Success story: Stephenie Meyer – author of the Twilight vampire romance book series

September 10, 2009

Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer

Look at the Wikipedia page for Stephenie Meyer and you will see the story of a former “average person” who went on to make millions as an author. Despite having an English degree she only ever worked as a receptionist after her graduation in 1995, until she started writing Twilight in 2003.

By the end of that year Meyer had signed a $750,000 three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company, according to that Wikipedia page. The first in the series of books, Twilight, was published in 2005 and was a hit. Other novels followed in subsequent years.

Twilight, the first movie adaptation of the series was released late last year and became a huge worldwide hit. Another, New Moon is due out in November and the third, Eclipse, is now filming. In addition to this, a new clothing line was recently launched to promote The Host, another book from last year.

There is a line of The Host t-shirts and skateboards available to order online. The line offers three designs and they all have the name The Host on them. The book is Meyer’s only adult novel and has been on the best seller list for weeks.

She has come a long way in the last 13 or so years and is listed on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list of the world’s most powerful celebrities in 2009, entering at #26 with annual earnings exceeding $50 million. It is a great success story.

Link:

StephenieMeyer.com – official site

Written by SuccessMotivational.com · Filed Under Celebrity success, Literature 

Success story: Female astronaut Megan McArthur on final Hubble service mission

August 29, 2009

Megan McArthur

This is a brief story of Megan McArthur’s journey to space this year.

Born in 1971 and graduating with a B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of California-Los Angeles, 1993 and Ph.D., Oceanography, University of California-San Diego, 2002, it was a chance meeting in college with astronaut Kathryn Sullivan – the first US woman to do a space walk – that helped Megan McArthur decide exactly what she would do for a career.

Fast forward to May this year and Megan McArthur was in space helping to service the Hubble telescope, which was launched by Kathryn Sullivan.

After a career in science as an oceanographer, Megan McArthur joined NASA nine years ago. She started training in 2007 for 1½ years specifically for her first space mission. Its purpose was to service the 19-year-old Hubble telescope for a fifth and final time. She spent 12 days and 21 hours in space in May, performing the roles of flight engineer and mission specialist where she operated the robotic arm that secured the telescope for servicing.

She is one of 20 active women on NASA’s roster, along with 60 men. Her aim next is to go to the International Space Station. For now, though, she promotes science among her other work with NASA. She has been to Australia this month to promote National Science Week.

Sources:

WA today (Australia)

NASA Mega McArthur Bio

Written by SuccessMotivational.com · Filed Under Career, Celebrity success, Science 

Success story: Lance Armstrong fought cancer and went on to win the Tour de France 7 times

August 18, 2009

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong was a successful professional cyclist in the 1990s. He had won The World Cycling Championship and the US National Road Race Championship. Then disaster struck in October 1996. He was told by his doctor that he had testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain.

He was given a 50 percent chance of survival and had surgery to remove his right testicle and brain lesions, followed by three months of chemotherapy. Armstrong was declared cancer-free in 1997. He then began his cycling comeback in May 1998.

Lance competed in the Tour de France 1999 and won it for 7 years straight after that before retiring temporarily from cycling. He had already started The Lance Armstrong Foundation and the LiveStrong awareness campaign started to take off in different countries much more during his “retirement”.

He came out of retirement this year and has successfully competed in races in several countries. It has sparked an interest among amateur cyclists who are becoming racers now. It is one of the great inspirational stories of a champion in his sport and personal life.

Link:

LiveStrong

Sources:

Cancer.org
Bestinspirationalquotes4u.com

Written by SuccessMotivational.com · Filed Under Career, Celebrity success, Health 

Success story: ProBlogger, Darren Rowse – the professional blogger’s path to pro-blogger success

August 17, 2009

In just a few years, part-time internet blogger, Darren Rowse, went from struggling blogger in his spare time to becoming a professional blogger earning a six-figure income and teaching others how to do this themselves. Here is a look at the beginnings of his success story as a blogger.
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Written by SuccessMotivational.com · Filed Under Blogging, Internet Success 

Success story: How Krista Allen became a yoga teacher after initially thinking about giving up on exercise workouts

August 17, 2009

During May 2009, Hollywood actress, Krista Allen, tweeted on Twitter about starting to do exercise workouts. She tried several different types, thought about giving up within days (as she tweeted once) and ultimately settled on yoga. Fast forward nearly three months and she is officially a yoga teacher. Here is a look at her success story in this endeavor.
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Written by SuccessMotivational.com · Filed Under Celebrity success, Fitness 

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