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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>American Dream Story</title> <atom:link href="https://americandreamstory.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://americandreamstory.com</link> <description></description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 17:32:26 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3</generator> <image> <url>https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/cropped-logo-32x32.png</url> <title>American Dream Story</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height></image> <item> <title>Dan Kurzius</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com/dan-kurzius/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sarahrowley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 17:01:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://americandreamstory.com/?p=186</guid> <description><![CDATA[It’s not often that you come across a story of someone, let alone two people, who changed the course of an entire industry. Not only that but also a story that is so well-documented and true. But, with email marketing pioneer Dan Kurzius, you have just that. Starting from the bottom and working his way…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-129 size-medium" src="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/dan-kurzius-e1715275678795-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/dan-kurzius-e1715275678795-300x300.jpg 300w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/dan-kurzius-e1715275678795-150x150.jpg 150w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/dan-kurzius-e1715275678795.jpg 422w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />It’s not often that you come across a story of someone, let alone two people, who changed the course of an entire industry. Not only that but also a story that is so well-documented and true. But, with email marketing pioneer Dan Kurzius, you have just that. Starting from the bottom and working his way up, Dan started from scratch. He, along with his friend, Ben Chestnut, created one of the most successful email marketing companies in the world, MailChimp – and they did it all through sheer grit, determination, and self-funding.</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Family Life</h3><p style="text-align: left">Dan came from a background of hard work and determination that ultimately paved the way for him. His father Karl was a first-generation American who owned a bakery/deli in New Mexico. He and his brothers learned well from their parents the value of being industrious. Which gave Dan always the drive to succeed.</p><p style="text-align: left">Dan and his brothers, Rex and Kurt, grew up in a small town where almost every single business was family-owned and operated. The local newspaper was run by family friends of theirs, and the toy store was owned by one of their classmate’s family. This made Dan and his brothers wonder what kind of business they would one day run; entrepreneurship was ingrained at an early age. But of course, he also learned that running a business wasn’t easy. His father gave the boys menial tasks but made them feel important, giving them a sense of pride in their work and a quality finished product.</p><p style="text-align: left">Dan recalls waking up at 2 A.M. to go to the bakery because a snowstorm had collapsed the roof. The event was also memorable because while on the way home, the family was struck by a drunk driver. They all walked away from the accident, but it left a lasting impression on him. Karl would get out of bed every day at 3 A.M. to start his day. But despite the long hours, and the toll on his health, the bakery never really took off because it just couldn’t quite compete with other, larger chain establishments.</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Facing Hardship</h3><p style="text-align: left">Then, in 1984, the Kurzius’ moved to Dallas. Dan’s father had an idea to start a new bakery and work with Texas A&M’s agricultural center to develop gluten-free bread, which would have been revolutionary. But that dream was never realized because just six weeks after the move, Karl Kurzius suffered a heart attack, which ended his life. After his father’s passing, Dan’s mother, Laurel, took over running the family.</p><p style="text-align: left">This was a hard time for Dan and his family. Laurel had been working in the bakery with Karl most of her life. She would keep the books and help where needed. But now without Karl, she had three boys to take care of, with no real idea of what to do. She found odd jobs here and there like selling carpet cleaners to make ends meet. Eventually, the Kurzius’ moved in with their grandparents in North Texas to help. But the whole family was always on the edge of poverty. The first Christmas after Karl’s passing, Dan’s family only had a tree, no presents, and moldy food. They had to search through the grocery store to find deals on expired or damaged foods.</p><p style="text-align: left">Dan made the decision that wasn’t going to let that get him down. He worked hard in school, and he and his brother, Rex, would start little businesses like mowing lawns to make money to buy things like clothes. In college, he took part-time jobs when needed the money. He was a DJ, a competitive skateboarder, and eventually got into real estate. And eventually, he graduated with a degree in computer science from Georgia Tech.</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Onwards and Upwards</h3><p style="text-align: left">Of course, this story would be incomplete without mentioning Ben Chestnut. It was during college that Dan met Ben, who would go on to co-found MailChimp with him. But they didn’t start right out of school. Instead, Ben got a job working for a dot-com-era venture, as a coder. Ben didn’t have the background for it and bluffed his way through the interview. So, he talked the company into hiring Dan. Kurzius would code things, and Chestnut would present them. Their former boss later said that the two of them stuck out. He said that Dan was the brains, but Ben was the flair. Anything that Ben got his hands on, no matter how mundane, would come back ten times better.</p><p style="text-align: left">After that venture folded, the two friends took their severance money and launched a company of their own, Rocket Science Group, that focused on web design. They would create websites for small to middle-sized businesses. But they soon realized that many of the businesses they worked with needed a platform to send out mass correspondence to their employees and customers. So, seeing an opening in the market, they pivoted their business into creating a service to meet that need. They began calling it MailChimp. This endeavor would soon become one of the leading email marketing providers in the world and revolutionize how businesses communicate.</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Did you mean MailChimp?</h3><p style="text-align: left">With its intuitive design, MailChimp became the first email marketing provider that made it easy for anyone to use. They made it so that no one had to know things like CSS or HTML to set up beautiful emails, newsletters, or marketing information. Almost all their tools are “drag and drop” which means that businesses can put together the elements they need to assemble the message they want, and then that it can be sent to as many people as needed. At first, growth was slow. They could only really market themselves to small businesses in the area. But that could only take them so far since both Dan and Ben weren’t salesmen.