Adam Deering made a big bet on himself back in 2002 and it paid off. The trouble was that, at the time, the people he needed help to make it happen — Royal Bank of Scotland in Urmston, Greater Manchester — didn't have the same faith in him.
His story is a great tale about the power of believing in yourself topped by the oh-so-satisfying cherry of sweet revenge.
"I quit my job as a salesman aged 21 because I knew I had it in me to create a successful business, but I didn't have a penny to my name so I needed a bank loan," he told The Daily Mail.
"I presented them with a comprehensive business plan and asked for £10,000 ($13,250) but the bank manager didn't seem to take me seriously at all," he lamented. "I'd put my heart and soul into the business plan and I remember having my fingers crossed under the table as I nervously waited for the manager to go through it."
"I was devastated when she told me I was too young and inexperienced and there was no way they could take a risk on me," he added.
via The Peninsula Hotels / Twitter
Deering spent the last few dollars he had on renting an office space in Stretford, England, just outside of Manchester. But he couldn't even afford a desk or chair so he was forced to cold call people while sitting on the office floor.
The early months of his new business were hard and he had no idea whether he'd succeed. "There were lots of times where I thought it was the end, but I refused to give up and it paid off," he said.
Eventually, his business flourished. He sold his debt management firm six years ago for £5 million ($6,620,000). He now owns five multi-million pound companies, including debt management firm Hanover Insolvency and funeral company Pride Planning.
His property portfolio is worth millions of pounds.
Recently, he bought the building of the bank that rejected him 18 years ago and plans on doing a £500,000 ($662,000) renovation to turn it into apartments and a retail unit.
"To me, buying the bank building brings things back full circle and it shows that I was right to keep believing in myself," he said. In addition to his various business ventures, Deering is also a motivational speaker.
"Building a business from scratch certainly isn't easy and there are always times when you wonder if it is going to work out," he said. "The key is to stay true to your vision and keep going, there will always be hurdles to overcome."
Deering's faith in himself when no one else had any allowed him to become the massive business success he is today.
"When I was turned down for the loan, it was tough but because I had a dream and I was so focussed on achieving it, I made it happen anyway," he said.
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An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.