Showing results by publisher "Made for Success" in Biographies & Memoirs

Hans Florine is a big-wall climbing legend in his own time. He holds the speed record on the Nose route of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot granite cliff in Yosemite Valley that's considered the Everest of the rock-climbing world. But Florine's story is not one of super-human athletic prowess; it's one of persistence and dogged determination. In 30 years of climbing, he's ascended the Nose a mind-blowing, death-defying 100 times, more than anyone else ever has, and most likely ever will. In On the Nose, Florine describes the most dangerous, pivotal, and inspirational of those climbs.

Graham Hale Gardner died before turning 23 and never learned to walk or speak due to severe cerebral palsy complicated by epilepsy. Yet he left a legacy of love and compassion that deeply moved scores of people from widely different backgrounds. Graham’s story, written through the eyes of his father, speaks of the enormous legacy left by a boy who never spoke. A story that raises provocative questions about the “invisible lines of connection” that make us human.

Based on an incredible true story, a young marine fights an unbelievable battle in the abyss of Vietnam. Get a front-row seat to the intense action, courage, and sacrifice he and other marines endured. Experience the ferocity of battle, the deep bonds of brotherhood, and the stinging sweat of fear that hangs persistently over the jungle canopy. Imagine lying in a foxhole when a “Broken Arrow” goes into effect, as the enemy sappers overtake their position, forcing these young soldiers to fight the enemy hand to hand.

After three years as a killing-field slave, seventeen-year-old Bun Yom escaped from the Khmer Rouge and became a freedom fighter. Using his wisdom, courage, and infinite compassion, Bun rescued thousands of Cambodian people and soon became the Cambodian Freedom Fighters’ greatest soldier. Tomorrow I’m Dead is the only known first-person account of the freedom fighter’s heroic liberation of slaves from the Khmer Rouge killing fields.

Historian Sarah Hopkins Bradford details the life of heroic abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was born into slavery but escaped to lead other enslaved people to freedom.

Waiting for the Thaw is an inspirational story of one woman’s journey through the darkest depths of loss and her eventual ascension back to a life rich with fulfillment. Patricia Ann’s wonderfully descriptive retelling of her life’s story is absolutely captivating.

In The Unspoken, author Ashley Haseotes shares her story of hitting rock bottom and finally coming to grips with the reality of her trauma. Suffering deeply and feeling overwhelmed, she becomes debilitatingly ill with chronic migraines and vertigo that leave her confined to her bed for months. Unable to work and take care of her children, lost and disconnected from her life purpose, she stares down feelings of unbridled failure and unsurmountable stress. 

Eat Your Words outlines the history of a first-generation American Italian girl whose early curvaceous entry into womanhood and hearty appetite make for a complex-carb tale about the depth of our relationship with self-nourishment. Often self-derogatory, and certainly comedic, readers can fall in love with Giana as they relate to her often awkward and outlandish process, simply trying to find herself in the land of milk and honey.

It’s June 1953, and 10-year-old Marc Straus is in his mother’s car, getting sick from her cigarette smoke on his way to a Hebrew lesson. He and his younger brother, Stephen, are transferring from public school to a Yeshiva, and Marc needs tutoring. His parents haven’t said why they’re transferring - the family isn’t religious. All Marc knows is he’ll have to protect his brother. Stephen’s a delicate kid other kids pick on. Marc’s a street fighter who knows how to wall off pain. 

Wendy Tamis Robbins offers a window into the mental illness of an all-star athlete, Ivy League-graduate, and successful attorney. At just six years old, Wendy’s first panic attack sparked a 40-year struggle with a variety of anxiety disorders. Avoiding anything that could trigger her symptoms, she retreats into a box to contain and hide her condition. After years of living in the prison she originally constructed as her safe place, Wendy is no longer willing to limit her life to accommodate her disorders. 

Johnny Quinn shares his “wild dream” of playing in the NFL, being crushed after getting cut three times, losing $2.6 million in contracts, and blowing out his knee. At age 30, when most professional athletes are considered “over the hill”, Johnny was competing for Team USA in the sport of bobsled at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. We all experience failure at some level; Quinn equips us to embrace change, accept risks, and learn to push through barriers, to live life on purpose.

Once too poor to afford the rat poison with which he planned to take his own life, Robert's legacy tells an astonishing true story of resilience and hope. His work was made famous in the Disney movie Queen of Katwe, a biographical drama about a 13-year-old girl who became a Uganda National Chess Champion under Robert's mentorship. Now, listeners will get a firsthand account of how it all started, and the life of the man behind Phiona Mutesi's world-renowned accomplishments.

Kendal Netmaker's life proves that this is not only possible, but attainable no matter what your upbringing may have been like. At the age of five, Kendal and his mother were left homeless, bouncing from shelter to shelter in search of reprieve. His mother modeled sacrifice for him, doing everything she could to provide a life for her family. Now, Netmaker uses those same principles to drive businesses forward. 

World War I is difficult to grasp for many Americans. Most WWI soldiers didn't keep a diary, and few spoke of what they saw and experienced. Through Courage, listeners will understand what pulled the world into this devastating conflict, see why the United States came out of isolation to side with the Allies, and gain a personal look into the lives of WWI fighters. Through the eyes of Roy Blanchard, listeners will see, hear, and feel what it was like to bravely face the terror of the First World War.

How can we evolve through adversity and change our lives? It is one of life's great questions. In Evolving Through Adversity: How to Overcome Obstacles, Discover Your Passion, and Honor Your True Self, author Seconde Nimenya answers the above question and demonstrates that the best way to overcome adversity is to go through it. Through her own life story, Seconde explains how to apply this theory by what she calls the RRU (reflect, rectify, and unite) model.

What does it mean to create a “model”? First, we naturally tune our attention toward role models during early childhood and take data to form an accurate model of our world. And from there, we model and remodel ourselves to become more like the ideal person we conceptualize in our imagination. Business Model gives listeners a front-row view of Williams’ own life experiences that gave rise to his unique business model. Listeners will be treated to countless inspiring perspectives on self-transformation, business success, and transcending adversity.

At the age of six, Matthew lost his father to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. At the age of thirty-seven, he lost his fifteen-year-old daughter to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Between those two deaths, he lost a cousin and two uncles to suicide, and a brother to self-harm. Hope reveals the tenacity of the human heart, showcases unrelenting faith, and shares immovable hope while giving a breathtaking inside look into the battle against generational dysfunction, destruction, and death. 

Okhui’s journey paints a poignant and sobering portrait of a vibrant young Korean woman who arrived in the United States in the 1960s and forged an unconventional path to raise her family. The book is a treasure trove of personal anecdotes and intimate moments that put Okhui’s inner strength to the ultimate test. Her life journey takes her from being a highly sought-after Hollywood burlesque dancer to a thriving nightclub owner in Waikiki, ultimately unveiling her true calling as a mother and her dedication to her family.