</p><p style="text-align: left">So, they went to the internet with their quirky brand of marketing, using humorous video ads that used wordplay like “JailBlimp” or “KaleLimp” to get people to put those terms into search engines and come back with search results saying, “Did you mean MailChimp?” With these tactics, word began to spread about their service, and it quickly grew in popularity. Soon after, MailChimp had become a global phenomenon, with millions of customers around the world. But even with all that quick upward growth, they soon topped out on what they could accomplish</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Birth of the Freemium</h3><p style="text-align: left">Smaller businesses and individuals who were just starting out using MailChimp for more personal uses weren’t sure they wanted to pay for the service. So, Ben made the decision that would change everything. After talking with Dan, they concluded – they would make the tool free to use.</p><p style="text-align: left">This decision alone would increase MailChimp’s user base exponentially, and the company was well on its way to becoming one of the biggest success stories in business history. Once the tool became free to use, Dan and Ben said they saw as many as 14,000 new accounts pop up daily for several months. The only time the service would charge its users is once they got to a certain level.</p><p style="text-align: left">Businesses can decide to upgrade to premium services at any time, or it will happen naturally once the account holder’s audience grows to over 2,000 people or sends over 1,000 emails in a month. This is perfect for business owners because the reason they would need to upgrade signifies one thing, growth. Both Dan and Ben think it’s beautiful to see people make the switch from free to premium services because it means that MailChimp is doing its job, connecting businesses with their customers.</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Kings of Bootstrapping</h3><p style="text-align: left">Dan and Ben both came from families that had businesses, but those businesses failed. They also saw the toll that came from it and noted that their parent’s businesses weren’t “scalable” which means that as the business grew, so could their ability to meet demand. So, they were determined to make sure that MailChimp would be.</p><p style="text-align: left">They never accepted a dime of outside investment. That was because they didn’t want to feel like they were owned or had to take orders from other people. They wanted to be the ones at the helm and continue to even lead the company after they were bought by Intuit, the tax software company. Leadership in their company was so important that the two of them even turned down additional money to just walk away from the company and turn it over to Intuit.</p><p style="text-align: left">Today, Dan’s net worth is estimated at over four billion dollars, making him one of the top 10 richest people in Georgia. But he points to his parents for his success. He says that they instilled in him the value of hard work and resilience no matter what. Dan Kurzius and Ben Chestnut are at the helm of a company that helps millions of businesses around the world communicate with their customers and employees.</p><p style="text-align: left">Through their hard work, they were able to turn an idea into a reality, and the world is better off for it. Because they showed that not only is it possible to “bootstrap” or in other words start from nothing and pull a business up to great success and profitability. They also showed that it’s possible to start a tech company in a place that isn’t Silicon Valley, where many tech company startups are born.</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Philanthropic Efforts</h3><p style="text-align: left">Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius haven’t let success go to their heads. Ben continues to try to give back in numerous ways both through donations and charitable events. They also like to lobby for “the little person” since both came from nothing. They like to seek out good and growing talent and provide them the opportunity to grow working for MailChimp.</p><h3 style="text-align: left">Dan Kurzius’s Charitable Donations</h3><p style="text-align: left">Since Kurzius only recently came into the kind of success that landed him on the “Forbes 400 List”, he is a relatively blank slate, philanthropically speaking. Both he and Ben have worked to build up Atlanta’s poorer sides, where their headquarters are located because they were a little run down and they have tried to make them better a place to live, work, and spend free time. But other than that, there has yet to be seen any major philanthropic work from him. But that just makes the potential more exciting, because it’s clear that both founders are passionate about helping their community, and they understand the power of giving back to help make their city a better place.</p><p style="text-align: left">The story of Dan Kurzius and Ben Chestnut is an incredible journey. From Dan’s poverty to his friendship with Ben to their passion for helping others. This story extends beyond the business world and might not have happened had it not been for Dan Kurzius’ determination to make something of himself, despite the odds. He is a great example of what you can accomplish if you keep working hard and never give up on your dreams. There has been no one more deserving of their success than Dan Kurzius and Ben Chestnut of MailChimp. It’s an inspiring story that stands as a testament to what one person can do when they set their mind to it.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Elon Musk</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com/elon-musk/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sarahrowley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 17:01:04 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://americandreamstory.com/?p=183</guid> <description><![CDATA[Elon Musk life story begins in South Africa, where he was born. Later, he went on to become an American entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal and established SpaceX, a launch vehicle and spacecraft manufacturer. He was also one of the original major investors in and the CEO of Tesla, an electric car company. Elon Reeve Musk…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-133 size-medium" src="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Elon-Musk-e1715275711783-300x300.jpeg" alt="Elon Musk" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Elon-Musk-e1715275711783-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Elon-Musk-e1715275711783-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Elon-Musk-e1715275711783.jpeg 451w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Elon Musk life story begins in South Africa, where he was born. Later, he went on to become an American entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal and established SpaceX, a launch vehicle and spacecraft manufacturer. He was also one of the original major investors in and the CEO of Tesla, an electric car company.</p><p style="text-align: left">Elon Reeve Musk is the eldest of his parents’ three children, and a citizen of three countries: South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He was born in 1971 to Maye Musk, a model and nutritionist, and Errol Musk, an electromechanical engineer whom Elon has described as “a dreadful human being.” Read the entire article to learn about Elon Musk History which is inspiring for generations to come.