Success Memoirs

An epic adventure full of incredible characters, death-defying athletic achievement, and bleeding edge science, The Fear Project began with one question: how can we overcome our fears to reach our full potential? Who among us has not been paralyzed by fear? In The Fear Project, award-winning journalist and surfer Jaimal Yogis sets out to better understand fear - why does it so often dominate our lives, what makes it tick, and is there even a way to use it to our advantage?

From the co founder of the Vera Bradley empire, a practical and inspiring book that shows women how to awaken their full potential at any age.

In this "powerful and inspiring" true story, follow Joe Moglia's legendary career transition from head football coach at Coastal Carolina University to the CEO of TD Ameritrade, one of the country's most successful financial firms. By the time Joe was in his early 30s, he had risen through the high school and college football ranks to become the defensive coordinator at Dartmouth. His dream was very much within reach. Problem was, Joe wasn't making enough money to support his growing family.

It is both interesting and inspirational to hear of the great lengths that an individual has gone to achieve success. This is the reason many flock to motivational seminars and conferences; it is the reason we listen to speeches and read autobiographies and biographies of people we consider great. Their stories provide the inspiration we desperately needed and the opportunity to learn or relearn the way to success.

Success is about more than accomplishment—it's about the people on the journey with you. From Start to Finish is more than a memoir from a lifetime educator—it's a legacy of wisdom, woven from a lifetime of stories and lessons meant to inspire future generations. Written with the intent of one day sharing with his grandchildren, this heartfelt, and often humorous, collection offers timeless insights into the value of faith, relationships, and integrity to shape a fulfilling life and career. “If I’ve learned anything at this point on my journey,” says Dr. Alexander, “it’s that ...

"One day, one of Bozana's Skojo's friends told her she was 'a good poor'. Bewildered by the words at first, Bozana gradually came to realize they really did describe her - someone who was never overcome by adversity, but who fixed up her hair, put on a little lipstick and her 'game face' to work her way out of any difficulties that fate tossed her way. She realized it was a strategy for living that could apply to any situation.

Johnny Quinn shares his “wild dream” of playing in the NFL, being crushed after getting cut three times, losing $2.6 million in contracts, and blowing out his knee. At age 30, when most professional athletes are considered “over the hill”, Johnny was competing for Team USA in the sport of bobsled at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. We all experience failure at some level; Quinn equips us to embrace change, accept risks, and learn to push through barriers, to live life on purpose.

In 2012, Craig Stanland made a choice that would cost him everything. After he had exploited the warranty policy of one of the largest tech companies in the world for almost a year, the FBI finally knocked on his door. Blank Canvas is a meditation on our remarkable capacity to rebuild and reinvent our lives. Through powerful storytelling, Craig proves that our greatest adversities do not have to be the end. Sometimes, they can be our greatest beginning.

Imagine if you lived without the fear of failure, without the fear of not measuring up. If you no longer felt the need to stifle your thoughts and swallow what you really want to say in order to please and appease others. If you could stop berating yourself mercilessly for human mistakes, let go of the guilt and the strangling pressure to be perfect, and just breathe. What if, in every decision you faced, you made the brave choice or took the bolder path. Would you be happier? Would you impact the world in the ways you dream you can? I believe the answer to both is yes.

The Accidental Millionaire is the memoir of Gary Fong, would-be slacker who revolutionized wedding photography, inventor of popular photography aids, entrepreneur, contrarian, bon vivant and a man who really, really didn't want to become a doctor. A first-generation Chinese-American, Gary was raised in one of Los Angeles' least-desirable neighborhoods and was forced to deal in his own quirky and often very funny way with the burdens of poverty, crime and his parents' relentless aspirations.

While most books and press focus on the more sensational moments of creation and conclusion, The Messy Middle argues that the real key to success is how you navigate the ups and downs after initial investment is secured. It will give you all the insights you need to build and optimise your team, improve your product and develop your own capacity to lead. Building on seven years of meticulous research with entrepreneurs, small agencies, start-ups and billion-dollar companies, Scott Belsky offers indispensable lessons on how to endure and thrive in the long term.

Collecting deeply personal conversations with inspirational LGBTQ+ trailblazers (from Troye Sivan to Margaret Cho) about how they leveraged the challenges and insights they had as relative outsiders to succeed in the worlds of business, tech, politics, Hollywood, sports and beyond, Andrew Gelwick’s The Queer Advantage celebrates the unique power of queer identity. Their stories brim with the hard-won lessons gained over their careers.

In “The Trail to Success: A City Manager on Leadership, Management, and Civic Empowerment" Howard W. Brown Jr. shares his inspiring journey from a first generation college student to one of the youngest and few Black city managers in the nation. This memoir is not just a chronicle of Brown's rise, but also a candid account of the challenges he faced along the way. From a youthful marriage and subsequent divorce, raising two children, financial struggles, multiple relocations, to the relentless scrutiny of the media, Brown's journey was far from easy.

The Way to Wealth, originally a preface to the 1758 edition of Franklin's beloved Poor Richard's Almanack, presents a brief fable of a local wise man, Father Abraham, quoting Poor Richard to an eager crowd. In this inspiring tale, Franklin steps out of the past and shares with you his famed maxims about wealth, knowledge, virtue, and all other elements of business success.

The world of show business has never been easy for anyone. Once given the chance, one must take care of it the same way one takes care of valuable things. One great mistake can affect your whole career, no matter how high your achievements are. Johnny Depp is considered one of the most renowned and successful actors in terms of box office, in which he draws recognition. He has formed a solid bond with moviegoers who span over several generations, because of his ability to absorb himself into a particular assortment of dynamic characters.

Infertility is a battle that women have been fighting for centuries, but the seemingly taboo subject is rarely discussed openly. Here, Bailey Henry describes her journey with infertility, including four miscarriages, marriage, grief, love, and the chance she was never properly potty-trained. With raw honesty, heartbreak, and a bit of humor, Bailey discusses the trials of being pregnant but never having a baby. If you've known the devastating loss of a child, or if your life simply hasn't turned out the way you thought it would, this one is for you.

We all have hurt in our lives. Luis Scott knows this truth firsthand. He was overlooked for athletics growing up. Eight of his businesses failed, and he almost went bankrupt. With his house being foreclosed upon and his vehicles being repossessed, Luis had to take on debt to survive. On top of that, his marriage failed. But despite facing hardship at every turn, Luis persevered. He played Division I college baseball, helped grow a law firm to over 200 employees, remarried, and turned his financial life completely around. Every negative experience prepared Luis for success. In It Has to Hurt...

At seven years old, Lynnie Vessels stepped out of the bathtub to discover her father had just shot her mother with a shotgun across their dining room table. Literally standing naked in her mother's blood throughout the ensuing horror, she was magically transported into the loving eyes of her younger sister. Simultaneously, her older sister used words to convince her maniacal father to put down the gun. In those moments, the author came to understand the miraculous power of eye contact and words.

A tragic near-death accident turns triumphant and even joy-filled as the God of Grace pours his lavish love on Sheila Preston Fitzgerald, a Southern belle who brings her tenacious, can-do spirit to the fight for her life. Join Sheila as she recounts her heartfelt - at times horrific, at times hilarious - journey.

In the 1990s, Steve Farrell cofounded and led two high-growth technology companies based in Silicon Valley that were featured in the INC500 and spanned the United States and Europe. A New Universal Dream is the inspiring story of Steve's journey from the pursuit of wealth and traditional ideas of success toward a more fulfilling life of caring and service to others and to humanity. It's also the story of the potential each of us has for profound change.