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Aspiring author and college student Samin Nosrat felt directionless. So, she applied to be a busser at a local restaurant. 17 years later, Nosrat fulfilled her writing dream—as a chef.

Former high school principal Doug Lemov wanted to understand why some teachers were more effective than others. Five years later, he went on to write a bestselling guide for teachers and lead Uncommon Schools, a charter school.

Nobel Prize winner Katalin Karikó was rejected by academic journals, denied grant funding, and even kicked out of her lab for what was considered insignificant work.

Dog sled teams, who helped save the small town of Nome, Alaska in 1925, are comprised of carefully selected pups. Without the right dogs placed in the right places, the team is doomed to fail.

Nike started out as a side hustle between a college track coach and an accountant.

US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor knew she wanted to become an attorney since the age of 10. Her journey went as intended… until she was rejected for a full-time job offer after a summer internship with a New York corporate law firm. Three decades later, she was appointed to the US Supreme Court. What can Sonia Sotomayor teach us about rerouting our path to reach our full potential?

In 1908, a new cookie was born: one made up of a sweet cream filling sandwiched between two chocolate-y wafers. Thinking OREO? Not quite. That's because OREO is a direct copycat of a cookie called Hydrox—which became obsolete after OREO crushed it in sales. What can we learn about how OREO overtook its competition for our own careers?

Did you know? The director of the “Dune” series (2021, 2024), Denis Villeneuve, was originally going to become a biologist. But, feeling deeply depressed, Villeneuve dropped everything—and enrolled in film school. What can his 40-year journey teach us about finding fulfillment in our own careers?

Did you know? The most powerful telescope ever, designed to find and photograph the first galaxies in the universe, had 344 ways it could fail—and yet it did not. What can NASA’s meticulous planning teach us for our own careers?

Did you know? Reliance Industries, India’s largest company (88th on the Fortune 500), owns 234 subsidiary companies from grocery stores to gas stations. What can we learn from Reliance’s early days for our own careers?

Did you know? Heart-shaped Valentine’s Day chocolate originated from a 19th-century marketing strategy. What can we learn from this sweet tradition for our own careers?

In 2014, Celeste Ng released her first novel ever. Five months later, it was Amazon’s Best Book of the Year. What can we learn for our own careers?

In 1814, British troops invading Washington, D.C. took to their ships and fled. Why? A canon-tossing tornado landed on the Capitol. What can we learn from the “Storm That Saved Washington” for our own careers?

Angela Merkel, the former German Chancellor, went from a physics Ph.D. to a political campaign volunteer to the first female leader of Germany. What can we learn from Merkel’s volunteering for our own careers?

The General Sherman is the largest tree on Earth. How did it get this big… and what can its growth teach us about growing our own careers?

Instant noodles are associated with college students, late nights, and empty wallets. But did you know the easy meal started in a backyard shed as a response to food shortages? What can the company with $5 billion in revenue today teach us for our own careers?

Oprah dreamed of being “famous” as a teenager. Today, she’s a household name known for her media empire and boasts $2.8B in net worth. How did Oprah make her goals reality?

What can the man behind Trader Joe’s—the small but mighty grocery store with $16B in revenue—teach us about the power of a point of view? And, what can you learn from Joe for your own career?