</p><p style="text-align: left">Musk was born in Canada to a Canadian mother and a South African father. Musk grew up with his head stuck in books and computers. He was bullied by his classmates and often beaten up by class bullies as a little, timid youngster until he grew strong enough to defend himself during a growth spurt in his teens. He developed a video game at the age of 12 and sold it to a computer magazine. Musk left South Africa in 1988 after getting a Canadian passport because he refused to support apartheid through compulsory military duty and wanted to pursue the higher economic prospects offered in the United States.</p><p style="text-align: left">Musk travelled to Canada at the age of 17 to attend Queen’s University and evade military service in South Africa. Musk got his Canadian citizenship the same year, partly because he thought it would be easier to get American citizenship that way. Musk moved to the United States in 1992 to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned an undergraduate degree in economics before continuing on to earn a second bachelor’s degree in physics. Musk went to Stanford University in California to earn a Ph.D. in energy physics after leaving Penn. But that Ph.D couldn’t make it to Elon Musk Degrees since he walked out of Stanford after only two days to start his first firm.</p><p style="text-align: left">In the summer of 1995, Musk relocated to Silicon Valley. He enrolled at Stanford University’s PhD programme in applied physics, but dropped out after only two days. Kimball Musk, Elon’s 15-month younger brother, had recently graduated from Queen’s University with a business degree and had travelled to California to join him. As the early Internet grew in popularity, the brothers decided to develop a company called Zip2, an internet business directory with maps. That’s how Elon Musk started entering into the business world.</p><p style="text-align: left">Zip2 eventually recruited angel investors and grew into a profitable firm thanks to the brothers’ efforts. Zip2 was sold to Compaq for ＄307 million in 1999 by the brothers. Elon subsequently went on to create his own online financial services company, X.com. Confinity, a company formed by Peter Thiel and two others mere months after X.com and with headquarters in the same building, was its main competitor. In March 2000, the two firms joined and adopted the name of their major product, PayPal, an online money transfer service for individuals. In October 2002, Ebay, the online auction site, purchased PayPal for ＄1.5 billion in Ebay stock. Elon Musk, who had been the largest shareholder in PayPal with 11.7% of the company’s equity shares, found himself with ＄165 million in Ebay stock at the age of 31.</p><p style="text-align: left">Since leaving PayPal, he has founded, co-founded, and/or led companies focused on addressing three distinct existential risks to humanity’s long-term survival: climate risk, single-planet dependency risk, and human species obsolescence risk. Two of these companies, SpaceX and Tesla Motors, he risked his entire early fortune to build.</p><p style="text-align: left">Musk joined engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning to help operate Tesla Motors in 2004, where he played a key role in the development of the world’s first electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster. Musk took over as CEO and product architect after Eberhard was fired from the company in 2007 due to a series of conflicts. Tesla has grown to be one of the most popular and desirable vehicle brands in the world under his leadership.</p><p style="text-align: left">Elon Musk’s SpaceX has signed many high-profile contracts with NASA and the US Air Force to manufacture rockets and execute military missions. Musk has been vocal about his desire to work with NASA on a collaborative mission to deploy an astronaut to Mars by 2025. Elon Musk has always been a proponent of various space-age technologies, but it hasn’t always been a smooth journey for him. He went on to become a small business owner and eventually the CEO of two creative firms after being bullied in school. But he made the decision to ascend from there and never settle for anything less.</p><p style="text-align: left">Tesla, in addition to creating electric automobiles, has a strong presence in the solar energy sector, courtesy to its purchase of SolarCity. This clean-energy services company, which was founded in 2006, now develops two rechargeable solar batteries that are primarily used for stationary energy storage. The Powerwall is designed for residential backup power and off-grid use, whereas the Powerpack is designed for business or electric utility grid use</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Gail Miller</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com/gail-miller/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sarahrowley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 17:00:01 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://americandreamstory.com/?p=179</guid> <description><![CDATA[While relatively unknown outside America’s Mountain West, Gail Miller is an enormously influential figure and has come a long way from the impoverishment of her childhood. From the Utah Jazz and Salt Lake Bees to Intermountain Healthcare and the Gail Miller Family Foundation, her influence has been felt far and wide across her home state.…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-131 size-medium" src="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Gail-Miller-Photo-e1715275784855-300x300.jpg" alt="Gail Miller" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Gail-Miller-Photo-e1715275784855-300x300.jpg 300w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Gail-Miller-Photo-e1715275784855-150x150.jpg 150w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/Gail-Miller-Photo-e1715275784855.jpg 638w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />While relatively unknown outside America’s Mountain West, Gail Miller is an enormously influential figure and has come a long way from the impoverishment of her childhood. From the Utah Jazz and Salt Lake Bees to Intermountain Healthcare and the Gail Miller Family Foundation, her influence has been felt far and wide across her home state. And as of 2023, Gail Miller is the wealthiest person in Utah.</p><h2>Making Every Penny Count</h2><p>Like most American Dreams, Gail Miller’s American Dream had humble beginnings. Gail was born into a family of nine during the difficult years of the Second World War, and her early years were shaped by scarcity, necessity, and resilience. Her father was a salesman and a shoemaker, and her mother was a homemaker. Crafting her own clothes from hand-me-downs and counting pennies instilled in Gail the resourcefulness and problem-solving skills that would later prepare her for and propel her toward success. Gail can remember times when her family had only one lightbulb, which had to be moved from room to room. “My parents struggled to feed, clothe, and educate us,” Gail recalls. “I learned quickly that if I needed something, I’d have to figure how to get it on my own. I learned how to become a problem solver. I learned an awful lot of things about living life that I would never have learned otherwise. Being poor wasn’t a detriment to me. You don’t have to have stuff—you just have to have what’s inside of you.” Gail married Larry H. Miller in 1965, and her resourceful upbringing and dogged attitude served her well as a mother of five children. She and her husband were inseparable, even in business ventures. In 1979, Larry and Gail Miller embarked on a journey that would redefine their lives and leave an indelible mark on Utah’s business landscape. With the acquisition of a single Toyota dealership, the