, weathering years of failure in pursuit of their passion. What's more, many of the failures-turned-successes in this line up were told by authority figures early on that they wouldn't amount to much. It seems totally unbelievable now that the very talents who have come to define success were initially panned by the then gatekeepers to that very success. What's also really weird is the number of celebs who proved their early critics wrong in precisely the arenas that they were told they lacked skill. It's almost as though their total failure in the eyes of society gave these high achievers the endurance and flexibility to persevere when others would have given up. It could also be that genius is so radical and game-changing that it encounters a lot of resistance from society before finally being recognized. But one thing is certain: these celebs are the proof that people who fail, even those who society deems 'losers' can shoot past their detractors to astronomical success, even commanding legions of fans and billions of dollars. What's consistent among the ultra-successful people in this line up is that they ALL failed big first. So remember that the path to success is beset with failure, and go forth and fail!

15 Albert Einstein

Einstein's teachers said he "would never amount to much". The theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner was also unable to speak until he was four years old, although this was not (as it was interpreted at the time) a sign of low intelligence. His name is now synonymous with genius, but he was expelled from his first school for his rebellious nature and was later refused entrance by Zurich Polytechnic School. But Albert Einstein went on to revolutionize the world's conception of physics by developing the theory of General Relativity. His work was game-changing in that it enabled the development of the atomic bomb, but his influence in all areas -from art to culture- has been profound and irrevocable. Famously, Einstein said of failure, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried something new." His recipe for success is incisive (like the rest of his thinking): "In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

14 Oprah Winfrey

Oprah was demoted from her job as a news anchor because she "wasn't fit for television" and got "too emotionally invested in her stories". These qualities now define her multi-award-winning talk show. Named the 'Most Influential Woman in the World', Oprah says "there are no mistakes… when you're in your little mind, you're not centered and you don't know who you are… you get all flustered." She emphasizes the importance of self-knowledge and awareness of a sense of purpose that is greater than your current failure. In fact, Oprah says: "there's no such thing as failure… you get as much from your losses as you do from your victories because the losses are there to wake you up… when you understand that you don't allow yourself to be completely thrown… because your life is bigger than any one experience." The way through the challenge, she says is "to get still and ask yourself what is the next right move… You're not defined by what someone says is a failure for you, because failure is just there to point you in a different direction."

13 Walt Disney

Walt Disney, the creator of the whimsical film Fantasia, whose name has become synonymous with creativity and magic, was once fired for "lacking imagination". His job at a newspaper said that the father of fantasy "had no original ideas". The creator of Mickey Mouse went on to win 22 Academy Awards. Disney allowed the copyright for his first creation Mortimer the lucky rabbit to go to his distributor, who promptly cut Disney out of the deal. He lost his first creation. But he remained optimistic. He remembered the mice in his office which he befriended. This was the inspiration for Mickey Mouse. Shortly before he died, Disney said: "I hate to see downbeat pictures. I know life isn't that way and I don't want anyone telling me it is." Disney also said: “I think it's important to have a good hard failure when you're young. I learned a lot out of that. Because it makes you kind of aware of what can happen to you. Because of it, I've never had any fear in my whole life when we've been near collapse and all of that. I've never been afraid. I've never had the feeling I couldn't walk out and get a job doing something.”

12 Jim Carrey

When he was growing up, Carrey's family was so poor that the future actor had to drop out of high school at 15 and work as a janitor to help support them. The Carreys even lived in their car for over 6 months. Jim was also booed offstage at his first stand-up job at Yuk Yuks in Toronto. Next, he failed to get a part he auditioned for the 1980-1 edition of Saturday Night Live. But then his luck finally began to turn. Whether you believe in the 'Law of Attraction' like Jim, or you think that's baloney, you have to admit that he got something right when he wrote himself a check for $10,000,000 million dollars for “Acting Services Rendered,” keeping the check in his wallet for an entire seven years of struggle until he eventually received exactly $10,000,000 million dollars for his work in Dumb and Dumber. In a speech to another graduating class, Carrey said: "you can spend your whole life… worrying about the pathway to the future… So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous and impossible… I'm the proof that you can."

