The American Dreams Collection is a one-hour weekly series featuring unbelievable, yet true stories of ordinary Americans and their extraordinary accomplishments.

The television series is based on the latest inspirational book, The American Dreams Collection (2002) by Jim Bickford. Over eight years of research and interviews have gone into the compilation of inspiring stories of triumph over adversity. The achievers profiled are a diverse group of men and women who have beaten the odds and changed their lives. Once unsung heroes many are now multimillionaires.

Each program features three profiles from the book. We go behind the scenes, into the day in the life of each success story. Where did they came from? How did they get there? What kept them going? And most importantly, how the viewing audience can use the priceless wisdom in each story to reach for their dreams.

The First 8 Shows:

Show #1, Bouncing Back From Black Monday

He was born in China, grew up in Taiwan and went to college in Germany. He always felt he was different. Once he moved to America he finally felt accepted. He and his partner built up a computer board company from scratch which they sold for millions. Later they lost everything in the stock market crash of 1987. Again, they built up a new company, sold it 10 years later for $1.5 billion and gave their employees $100 million to split between them. Today, John Tu is CEO of Kingston Technology, a billion dollar-plus worldwide provider of computer memory products.

Helping Others Help Themselves

She stands at just under five feet. In 1971, she started a program with a $1,000 loan from a loan shark to set up a half way house. She started small with only four addicts as residents. Over the years she took the ex-cons, prostitutes and drug addicts on whom everyone else had given up, and gave them a place to live. Through on-the-job-training she helped retrain them to be self-sufficient with valuable job skills. Today, Mimi Silbert, is President of The Delancey Street Foundation which has graduated over 11,000 men and women and houses over 1,000 residents in five facilities across the country.

From Iron Lung, To Illiterate, To Self-Made Millionaire

At eleven, he lived in an iron lung for 364 depressing days and later battled tuberculosis. In the 7th grade a teacher asked him to spell “cat.” He couldn’t, embarrassed, he dropped out of school. After a stint in the Air Force the only job he could find was selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. He later became a top seller of recreational vehicles and soon earned his first million. Today, Tom Harken is Chairman of Tom Harken and Associates and owner of several Mexican restaurants which employ over 800 in the Southwest. Tom’s passion is helping others battle illiteracy.

Show #2, High School Dropout To High Tech CEO

He dropped out of the 10th grade, ran with the fast crowd and soon ended up in Height-Asburry for the summer of love. He went from smoking pot to acid to heroin. He was now a full blown addict and almost died of hepatitis, yet he fought back and kicked the drugs. He went back to college and studied hard until 3 or 4 in the morning, sold shoes for a living and eventually graduated cum laude as student body president. Today, Mike Woods is Chairman of Telesource, Inc. which repairs and resells digital telecommunications equipment and computers.

Scaling The Summit Forward, Onward, Upward

She wore second hand clothes as a kid in the backroads of Tennessee. During high school, she waitresses 40 hours a week and still managed to pull top grades. She soon landed a teller job at a bank in Alaska and worked her way up the ranks within the banking industry. Frustrated with her male counterparts at the bank in which she worked she decided she would open her own bank right across the street and became one of only a handful of woman bankers at the time. Today, Shirley Nelson is Chairman of Summit Bank, one of America’s most successful small banks.

From Homeless To Multi-Millionaire

He grew up in the concrete jungles of East Los Angeles and refused to give in to tough times. He was homeless twice in his life and at one time collected Coke bottles to survive. In 1980, he joined forces with America’s most influential hair designer, Paul Mitchell. The two bankrolled a new company to sell hair care products with just $700 dollars. Today, John Paul DeJoria is CEO of John Paul Mitchell Systems, the hair care empire with sales approaching $200 million. He is also the owner of 17 other businesses ranging from The House Of Blues to alternative energy.

Show #3, From Power Walk To Power!Talk

Surviving near death a few times gave him the wonderful opportunity to appreciate and experience this priceless gift we all share called life. It took him nearly a decade to map out his journey and find his purpose in life. It became clear after a grueling six-week, three state, 800 mile walk where he heard it loud and clear, “You need to speak the truth and talk on the radio.” Today, John St. Augustine is the host of the top-rated daily program Power!Talk Radio which focuses on winners from all walks of life who share their inspirational stories of triumph over adversity.