Millers sowed the seeds of what would become the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies—a conglomerate boasting over 80 businesses, including 65 automotive dealerships, the iconic Utah Jazz, Megaplex theaters, and an array of other enterprises. Gail and Larry turned that single Toyota dealership into the eighth-largest auto dealer group in the United States. In 2021, Gail sold it to Asbury Automotive for $3.2 billion. Larry’s practice of sharing the intricacies of his business world with Gail set the stage for a partnership that would bring together the realms of business and family. It wasn’t Gail’s intention or desire to be a businesswoman. That was her husband’s world, and she loved being a mother and a homemaker, but that didn’t stop Larry from sharing his experiences with her. “One of Larry’s favorite ways to relax after work … was to soak in our yellow bathtub and download his day to me,” she said. “I would sit next to the tub on the floor, and we would talk about everything that was happening in the business. Larry included me in every aspect of his professional life.” After Larry’s death in 2009, Gail took a much more active role in their business and continued to grow the Miller legacy. For the next five years, she served as the chair of the LHM board of directors and then allowed her son Steve Miller to take the position. She has remained focused on directing the company’s culture and operations and is still an active member of the board.</p><h2>Guided by Her Faith</h2><p>Gail Miller is an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and her life has been underpinned by the bedrock of her Christian faith. Gail’s mother instilled in her children not only the ability to solve problems creatively with limited resources but also important Christian values, emphasizing self-worth, godliness, and the intrinsic value of one’s personal value over material possessions. These teachings provided a moral compass that guided Gail through her triumphs and her trials. Her unwavering commitment to her Christian principles has greatly influenced her leadership style in the business world. “I choose to follow the standards that Larry and I set,” Gail said, “the values we espoused, and continue to do the things that we wanted to do in the community.”</p><h2>Protecting and Expanding Utah’s Sports Culture</h2><p>The Millers’ impact has extended far beyond boardrooms; it resonates in the heart of Utah’s sports culture. Involved heavily in fast-pitch softball in his younger years, Larry was an avid sports fan, and Gail shared the same passion. “We always went to his tournaments,” she said. “Our kids were actually raised at the ballpark.” Acquiring the Utah Jazz in 1986 marked the Millers’ foray into the world of professional sports (the Salt Lake City Stars, a minor-league team, would also fall under their ownership in 2006). As the only professional-level sports team in the state until 2004, when Real Salt Lake was founded, the Utah Jazz are a big deal. In 2005, the Millers acquired the Salt Lake Stingers, a Triple-A minor league baseball team, and changed the franchise name to the Salt Lake Bees. Under their stewardship, the Delta Center was constructed for the Jazz in the early 1990s and has been a boon for downtown Salt Lake City ever since. In the late 1980s, there were fears that the Jazz would be sold and moved to a different state—the Millers are credited with saving the franchise and keeping it in Utah. Gail also played an instrumental role in securing Salt Lake City as the host for the prestigious NBA All-Star Game in 2023.</p><h2>Philanthropy and Shaping the Community</h2><p>Gail Miller has been thoroughly involved in philanthropy and charity. When her husband passed, she could have taken a step back. Instead, she stepped up and became more involved in the community. Her portfolio of public and private honors and charitable giving is extensive, and she spends much of her time in civic and educational pursuits. Gail is the chair of the Larry H. Miller Family Foundation and also presides over the Larry H. Miller Education Foundation. She is the recipient of the Congressional Award Foundation’s Horizon Award and the Giant in Our City Award, and in 2012 she received the internationally recognized ATHENA Award. Both were awarded by the Salt Lake Chamber. If that isn’t impressive enough, Gail is also the recipient of five honorary doctorate degrees, including degrees from the University of Utah, Salt Lake Community College, and Weber State University. She serves on the Shelter the Homeless board and the Zions Bank Advisory Board, and she is a member of both the University of Utah’s National Advisory Council and the President’s Leadership Council at Brigham Young University. She is also co-chair of the Kem C. Gardner Institute at the University of Utah and authored the book <em>Courage to be You: Inspiring Lessons from an Unexpected Journey</em>—Larry also authored an autobiography entitled <em>Driven</em>. Gail also serves as chair of the board of trustees for Intermountain Healthcare, a healthcare system located primarily in the Mountain West. And she has leadership roles in the Larry H. Miller Education Foundation and the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, both of which are dedicated to nurturing educational opportunities and improving other aspects of the community. Clearly, Gail Miller’s influence reaches far and wide across Utah and even beyond the borders of the Beehive State. She has done all she can to do all she can.</p><h2>Gail Miller Knows What the Dream Is Really About</h2><p>If you go onto the Forbes website, every person on the Forbes 400 has a self-made score. While it’s sometimes nice to note the degree to which someone made it “on their own,” this kind of perspective doesn’t truly embrace the American Dream. The Dream isn’t about forgetting everyone else and climbing the corporate ladder by yourself. It isn’t about refusing help. For those who received more help than others, their American Dream isn’t less valuable or less American. If anything, the concept of “self-made” is in some ways contrary to American values. While we value independence, we also value community, togetherness, and family. Gail Miller climbed the ladder hand in hand with her husband Larry. Of course, after his death, she continued climbing without him physically by her side. But there is nothing more American than a happily married couple raising a family and prospering together. Further emulating that commitment to marriage and comradery, after her husband Larry H. Miller died, Gail Miller married Salt Lake City attorney Kim Wilson, a widower himself. Gail Miller really is a living testament to the power of marriage, faith, and family and to what can be achieved when we reach beyond ourselves to lift others. The American Dream and American communities are all about living beyond our own little bubbles, lifting others, and ensuring that everyone has a fair and equal opportunity to succeed. “My life is really good. I’m very blessed. Even through the trials and the hardships, I recognize I’ve had so many blessings [I] can’t count them all. … I’m grateful for the gospel in my life, and I don’t know where I’d be without it—probably out there floundering.”