Brock Anderson Dream Weaver Blog – EXPO 1213-002

Who is Oprah Winfrey?
Well, the better question would be, who isn’t Oprah Winfrey? She is a well-known “Emmy Award–winning talk show host, media executive, Academy Award–nominated actress, and philanthropist” and is also famous for her show, The Oprah Winfrey Show (Piccotti, 2024, par. 1). Her net worth is said to be nearing a whopping $3B due to her success with multiple ventures, one of the more notable ones being her show. That said, unless one truly looked into her background and upbringing, most do not know what she had to go through to achieve her success.

Winfrey’s American Dream
Winfrey was born in Mississippi to extremely young parents. Not long after being born, she was sent to live with her grandmother. However, after she became ill, she was forced to go live with her mother in Milwaukee. This exposed her to a plethora of issues including “sexual assault from an array of men in which she was related to, physical abuse for the littlest things, and much more” (Andaloro & Aborn, 2022, par. 4). Note that all of this was occurring before she was even 14 years old. When she turned 14, her rebellious actions she took against her mother led to her getting pregnant. Her mother, not knowing what to do, sent her to live with her father.

After a miscarriage occurred, which was a blessing in disguise given her situation, she turned her life around. She attended beauty pageants, performing exceedingly well, and wound-up accepting scholarships to Tennessee State University. At age 19, she actually dropped out to pursue a news anchor opportunity which led her to more success (Andaloro & Aborn, 2022, par. 8). Things were not easy though, she got turned down many times for roles in different talk shows and oftentimes went from one to another. Eventually, she ended up landing what ended up being The Oprah Winfrey Show, and it only grew in popularity from there. Other things not discussed extensively in these articles were racial prejudices, discrimination, and other issues she faced being a woman amongst an industry full of males. She overcame extreme adversity to pursue, and without a doubt achieve, her American Dream.

References:
Andaloro, A., & Aborn, S. (May 6, 2022) The Tragic Story of Oprah’s Childhood. The List. Retrieved from: https://www.thelist.com/346339/the-tragic-story-of-oprahs-childhood/
Piccotti, T. (February 4, 2024). Oprah Winfrey. Biography.com. Retrieved from: https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/oprah-winfrey

Who is Howard Schultz?
Howard Schultz is not a name that rings the bell in a lot of people’s heads. However, he is the owner of a well-known coffee house company in which many people worldwide have been to or heard of – which is Starbucks. Howard has a net worth of around $4B, which is not too surprising given the success of the company. However, his path to success was not as simple as going to college, getting a business or entrepreneurial degree, and then start brainstorming company ideas. He had to overcome extreme adversity to get to where he is now.
The Schultz American Dream
Howard was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised with two other siblings by two parents who worked around the clock to make ends meet (Wikipedia, 2024, par. 4). The whole family lived in a one-bedroom apartment in a public housing project in which they all pitched in financially. Howard even went to the extent of regularly donating plasma just to make a few extra dollars for his family (Inspire Yourself, 2020, 2:21). That said, he was not comfortable living this lifestyle and wanted to defeat this negative precedence set by his family. He worked around the clock, and with sports and education combined, he was able to get a scholarship to Michigan State University and graduated with a B.A. in communications. During college, he had worked at various coffee shops. Towards the end of his academia, the shop he worked at merged with an already established Starbucks. From there, the duty of turning the company around was all thrown on his shoulders. After many long, devastating hours and an extensive amount of commitment and courage, the company started to thrive. After many years, the company slowly developed into what it is today – a $100B company. Schultz had to overcome adversity, do whatever it took to make ends meet for him and his family, and climb the ladder to success in order to accomplish his American Dream.

References:
Inspire Yourself. (December 5, 2020). How Starbucks Became a $100B Success Story | Howard Schultz | From Poor Boy to Billionaire. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9UYbJ2xMTI
Wikipedia. (2024). Howard Schultz. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Schultz

Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr., aka, Iron Man, is a well-known Hollywood actor and has played many roles in many popular films, but is most popularly featured in The Avengers movies and others alike as Iron Man. However, as many may not know, his path to success has not been an easy one. Even though he was practically born into the film industry, he has overcome many obstacles that a lot of well-known actors and actresses today would not even have to think about overcoming.

