As a social worker, Scott Steenbergh never seemed to be able to clock out. “The hours were always tough,” the Michigan-based investor and father of two told Business Insider. “It seemed like, no matter what, I was always required to work in the evenings, work on weekends. People were obviously in crisis, and I want
Smokey John’s has been serving barbecue in Dallas, Texas, since 1976. It was already losing money when a devastating fire destroyed the entire restaurant in 2017. So, brothers Brent and Juan Reaves had to rebuild it from scratch. Their bet paid off. Today, Smokey John’s makes nearly $4 million in annual revenue and goes through
Kirk McKinney was riding his bike near his home in Massachusetts about six years ago when he came across a gold mine: a dumpster full of trash, sure, but also speakers and electronics. “Someone had thrown away this perfectly good pair of speakers,” he told Business Insider. “I asked the guy at the landfill if
This essay as told is based on a conversation with Koyo Murata, 25, founder and operator of Villa ASO guest house in Taiki, Mie Prefecture, Japan. His words have been edited for length and clarity. I grew up in a quintessential rural town in Japan with about 8,000 people. My elementary and middle schools only