</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Jeff Bezos</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com/jeff-bezos/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sarahrowley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 16:59:26 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://americandreamstory.com/?p=176</guid> <description><![CDATA[Jeff Bezos is an American technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, who is also the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, which is the world’s largest online shopping retailer. Right from an early age, he was greatly inspired by his grandfather, Preston Gise who encouraged him to follow the path of intellectual thinking. He also told him that…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-7 size-medium" src="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/jeff-bezos-ceo-profile-e1715275843398-300x300.png" alt="jeff bezos" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/jeff-bezos-ceo-profile-e1715275843398-300x300.png 300w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/jeff-bezos-ceo-profile-e1715275843398-150x150.png 150w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/jeff-bezos-ceo-profile-e1715275843398.png 450w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Jeff Bezos is an American technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, who is also the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, which is the world’s largest online shopping retailer.</p><p style="text-align: left">Right from an early age, he was greatly inspired by his grandfather, Preston Gise who encouraged him to follow the path of intellectual thinking. He also told him that in life, it’s harder to be kind than clever. After graduating in computer science from Princeton, he joined a startup called Fitel. Later he went on to join D.E. Shaw, a hedge fund and rose to the position of senior vice president in four years.</p><p style="text-align: left">In 1994, when Bezos found out that the web had grown 2,300% in just a year, he decided to take advantage of the fact and started selling books online.</p><p style="text-align: left">He quit D.E. Shaw and started Amazon in 1994. Within the first month of its launch, Amazon had already sold books to people from 45 different countries.</p><p style="text-align: left">In August 2013, Bezos bought the newspaper Washington Post for $250 million. In 2016, he figured in the 14th position in the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people.</p><p style="text-align: left">The South Africa-born engineer Elon Musk’s net worth was $188.5 billion at 10:15 am on January 7 in New York, $1.5 billion more than Bezos, who has held the top spot since October 2017. As CEO of SpaceX, Musk is also a rival to Bezos, owner of Blue Origin LLC, in the private space race.</p><p style="text-align: left">Bezos on February 3, 2021, announced that he will step down as the CEO of Amazon and will become the executive chairman, a move he said would give him “time and energy” to focus on his other ventures and passions.</p><p> </p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Judy Faulkner</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com/judy-faulkner/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sarahrowley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 16:58:30 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://americandreamstory.com/?p=174</guid> <description><![CDATA[Epic Founder Judy Faulkner: A Revolutionary in Healthcare IT The American Dream doesn’t always begin on a farm with cows to milk and hay to bale. Sometimes it starts with a life that is, by most standards, just normal. Judy Faulkner was raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and graduated from Moorestown Friends School in…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-127 size-medium" src="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/faulknerhitn-e1715275881752-300x300.png" alt="Judy Faulkner" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/faulknerhitn-e1715275881752-300x300.png 300w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/faulknerhitn-e1715275881752-150x150.png 150w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/faulknerhitn-e1715275881752.png 399w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Epic Founder Judy Faulkner: A Revolutionary in Healthcare IT</p><p style="text-align: left">The American Dream doesn’t always begin on a farm with cows to milk and hay to bale. Sometimes it starts with a life that is, by most standards, just normal. Judy Faulkner was raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and graduated from Moorestown Friends School in 1961. Her father, Louis Greenfield, was a pharmacist, a factor that helped forge Faulkner’s interest in healthcare. Faulkner’s ambition was no doubt shaped by her mother, Del Greenfield, who, despite graduating from high school at the age of 15 with straight As, never attended college.</p><p style="text-align: left">“Only later did she realize she could have gotten in for free because she was such a good student,” Faulkner said in reflection, “and I think that really made her sad.”</p><p style="text-align: left">But Judy Faulkner didn’t want any such regrets. She graduated from Dickinson College with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a master’s degree in computer science. Judy Faulkner wasn’t going to pass up any opportunity that came her way. While at graduate school, she took what was likely “the first-ever computers in medicine course offered in the world.” That was unknown territory back then, but Faulkner wasn’t afraid to tackle something new.</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Modest Beginnings</h2><p style="text-align: left">While still in graduate school, Faulkner met John Greist, then chief resident in medicine at the university. He was searching for an efficient scheduling method for on-call doctors. Faulkner saw another opportunity and had the answer—a punch-card system that could create an annual schedule in just 18 seconds, and for only $5. The project took her several weeks and many long nights. “When she said she was going to do it, she meant she was going to do it,” Greist later said of her.</p><p style="text-align: left">After graduating, Faulkner remained at the university to work on a database for tracking patient information, and in 1979, Faulkner and Greist began a company that would eventually become Epic Systems. They borrowed from family and friends—and against their homes—to launch Human Services Computing. Faulkner was the company’s first president and wrote all the original code from a basement in Madison. Like most fledgling companies, it wasn’t glamorous. There was some furniture, some cheap desks, and not much else. “We just got a lot of paint and painted it different shades of purple,” Faulkner recalled.</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Founding Epic the Right Way</h2><p style="text-align: left">From the beginning, Faulkner knew that she would never build the company with venture capital or private equity. She would build it her way, the right way, regardless of how much more time it would take. In true homegrown American Dream fashion, she got to work and poured her heart into the company, ensuring that it would stand on a foundation of doing good with good products—not making money for investors.</p><p style="text-align: left">“Why do we want people whose primary interest in us is return on equity rather than ‘Are you building a good product? Is it helping the people?’” Faulkner said. “If you are publicly traded, then your legal fiduciary duty is to increase shareholder value. We think our duty is to keep patients healthy.”</p><h2 style="text-align: left">An Epic Impact on Patients</h2><p style="text-align: left">Epic Systems has grown to more than 10,000 employees and is still privately held and self-sufficient; they have never acquired another company! Though few people have ever heard of Epic, they are in essence the Apple of US healthcare IT. By 2019, Epic held medical records of over 200 million people. And by 2022, hospitals that were using Epic software held medical records of 78% of US patients.