When Gwen Austin set about to start her own toy company, RC Art Toys, she was laughed at, ridiculed, mocked and told she'd probably fail like 95% of the other start up companies. Tenacity, grit, determination and a sure sense of purpose empowered her to move forward. Today she's the founder and CEO (you get that title when you succeed). She's made a business of toys and speaks openly about the challenges she faced along the way.



At the beginning of my journey, I spoke to an "industry expect" with over 25 years working in the business. He told me that 95% of companies fail. I can still remember him saying, "Gwen, only 5% of companies succeed. There's no way you can pull this off." My response to him was, "Well, I guess I'll be one of the 5%."

I forged ahead and shared my vision with friends and family along the way. At one point I told friends that I wanted to be in Entrepreneur magazine and they literally laughed at me. I was part of a story in August of 2007.

I also told everyone that someday I would get on Oprah ... you can probably imagine reactions from my unsupportive
friends. Unfortunately, even members of my immediate family told me not to audition and that it was a waste of money. In May of 2007, I was featured as one of the Next Big Ideas on her show.   
 
You find out quickly as an entrepreneur who your friends are. So many of the people you believed were your friends, quickly turn away. I believe that these people try to mentally take you down because of their own insecurities.  There are people who don't want to see others succeed or don't realize that people like Bill Gates and Julie Clark are just regular people who never gave up working towards a dream.  
 
I was fortunate. My foundation was strong. Growing up my mother made me believe in dreams. She made me believe in possibilities. She made me believe that I deserved to live out my dreams.

When all of these other forces came to try to knock me down, I saw past them to the realization of my dream. Today I'm living proof that you can change your own reality.
 
Gwen's company, RC Toys (www.rcarttoys.com) is successful because of her vision and her ability to see past the negativity to a future full of possibilities. That's success.