seeking stories of unqualified successes

I'm a markeing guy who went kicking and screaming into social media 18 months ago. In the past 30 days I raised $45,000 for online prizes for Blog-Off II, a contest I created for bloggers. 25+ people are participating from 6 countries. I've selected a stellar international panel of judges from 4 countries too.

I'm still a major critic of social media because I believe in practical applications in marketing but I'm happy I can utilize this medium to help a few people start 2010 off on the best foot possible.

Pema's on to something.

Yeah, I've got a college degree, which has been worthless with every job I've had. I've blagged my way into marketing, teaching, editing, bartending, novel writing, travel agenting, copywriting, and PR. It's not about qualifications; it's about ingenuity, honesty, communication, proving the brilliance. People want to work with good people. Passion flies further in this world than pieces of paper.

yes i've got a film producer friend who had a degree in Law but swore she would not end up a solicitor in a small rural town doing conveyencing

Check out GreenSherpa.com. Co-founder Erin Lozano has a no high finance degrees, but has a love of money and organizing it that got her inventing, partnering, selling to VC investors, and then successfully launching her online cash flow management tool to moms and heads of households. She is also making herself a name in the blogosphere with her evolutionary philosophies about recession economics, and how our lives are changing for the better. She rocks the piggy bank.

, and this fantastic gumption, that got her inventing and launching an online

I did not go to music school nor study with a big-name teacher, but I have built a very successful business as a professional musician and promotion/booking business owner. I have done it through realizing that most musicians ignore the business aspect of their job. I have embraced both sides and have been able to make my living through music for the last 10 years.

1. I edited a magazine with no experience and increased readership by 3x.
2. Wrote my first play to get into fancy theatre school, never having written for the stage. It got me in. Then got produced twice on two coasts in the space of 9 months.
3. Oh, um, I'm writing a novel. For a client. That means he's paying me for my "expertise." With zero short stories under my belt, and certainly zero fiction, I am NOT a qualified novelist.

But I have this "throw yourself in front of the bus and you'll have to scramble to live" approach that seems to make wild success a byproduct of survival. Translated: I'm not qualified YET. Get me the job, though. And I'll get qualified real quick.

here's my pitch.
created my own information technology major at college..which as a lot of college classes do....had nothing to do with a lot of real world application. i went on to work for apply for a short time, then stop and create my own IT support and design company. moved to california where i've learned the ropes, taken on clients and am now refining to process from being "own your own business" grunt who still does everything...to thinking like CEO, hiring people and trying to put things on auto pilot and managing instead. i still want to do design and it support as it's my passion, but i'm moving to creating multiple companies to generate multiple tunnels or steams of income...the internet is my resource, blog friends and video conversations my experience...no business training, no real life mentors, no past history of business ownership or entrepreneurship in the family.

I was too busy working for college; working my way to be the best at whatever I did. Providence took me through a few job positions which readied me, unknowingly, to start my own business 19 yrs ago. At our peak, I employed 35 plus people, worked nationwide and had a client list that was envied by many. Somewhere along the way I did loose my footing and my confidence waned which I attributed to the lack of degree or formal training.

In the beginning, I had a fire, ready, aim philosophy, whereas now, its more a ready aim fire approach. I do what I do now to facilitate my life; it no longer runs me, I run it. All of my self worth came from what I did, or what I accomplished, not who I was. Giving myself the grace to realize I am good enough with out the title, the job, the money has been a difficult but incredibly rewarding journey.

Having the guts to go for it in the first place when I did not know what I did not know was where it all begain. If I had it to do all over again, the biggest change I would make is to doubt myself less and be less apologetic for my success.

I have neer commented on a site and only stumbled upon this site a few weeks ago. After devouring it for hours my first thought was I wish you were around when I went into a deep depression for feeling so undeserving when I experienced success. Your White Hot unaplogetic Truth really ROCKS!! Thank You. xoxo

I am a business communication expert, despite no formal training in business or communication.

I grew up in a house that valued words and communication. I studied Shakesperean verse technique. I wrote and developed educational materials for kids, and once I went into the personal/professional coaching world, I discovered I had a gift for helping people in any walk of life to communicate their value both clearly and with soul. Now I specialize in helping spiritually-oriented business owners to say what they do, when what they do is deep, powerful, and hard to describe.

More about how I came to do what I do here:
http://www.parlancetraining.com/about.html

I was an Executive Director of two different arts & culture nonprofits for 11 years, but I don't have any educational background in "how" to be an ED (or any type of manager/leader). I got a break with getting the first job and then learned as I went. It came very naturally to me, I believe because I possessed the skills required to do the job: multi-tasking, keeping various contingents happy at the same time, good communication skills, diplomacy and creative thinking. Now I'm on to totally different pursuits, and I'm counting on my life's experience to make things happen. My friend and I joke that we each have numerous master's degrees just from having to learn things on our own in order to do our jobs and create the lives we want. (Note: we both do have master's degrees, and although I don't work in the field of mine, I value the world of experience that was opened up to me by pursuing it.)