</p><p style="text-align: left">Epic has been at the forefront of EMR (electronic medical record) technology as well as other areas within healthcare IT. Most of the biggest hospitals and health systems in the US use Epic software, including Kaiser Permanente, the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and all Mayo Clinic campuses. To say that Epic has impacted healthcare and especially the live of patients is an understatement! Having effective software is an important part of achieving good outcomes in healthcare, and Faulkner and Epic have done well to provide that software and much more.</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Epic Software and Epic Stories</h2><p style="text-align: left">But to Faulkner, Epic is about more than creating important healthcare IT software, and healthcare IT is about more than just collecting patient health data. “I absolutely believe in the power of the story,” she says. “And so many people don’t understand that, especially in the tech field. . . . You have to tell the story. The ‘why’ behind it.”</p><p style="text-align: left">The American Dream has always been about stories—humble tales that swell into great narratives. And each medical record—each life—that Epic’s software holds is a story waiting to be told. Judy Faulkner’s story is really no different. She seized the opportunity and, from her own modest tale, has woven a great American epic.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Oprah Winfrey</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com/oprah-winfrey/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sarahrowley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 16:57:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://americandreamstory.com/?p=171</guid> <description><![CDATA[“Thinking Like a Queen,” How Oprah Winfrey Achieved Her American Dream Many Americans know the name Oprah Winfrey, or just, “Oprah.” Her name has become synonymous with daytime television. On top of her fame from her well-known daytime talk show, she has become known for her generosity, positivity, and humanitarianism. But she didn’t start there,…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-130 size-medium" src="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/oprah-winfrey-photo-e1715275914721-300x300.jpg" alt="oprah winfrey" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/oprah-winfrey-photo-e1715275914721-300x300.jpg 300w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/oprah-winfrey-photo-e1715275914721-150x150.jpg 150w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/04/oprah-winfrey-photo-e1715275914721.jpg 661w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />“Thinking Like a Queen,” How Oprah Winfrey Achieved Her American Dream</strong></p><p style="text-align: left">Many Americans know the name Oprah Winfrey, or just, “Oprah.” Her name has become synonymous with daytime television. On top of her fame from her well-known daytime talk show, she has become known for her generosity, positivity, and humanitarianism. But she didn’t start there, nor did she come from wealth. She put in the effort, worked long hours, and competed for what she earned.</p><p style="text-align: left">But seemingly none of that ever got her down. She has never been afraid of failure or facing issues. In the past, she has said of her success and how she’s overcome failure that it’s all due to the mindset of “[Thinking] like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” Understandably, her hard work earned her the title, “The Queen of All Media.”</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Oprah Winfrey’s First Steps</h2><p style="text-align: left">Oprah was born January 29, 1954 under the name “Orpah.” She was born in rural Mississippi and her parents didn’t stay together after Oprah’s birth. She was raised closely by almost every member of her immediate and sometimes even extended family. She got her name from the biblical figure, Orpah, but everyone would mispronounce it “Oprah” and the name stuck.</p><p style="text-align: left">Oprah Winfrey grew up extremely poor and wore dresses made from potato sacks, for which she would get teased. Sadly, she also experienced sexual abuse from several of her male relatives and friends of her mother. But her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee, knew, despite these events, Oprah was destined for something big. Hattie tells stories of young Oprah hosting “interviews” with her dolls and the birds that would land on their back fence.</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Tremendous Lessons</h2><p style="text-align: left">Oprah moved from place to place and sometimes would bounce from one parent to the other when money was tight. She attended Lincoln High School, a school on the poorer side of Milwaukee. But, as a result of her academic achievements, she transferred to Nicolet High School, a school in a more affluent part of town.</p><p style="text-align: left">As she rode the bus to school with her friends, she thought about the fact that many of the families of her friends were servants in the households of her classmates. Oprah felt like she had to “keep up” with her classmates and would rebel or steal money from her mother to fit in with them. As a result, her mother sent her once again to live with her father in Nashville, TN. This set her back a little in her studies, but Oprah still graduated as an honors student, and earned the title“Most Popular Girl” by her classmates. Oprah, similar to her sentiments earlier, has said when speaking about her life, “I will tell you that there have been no failures in my life. I don’t want to sound like some metaphysical queen, but there have been no failures. There have been some tremendous lessons.”</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Enjoying the Process</h2><p style="text-align: left">After high school, Oprah worked for a local radio station. However, she was only hired part-time to read the news. She then applied to and won an oratory contest which landed her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University where she studied communications. Over the next few years, Winfrey worked as a news anchor for several different stations. In 1976 though, Oprah moved to Baltimore and hosted the show, “People Are Talking.” The show started off small but quickly became a hit, and she hosted that for about eight years.</p><p style="text-align: left">Then, in 1984, she relocated to Chicago and was given the job of taking over the hosting position of a small, half-hour program called “AM Chicago.” The show was at the bottom of the ratings and had to compete with the very popular talk show, “The Phil Donahue Show.” It wasn’t easy competing with that, and Oprah Winfrey faced many obstacles trying to bring in viewership for her show.</p><p style="text-align: left">But again, that didn’t get her down. When she looked back, Oprah said, in her characteristic upbeat attitude about the topic, “I don’t believe in failure. It’s not failure if you enjoy the process.” Within a couple of years, she was able to pull the ratings steadily up, eventually to where they soared over those of Phil Donahue and landed her the #1 spot on the ratings chart. Oprah was invited to extend the length of her program to a full hour, and it was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”</p><h2 style="text-align: left">You Get an Interview! And You Get an Interview!