Success Is Not How You Start....Rather How You Finish

Going to college will not hurt anyone in terms of getting a job.  But, just because you go to college don't ever believe a degree will guarantee you a great career in corporate America. One of the most successful business men, started his career by going against his parents wishes attend college, instead he wandered around Europe, sometimes sleeping on park benches and performing for tips on the street.

The young man's name was Guy and after spending time in Europe, wandering around, he returned to his home in Quebec.

A few year later Guy co-organized on a wild bacchanalian summer arts festival there in 1982 called La Fête Forraine.

At this festival, a young circus troupe, which Guy had started, gave its first public performance.

That troupe, which featured no animals and instead focused on acrobats, dancers, jugglers, stilt-walkers, clowns, mimes, and musicians.

Guy big break came in 1987, when the mayor of Los Angeles invited the troupe to come perform as part of the Los Angeles Arts Festival, offering a split of proceeds. The troupe was so broke, however, Guy bought them all one-way tickets to Los Angeles; it’s not clear how they would have returned home if the show had been a flop.

However, the show was anything but a flop. Due to some fantastic pre-show buzz, the whole run sold out, and the troupe received rave reviews across the board. Not only did the troupe have enough money to return to Quebec, but they toured the rest of the U.S. before returning. One of the great business success stories in the history of entertainment was off and running, and Guy never looked back.

Yes, if you have not guessed who this company was, it's is the now extremely successful Cirque du Soleil!!!!

Over the last twenty-four years since that Los Angeles opening, Cirque du Soleil has been seen by close to 100 million people in over 250 cities around the world. Guy has been a fixture on the Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires, recently coming in at #459 in the magazine’s 2011 list of the world’s 1,210 richest individuals, with a reported net worth of $2.5 billion.

Sometimes good things happen to those who don't go to college but have an internal fire that never goes out. Sometimes good things happen to those that start out on park benches.

As the quote goes: It's not how you start, it's how you finish!!

Posted via email from Kleerstreem's Posterous