- Crossing· 1973
Yvon Chouinard
FromRock climber & blacksmithLived out of his car in Yosemite, hand-forging climbing pitons from a Ford Model A axle.IntoPatagoniaReluctant CEO; gave the company to a climate trust in 2022. - Crossing· 2000
Sara Blakely
FromFax-machine saleswomanSold fax machines door-to-door in Florida for seven years after failing the LSAT twice.IntoSpanx$5,000 in savings, no fashion connections, no bank loan. - Crossing· 1986–87
Howard Schultz
FromXerox salesmanTop-50 sales rep selling word processors before joining a tiny Seattle bean retailer in 1982.IntoStarbucksAcquired the chain from his former bosses in 1987. - Crossing· 1997
Reed Hastings
FromPeace Corps math teacherTaught secondary school maths in Swaziland for two years after Bowdoin.IntoNetflixStarted Netflix in 1997 after selling Pure Software for $750M to Rational. - Crossing· 1962
Phil Knight
FromStanford-trained CPAWrote his Stanford MBA paper on importing Japanese running shoes; took a CPA job at Price Waterhouse to pay off the company's bills.IntoNikeSold Onitsuka Tigers from his car at high school track meets across Oregon. - Crossing· 1976
Anita Roddick
FromSchoolteacherTaught English and history; spent her twenties travelling — kibbutz in Israel, hostels in Polynesia, the slums of Mauritius.IntoThe Body ShopOpened the first store in Brighton with a £4,000 loan while her husband rode horseback across the Americas. - Crossing· 1923
Walt Disney
FromRed Cross ambulance driverDrove ambulances in France in 1918 after lying about his age to enlist (he was 16).IntoDisneyFounded Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in his uncle's Hollywood garage at 22. - Crossing· 1946
Estée Lauder
FromApprentice in her uncle's labWorked alongside her Hungarian uncle Dr John Schotz, a skin chemist, blending creams in his New Queens lab from age 16.IntoEstée LauderFounded the company with her husband at 38, after years selling jars of her uncle's cream at beauty salons. - Crossing· 1996
Pierre Omidyar
FromMac engineerWorked at Claris and General Magic; built AuctionWeb on his home computer over Labor Day weekend, 1995.IntoeBayQuit his day job only when AuctionWeb's earnings exceeded his salary. - Crossing· 2008
Brian Chesky
FromIndustrial designerRISD graduate; designed athletic-shoe prototypes at a Los Angeles consultancy before moving back in with college roommate Joe Gebbia in 2007.IntoAirbnbCouldn't make rent; rented out air mattresses on his living-room floor during a sold-out San Francisco design conference.