5 Famous People Who Successfully Changed Their Career Paths

We live in a society where we are expected to start earning for ourselves from a young age. While it is a good thing to be financially independent during your teenage years, it also puts you on a career path that may not be perfect for you. As a result, many people get stuck in a career that sucks the life out of them yet offers no job satisfaction.

If you are thinking of switching your career but are feeling skeptical of the decision, you may find this blog a bit inspirational. While there is always a risk in switching your career and starting things afresh, many people proved that it is never too late to switching your career from scratch. You will be surprised to know the names that make a list.

1. Giorgio Armani:

If you have an interest in fashion, you must have heard the name of Giorgio Armani for sure. He is one of the finest fashion designers in the whole world. But he did not switching your career as a designer. In fact, his earlier jobs were not even remotely connected with fashion. He studied medicine in Milan. Once he completed his university education, he joined the Italian army and started serving at the military hospital in Verona.

He left the military in 1953 and decided to switching your career . He got a job as a window dresser at a store in Milan. Later, he landed a job as a seller in the men’s clothing department. Soon enough, he started designing his own clothes. It was 1975 when he founded his own company, Armani. Through a lot of hard work and perseverance, he was able to make it to the top among the most successful fashion designers of our time.

2. Colonel Harland Sanders:

We all know how popular a brand KFC is. We have also seen the picture of old Colonel Sanders in the KFC logo. But only a few of us know the ups and downs of the career Col. Sanders had. At the age of 16, Sanders faked his age to enlist in the US army. After being honorably discharged after a year, he was hired by the railway as a labourer. But he got fired from the job for fighting with a coworker. While he was working for the railway, he also studied law. However, he ruined his legal career by getting into another fight.

After all these, he had to move back in with his mother and got a job selling life insurance. He got fired from this job as well for insubordination. In 1920, he set up a ferry boat company. Later, he tried to sell his ferry boat company to build a lamp manufacturing company. But he found out that another company had already sold a better version of his land.

After all these firing and rejections, he started selling chicken dishes in a service station in his 40s. When he started to advertise his food, he got into an argument with a competitor, which resulted in a deadly shootout. After four years, he bought a motel, but that was burned to the ground with his restaurant. He still rebuilt and ran a new motel, which was forced to close down due to World War II.

After the war, he tried to franchise his restaurant. However, his recipe was rejected 1,009 times before anyone accepted it. He named his recipe “Kentucky Fried Chicken,” which became a hit. However, he was forced to sell it when an interstate opened nearby. After selling it, he pursued his dream of expanding the KFC franchise and hiring workers for KFC all across the country. Now, KFC is one of the biggest names in the food industry worldwide.

3. Harrison Ford:

Harrison Ford is well known for the portrayal of characters like Han Solo in the Star Wars movie franchise and as the titular character in the Indiana Jones movie franchise. While he is one of the well-known faces in Hollywood, he was not always an actor. Even though he started acting as a young man, he was not satisfied with the roles and opportunities he was offered with. So, he think to switching your career and became a self-taught carpenter. He continued working as a carpenter for 15 years to support his wife and children.

It was Fred Roos, a casting director and producer, who liked Ford’s acting abilities and helped him secure an audition with director George Lucas for the film American Graffiti (1973). He landed the role of Bob Falfa in the movie. That role was a turning point for Ford’s career as it encouraged George Lucas to have him audition for Star Wars (1977). He finally landed the role of Han Solo, which led him to stardom.

4. Stephen King:

Stephen King one of the most renowned authors in the honor genre. In fact, his novels are one of the finest works of fiction in the genre. A lot of his books (It, The Shining, Pet Semetary, Doctor Sleep, etc.) have been adapted into films as well. However, before he earned his name as one of the finest writers in the world, he served as a janitor at a high school just to make ends meet. Thanks to this job, he was able to work on his first successful novel, Carrie, which was published in 1974.

King didn’t have to look back after that. He wrote best-selling books one after the other and cemented his name as a prolific writer. As mentioned, a lot of his works have been adapted for movies and TV series. A number of those films had also been nominated for Oscars and won a few of them. His books have sold over 350 million copies globally, making him a successful author of our time.

5. Mick Jagger:

If you are a fan of Rolling Stones, you must acknowledge how great Mick Jagger is as the frontman of the band. However, he had other plans for your career. While pursuing an undergraduate degree in business at the London School of Economics (LSE), Jagger worked as a porter at Bexley Psychiatric hospital to fund his studies. At one point, he had also thought of becoming a journalist, but that was before he found out what it was like to play in a band.

The Rolling Stones made music and performed for a live audience while Jagger was still studying at university. In 1963, he left the London School of Economics and put all his focus on building his career in music. If he had left music and become a journalist or a corporate professional, the world would not have one of its greatest front men of musical bands.

In conclusion,

The best thing about every person on this list is that they all changed their career for different reasons and in different situations. Col. Sanders has failed so many times but tried different things and ultimately found success. King was struggling to meet his ends meet when he wrote his first successful novel. Ford wanted to be an actor from the beginning but had to wait for his chance. So, it is important to understand that things work out differently for different people. But you should never give up on your dreams.