Getting fired is one of the biggest fear of most working people.
However, being fired sometimes leads to better opportunities.
Here are a few stories of uber-famous people who lost their jobs:
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga has always taken time to come up with her catchy and expertly constructed pop hits.
Her first label didn’t appreciate this slow burn method, however, and fired her after she asked them to wait another six-months for her to finish her debut album.
Not long afterward she released her legendary album “The Fame.”
J.K. Rowling
Rowling often found herself in trouble with jobs and money before making it big with the story of a certain boy wizard.
At her job as a secretary at Amnesty International, she found herself being booted for using her work computer for personal matters.
Perhaps she was preparing material for the book that would later make her a multi-millionaire.
Jerry Seinfeld
Comedians tend to struggle a lot before they find their footing, and this is just as true for mega-hit Seinfeld as it was for many of his peers.
Strangely enough, the future-sitcom star was once fired from a gig he had on the sitcom “Benson” due to a lackluster performance.
Isaac Newton
Before he went off to study science and change the way we see the world today, Newton was fired from an overseer position on his family farm, and by his own Mother nonetheless!
Thankfully, his Mother’s actions set in motion movements that led to some of the most important scientific discoveries of all-time.
Mozart
While it may be hard to imagine Mozart being let go from any musical position, he was once fired from a gig as the musician for the court of the prince-archbishop of Salzburg.
For those readers familiar with the movie “Amadeus,” this event should bring to mind a particularly memorable scene from the musician’s life.
Oprah Winfrey
Now one of the biggest TV personalities, Winfrey struggled to find her footing in the TV industry for years before people realized the level of her talent.
Once when she was working as a news reporter for a Baltimore TV station, her producer felt that her personality was simply a bad fit for the job. Hard to imagine, looking back now.
Walt Disney
Disney was once fired from the cartoonist department of a Kansas newspaper for “lacking imagination and having no good ideas.”
Apparently Walt found a magical well of inspiration after leaving the paper, as he would go on to make some of the most fantastical and popular films of all time.
Nikola Tesla
Tesla had a bit of a drinking and gambling problem that led to issues at his job.
Once while working as a draftsman in Slovenia, Tesla was let go due to continuous card-gambling on the job.
Thomas Edison
Edison is one of the most famous inventor/entrepreneurs of all time, but he did not always excel at regular work positions.
When he worked for a laboratory in his younger days, for example, the young Edison was fired for spilling acid that then ate through the floors of the building.
Steve Jobs
Although he is now somewhat infamous for being fired from Apple by then CEO John Sculley (who he handpicked himself), the eventual return to Apple by Jobs cemented him as a business legend and an innovative personality.