How Downey’s adversity drove him to success
Downey was the son of a well-known actor, director, and film maker which basically launched him into the industry. At the young age of 5, he played a small role in one of his father’s movies. However, his father struggled with many kinds of drugs which he intuitively exposed his son to (TheFamousPeople, 2024, par. 4). At age 13, his parents divorced and him and his father moved to California to pursue their careers. This not only increased exposure to the poor decisions of his father, but it also increased the likelihood of him getting involved. Luckily, he relocated to New York to live with his mother at the age of 16, but this did not stop him from getting addicted to drugs (Picotti, 2024, par. 3). Despite landing many roles eventually, he still struggled with his drug addiction that was instilled in him by his father. This eventually led to him getting imprisoned in the state of California on multiple accounts of drug use and possession. After confinement and rehabilitation, Downey put his nose back to the grindstone to get back into the industry. This led to him landing the role of Iron Man in 2008, and since then, he has been making reputable progress in the film industry. Even though his individual actions were to blame, most would have given up in the face of adversity. Through family turmoil and a plethora of personal issues, Downey climbed the ladder to success and is now sober living his American Dream.

References
Picotti, T. (MArch 10, 2024). Robert Downey Jr. Retrived from: https://www.biography.com/actors/robert-downey-jr
Editors, The Famous People. (2024). Robert Downey Jr.: Biography. Retrieved from: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/robert-downey-jr-5102.php

Who is Michael Oher?
Many know the name Michael Oher from the movie The Blindside, which is about how his life was transformed from nothing to becoming one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the National Football League (NFL). His natural athleticism paired with his work ethic and remarkable genetics carried him to the top, but what was his primary focus before he found football? Given his circumstances, it was survival.

Michael Oher’s American Dream
As briefly covered in the movie, Michael Oher had an extremely rough upbringing. That said, for those who have seen it, the movie did not cover his childhood extensively before being adopted into a welcoming family. Michael did not receive much care as a child due to an absent father, who was eventually murdered in prison, and a mother who was dependent on alcohol (TheFamousPeople, 2023, par. 3). He bounced around from foster-family to foster-family, experiencing a multitude of problems with each one ranging from violence in the area or families who did not truly care. Eventually, in 2004 at the age of 16, he was adopted by the right family who met his wants and needs which allowed him to focus on things he liked – the primary one being football. He was offered many scholarships, played well in college, and wound up getting drafted into the NFL and having a successful career. Despite all the setbacks and adversity, he accomplished his goals defying the odds.

Up for Debate
Some sources, such as The New York Times, draw up the debate as to whether Michael Oher actually achieved his version of the American dream. That is because he formally requested the court of Tennessee to “end his legal relationship with the family (the Touhys) who took him in, claiming that he had never actually been adopted and had been tricked into signing away his decision-making powers so the family could make millions of dollars off his life story” (Nerkar, 2023, par. 1). The Tuohys leveraged confusing contracts Oher thought was necessary for adoption to strip his decision-making ability and proposed The Blindside movie and did not grant him any proceedings. This is an ongoing case and is up for debate whether he is living his American Dream.

References
Editors, TheFamousPeople. (2023). Michael Oher: Biograohy. The Famous People. Retrieved from: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/michael-oher-6143.php
Nerkar, S. (August 14, 2023). ‘Blind side’ Player Says He Was Conned With Adoption Promise. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/sports/football/michael-oher-blind-side-lawsuit.html#:~:text=The%20former%20N.F.L.%20player%20Michael%20Oher%2C%20whose%20journey,make%20millions%20of%20dollars%20off%20his%20life%20story.

Who is Jim Carrey?
Jim Carrey is a well-known actor and is featured in or stars in many comedic movies and TV shows – some of the well-known ones being Dumb and Dumber and Bruce Almighty. His net worth is said to be up around $150M, but that is not something that came easily to him. Actually, Jim has been through adversity that most actors and actresses would not have been able to overcome. That said, he lives up to the saying that some people who seem to be the happiest came from extremely rough backgrounds and are not, in fact, as happy as they seem.

