Through the Fires: An American Story of Turbulence, Business Triumph and Giving Back

by Robert Owen Carr, Dirk Johnson (Editor)

Overview

This is a triumphant story of comeback in life and business. Robert Owen Carr experienced decades of struggle that took him to the brink of home foreclosure at age fifty. He would later make a fortune in the card payments industry, only to lose almost everything in 2009, after one of the most devastating data breaches ever. Daring to go public about the cyber attack, Carr saved his company from ruin and fought his way back to prosperity. Along the way he kept a promise to devote his financial success to young people from modest backgrounds, founding the Give Something Back Foundation as an expression of gratitude for the $250 scholarship he received as a high school senior. Unflinchingly revealing, Through the Fires describes one man's rise from an abusive, hardscrabble Illinois youth to success as an entrepreneurial idealist who overcame setbacks to ultimately thrive and do his bit to make the world a little better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780996995801
Publisher:	GSBF Media
Publication date:	03/09/2016
Edition description:	First edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Robert Owen Carr is the founder of Heartland Payment Systems. He earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in three years at the University of Illinois, and earned a master's degree in computer science from that school in the following year. He created the Give Something Back Foundation that gives college scholarships to students from modest backgrounds. His website is: www.RobertOCarr.com. Dirk Johnson is a former bureau chief for the New York Times and Newsweek magazine. He is the author of two other nonfiction books, Biting the Dust: The Wild Ride and Dark Romance of the Rodeo Cowboy and the American West and Meth: America's Home-Cooked Menace .

Table of Contents

Preface vi

1 Surviving a Punch 1

2 The Clock Is Ticking 20

3 Picking Your Pocket 38

4 You're coming With Me 46

5 I Couldn't Believe What I Saw 62

6 A Capitalist's Critique of Capitalism 69

7 Making More than the Boss 80

8 Leadership from the Ranks 91

9 A Damn Good Place to Work 95

10 When Confidence Takes a Hit 103

11 The Color of Money 110

12 The Kids Are All Right 117

13 Giving a Kid A Break 122

14 Daring to Think Differently 130

15 Noah and His Dad 134

16 Finding the Way Home 146

17 Survivors and Scholars 160

18 The Stuff That Matters 173

Epilogue 179

Index 191

Editorial Reviews

"A book that defines what it means to overcome adversity in business and life."—Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven

"Through the Fires is the story of a never-give-up entrepreneur who triumphs after age fifty . . . and the life-changing reason he is giving away his fortune."—Tony Robbins, life performance coach, motivational speaker, and self-help author of Unlimited Power, Awaken the Giant Within, and Money: Master the Game

"One of the most fascinating books I've read in a long time." —Rick Kogan, Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and host of After Hours with Rick Kogan on WGN Radio

From the Publisher