Willie O’Ree made history in 1958, when the Boston Bruin became the first Black player in the NHL. It is a heroic story of strength, courage and resilience.
Tag Archives: Rejection
Minisode: Be Afraid and Do It Anyway – SNL-Style
Welcome to another Minisode. This week, we travel to 30 Rock and take a look at courage through the eyes of hopeful [comma] sweaty young comedians.
Rejecting Vera Wang
Vera Wang is synonymous with bridal. The designer’s eponymous brand brings in a whopping $700M a year. But before launching her own company in 1990, Vera was rejected for editor-in-chief at Vogue. And before that, she didn’t make the cut for the U.S. Olympic figure skating team. Two major setbacks that left her thinking – now what? Then her dad proposed a crazy idea.
Minisode: Bat Girl
Welcome to another “Minisode” – where we zoom in on individual moments or facets of rejection we’ve come across in our research. This week, let us introduce you to Yankees superfan Gwen Goldman, as we reopen a rejection letter dated June 23, 1961.
Rejecting Slow Horses
The novel Slow Horses by Mick Herron tells the story of a team of disgraced MI5 agents assigned to a bureaucratic dumping ground known as Slough House. They’re, by all accounts, failures – demoted from top tier intelligence to basement busy work. That is, until a kidnapping case lands squarely on their dusty desks – thrusting the slow horses into fast paced espionage.
The irony? That book was rejected. For seven years. Then it was pitched as a television series – and rejected by multiple networks.
To quote Slough House loser-in-chief Jackson Lamb: “They’re losers. But they’re my losers.”
Rejecting Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley graduated high school National Player of the Year. She went on to become a two-time National College Player of the Year. She is a five-time WNBA All-Star, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and was the United States flag bearer at the 2004 Games. As a coach, she has won three NCAA titles, four National Coach of the Year titles, and the hall-of-famer coached Team USA to Olympic gold in 2020. Yet, Dawn Staley was told basketball was for boys.
Rejecting Breaking Bad Guys: Bryan Cranston & Giancarlo Esposito
Breaking Bad guys – Bryan Cranston aka Walter White and Giancarlo Esposito aka Gus Fring, both spent decades bouncing around Hollywood. Both faced major rejection. Both the least suspecting drug overlords of all time.
Listener Rejection Stories (2025)
Each week on this series, we tell the stories of famous names who overcame debilitating career rejection. We’ve talked through the careers of actors, artists, authors, athletes and even one astronaut. But rejection affects us all. So we put out a call for listener rejection stories. Your stories. They’re inspiring, they’re insightful, they’re remarkable. Take a listen.
Rejecting Monty Python
Monty Python shows and films have been making people laugh for more than half a century. But before Monty Python became a global phenomenon, they received a lot of ‘feedback’ from their skeptics including: “This episode contained two really awful sketches.”“The treatment of the national anthem is not amusing.” “Parts of this…are disgusting.”And, “The death sequence was in appalling taste.”
Minisode: Rue McClanahan – “Every Kick’s a Boost”
Welcome to another “Minisode” – where we zoom in on individual moments or facets of rejection we’ve come across in our research. This week, we talk about the golden piece of advice Rue McClanahan’s mother gave her when she was told she’d never make it in television.