Success Memoirs

In this reflective and science-informed memoir, nationally recognized child-advocacy leader Michael Piraino explores the profound moments, relationships, and insights that helped him navigate trauma and reshape his life’s purpose. Blending personal stories with the neuroscience of healing, he reveals how connection, meaning, and the brain’s capacity for change guide us toward resilience.

When I was 13 months old, I sat in the backseat of my parents’ Chevy Impala, on the way to my father’s first of many stays in a mental institution. Soon after, he was diagnosed with Bi-Polar I disorder, a severe mental illness that would shape our family’s life. His outbursts were unpredictable, confusing, and often violent. As difficult as that was, it was only the beginning of my story.

America knew George Zimmer for one of the most famous slogans in television advertising history: “I guarantee it.” Zimmer rode his promise to lead the Men’s Wearhouse to unimagined success as a retail giant. Now, years removed from his stunning dismissal as leader of the company he founded, I Guarantee It recounts the journey of Zimmer’s rise, the fall of the Men’s Wearhouse, and his personal renewal.

Si no es cada cuatro años que se celebran los paralímpicos, si no se acerca el Día Internacional de las pcd, cuando las marcas realizan acciones; si no es que el gobierno da beneficios fiscales para impulsar la inserción laboral de este grupo, el resto del tiempo las personas con discapacidad viven entre las sombras.

Wie werde ich erfolgreich und finanziell unabhängig? Wie nutze ich Hindernisse, um an ihnen zu wachsen? Wie treffe ich die richtigen Entscheidungen? Als Kind nach Deutschland eingewandert, aufgewachsen in einem »sozialen Brennpunkt«, schon im Studium die erste eigene Firma gegründet und heute Millionär: Unterhaltsam und temporeich erzählt Dawid Przybylski seine persönliche Lebens- und Erfolgsgeschichte.

Entrepreneur and US Marine Korey Shaffer's road through life was tougher than most. After returning from a harrowing tour of duty in Afghanistan, Shaffer felt his chance to leave something of value to the world might have passed. But even in despair, he knew that many did not return home at all, or returned more broken than he was. Determined that the wounded and fallen not be abandoned or forgotten, Shaffer founded Til Valhalla Project, an organization devoted to honoring the fallen and preventing veteran suicides.

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.

"If you can dream it, you can do it!" - das ist bei Oliver Brünner keine Floskel. Dabei sah im Leben des heute erfolgreichen Speakers eigentlich alles ganz anders aus. Noch während seiner Geburt zieht sich die Nabelschnur seiner Mutter wie eine Schlinge um seinen Hals, weswegen er fortan mit einer spastischen Tetraparese lebt. Doch Oliver trotzt den vermeintlichen Widrigkeiten und kann heute auf einen Lebensweg zurückblicken, den dem schon früh als "Sorgenkind" titulierten Jungen wohl niemand zugetraut hätte. Seine Geheimwaffe: das Träumen.

(Extrem-)Sport prägt das Leben von Helmut Linzbichler: Ultralaufen, Bergsteigen, Klettern und Skifahren betreibt er seit Jahrzehnten mit Leidenschaft. Er stand als ältester Europäer auf dem Gipfel des Mount Everest, bestieg alle Seven Summits, lief beim Badwater Ultramarathon mehr als 200 km durch das Tal des Todes und beim Transamerikalauf 5.000 km quer durch die USA. Das Herantasten an die eigenen Grenzen – körperlich ebenso wie mental – ist das Lebenselixier des Österreichers.

KT Euzen, a lifelong learner, explores the joy of being an entrepreneur in this memoir.She chronicles a transformative decade across France, Bhutan, China, and Singapore, allowing listeners to traverse diverse cultures and join her on a quest toward knowledge and happiness.

Frank Lorenzo is the epitome of the American dream. A first-generation American and entrepreneur, Lorenzo started an airline advisory business in his mid-twenties and ultimately rose to control the largest fleet of airplanes in the free world. Flying for Peanuts explains how the son of Spanish immigrants put himself through Columbia College by driving a Coca-Cola truck and then grew the fledgling advisory into ownership of Texas International Airlines. From there, Lorenzo became CEO of Continental Airlines, a large loss-making west coast airline at the time.

The author, Vrinda Suresh Rao, who was an Indian Matchmaker for 25 years, has described her Indian Matchmaking journey. She combined the value of the Indian custom of arranged marriages with the power of technology to create a website with a unique matchmaking approach. During her matchmaking Journey, she met many amazing young men and women and their families. Connecting with them, she learned a lot about human nature and attitudes.

Drawing on two decades at the heart of New Zealand's most successful technology companies–Trade Me, Xero, Vend and Timely–Rowan Simpson unravels the messy reality behind familiar glossy success stories. With raw honesty and sharp analysis, he challenges conventional wisdom by sharing compelling firsthand lessons about focused execution, team building and genuine ecosystem growth.

You can change your stars and live your dreams. Listen to the inspiring story of Michele Weslander Quaid, who beat the odds. Given her humble beginnings as a daughter of a single mom, no one could have predicted her path or success. Her stars seemed to point to a life quite different from the one she leads.

At 15, I killed someone. This was just one of many secrets that my brain hid from me. For most of my life, I had barely any memories of my childhood. Except for a few snippets, I lived in the dark. It wasn’t until I turned 36 that my world began to unravel. Slow at first, and then suddenly, all at once, long-buried memories that had been concealed in the depths of my mind for survival now surfaced, shooting to the forefront of my mind.

By day he made deals with giants that made headlines everywhere. By night he felt his family, who he loved so much, slipping away. From the first ventures in the 1980s that started things out to massive contracts with some of the most respected companies in America, here, in Joshua Wallack’s own words, is a 40-year adventure no one could invent: the true love that forged the meaning of his life, startups, partnerships, and battles for the soul of the family.

Life happens. We make mistakes, and maybe we know that we are not showing up as our best selves. The question is not whether you will be knocked down by life. That is inevitable. The question is, how do you get back up again? Oh God of Second Chances, Here I Am Again is a book about what it takes to get back up again and again.

Sport: A Stage for Life aims not just to inspire you, but to guide you in applying the lessons of sport so that you may evolve in your own journey of self-development and transformation. You will learn how a father and his daughter applied these lessons in building successful corporate careers and enriching their personal lives.

In October of 2008, I was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, TN, after a head-on collision with an SUV while riding a motorcycle. When I woke up, I was told I would never walk again or have full use of my hands. Seventy-eight screws, 13 plates, 25 units of blood, and more than 400 stitches and staples later, I became very familiar with physical pain and haven’t had a pain-free day since. That physical battle was harder than I could even begin to explain, but it doesn’t really come close to the one that I went through inside of myself over the years that followed.

A determined truth-seeker craving success and belonging unexpectedly meets her soul, leading to greater self-acceptance, a deeper understanding of the mysteries of life and death, and the realization that every new beginning provides a rich opportunity for healing and personal evolution.