15 Celebs Who Started From The Bottom (Now They're Here!)

#1 Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is said to be one of the best basketball players of all time. A few know how he hard he tried to reach this position.

He was thrown out of the basketball team in high school but fortunately did not let this failure stop him from playing the game. He says, "I missed more than 9,000 free throws in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. I got 26 opportunities to throw the winning ball and I missed. I failed again and again, over and over in my life. That's why I made ​​it. "

#2 Tim The Tool Man Was Tim The Coke Man

Allen, you know today as the lovable dad of the '90s was arrested at an airport with 650 grams of cocaine, a possible life sentence. He was imprisoned for nearly three years in federal prison. Thankfully, Tim Allen turned around and became one of the most well-known voices in Hollywood.

#3 Suze Orman's Ordeal Made Her Stronger

Suze was a waitress throughout her 20s. She saved money to open up her restaurant. She became a broker after her interest in finance. She went on to host her own show teaching Americans about finance and answering their questions.

#4 A Rocky Start

Before Sylvester Stallone was a household name, he was a man with a dog and a dream. He ran out of the little money he had and was forced to sell his beloved dog, Butkus, for something like $50. A few months later, the movie was selected for production. Stallone bought Butkus back with the first order of business was buying Butkus back for $3000, a sum he paid with a smile.

#5 Tim Thomas Is Older Than You'd Think

Most aspiring hockey stars have a better chance of winning the lottery than being selected to play in the NHL. Usually if you don't get in between 17-19 years of age, you're probably not going to get there. Despite this, Tim Thomas was made a starter in the 2006-2007 season at the sage-old age of 30 and went on to win the Boston Bruins their first Stanley Cup in nearly 40 years.

#6 Martha, Martha, Martha!

More than just the queen of crafts, Martha Stewart is the first woman to become a self-made billionaire in American history. She started as a model in her teens, later began a catering business out of her basement. Martha proved you can make money out of your passion.

#7 From Cups Of Change To Cups Of Coffee

Frank O'Dea, the founder of Second Cup, was a homeless panhandler on the dangerously cold streets of Toronto. To make things more difficult, Frank was also struggling with alcoholism. One night while he was sitting on a street corner, a local shop owner took an liking to the young man begging outside of his establishment and offered him a job with a flexible schedule. It was at this job that he heard an ad for an addictions service and called for help. O'Dea became involved in his community to stay focused on recovery and met his business partner at a political campaign on which they were both working. The two started Second Cup, one of the largest coffee shop chains in North America.

#8 George Foreman And His Grill

The famous boxer retired twice and always credited his healthy diet as the key to his success. He partnered with Russell Hobbs Inc. to make the George Foreman grill. It became so popular that there was a time when Foreman's royalties would put upwards of $4 million in his pocket MONTHLY.

#9 Liz Murray Went From Homeless To Harvard

No one would have blamed Liz Murray had she given up on herself at the age of 15. Her mother had just died of HIV and her father had moved into a homeless shelter, leaving Murray to fend for herself on the streets. She put one foot in front of the other, finished high school in two years and got into one of the most prestigious universities in the world, Harvard. She earned a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and wrote a New York Times bestseller they later turned into a movie. Impossible is nothing.

#10 He Was Fired For A "Lack of Creativity"

Would you believe Walt Disney was actually fired from a job for lacking creativity? The Kansas City Star newspaper fired Disney because they felt he lacked creativity. When the cartoon master finally "made it," he purchased ABC, a company that owns the Kansas City Star. Let's hope his old boss was still employed there when this happened. Success is always sweeter when it comes full circle.

#11 Lucille Ball And Her Big Break

Before Lucille Ball became the star of I Love Lucy, she struggled to make a name for herself in Hollywood. After the success of the show, a major part of American television history, Lucille Ball became the first woman to operate a major TV studio called Desilu. Since then, her studio has produced classics like Mission: Impossible and Star Trek.

#12 The "Iron Lady" Always Stood Her Ground

Margaret Thatcher, also known as the "Iron Lady," started out as a humble grocer's daughter. She went on to become England's first and only female prime minister.

#13 J.K.Rowling

Rowling was a woman on the verge of survival before the success of Harry Potter. She was almost penniless, extremely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child alone while she was going to school while writing a novel. Rowling goes from dependence on social aid in order to survive to becoming one of the richest women on the planet in just five years.

#14 Akio Morita

You may not have heard of Morita but you've undoubtedly heard of his company, Sony. Sony's first product was a rice casserole that unfortunately did not cook rice as much as it burned it. Akio Morita sold less than 100 units of those casseroles. This first setback did not stop Morita and his partners thus giving them the impetus to create a company worth billions of dollars nowadays.

#15 Vera Wang Was 40 When She Started Her First Line

It's never too late, never. Vera Wang is one of the most popular high-end fashion designers of our time.