A boy was born into extreme poverty (no running water), and at 16 he and his family migrated to America. Adjusting was hard. On welfare and food stamps, and trying to adjust to the culture – the boy wasn’t succeeding (yet).As with most kids that are frustrated, scared, and feeling like a failure he became a troubled student and barely passed high school. And even got in trouble with the law.

One thing he enjoyed was computers and coding, and the more society rejected him the more he leaned into this.

He finally got a job at Yahoo! but lost it, he just didn’t see the big picture. (Or they didn’t see him – yet). He applied for a job at Facebook but got rejected. Unemployed. Defeated. Aimless. The, now a man, had a choice. The world had written him off over and over and over. But he decided to continue to be the author of his story. And he simply turned the page and started the next chapter.

On his Birthday (Feb 24, 2009) he started a company with the idea he had wanted to do at Yahoo! and Facebook. The company blew up. The name of that company: WhatsApp! Ironically, Facebook purchased WhatsApp! for $19 BILLION dollars.

He is now a billionaire. And although I don’t know him personally, I can only imagine the joy and satisfaction that came when he made Facebook a supporting character in HIS story.

You are not your past.
You are not your circumstance.
You are not the value in their eyes.
Show the world who you are.
Write your story.