Kim Garrett didn’t have the most typical childhood. As a kid, she was exposed to the world of drugs and alcohol addiction and didn’t have your standard childhood experience. After graduating high school and year at a community college she started leasing apartments, which then lead to handling suits for the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium. In the beginning stages of her career, it seemed like she moved forward just by working hard and getting past adversity. She didn’t seem to have any real “privilege” or advantage in that sense, everything she received was earned. In 2007 she was director of national sales at Clear Channel Radio when she received an invitation to get coffee to discuss opening a Dallas office for his California Company (Facebook). It took 13 interviews to land the job, but she was soon working for Facebook and was able to soon after become national sales director for Facebook.There are obviously a lot more details and hard work that went into getting where Kim was at Facebook. What I find interesting is that she was able to do this all without any sort of traditional college degree. Instead, she had considerable experience in her chosen industry and got recognized for her quality and hard work. In later years (after selling her Facebook shares and making millions) she incorporated her values into her family life. She doesn’t believe in giving her kids an allowance, her kids still all do chores around the house, and they learn to respect the meaning of hard work.

There are obviously a lot more details and hard work that went into getting where Kim was at Facebook. What I find interesting is that she was able to do this all without any sort of traditional college degree. Instead, she had considerable experience in her chosen industry and got recognized for her quality and hard work. In later years (after selling her Facebook shares and making millions) she incorporated her values into her family life. She doesn’t believe in giving her kids an allowance, her kids still all do chores around the house, and they learn to respect the meaning of hard work.

As a student at GCC, I am very familiar with what it means to work hard. It has been incredibly difficult to manage both my academics and my company at the same time. Even though my academics tie into and help me develop my vision/plans for my company, they are two separate endeavors and require a huge amount of effort. If I slack off in one, it shows. A story like Kim’s is very inspiring for me and provides the inspiration and motivation to keep fighting. I think the most important thing for entrepreneurship students like myself is to be able to work on and develop concepts/ideas you might have throughout college. Not only do you learn more along the way, but you are also able to provide and develop some sort of track record/experience in the startup industry. This will be so valuable after graduating college (similar to how Kim could show for her work in the sales/social media industry).Facing adversity is part of life, something I have learn ’t over the past year and a half. It strengthens and molds your personality.

Facing adversity is part of life, something I have learn ’t over the past year and a half. It strengthens and molds your personality.