I do think there comes a time when talent, desire and experience can all converge at a certain level and then great things happen (for some it's earlier in their lives, for others it takes awhile). The key is the foundation - all of the things you need to learn, do, develop, shed, transform and be at peace with - from which you can then, seemingly naturally and easily, glide into your own fulfilling success.

I was (still am!) a left-brained introvert, however in past careers have excelled at roles in highly competitive sales positions (where we normally see right-brained, extroverted people)

If this is of assistance to you, please feel free to contact me about this.

I'm a college dropout with a strong (ahem) theater background. I've never taken a single marketing/advertising/etc. class!

We are Pressque, LLC, Excellence in Editing and Writing Services. Since 2006 we've been a two-woman operation providing manuscript editing and marketing copy for local publishers and authors. We now have contracts with four major self-publishers and are being approached by a fifth, which means we're hiring editors left and right. I've got an English creative writing degree and my business partner Ellie Davis has a masters in philosophy. We have created our own editing process and are now offering ghostwriting services: Book Express, Utter Success!â„¢ for business authors and The Scenic Routeâ„¢ for fiction and creative nonfiction authors.

Well, I went from a playwriting degree to temp work to technical writing, and now I train other technical writers... Senior IT folks who interview me do a little double-take at the playwriting degree, but they have to look at my work and my reputation!

But the better story is this: when I was a teenager, I can vividly remember sitting at my family cottage (on Lake Huron), reading Vogue Knitting, and thinking that knitting designers had the best job in the world. I assumed they had to go to fashion school, and I already knew I was headed towards a "serious" liberal arts college (and I'm incredibly grateful to have gone there), so I put it out of my mind. Fast forward several years... I have a liberal arts degree (in playwriting) and a handful of years writing and editing technical documents, and I still knit. Through marvelous, mysterious fate, I've got an invitation for a book proposal. So I propose! And in hashing out the details with the editor, it turns out she wants knitting patterns in the book! A lot of them! And what do you know - a few years later I am a published knitting designer.

I workshadowed an immigrations judge (in UK) who hadn't been to law school or had formal training in it - she did have a degree in anthropology but she started off doing admin at courts, and rose through the ranks til she was offered a judge position with on the job training. which blasts the standard expensive law school and city firm training contract theory out of the water.

dig it. thanks.

two years ago, along with my three business partners, started a small, independent publishing firm. today we have 10 titles in print and several more in the works. We really jumped in feet first and have learned so much in two years!

Danielle, I take the point that university education is not for everyone, but as a university teacher myself, I do believe that it’s worthwhile for many. :) Stephen Hawking and Marie Curie studied at top universities. Desmond Tutu has a master’s degree; Martin Luther King had a Ph.D.

But I agree that a lot could be improved! I’d encourage teachers to be creative; I’d encourage lawmakers not to rely on standardized tests; and I’d encourage taxpayers to support funding for research, both in the humanities and the sciences. Education should not merely be about training or memorizing, but about broadening horizons and really engaging with new ideas. That, surely, is good for everyone!

I hope you rock your TV spot, and I’m happy you’re challenging assumptions. But I hope you won’t diss those of us who are working hard to educate well.

Funny - I was just thinking this morning about how college now is a cultural, and very expensive, must do. Daughter and I have master's (tho mine is not in art). Son has GED and just started his own business using his great personal skills and skills acquired through various construction jobs - in Florida. He's doing very well for someone with no tech or business background. Husband has a HS education. With me in the background doing the business end, he built a well reguarded live sound reinforcement business during the punk years in D.C (if you're from DC you may know the DC Space/9:30 Club scene from back then - 80s/early 90s)). He decided he didn't want to work for himself so, when asked, joined the 9:30 Club as house sound engineer and now does that and manages production as well (been there for 15 years).

I did not go to music school nor study with a big-name teacher, but I have built a very successful business as a professional musician and promotion/booking business owner. I have done it through realizing that most musicians ignore the business aspect of their job. I have embraced both sides and have been able to make my living through music for the last 10 years. My websites are http://oneworkingmusician.com, http://www.jasonparkermusic.com and http://www.jandjmusic.com.

Thanks! Love your inspiring blog.

i have a friend (whom i met through another friend) who is young--25--and starting her own business. she taught herself web and graphic design, has written her own business plans, and now has her company under development. she's incredibly bright and resourceful; she calls herself a college "opt out". i consider her an inspiration.