Lewis Howes, 31, was devastated when he sustained a wrist injury that put him permanently out of the game he felt destined to spend his career playing â professional American football. It would take him more than a year to recover physically, but it took even longer to bounce back mentally.  âI realised I needed to get off my sisterâs couch and make money,ââ Howes said, but he wasnât sure how to do that. For Howes, the end of football meant a major identity shift; he had envisioned himself as a pro player since he was a child.  âIt took me two years to get out of the funk, that the dream was over,â Howes said. âItâs a big blow for people who donât have a backup plan and go all in with that one dream.â  But that time wasnât entirely wasted on a couch. Howes, like many of us, began to spend more and more time on social media websites like Twitter and LinkedIn. First, he focused on building his network in the sports industry, reaching out to people such ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen, then to popular authors including Tim Ferriss of the 4-Hour Work Week. Howes said he was interested in learning how successful people made it to the top.  Gradually, he found himself using the platforms to help connect other people. For example, heâd match athletes looking for sponsorship with his friend Ben Sturner who ran a sponsorship agency called LeverageAgency.com, or friends who needed marketing support with top-quality marketing agencies.  In 2009, he decided to develop a series of online courses covering topics such as how to leverage social media platforms to drive website traffic and how to grow a community.  He went from earning $40,000 per season playing arena football to bringing in over $1m per year in product sales through his company Inspired Marketing (he later sold it to his business partner) and consulting. Big names such as HootSuite and Citrix were clients.  Today, Howes, who lives in Los Angeles, also runs a free podcast called the School of Greatness where he interviews big names in various industries on topics like âhow to achieve your wildest dreams.â  "If people make a living around what they are passionate about, that is what is going to heal the world,â Howes said.
A shark bite, career-ending injury, a troubling childhood and more: how adversity led to big business ideas for these five people.