</h2><p style="text-align: left">On her show, she interviewed different types of people from all walks of life and talked about their lives: the good, the bad, and (sometimes) the ugly. During her interviews, she spoke with her guests and, what became known as “public confessional,” allow people to talk about things that could be a little gritty and hard for audiences to hear. She even opened up about her own abuse that she suffered growing up on her show. But that didn’t cause any problems; in fact, her popularity took off.</p><p style="text-align: left">She hosted her show with such energy that she was able to interview such people as Michael Jackson; David Letterman, of “Late Show” fame; and other big names like Kanye West and Barrack Obama. From there, Oprah became a household name.</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Giving Back</h2><p style="text-align: left">The fame Oprah amounted hasn’t made her any less generous. Pretty much anything that Oprah sticks her name to becomes an overnight success. Since 1996, she has curated a list of books ranging from classic literature to a whole host of self-improvement books so that she could share her love of reading with others. Any of the books that have appeared on Oprah’s Book Club list, whether they were well-known classic books or modestly selling books, would shoot to the tops of bestselling lists soon after being placed on her Book Club list. She also regularly made lists of items that she thought would be good gifts and air the segment on her show. Everyone that was present for the taping would receive that year’s list of items for free.</p><p style="text-align: left">Oprah has been the head of many other charitable and philanthropic endeavors. In 1987, she founded the Oprah Winfrey Foundation which has gone on to champion change and service to many across the world. Through her giving, she has donated over $400 million to various causes, provided funding for education, and served over 75 million meals to those less fortunate. Her intention is to make an important difference in people’s lives, people living lives similar to how she grew up.</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Feeding the Hungry</h2><p style="text-align: left">Money was tight for her family growing up and food even more so. As a result, Oprah regularly donates to non-profit organizations aimed at providing food to those that need it, as she has seen the impact hunger has on people’s lives. The largest one to date was ten million dollars, while in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic.</p><h2 style="text-align: left">Education for Youth</h2><p style="text-align: left">Oprah is deeply committed to education for the youth. She has funded numerous scholarships, schools, college programs, and even started her own school, The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Oprah’s school is for girls in grades eight through twelth, and the school funds everything the girls need, including uniforms for those who can’t afford the clothing and braces for those that need them. Oprah has also paid for the educations of over 70,000 people who may not have otherwise been able to receive that opportunity, many of them from poorer countries outside the United States.</p><p style="text-align: left">With all that Oprah has done, she has not only shown what is possible through hard work, but also what is possible with a positive attitude and mindset. Oprah’s story proves that when you put yourself into what you love, good things can come from it. She is just one of the many stories that show the American Dream is alive and well in this country.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Walt Disney</title> <link>https://americandreamstory.com/walt-disney/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[sarahrowley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 16:55:52 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://americandreamstory.com/?p=167</guid> <description><![CDATA[Walt Disney, in full Walter Elias Disney, (born December 5, 1901, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died December 15, 1966, Los Angeles, California), American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also planned and built Disneyland,…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-5 size-medium" src="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/Walt_Disney_1946-e1715275942585-300x300.jpg" alt="Walt Disney" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/Walt_Disney_1946-e1715275942585-300x300.jpg 300w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/Walt_Disney_1946-e1715275942585-150x150.jpg 150w, https://americandreamstory.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2024/03/Walt_Disney_1946-e1715275942585.jpg 450w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Walt Disney, in full Walter Elias Disney, (born December 5, 1901, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died December 15, 1966, Los Angeles, California), American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He also planned and built Disneyland, a huge amusement park that opened near Los Angeles in 1955, and before his death he had begun building a second such park, Walt Disney World, near Orlando, Florida. The Disney Company he founded has become one of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates.</p><p style="text-align: left">Walter Elias Disney was the fourth son of Elias Disney, a peripatetic carpenter, farmer, and building contractor, and his wife, Flora Call, who had been a public school teacher. When Walt was little more than an infant, the family moved to a farm near Marceline, Missouri, a typical small Midwestern town, which is said to have furnished the inspiration and model for the Main Street, U.S.A., of Disneyland. There Walt began his schooling and first showed a taste and aptitude for drawing and painting with crayons and watercolours.</p><p style="text-align: left">David Low, the late British political cartoonist, called Disney “the most significant figure in graphic arts since Leonardo. A pioneer and innovator, and the possessor of one of the most fertile imaginations the world has ever known, Walt Disney, along with members of his staff, received more than 950 honors and citations from throughout the world, including 48 Academy Awards® and 7 Emmys® in his lifetime.</p><p style="text-align: left">Walt Disney’s personal awards included honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, the University of Southern California, and UCLA; the Presidential Medal of Freedom; France’s Legion of Honor and Officer d’Academie decorations; Thailand’s Order of the Crown; Brazil’s Order of the Southern Cross; Mexico’s Order of the Aztec Eagle; and the Showman of the World Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners.</p><p style="text-align: left">Raised on a farm near Marceline, Missouri, Walt early became interested in drawing, selling his first sketches to neighbors when he was only seven years old. At McKinley High School in Chicago, Disney divided his attention between drawing and photography, contributing both to the school paper. At night he attended the Academy of Fine Arts.</p><p style="text-align: left">During the fall of 1918, Disney attempted to enlist for military service. Rejected because he was only 16 years of age, Walt joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas, where he spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was covered from stem to stern, not with stock camouflage, but with drawings and cartoons.</p><p style="text-align: left">After the war, Walt returned to Kansas City, where he began his career as an advertising cartoonist. Here, in 1920, he created and marketed his first original animated cartoons, and later perfected a new method for combining live-action and animation.