Inspirational Men & Women

If you don’t know who Ben Silbermann is - you must be from out of this world - haha!  well, seriously - who doesn’t know Ben Silbermann - the co-founder of Pinterest.  This man is responsible for 11 million unique visitors a month on Pinterest - and if you are in the technology game or SEO - you would know how much money 11 million unique visitors can generate.  According to the media, Pinterest is the next big social media on the internet and it is people and company like Ben Silbermann and Pinterest that need the errors & omissions insurance and not our small little tiny business in Nova Scotia.

Ben is the new and young American internet entrepreneur and Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you and I who loved the internet put up our pictures/images and even recipes or anything you want onto a virtual white board for everyone to see and share. So if you want to share your hobby with the world or an event - you can.   And I loved Pinterest and if you haven’t been there yet - check it out you won’t regret it.

For those who don’t know who brought Mcdonald’s to become a household name, now you know.  Yes, Ray Kroc was the American businessman who had joined Mcdonald’s and brought great success to it not only in United States but around the world.  From a mom and pop drive thru’ to a multi-million operation that uses the latest technology like the Honeywell Barcode Scanner for all its restaurant - Ray Kroc found success late but he sure left a legacy behind.

His fortune was so much that no one in their lifetime could have achieve, so they said and being the 100 most important people of the century must not have been an easy feat.  It was also noted that he owned the San Diego Padres baseball team from 1974 till his death.

The story of Ray Kroc was a amazing one - if you did read it.  He started from humble beginnings and was a ambulance driver and even lied about his age to get the job.  He then went on to selling mixers when he accidentally serviced Mcdonald’s and decided that he could be selling franchise instead.  He then bought over the franchise for $2 million and the rest is history as they say.

Shi is the CEO of Suntech Power in China - born and raised in China - he graduated from the University of NSW.  At a networth of US$2.9 billion, he is not only successful but very rich - in fact one of the richest man in China.  Although he has a citizenship in Australia - Shi chose to go home and set up his solar power company in China. And even though he doesn’t stay in Australia permanently, we see that he had donated funds for renewable energy research to his Alma Mater.   In 2008, TIME Magazine named Shi as the Heroes of the Environment.

Coming from humble beginnings, Shi’s family endure hardship due to famine and his younger brothers and himself  were given up for adoption.  But Shi excelled with his adopted parents and when he graduated with honors his adopted parents thank the teachers with a huge banquet fit for a king.   He then left for NSW to seek full time work but was given a scholarship to do solar research.   The rest they said is history - Shi definitely made his adopted parents proud and China is brought forth in the world economic forum because of him.

Dominic Khoo is an award winning, multi disciplined, celebrity photographer in Asia  who like philadelphia wedding photography is much talked about around the world even though he is from Asia.   Known for his many talented work and exhibition and working with celebrities and has corporate sponsors that all photographers can only dream of - he is the man to see if you want great pictures taken in Asia.  I don’t know if he does any wedding photographs but I heard that he does have a Masters in Photography and he even had an exhibit in New York and the best part of everything is - he was actually first a self - taught photographer.

I have seen some of his work, especially those with Mont Blanc and Hermes - and those celebrities that had their pictures taken by him. But Dominic is not all about making money and being famous - his most notable work is his charity project “Pure”  - in which made him highly respected by not only his peers and sponsor, for his coffee table book featuring asian celebs and socialites laughing and crying in nude - earned a whopping $52K - and every penny was donated to charity.  I’m not only proud that he is a Singaporean made good around the world but also that he cares enough to do good even though he has become famous.  Much sought after I’m sure by now - I hope to meet him one day and maybe, he would do a portfolio of my miracle baby.

Where to I began with Sachin Tendulkar - he is a legend if you asked me - one of the greatest batsman of all times.   Sachin is a Indian Cricketer whose fame - goes as far as Australia. He is the only cricketer to accomplish the feat of scoring a 100 centuries in international cricket and most recently is in the news for being a elected for a  Rajya Sabha seat and announced that he is no politician but more honored by it than anything else.  Sachin insisted that he will not be quitting his sports because of politics.

As one who believes in chasing his dreams till it came true - Sachin definitely had accomplished more than most people in India.  He was awarded the second highest civilian award and many honorary rank and may trophies in his 22 years of cricketer career.  But it’s not all about him being famous, he is also a well known philanthropist in India sponsoring underprivileged children every year and raising money for a crusade against cancer for the cancer foundation.   There are many books written about Sachin and his career as a cricketer but nothing compares with the man himself for all his hardwork put into his passion in sports.