11 Steve Jobs

At age 30, Apple founder Steve Jobs was left devastated after being unceremoniously sacked from a company he himself had founded. Jobs suffered from a bout of clinical depression as a result, but said in a 2005 commencement speech at Stanford: "I had been rejected, but I was still in love… getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could ever have happened to me." Jobs also never graduated from college, dropping out of Reed College after 6 months because his parents could only just afford the fees. He said "much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on." For instance, his passion for a calligraphy class that at the time was without a "hope of any practical application" supplied the Mac computer with the typefaces that made it so special. "It was impossible to connect the dots looking forward… you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in the future. You have to trust in something. Your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference." He said "sometimes life is going to hit you with a brick. Don't lose faith… you've got to find what you love… don't settle".

10 Eminem

High school drop out, whose use of drugs and experience of poverty culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Rapping about his now famous rags to riches story, Eminem says "this ain't no movie, this is my life". It is obvious in his persona that the first white rapper to break into the big time is grounded in his failure. In 8 Mile, the movie about his impoverished life growing up fatherless in Detroit, 'Rabbit's' rap battle strategy is famous to use up the points of weakness in his own rap, leaving his opponent without ammunition to hit back with. It seems that the rapper's failure became the fuel for his subsequent success, infusing his work with the passion, grit, drama and drive that made it speak to millions of people. In fact, Eminem went on to win 13 Grammy Awards and sell over 90 million albums worldwide.  Maybe it's Eminem's early failure that makes "Lose Yourself" the ultimate "get pumped" track, especially when listened to with your hood up while working out at a gritty gym, or on your way to wherever you have to bring IT.

9 Anna Wintour

Before becoming the famous editor in chief at Vogue, the icy-voiced Brit Anna Wintour was sacked from her role at Harper's Bazaar in 1975 after just seven months in the role. She says "everyone should be sacked at least once in their career because perfection doesn't exist." Wintour spoke confessionally about failure and success in an interview with the celebrated author Alastair Campbell for his book Winners: And How They Succeed. The fashion mogul added, surprisingly, that failure and setbacks are essential, "because that is the reality of life". It sounds as though Wintour takes a totally pragmatic approach to the turning of fortune's wheel. Maybe that's because these days she controls the equally fickle world of fashion. Earning her the nickname 'Nuclear Winter', Wintour's trademark decisiveness is also one of her top tricks for success: "It makes it clearer for everyone else" she says, "most people prevaricate. I decide fast." Her other tips for success include being an early bird (she's up at 5 am every day) and "turning off" on the weekend.

8 The Beatles

The most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in history was once rejected by record label Decca who said, "we don't like their sound. They have no future in show business."  This almost caused the band to break up. George Harrison since said, "it was unusual at that time to have a group where everybody did the singing. In those days, it was… one guy out front who sang." John's recollection was similar: "when they listened to these audition tapes, they were listening for The Shadows. So they were not listening at all." Paul McCartney has also reflected on the band's early failure saying "listening to the tapes, I can understand why we failed the Decca audition. We weren't that good, though there were some quite interesting and original things." After the band's stratospheric success, John Lennon recounted their numerous early failed auditions: "they used to keep telling us, 'It's too much like rock and roll and that's all over now,' because they all thought rock and roll was dead, but they were wrong." Yes, yes they were.

7 Dr. Seuss

His first book was rejected by no fewer than 27 different publishers. But the zany world of Dr. Seuss has nevertheless had a (literally) insane impact on the childhoods of millions worldwide ever since. Really it's crazy to think of a childhood without any Dr. Seuss stories in it. They were probably everyone's favorite thing to read growing up and who can blame them. Perhaps it was the unique creations of this crazed creator that failed to resonate with the publishers of the day. It's amazing that despite being resoundingly excluded from the publishing world and rejected by almost every major publisher in the business at the time, Dr. Seuss continued on with his vision regardless. This is particularly impressive given that the very thing that makes his creations so wonderful is that they are so completely weird. Seuss' strange landscapes, nonsensical poetry, and whimsical characters might have died a death in the imagination of any less persistent author.

6 Abraham Lincoln

His fiance died, he had a nervous breakdown and was defeated in no less than eight elections. But the strength of character of Abraham Lincoln finally won through. "“Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life.” Like many of the failures turned successes in this line-up, Lincoln makes it seem like a no-brainer to carry through with your resolutions. The legendary 16th President of the United States not only embodied but may actually have coined the term 'hustle': “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” So Jay-Z was referencing good old Abe Lincoln, who could arguably be said to be the true father of 'the rap game'. The fact that these celebs pulled success out of the black hole of a magic hat is inspiring, as Lincoln said: "That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” The President not just of the United States but also of perseverance was clear in his advice to ambitious Americans: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."