Olympic Champion Blends Mind, Body and Spirit

As a little African-American girl, she was sexually abused at four years old. She had her leg amputated at five. The once self-described ugly, chubby kid with thick glasses and kinky hair who had to ride the special bus for the disabled kids gradually transferred herself into a beautiful and successful Olympic champion skier, Harvard graduate, Rhodes scholar, award-winning sales professional and international finance wiz. Today, Bonnie St. John Deane is an inspirational speaker, top selling author, entrepreneur and most importantly...happy wife and loving mom.

Thanks A Million For Giving It All Away

When he was young, he never owned a bicycle of his own. He was kind of envious of the other kids’ fortunes. Through hard work he made and lost three fortunes in his life in furs, construction equipment and in trash bags. Over the years he made investments in over 100 ventures, 98 were failures, yet two were successful and allowed him to create “Thanks a Million” where he gave away his $20 - $30 million fortune over 16 years. Today, Percy Ross is a youthful 83 year old philanthropist who enjoys life’s greatest treasures with Laurian, his beautiful wife of 60 years.

Show #4, Mastering Adversity

At age 28, life was grand. He worked as a brakeman on San Francisco’s cable cars. That year he was riding his brand new Honda 750 motorcycle and smack, he swerved to miss hitting a laundry truck, dumped the bike, and was burned on over 65 percent of his body. He endured 32 sessions of plastic surgery. Never to give into defeat, he later became a city mayor and built a wood burning stove business which made him a millionaire. Today, W Mitchell is one of the world’s top motivational public speakers giving over 70 talks per year to audiences around the world.

Soaring To Success

At an early age, she began looking up into the sky. At eleven, her goal was to become a flight attendant. In high school, her new dream became being an air traffic controller. Soon she dreamed of being a pilot, then pretty rare for a female African-American. She was later accepted into the Dowling College aeronautics program and then flew 13 years with the Navy where she served her country in the Gulf War. Today, B. Evette Robinson is a pilot for American Airlines and an author. She also shares her message, “Success is an Attitude” with America’s youth.

Success Is Failure Turned Inside Out

He failed at practically everything he ever tried, yet he never gave up. Eventually, he made his fortune from his innovative ad copy, direct marketing campaigns, catalogs and infomercials. He introduced us to the first pocket calculator, digital watch, cordless telephone and toll-free order taking. As an advertising guru, he wrote all his own ad copy and sold over 20 million pair of “BluBlocker Sunglasses.” Today, Joseph Sugarman, Chairman of JS&A Group, BluBlocker Corp., and DelStar Publishing publishes The Maui Island Weekly--a weekly newspaper in Hawaii.

#5, Fairy Tales Can Come True

As a child, it was always tough being the new kid on the block. Over a span of 10 years, he attended 21 different schools. During college he met his wife to be on a blind date while they both worked at Disneyland. She was Alice in Wonderland and he worked as a Jungle Cruise guide. Over the years he became a top lawyer, and very successful and prosperous business and real estate owner. Today, Terry Giles lives in a beautiful castle in Southern California and is President of Giles Enterprises a holding company for the family’s many business interests.

Constructing A Better America

Early on, she excelled in school and participated in competitive sports. When she got out of college she couldn't find a job. She finally landed a job with a commercial development company and went back to school to learn about construction management. She began to dream about creating a project of her own and convinced her parents to mortgage their home to help her start her business. Today, Linda Alvarado is President of Alvarado Construction, a commercial general contracting firm in Colorado, as well as the first Hispanic female owner of a major league baseball franchise.

Turning Weakness Into Strength

Back in school in Taiwan, he was not a good student. He was very shy and decided he needed to change. He read “How To Win Friends And Influence People,” by Dale Carnegie which inspired him to become more outgoing. He later went to work selling computer products. Motivated by the tremendous growth in the industry he decided he would start his own company with the goal of becoming a worldwide leader. Today, James Chu is CEO of ViewSonic, Corp., a billion dollar-plus international company which is the leader in the computer display industry.

#6, The Entrepreneur’s Entrepreneur

Only in America could a young man at the tender age of 19 roll the dice on his college tuition, triple it, lose it, regain it, and later earn three degrees. He then went on to start numerous successful businesses, write 24 books and help teach millions of entrepreneurs how to grow their business. Today, Joe Mancuso is President of the non-profit Center for Entrepreneurial Management (CEM) with over 3,000 members as well as President of Chief Executive Officers Club (CEO Club) with over 400 members which he runs from his 10,000-square-foot penthouse in Manhattan.

