Five MORE Amazing Teen Success Stories

The first instalment was so popular, we HAD to come back with Five MORE Amazing Teen Success Stories!

1- Marcos Ugarte
One September evening, 14 year old Marcos Ugarte was doing homework at the kitchen table when he and his father saw an orangelight down their street. They ran to their neighbor's place to find the house was engulfed in flames and 4 of the 5 family members safe outside. The father who lived in the burning home, said his 8-year-old son Cody was trapped in a room upstairs. Marcos' father Eduardo, first went inside to try and rescue Cody. The heat and smoke was so bad that Eduardo had to run back out of the house, but Marcos had a plan. He grabbed a ladder and set it under the upstairs window. Marcos climbed the ladder, pulled the window screen out and helped Cody out of the window and down to the ground. Cody was taken to hospital, but wasn't hurt. Afterwards, Marcos stayed humble: "I can't say I really consider myself a hero," he told The Oregonian. "I think anyone would have done what I did."


2- Christina Aguilera

X-Tina was only 19 when she won her first Grammy, and sold a bajillion records (Remember Genie in a Bottle?) that same year.

So while we are stressing about college applications or the freshman 15, she was dominating the world!










3- Justin Bieber
Look, you don't have to like his music.  You don't have to like his attitude.  You don't have to like his style or his antics.  But the fact remains that Justin Bieber (even though he's Canadian) is a real life American Dream success story.  From busking on the streets as a kid, to now making more than 70 million dollars a year as a 19 year old, Bieber is proof that you aren't too young to live your dream.

But, as far as his style goes, I think it's actually impeccable.  Especially when he and Drake are hanging out together rocking their Owl Pendants! ;)




4- Madison Robinson

Madison is the creator of Fish Flops which are, as you might guess, flip flops with underwater patterns on them.  By the time she was 15 she had over $1Million in sales from her funky footwear and then began expanding into t-shirts, apps and now even writes children's books!

When I was 15 I drew hearts all over my Converse… do you think anyone would buy them for a million dollars?






5- Keisha Castle-Hughes

Keisha was all of 13 years old when she was nominated for an oscar for her role in Whale Rider.

When I was 13 I was trying to negotiate the tricky world of middle school lunch table politics, while she was worrying about Hollywood politics!














2 Photo courtesy Christina Aguilera
3 Photo courtesy Justin Bieber
4 Photo courtesy Madison Robinson
5 Photo courtesy The Academy of Motion Pictures