It’s important to remember that people aren’t born successful – through hard work, dedication, and an unrelenting passion for your purpose, anyone can get ahead. These young entrepreneurs have taken the tough – and rewarding – road to success, and have come out on top. We hope you’re just as inspired as we are by these powerful stories.

Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York

Brandon Stanton, 30, is the photographer behind the infamous ‘Humans of New York’ project. After trading bonds on the Chicago Board of Trade for three years, he gave it up to pursue two of his passions: New York City and photography, taking portraits of strangers on the street. Today, Brandon’s Facebook page has over 8 million likes, he’s taken over 5,000 portraits, written over 50 stories, and has published a #1 New York Times book.

Julia Hartz, Co-Founder and President, Eventbrite

Julia Hartz is the president and co-founder of events company Eventbrite. She left her job as a television executive to start Eventbrite, with a strong focus on strategic development and growth. Today the company has grossed over $2 billion in gross ticket sales in over 170 countries across the world. The 34 year old also made the Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs list last year.

Ted Livingston, Founder of Kik Messenger

Ted Livingston, a former intern at Blackberry, is the 26 year old founder of mobile messaging service Kik Messenger. Livingston initially invested $45,000 into a music sharing service for Blackberry, but when the platform didn’t work on other phones, he started his own messaging service, Kik. Today Kik has over 120 million registered users, and it’s growing every day.

Blake Mycoskie, Founder of TOMS

Blake Mycoskie, 37 year old American entrepreneur and philanthropist is the founder of Toms Shoes. Mycoskie and his sister competed in the second season of The Amazing Race in South America. Mycoskie returned to Argentina on vacation in 2006, and was so overcome by the poverty and amount of children without shoes, he started shoe company TOMS, which was based on the one-for-one business model: the company donates a new pair of shoes for every pair of shoes sold to a person in need. Today, TOMS net worth is estimated at $5 million.

Kass Lazerow, Co-founder of Buddy Media

Kass Lazerow is a mother of three, co-founder of Buddy Media, and serial entrepreneur. After successfully building up GOLF.com from nothing to a multi-million dollar internet company, Kass moved on to form Buddy Media, the world’s leading social media marketing program. Today, she remains the COO of Buddy Media, following the $500 million sale of the company to Salesforce in 2013.

Patrick Llewellyn, Founder of 99designs

After a decade of working for a strategic capital firm in Australia, entrepreneur Patrick Llewellyn joined 99designs, the world’s largest graphic design marketplace. Just after he was appointed as CEO, he led the company to an initial round of $35 million capital investment. Currently, 99designs has locations in South America, Australia, Europe, and the USA, and has hosted over 245,000 design contests, and paid more than $60 million to its community of 250,000 designers across the globe.

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