A 34-year old playwright who went from being homeless, jobless and penniless is now a wealthy man. His name is Tyler Perry, a single man who grew up in New Orleans, one of four children who grew up poor, depressed and abused. He reveals that his first 28 years of life was horrendous. Tyler found his catharsis in writing, which began his career as a playwright.

Tyler would write about things that happened to him, in his first play “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” he used different character names to keep anyone from noticing it was his life the play was about. It was a play based on a character who confronts an abuser, forgives him and moves on. In 1992, he rented out a theater with money he saved. He wrote, directed, promoted and performed in his own production.

The weekend of his first play was a failure due to the fact that only 30 people showed up. Perry was broke and homeless, he stated that he was angry and bitter, he was angry with God. After that he held a string of odd jobs to pay his rent and finance his shows. A lot of people, including his mother begged him to quit the theater and find a steady job, but Perry refused to give up.

By 1998, he financed the production again. He opened his play “I Know I’ve Been Changed” in Atlanta at the House of Blues, it sold out eight times over. Two weeks later it sold out again at the famous Fox Theater. He said that after the show he had offers from promoters and others that had turned him down previously. That set the tone for Tyler Perry’s quest to bring more entertainment in the urban theater circuit a success. Now he has grown from being poor and homeless to $50 million strong.

It only goes to show you that if you don’t give up on your dream-it can be rewarding!