Reinventing yourself is a common theme among executive job seekers. Many of the NETSHARE members I talk to every week are seeking different career opportunities, whether they are employed or unemployed. Not just job change but career change is a common theme. People in all professions grow tired of what they are doing and are looking for new ways to apply their expertise, but how?
Take some inspiration from Samuel Leghorn Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. He was a serial entrepreneur with a passion for making money. Clemens had many different careers according to a new book by Peter Krauss, Ignorance, Confidence and Filthy Rich Friends. We all know about Mark Twain the author, but very few know the Samuel Clemens that Krauss reveals in his book.
Apparently, Clemens was absolutely driven by his desire for wealth. Born in 1835, he grew up in poverty. His father had a number of business failures, forcing young Clemens to work to support his family. Vowing to never be subject to such poverty again, he was driven to achieve financial success. As a result, Clemens tried many new occupations, in addition to writing:
After many business adventures, Clemens – writing as Mark Twain – became a stunning literary success at midlife. He earned great wealth and used it to develop numerous inventions, make investments and form a publishing firm. Unfortunately, at least for literary prosperity, his business and entrepreneurial activities limited the time he had to write. Besides being a brilliant author, he also was a striving capitalist, trying to increase his wealth by any means available.
Clemens’ checkered career went from being a would-be cocoa planter, to riverboat pilot, to prospector, to journalist. When his gold strike in Nevada failed because he and his partner didn’t protect their claim, Clemens went to work as a reporter on the Virginia City Territory Enterprise where he adopted the pen name Mark Twain. When he moved to San Francisco to become a reporter on the Morning Call, he also turned to gambling and speculating in silver stocks. When he lost all his money, he returned to prospecting. And when that didn’t pay out, he returned to San Francisco to continue his writing.
Clemens was extremely resourceful. After publishing his famous story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” in The Saturday Evening Post, he decided to focus on writing as a vocation. Clemens even traveled to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and used that experience for a series of lectures that were so successful, be booked a manager and moved to New York City.
Although Clemens continued to write throughout the rest of his life, he also became an active businessman. He took stock in the company that published his books, and moved to another publisher when he discovered he had been cheated. In 1884 he set up his own very successful publishing company, which not only published his own books, but also the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Clemens hired sales representatives to sell the books to booksellers across the country, arming them with a sales script he drafted, which made Grant’s autobiography a bestseller.
Clemens also was a venture capitalist and an inventor. He designed the first men’s garter, a scrapbook with adhesive strips, and a history/biography game. He also invested in a typesetting machine, and speculated in steel and copper. He won and lost a number of fortunes during his lifetime and died wealthy, although he is not remembered for his business prowess.
The key to Clemens success was reinvention; the ability to identify an opportunity when it presents itself and take advantage of it. He was a risk-taker who was always willing to invest time, talent, and money to achieve success. His is an inspiring rags-to-riches story, and one from which we all can learn something.