Jim Carrey’s Path to Success
As previously mentioned, Carrey’s path to success was no easy one. His father bounced from job to job all of his life and his mother was sick from as early as he can remember. This lack of job security took a toll on the family in which they ended up living out of their family van for a while in his teens. Taking responsibility in his own hands, Carrey dropped out of school to take up a janitor job at the age of 16 in order to support his family which also gave him more spare time to work on comedy (Elephant Learning, 2022, par. 2). Despite having a little more time to work on it, it still did not come easy. Several times in his early career he was booed off stage as a stand-up comedian and was even asked not to sign up for another gig at some places. That is when he relocated to Hollywood with hopes of turning his career around. After several knockdowns, he slowly worked his way into featured roles on TV shows which eventually led to him starring in Ace Ventura and The Mask. Most people would have folded in the face of adversity had they been faced with half of the challenges Jim Carrey went through. However, despite the never-ending road and getting knocked down well over a dozen times, Jim Carrey defied many odds in order to pursue and achieve his American Dream.

Reference
Elephant Learning. (2022). Jim Carrey: From Childhood Homelessness to Famous Actor. Elephant Learning, LLC. Retrieved from: https://sites.create.ou.edu/brockandersondreamweaverblog/wp-admin/post.php?post=52&action=edit

Who is Mike Tyson?
A lot of people know of, or have heard of, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. His professional boxing career spanned 20 years and he has stepped back into the ring many times since his retirement in 2005 (Wikipedia, 2024, par. 1). He has also played small roles in a few movies, one of the most popular being The Hangover. However, his road to success was not a smooth one.

How did he accomplish his American Dream?
Mike Tyson was raised in some of the most adverse conditions a child can face. His father left his family at the early age of two and he was raised by his mother and two older siblings. However, Fort Greene, Brooklyn in New York City is not the safest place for a boxing idol to grow up – especially in the 70’s and 80’s. That said, he witnessed a lot of crime and inevitably had to get involved in things such as stealing to make ends meet for his family. He described his childhood days in Brooklyn like, “no cops come to protect you… everybody was always locked up, everybody was getting shot or cut it was too common” (Mishra, 2023, par. 5).

This continued until he met a man that would change his life forever, Cus D’ Amato, at the age of 12. That is when he started pursuing boxing in which his initial goal was to be able to defend himself against thugs and bullies. He got so involved with the sport he eventually dropped out of high school to pursue it fulltime. Eventually, he climbed the ladder until he made his professional debut at 18 years old in the world of professional boxing. At age 20, he had claimed the champion spot in the heavyweight division and was feared by many elite and veteran boxers. Despite all the setbacks, which were not only faced in his childhood but in his adulthood as well, Mike continued to push through adversity and came out on top. Mike accomplished, through literal blood, sweat, and tears, what most would consider the American Dream.

References

Mishra, M. (June 8, 2023). Mike Tyson Opens Up About Horrific Criminal Life He Lived Before Meeting His Mentor. Essentially Sports. Retrieved from: https://www.essentiallysports.com/boxing-news-i-almost-died-getting-crippled-37-years-after-cus-damatos-death-mike-tyson-opens-up-about-horrific-criminal-life-he-lived-before-meeting-his-mentor/

Wikipedia. (2024). Mike Tyson. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Tyson

Leonardo DiCaprio is a well-known actor who has starred in many popular films including Titanic, Wolf of Wall Street, The Great Gatsby (2013), and many others. Most, but not all, actors and actresses who have a reputable track record in the film industry had a leg-up on outsiders when they started because of extensive preparation, being born into wealth, and a strong network of insiders who got them into the industry. However, Leonardo had just the opposite.
How was his upbringing different from most actors in Hollywood?
Leonardo was surrounded by drugs, violence, and many other crimes alike at a very young age. He witnessed people injecting themselves with drugs, constituting prostitution rings, and even dropped out of high school because of the consistently negative environment he always witnessed (Goalcast, 2024, par. 5). Despite dropping out of high school when he was 16, he knew he wanted to make something of himself.
What contributed to his success?
Even though his parents were divorced, they were still very involved in his life and were extremely supportive. His father always told him, “Success is not actually what matters, what matters is making every moment count” (Goalcast, 2024, par. 7). He applied that to everything he did and did not give up. He was jobless for nearly 18 months into his acting career and only got accepted into commercials here and there. Eventually, he ended up landing his spot in Titanic. After a long, hard-fought, up-hill journey he finally earned his American dream despite all the setbacks. Had he given up, however, the public would have never known about him.