5 Kerry Washington

Star of top TV series Scandal, Fantastic Four, and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, actress Kerry Washington struggled for years in Hollywood before making her big break. She came painfully close to landing two other pilots but was axed from the cast of both after they got picked up. She says: “Before Scandal, the only other two pilots I'd ever done were shows that got picked up, but I got fired, They recast my character on both shows." Now, she holds a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series. Almost uncanny that Washington should excel in exactly the sphere in which she received so many rejections. Maybe her brilliance in Scandal has something to do with all the rejection that she experienced on her way to TV leading ladydom. Now the only thing she's failed at twice is winning the Emmys she keeps being nominated for. But it's OK, she has a Screen Actor's Guild Award too!

4 Vera Wang

Creator of the world's most sought-after wedding dresses, Vera Wang had multiple careers before her fashion label made it big. A child prodigy in figure skating, Wang failed to make the 1968 US Olympic team. She has said: “As hard as I tried and as hard as I worked, I never really achieved the level that I wished. It was a very hard realization that since I was in my late teens, I was never going to get better. I wasn't going to make the Olympic team, and there were younger skaters coming up. So I quit”. But the one-time figure skater had a successful career at Vogue ahead of her. After nearly twenty years in the editorial team, Wang realized once more that her growth had plateaued: “After 17 years at Vogue, I realized that what I was doing there was never going to change. My career wasn't going to go any further there. I wasn't in line to get the editor in chief job. And I was at a point where I felt there had to be more. So after investing yet another 15 years in a career that really meant something to me, I left.” Her most recent and successful incarnation began at age 40, when she put all her experiences into designing the heavenly wedding dresses that have become matrimonial catnip for the world's 'It' women. Wang's career made a full circle when she began designing costumes for skating champion Nancy Kerrigan. The designer says: “Don't be afraid of failing. I think not trying is worse than failing. Have the courage to try. Otherwise, what are we here for?”

3 Lady Gaga

Ever controversial but perennially successful, Lady Gaga has said that it was her failed career as an actress that eventually pushed her down singing street. You'll know that she was active in the Avant Garde arts circuit of the Lower East Side, but did you know Lady Gaga was dropped by her first record label, Island Def Jam, after 3 months? She says that when she got the news she "cried so hard [she] couldn't talk." All this before rising to the top of the pop world as the Gaga we know and love. But after this initial failure, it still wasn't an easy road to the top. Akon noticed Gaga's singing abilities while she was working at Sony/ATV Music Publishing as a songwriter. He was instrumental in getting her signed with labels Interscope and KonLive Distribution. Now, Gaga's fame is undeniable, and not just because of her Fame Monster album: she's won six Grammy awards and a Songwriters Hall of Fame award. Forbes has estimated that the sometime struggling actress is now worth  $59 million.

2 Sarah Jessica Parker

Before embodying the New York lifestyle (emphasis on the style) so unforgettably as Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica had a long road to success. The starlet was born in a poor coal mining town in Ohio, the youngest of four children. She was two when her parents divorced and her mother went on to have another four children. Her new stepfather was often out of work as a truck driver, so Parker took up singing and dancing to help feed her ten-person family. Despite occasionally being forced to live on welfare, SJP's mom encouraged the children to take an interest in the arts. When Sarah Jessica was eleven she auditioned for a role in a Broadway play, getting cast alongside her brother. The family subsequently moved to New York, where Sarah Jessica continued to work hard and land roles until making it big opposite Mr. Big in Sex and the City.

1 J.K. Rowling

Before the richest woman in the world sold more books than any living author, she was rejected by no fewer than seven major publishing companies. Speaking at a Harvard graduation ceremony in 2008, she made the case for failure as an essential ingredient of her success. At the time that she conceived the world-famous Harry Potter series, she said that she had "failed on an epic scale".  She was a single mom, experiencing long bouts of unemployment and "as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless". It would seem that she worked her own kind of magic along with the wizarding abilities of her fictional characters. But Rowling was clear that phoenix-like, her success was born directly out of her failure. She said; "failure meant a stripping away of the inessential… I began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that really mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena where I believed I truly belonged… I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized… " Moving from her own life story to more generalized comments about failure, the world's most commercially successful writer proclaimed: "Some failure in life is inevitable… failure taught me things about myself that I could have learnt no other way… you will never truly know yourself, for the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity."