Rapper Jay Z was already in the rap scene but was relatively anonymous.
Rapper Jay Z was already in the rap scene but was relatively anonymous.
Born Shawn Carter, the rapper grew up in a housing project in Brooklyn, New York, and became known as “Jay Z” at the age of 20.
For the next few years he appeared alongside various other rappers, but “remained relatively anonymous” until he founded the record label Roc-A-Fella Records at the age of 27 with two other friends. The same year, Jay Z released his first album, “Reasonable Doubt.”
Fashion designer Ralph Lauren was a sales assistant at Brooks Brothers.
Fashion designer Ralph Lauren was a sales assistant at Brooks Brothers.
The former CEO of Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx, New York, but changed his name at the age of 15. He went on to study business at Baruch College and served in the Army until the age of 24 when he left to work for Brooks Brothers.
At 26, Lauren decided to design a wide, European-style tie, which eventually led to an opportunity with Neiman Marcus. The next year, he launched the label “Polo.”
Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright was raising a family while beginning her political career.
Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright was raising a family while beginning her political career.
The first female US Secretary of State and current professor of International Relations at Georgetown University was launching her career in politics at 25 while also raising a family with then-husband Joseph Albright, according to Bio.
Albright graduated from Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1959, where she majored in political science, and she began studying Russian and international relations while she raised twin daughters Alice and Anne in Washington, DC.
After moving to New York with her husband, Albright completed her education at Columbia University, where she earned a certificate in Russian studies in 1968 and her MA and PhD in public law and government by 1976.
During that time she impressed a former professor so much he encouraged Albright to enter politics, and she joined him in the West Wing as the National Security Council’s congressional liaison, according to Bio.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk was running his first internet company.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk was running his first internet company.
Before turning 25, Musk dropped out of his PhD program at Stanford to join the dot-com boom and launch his first internet company, Zip2, which provided business directories and maps, Ashlee Vance reports in “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.”
Compaq bought the company for $307 million four years later, and Musk used the money to launch his next startup venture, PayPal.
Investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett was working as an investment salesman in Omaha.
Investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett was working as an investment salesman in Omaha.
In his early 20s, Buffett worked as an investment salesman for Buffett-Falk & Co. in Omaha before moving to New York to be a securities analyst at age 26. During that year, he started Buffett Partnership, Ltd., an investment partnership in Omaha.
New York just wasn’t for him, Buffett told NBC. “In some places it’s easy to lose perspective. But I think it’s very easy to keep perspective in a place like Omaha.”
Xerox Chairwoman Ursula Burns started out as an intern, but worked her way up at Xerox throughout her 20s.
Xerox Chairwoman Ursula Burns started out as an intern, but worked her way up at Xerox throughout her 20s.
Burns overcame a tough upbringing in a New York City housing project to get a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of NYU and then a master’s from Columbia University.
Since then she’s been a Xerox lifer. She started as an intern at age 22 in 1980 and joined full time a year later after getting her master’s. She rose rapidly through the ranks, working in various product development roles until she was named CEO in 2009. She now serves as the chairwoman of the board at Xerox.
“When I came to work at Xerox, I just chose to work. Somebody said ‘how about this?’ And I said OK, and I would go do that in the lab,” Burns said in an interview for the PBS documentary “Makers.” “Then somebody said how about doing some business planning. Then I started leaning more towards larger global systems problems. And systems problems are the business.”
Actress, comedian, writer, and producer Tina Fey was a childcare registrar at the YMCA before joining famed improv troupe Second City.
Actress, comedian, writer, and producer Tina Fey was a childcare registrar at the YMCA before joining famed improv troupe Second City.
After graduating from the University of Virginia, Fey moved to Chicago and hung around acting workshops and even worked as the childcare registrar at a YMCA before improv troupe Second City invited her to join.
Fey told The New Yorker that she joined Second City because she “knew it was where a lot of SNL people started,” and in 1997 she sent scripts to “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels, who then hired her as a writer.