Unchain Your Brain And Rock Your Own World

She was raised in poverty, lived in poverty and married into poverty. She lost two wonderful sons and a loving husband over the years, yet somehow she never lost her spirit and unstoppable faith. Her grandmother instilled in her the power of positive principles in life. She developed what she calls “Attitudinal Mind Supercisors,” with one of her favorites, “I’m a hero, not a zero.” Today, Marie Draper is a top motivational speaker, CEO of Draper Ministries and CEO of the Grammy Award winning gospel choir O’Landa Draper’s Associates, founded by her deceased son.

Fulfilling The Dream Of Free Enterprise Education

It was just over 40 years ago that a 27 year old had a dream of creating a new institution of higher learning. To help fund the school, he and his wife mortgaged their home and borrowed from relatives. Currently, Northwood University is one of America’s top schools of free enterprise, has never accepted one penny of government funding, and hosts 12,000 students on three campuses. Today, Dr. Arthur E. Turner continues to help fuel the growth for the three Northwood University campuses and outreach programs and sits on the board of dozens of top organizations.

#7, The Pioneering Spirit Of An American Wildcatter

He grew up in the rural Michigan farm land in a tar paper shack with no running water or electricity. He dreamed of one day being part of the great American free enterprise system and somehow making it big. He always admired the risk takers and high spirited oil men and through a friend became involved in the oil business. Through tenacity and strong faith he soon become one of America’s top wildcatters. Today, Chuck Laser is CEO of Oil and Gas Exploration which is exploring for oil in the untapped state of Wyoming to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Ex-Russian Olympian Captures America's Spirit

She sees herself as lucky because she has been able to experience two different sides of the world. She started ballet when she was five years old in St. Petersburg, Russia. At seven, she started swimming. Up at 5:00 a.m., she trained hard to become the best, perhaps the best in the world someday. In 1999, she received her most priceless honor, she was sworn in as a United States citizen after six long years of study. Today, Anna Kozlova represents the United States Olympic synchronized swimming team and is considered to be one of the top athletes in the world.

The Price Of Freedom Is Never Free

He was just one of the 2.7 million veterans who was fortunate enough to make it back from the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, over 58,000 patriotic Americans never came back, while 300,000 came home wounded. At age 29, he put up $2,800 of his own money to help build a memorial to our soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom. 275,000 Americans pitched in to raise the $8 million needed. Today, Jan Scruggs serves as Founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, is an independent businessman, attorney, and one of America’s top motivational speakers.

#8, The Journey To Freedom

In 1980, he snuck out of Vietnam with 87 other people in a tiny 50-foot fishing boot with one dream, freedom. For five nights and four days they were at sea. They were robbed by sea pirates, ran out of food and water, and were later captured and put into a refugee labor camp for two long years. He eventually made it to the United States where he worked from 5:00 a.m. to midnight daily. Today, Quang Dinh is working in the legal area of a top Silicon Valley company, owns his own grocery store, just bought his first house and has recently married the woman of his dreams.

Our Children Must Have A Dream

In 1981, industrialist Eugene Lang went back to give a graduation talk to a sixth grade class at his alma mater, P.S. 121 in East Harlem, New York. He was shocked to find out less than 25% would graduate from high school. He told the 61 students there, that if they graduated, he would pay for their college education. Currently, 160 projects are in place from this one idea, with 13,000 graduates to date. Today, Sister Georgi Coonis is the Project Coordinator of the East Palo Alto, California “I Have a Dream Foundation,” created by Mr. Lang which serves 75 dreamers.

Still Building Dreams Well Into His Eighties

He lost his dad when he was just nine months old. At 14 he was hit by a car, was laid up in the hospital for a year and was told he would never walk again. He bounced back through hard work, 12 hours a day and built up the successful Holiday Inns chain when he couldn’t find a good motel for his vacationing family. In all, he has built over 100 successful companies with his family. Today, Kemmons Wilson is Chairman of Kemmons Wilson Companies, a group of about 30 family run companies ranging from Hotel Management to Country Clubs.