Amazing rags-to-riches story

Pre discussion questions

What do you think the title of today’s story means?

Who do you know who was poor and became very rich?

John Daymond began his clothing company selling his own brand of clothing on the street in New York.

Today, John is the founder, CEO and president of FUBU, or "For Us, By Us" FUBU is an city clothing company that he started in 1992.  Now it is a $US6 billion company.

But John became successful with some unconventional ways.

When he first started he was a 20-year-old with $40 in his pocket and a loving mother who taught him how to sew. His mother took a loan on her home to help him begin his dream business.

And it all started with one hat. A tie-top hat he had seen on a rap group in a video that was being sold for $20 but wasn't easy to buy. John went home, sewed around 90 of these hats with his next-door neighbor. Then he began selling them on the street for $10 each. He remembers making $800 in a single day.

John then began to make, sweatshirts, jeans, shoes and T-shirts. John and his friends began sewing the FUBU logo onto everything. A big break finally came when John successfully got rapper LL Cool J, who had grown up on his street in New York, to have a photograph wearing a FUBU shirt.

And from this time the FUBU name grew. Soon John owned and managed a factory, showroom and office from his home. By 1998 he was worth $250 million.

John's way to super success is one of the most inspiring rags-to-riches stories of modern times. John was an only child of a single parent. School for John was difficult. But he refused to let his difficulty with dyslexia (dyslexia is a learning handicap) or his lack of finances stop him.

Most people would think that these things are difficulties John said. "The fact that I got held back in school, my father left when I was 10, I didn't have any money, I didn't have an education in the industry or business I wanted to go into.

The industry that he wanted to go into was predominantly run and operated by a different culture, they didn't allow him in,

So, what's the secret to success that he tells all young businesspeople who ask his advice?

"Firstly, do something that you are absolutely obsessed with and would do for free.

"Secondly, you have to do your homework and you have to research it because there's nothing you can create that's new in this world, it's just going to be a new form of doing it and delivering it to people.”

"Every big thing has started off with a movement. Mark Zuckerburg started off with one friend, now he has 1.5 billion of them. I started off with one hat."

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=3, B=1, C=8, D=5, E=2, F=7, G=4, H=6

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1.      Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were the founders of Apple.

2.      Working from home and not an office was an unconventional way to work, but now it is becoming more common.

3.      It was her dream all her life to play violin in an orchestra and her big break came when she was 24 to play for the National Orchestra.

4.      Dead Poets Society was an inspiring movie for many students.

5.      The founder of Hyundai is an interesting rags-to-riches story.

6.      Kimchi is predominantly used in most Korean meals.

7.      He is obsessed with playing computer games.

8.      Before you study in another country it helps to do your homework about the school and the country.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1.      Do you find this rags-to-riches story inspiring? If you do, then how?

2.      What type of business or organization would you like to be a founder of?

3.      Can you think of other unconventional ways that people have become successful? You could think of ways of studying successfully, business, sports, etc.

4.      If you had a big break to follow a dream of yours, then what big break would you like to have?

5.      Can you think of any predominant things that successful people have? (success can be anything not just money or business.)

6.      Do you think it is important to be obsessed to be successful? Why or why not?

7.      Can you think of an example when someone or a company have failed because they did not do their homework?