</p><p style="text-align: left">In August of 1923, Walt Disney left Kansas City for Hollywood with nothing but a few drawing materials, $40 in his pocket and a completed animated and live-action film. Walt’s brother Roy O. Disney was already in California, with an immense amount of sympathy and encouragement, and $250. Pooling their resources, they borrowed an additional $500 and constructed a camera stand in their uncle’s garage. Soon, they received an order from New York for the first “Alice Comedy” short, and the brothers began their production operation in the rear of a Hollywood real estate office two blocks away.</p><p style="text-align: left">On July 13, 1925, Walt married one of his first employees, Lillian Bounds, in Lewiston, Idaho. They were blessed with two daughters — Diane, married to Ron Miller, former president and chief executive officer of Walt Disney Productions; and Sharon Disney Lund, formerly a member of Disney’s Board of Directors. The Millers have seven children and Mrs. Lund had three. Mrs. Lund passed away in 1993.</p><p style="text-align: left">Mickey Mouse was created in 1928, and his talents were first used in a silent cartoon entitled Plane Crazy. However, before the cartoon could be released, sound burst upon the motion picture screen. Thus Mickey made his screen debut in Steamboat Willie, the world’s first fully synchronized sound cartoon, which premiered at the Colony Theatre in New York on November 18, 1928.</p><p style="text-align: left">Walt’s drive to perfect the art of animation was endless. Technicolor® was introduced to animation during the production of his “Silly Symphonies.” In 1932, the film entitled Flowers and Trees won Walt the first of his 32 personal Academy Awards®. In 1937, he released The Old Mill, the first short subject to utilize the multiplane camera technique.</p><p style="text-align: left">On December 21 of that same year, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated musical feature, premiered at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. Produced at the unheard of cost of $1,499,000 during the depths of the Great Depression, the film is still accounted as one of the great feats and imperishable monuments of the motion picture industry. During the next five years, Walt completed such other full-length animated classics as Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi.</p><p style="text-align: left">In 1940, construction was completed on Disney’s Burbank studio, and the staff swelled to more than 1,000 artists, animators, story men and technicians. During World War II, 94 percent of the Disney facilities were engaged in special government work including the production of training and propaganda films for the armed services, as well as health films which are still shown throughout the world by the U.S. State Department. The remainder of his efforts were devoted to the production of comedy short subjects, deemed highly essential to civilian and military morale.</p><p style="text-align: left">Disney’s 1945 feature, the musical The Three Caballeros, combined live action with the cartoon medium, a process he used successfully in such other features as Song of the South and the highly acclaimed Mary Poppins. In all, 81 features were released by the studio during his lifetime.</p><p style="text-align: left">Walt’s inquisitive mind and keen sense for education through entertainment resulted in the award-winning “True-Life Adventure” series. Through such films as The Living Desert, The Vanishing Prairie, The African Lion and White Wilderness, Disney brought fascinating insights into the world of wild animals and taught the importance of conserving our nation’s outdoor heritage.</p><p style="text-align: left">Disneyland, launched in 1955 as a fabulous $17 million Magic Kingdom, soon increased its investment tenfold and entertained, by its fourth decade, more than 400 million people, including presidents, kings and queens and royalty from all over the globe.</p><p style="text-align: left">A pioneer in the field of television programming, Disney began production in 1954, and was among the first to present full-color programming with his Wonderful World of Color in 1961. The Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro were popular favorites in the 1950s.</p><p style="text-align: left">But that was only the beginning. In 1965, Walt Disney turned his attention toward the problem of improving the quality of urban life in America. He personally directed the design on an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, planned as a living showcase for the creativity of American industry.</p><p style="text-align: left">Said Disney, “I don’t believe there is a challenge anywhere in the world that is more important to people everywhere than finding the solution to the problems of our cities. But where do we begin? Well, we’re convinced we must start with the public need. And the need is not just for curing the old ills of old cities. We think the need is for starting from scratch on virgin land and building a community that will become a prototype for the future.”</p><p style="text-align: left">Thus, Disney directed the purchase of 43 square miles of virgin land — twice the size of Manhattan Island — in the center of the state of Florida. Here, he master planned a whole new Disney world of entertainment to include a new amusement theme park, motel-hotel resort vacation center and his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. After more than seven years of master planning and preparation, including 52 months of actual construction, Walt Disney World opened to the public as scheduled on October 1, 1971. Epcot Center opened on October 1, 1982.</p><p style="text-align: left">Prior to his death on December 15, 1966, Walt Disney took a deep interest in the establishment of California Institute of the Arts, a college level, professional school of all the creative and performing arts. Of Cal Arts, Walt once said, “It’s the principal thing I hope to leave when I move on to greener pastures. If I can help provide a place to develop the talent of the future, I think I will have accomplished something.”</p><p style="text-align: left">California Institute of the Arts was founded in 1961 with the amalgamation of two schools, the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Chouinard Art Institute. The campus is located in the city of Valencia, 32 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Walt Disney conceived the new school as a place where all the performing and creative arts would be taught under one roof in a “community of the arts”as a completely new approach to professional arts training.</p><p style="text-align: left">Walt Disney is a legend, a folk hero of the 20th century. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideas which his name represents: imagination, optimism and self-made success in the American tradition. Walt Disney did more to touch the hearts, minds and emotions of millions of Americans than any other man in the past century. Through his work, he brought joy, happiness and a universal means of communication to the people of every nation. Certainly, our world shall know but one Walt Disney.</p>]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel></rss> <!--Performance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https://www.boldgrid.com/w3-total-cache/ Object Caching 93/855 objects using RedisPage Caching using Redis (Page is feed) Served from: americandreamstory.com @ 2024-05-19 16:36:27 by W3 Total Cache-->If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:
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