Reference:
Goalcast editors. (2024). Leonardo DiCaprio Shows Humble Backgrounds Don’t Have To Be A Barrier To Success. Retrieved from: https://www.goalcast.com/leonardo-dicaprio-rough-childhood/

Arnold is a well-known public figure and has played many roles ranging from elite bodybuilding to serving the state of California as governor for 8 years. He lives a very comfortable and lavish life ultimately because of his work ethic, reputable track record, and successful acting career playing many roles in big-hit movies. What has contributed to his success? Did he accomplish his American Dream? How does his dream compare to others?

Arnold’s Path to Success
Arnold, like many other immigrants’ path to success, was not an easy one. He grew up in a very rough household with a physically abusive father who would make him and his brother fight for his own amusement. This led to strong feelings of resentment towards his family which made him eager to leave the first chance he got.

Arnold was a huge advocate for the sport of bodybuilding. This is what he would do in his free-time and he knew that he wanted to pursue it professionally, just not in Austria. Shortly after his mandatory service for the Austrian Army, which was one year for all 18-year-old healthy males, he set out for America (Biography.com editors, 2023, par. 3). He was attracted to the many opportunities that America had to offer and even said, “I don’t blame people who try to come here (America) illegally,” and “as an immigrant, I know the magnetic power of America’s greatness” (Dukoff, 2019, par. 7). He arrived here with “empty pockets but full of dreams” (Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2018, 1:08).

Arnold’s tenacity is the factor that paved his way to success and his schedule after arriving to America was rigorous to say the least. He went to college, worked out 3 to 4 hours a day total, worked in construction full-time to make money which funded his bodybuilding, and attended acting classes from 8 PM to midnight four times a week (MulliganBrothers, 2019, 2:27). This remarkable work ethic slowly paid off landing him bodybuilding titles, acting roles, and recognition that allowed him to take governorship in the state of California and ascend the staircase to success. His favorite thing to tell people who asked about his success was, “work your butt off,” and “there is no magic pill to success, you need to have a dream with a plan to achieve it with no safety net” (MulliganBrothers, 2019, 10:49).

Several people do not know what they are truly capable of and there are many ways to accomplish one’s dream. This is a prime example of a man who was put at an extreme disadvantage when compared to most American citizens, with countless odds stacked against him, but did not let excuses get in his way to accomplish his American Dream.

Sources
Arnold Schwarzenegger. (September 16, 2018). 35 Years as a Citizen, 50 Years in America. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUYDTgc8G9U
Biography.com Editors. (June 5, 2023). Arnold Schwarzenegger. Retrieved from: https://www.biography.com/actors/arnold-schwarzenegger#early-years
Dukoff, S. (September 10, 2019). Arnold Schwarzenegger Celebrates the Work Ethic of Immigrants Coming to America. Men’s Health. Retrieved from: https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a28929476/arnold-schwarzenegger-immigration/
MulliganBrothers. (May 2, 2019). Arnold Schwarzenegger 2018 – The Speech that Broke the Internet – Most Inspiring Ever. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_ktRTWMX3M

Jimmy Butler is a basketball player who currently plays for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He had one of the most remarkable, rocky paths to success compared to other athletes. At the young age of 13, he was abandoned by his father and kicked out of his house by his mother simply because, “she did not like the look of him” (TheFamousPeople, n.d., par, 2). This caused him to go from couch to couch at his friend’s houses, but even that was an inconvenience. Several times he would wake up not knowing where he was going to be sleeping that evening. This continued until his sophomore year in high school when he finally met a friend and family who would let them into their home. After that, he attended college on a scholarship and progressed into the NBA.

This is a great example of an individual defying the odds thrown against them and making something of themselves. Jimmy was homeless at 13, which is a problem no teenager should have to face and found basketball as an escape. This also shows that not everyone has the same path to success, and many face nearly insurmountable obstacles, but nearly anything is possible with enough dedication in the right areas. Despite being put in one of the worst positions in life, and not necessarily given any hand-outs, Jimmy is now a self-made millionaire doing what he loves and living his American Dream.

Reference
Editors, TheFamousPeople. (n.d.). Jimmy Butler Biography. Retrieved from: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/jimmy-butler-15378.php