The Top 10 Most Popular Notes Stories of the Year

I have a real treat for you tonight and tomorrow night - the top 10 most popular Notes to an Entrepreneur stories of the year. These rags-to-riches tales are fun and inspiring. Thank you so much for taking us along on your entrepreneurial journey. Enjoy!

#10. She Was Managing Millions . . . Then She Bought a Laundromat
Codie Sanchez had climbed to the top of Wall Street, managing millions for big firms, but something just wasn’t right. She realized that financial success alone didn’t equal happiness, and so she walked away from her “dream job” and bought .. what? A laundromat; about as unsexy a business as there is, but the cash-flow was very sexy. That first laundromat opened her eyes to a whole new way of building wealth through small, boring enterprises, which eventually led her to acquire dozens of cash-producing businesses and launch a media brand teaching others to do the same.

#9 . Too Old, Too Late? Arianna Huffington Proved Them Wrong at 55
Arianna Huffington spent decades being dismissed: rejected by 36 publishers, defeated in a gubernatorial run, and still struggling for a platform…until she leaned into the at-that-time obscure world of micro-blogging. At age 55 she launched The Huffington Post, a mash-up of celebrity, opinion, and curated news nobody else saw coming, and turned skepticism into massive traction. Her breakthrough wasn’t a sudden insight; it was choosing persistence over retreat at a point most people assume the clock was running out.

#8. Julia Child Was a Failure Until She Was 50 . . . Then She Wasn’t
Julia Child flailed through job after job before one meal in Rouen, France lit a fire when she was in her mid 40s. Enthralled, she enrolled at a prestigious French cooking school and found her place, albeit still a struggle, she being the only American and a woman and older and 6-feet tall and all. But instead of quitting, she embraced what made her different, and turned it into the very thing that made her relatable to millions. She wrote a French cookbook for Americans and it exploded. A TV show followed, proving that being “late to the game” can be he edge that actually wins the game.

#7. The Surprisingly Simple Pivot Behind UGG’s Rise From Joke to Icon
When Brian Smith brought sheepskin boots to California, retailers laughed and he sold only 28 pairs. But instead of doubling down on pitch meetings with stores that weren’t buying, he reframed the boots not as ugly boots but as post-surf cozy essentials, and put them in the places the surf culture lived, namely surf shops, beaches, and sanctuary spots. That simple pivot in how and where he positioned his novel product turned UGG from oddity into a cultural symbol of cool and set the foundation for a global brand

#6. NOT Getting a Deal on Shark Tank Was the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Him
Jamie Siminoff’s big break became his biggest rejection when Shark Tank passed on his video doorbell, calling it these niche and clunky. Left without a deal and nearly broke, he didn’t quit, he rebranded, refined the product, and leaned into the story of neighborhood safety rather than gadgetry. That turned Ring into a category of one, and massive revenue and eventually a billion-plus acquisition followed, proving that a rejection is often just Step 1.

The Takeaway

Among other things, what’s interesting about these stories is that there is not a Bezos, Branson, or Zuckerberg them. What you clearly like are less well known tales of breakthroughs, re-inventions, aha! moments, and plain ‘ol perseverance. Ask, and ye shall receive.

Tomorrow - the Top 5!

About Steve

Steve Strauss is the best-selling author of The Small Business Bible (and 17 other books), Inc.’s small business columnist, a lawyer (non-practicing), and an entrepreneur. He sold his last venture, TheSelfEmployed.com to Mark Cuban & Zen Business. Need a ghostwriter or a newsletter for your business? Contact Steve!