Sarah Richardson well known Canadian interior decorator not only in Canada but in USA and UK.  I was quite addicted to Sarah’s show on HGTV when I first came to Canada because whatever she recommended were good and practical and things I could use in my own home (since I was just starting out then) - like the hanging address signs that I adored and never could have one if I was living in Asia.   So of course, I went hunting for a hanging address sign for myself, so you see how inspiring she was when it comes to decorating your home.

Anyhow, Sarah’s work were featured across the globe and she writes a column for a local paper here in Canada. Born in 1971, she grew up with a mother who was into designing and planning too - so no wonder she is in this field eh and her husband - also a childhood friend is in designing as well.  What’s most inspiring about Sarah is - she practices what she preaches - for instant her home is solar powered - now isn’t that awesome or what?  and believes in eco-products.  She started her career as a behind the scene stylist and ended up with several of her own tv shows from Sarah’s cottage to Sarah 101 and in the meantime, shares an office with her husband and juggles between work and 2 children.   A career and a wonderful home and family, what more can a woman ask for.

Howard Hughes is from Houston Texas and they say  - all good things starts in Houston Texas like the houston fence company that I read about.  Howard was most famous during the last few years of his life - I read, for he lead a life of being not only a wealthy man but also a kind of paranoid recluse.  Known for been a very handsome and a great businessman, Howard inherited the Hughes Tool Company at a young age of 19.  But he instead became a Hollywood movie producer, what a turned right in one’s life.   He was also a aircraft inventor, a casino owner and a mining mogul and most importantly - he is well known for being a ladies’ man who’ve dated famous actresses like Ava Gardner and Katherine Hepburn.

He became even more famous and known for being a daring pilot for a flight around the world in just over 91 hrs.  He became a billionaire during the 60s and not many people had wealth amounting to his during those days. But he was also known for his paranoid manner and was said to have his wealth hidden and when he died many people fought over his money  - sad but this man was a true philanthropist because he left a huge endowment to the HHMI of $16.3 billion.

Everyone loves and know who Twiggy is but do you know that she is also called Leslie Hornby?  Yup Twiggy was born Leslie Hornby in 1949.  She is one of the most famous model that I’ve known forever and a skinny one too.  I bet she would have made a good diet pill model for African mango plus - but of course everyone would be asking her - is african mango plus safe? But I guess if Twiggy was taking African Mango plus then or the spokeswoman for them - I would too have bought it immediately.  She was so beautiful and famous, everyone wants to be Twiggy during the 70s.   She was also incredibly successful in films and tvs and everyone wanted to dress like her and be like her. Twiggy is also an avid supporter of animal rights and breast cancer research groups even though she is so busy with her modeling and acting work.  She also started a clothing line in 2006 called the Twiggy Collection - she will always be the famous skinny model to me.

Safra Catz - what a name right?  I thought it shouldn’t different - and yes - she is an Israeli American and like all woman that I admired - she is the President for Oracle.  Ranked by Fortune - the 12th most powerful woman in the world - lets see how powerful she is.

Born in 1961 in Israel and moved to USA when she was 6 yrs old - Safra Catz was a global investment banker before joining Oracle. Lived in Massachusetts and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in the University of Pennsylvania.   Married with 2 children - Safra Catz holds many executive positions and has a say in the world largest banking organization.  She is also one of the highest paid woman in the world - with a compensation of up to $36 million. Someone described Safra Catz as low profile but high impact and this is true with the acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2009.

I read more about Safra Catz and definitely, definitely salute her working attitude and attitude towards life - strong, hardworking and go-getter does not even begin to describe this very successful woman.

Everyone my age knows who Enid Blyton was but of course my children and the children from today may not know her but I grew up reading all about Enid Blyton - whose real name is Mary Pollock.  Enid Blyton is a British writer of children’s books - and born in 1897, she sure was famous some 50 years ago when I was growing up because Enid Blyton was a school reading book in Singapore.  Enid Blyton had 800 books to her name - now that definitely was quite a feat during those days.

Enid Blyton didn’t start our being an author, she was teaching actually for about 5 years and was a talented pianist as well.  Her first book was a collection of poems called Child Whispers published in 1922.  After marrying an editor in a publishing house, Enid Blyton’s 2 other books were published on the same year.  Afflicted by Alzheimer - Enid Blyton died in her 70s and even though her daughter had written a biography of her which didn’t reflect well on Enid Blyton - her other daughter’s memories of her was a happy one.  But she was still an inspiration to me as I was growing up and I wanted to write like her when I was young.