logged
Writes fake $10M check, gets rich and famous
You probably already know this guy by name.
He grew up poor.
His dad was a musician who gave up his dreams to “play it safe” and get a “real job”.
When his dad got fired anyway, they lost the house. They stayed in tents on relatives’ lawns. And they lived in parking lots out of the family van.
“But at least they had laughter”, he thought.
At 15 years old he got a job at a factory as a janitor to help support the family.
All the while he had dreams of making people laugh.
But audition after audition, he was told he was “too over the top” and “too weird’.
So in 1985 he wrote himself a fake check for $10,000,000 dollars and post-dated it for the year 1995. He had exactly 10 years to make his dream a reality.
Then in 1994, right before the check’s deadline he landed 3 massive roles in a single year.
The Mask, Ace Ventura, and Dumb and Dumber.
Reportedly he was paid $10M for Dumb and Dumber alone.
He widely credits his dad, Percy, as his biggest inspiration and supporter who always drove him to every show, even while taking on difficult jobs to support the family.
Sadly, his dad died in 1994 just as Jim’s Carey’s career was finally taking off.
He also credits his dad with this important lesson:
Even the “safe” path isn’t guaranteed.
But you know what?
Neither is the difficult one.
This story runs deep in my family too. My Dad’s uncle tried year after year to strike it rich with all his wily patents and inventions. Only to be forced to rely on his family for support in his old age.
Luckily, all his brothers and cousins got together to buy him a double-wide he could retire in while relying on some meager retirement funds.
Perhaps his execution was off.
Or maybe he just didn’t have people around him that believed in him enough to make his dreams a reality. Like Jim Carey did with his dad.
I’ve been told my great uncle’s story more than once before. And some might see it as an ominous warning or cautionary tale. An excuse to give up or a reason to quit if things aren’t going well.
But I look to it for inspiration.
The story of entrepreneurship is baked into my bones. The failures and back steps are reasons to challenge myself to move forward in a better way. To stop trying to reinvent the wheel and do everything on my own.
And to build a positive support network that will help me reach my goals.
Sounds like Percy didn’t have anyone around him but his family. But he gave his son Jim the support he needed anyway.
Sounds like my great uncle might not have had anyone that believed in him. But I’m grateful that my parents have always supported all the wily ideas I’ve had along the way.
So who’s in your corner?
Who’s around you making sure that check you wrote to yourself last year is going to become a reality some day?
If you want my help, you can find it here:
Your pal,
Kevin Hood