Known for his role as a celebrity investor in the TV show Shark Tank, as well as his success as a venture capitalist, Kevin O’Leary had had to overcome more than the challenges of the market to get to where he is. While growing up, he faced additional challenges with dyslexia in school.
O’Leary’s dyslexia began to affect his school work while attending St. George’s School. He struggled with both reading and elementary mathematics, like multiplication and addition. Unaware of his dyslexia, his teachers never helped him keep up with the course material, so O’Leary had to use additional resources in order to not fall behind. He began to use additional learning tactics to help him learn the material, like using quilt blocks to help him understand math. His stepfather also helped him through the early years of school, working with him on the difficult subjects of math and reading.
Today, Kevin O’Leary attributes much of his hard work ethic and competitive drive to his experiences in school and having to overcome the challenges that letters and numbers were to him. Having to acquire skills which allowed him to come up with additional ways to learn material has transferred to his work, giving him the ability to approach problems with creative solutions.
Learn more about O’Leary’s success story as well as businessmen’s struggles with dyslexia here.