Tag Archives: Failure

Quarterback Josh Allen just signed a six-year, $330M contract with the Buffalo Bills, with $250M guaranteed – the largest guaranteed contract ever given to an NFL player. Yet, when Allen graduated high school, he had zero four year scholarship offers. He bounced around junior college before deciding to send 1000 emails to D-1 coaches across the country. The opening line? “I want to be your quarterback.”

Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill is one of the biggest debut albums of all time – selling 33M copies worldwide and earning Morissette the Grammy for Album of the Year. But you oughta know that just one year prior, Morissette was rejected by every major label, on a plane back home to Ottawa and “deeply depressed.” What changed everything? A spaghetti dinner, sweatpants and a glittery surfboard.

In our first ever “Minisode” – we zoom in on individual moments or facets of rejection we’ve come across in our research. We tell the story of Bill Hader’s Saturday Night Live anxiety and what happens when you come face to face with your biggest hater.

It’s hard to believe there was a time when masks were not worn in hockey. Coaches, players and managers reasoned: “Masks prevent goalies from seeing the puck at their feet.”“Masks eliminate fear in goalies – the fear that drives them to play well.”“Masks make goalies complacent.”“A real man wouldn’t hide his face from his opponents.” Rejecting the Goalie Mask.

The season five premiere of Yellowstone drew 16 million viewers. The series creator, writer and showrunner Taylor Sheridan recently signed a nearly $200M deal with Paramount to produce the hit show and its subsequent franchise. But rewind 10 years, Sheridan had $800 to his name. He had been trying to make it as an actor in Hollywood for the better part of two decades, before deciding to quit altogether and move to Wyoming. But just then, someone said, “Why don’t you write a pilot script?”

This week we are bringing back “the reflection podcast.” Sidney and Terry will answer some of your questions. Like – why did we start this podcast? What’s our connection to each other outside the show? And is there a situation in which someone *should* give up?

You may not know the name Eddy Goldfarb, but you know his work. Goldfarb is the inventor behind over 800 toys and games – including Kerplunk, the “Yakity-Yak” wind-up Chattering Teeth, the Bubble Gun and Stompers. His incredible career has spanned eight decades. But before selling his first toy, Goldfarb was rejected. Over and over again. Then he made one very bad business deal. It’s quite the story.

This week, it’s pop rock debut rejections. We look at the stories of No Doubt – who rose to superstardom in the late ‘90s, and Chappell Roan – who was born in the late ‘90s. Both known for blending genres – both rejected by their own record labels – both persevered through it all.

Ellen DeGeneres has 34 Emmy Awards and a Presidential Medal of Freedom to her name. Her talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, ran for nearly 20 years. But back in 1997, DeGeneres was starring in the sitcom Ellen – when she made a historic decision. To come out as gay. Becoming the first openly gay star of a television show. But what came next, even her critics couldn’t have predicted.

It’s quite the story.

A Wrinkle In Time has sold 16 million copies worldwide. Time Magazine named it one of the 100 best fantasy books ever written, and the 1962 bestseller is still in print today. But when established author Madeleine L’Engle first pitched the novel to publishers, she was told it was too…strange. 10 years of rejection. 30 rejection letters from editors. One great gesture of renunciation.

This rejection story is out of this world.