As a child from a poor family, he would even collect unmarked stamps from used envelopes and sell them for extra money. Today, he is Bahrain's State Minister.

What does it take for someone to make it to the exalted position of a government minister, in charge of the important Works & Housing portfolio, at the age of 36?

The odds were heavily stacked against a black kid born into abject poverty in an America where equal rights were still a dream. Yet Young is now a US Ambassador.

He was born with a love for the arts. He grew up with the desire to be an architect. What he did become was Turkey's Ambassador to Bahrain, a career, he says, that was just a 'widening of his canvas.'

As a child, he had a fascination for cars. But while other children pictured themselves behind the wheel, Almoayyed's head was planted under the hood, so to speak.

How many hotel general managers do you know who might host a luncheon for taxi drivers? This is an annual tradition at the Bahrain Sheraton, ever since Aumann introduced it in 1983 ­ a perfect example of how he practises his philosophy of treating everyone equally and fairly.
 

It took a brazen and audacious act to get Buzizi started in his hotel career. But once he had his foot in the door, he was always on track to reach the top.



 

At the tender age of 14, when most children are starting to grow out of toys, Dadabhai was just discovering them. Not to play with though, but rather as a toy seller.



 

An accident early in life which broke one of his legs made him physically weak, but as Al Dossary explains, it gave him more mental strength to face life's bigger trials.



 

Ataba, ataba... step by step. That's how Hassan describes his progress from a seven-year-old boy pulling a vegetable laden donkey for miles, to his position today as one of Bahrain's leading businessmen.

As a youngster he dreamed of becoming a doctor. He was a bright student and when he applied for a course in medicine, he was accepted. But the day, he got his acceptance letter, he decided to go into business instead.



 

A schoolboy athlete, a pioneer in Abu Dhabi when there was nothing there but sand, and now a top businessman, Kanoo is one of the most refreshing personalities you could meet.

Kowary often pictured himself in the CEO's chair at HSBC. Nothing wrong with that, except he was employed there as a typist and was just 14 at the time.But whoever said dreams don't come true?

From a small-town boy to an international banker of stature, Mamdani's story is one of calculated risks and an unending desire to go further.






 

Seven friends, 7,000 dollars and one man's dream and planningÉ that's how Fortune Promoseven was born in 1968.Today, FP7 is the Arab world's largest advertising agency.

He was one of ten children, born into a poor family who could not afford to give him anything more than a basic education. Yet Morshed rose to become general manager of the National Hotels Company.

If you love what you do for a living, you will never work a day in your life. If that adage is true, top advertising man Khamis Al Muqla has had the pleasure of never having to work at all.

He started off with so many hard knocks in life ­ including a fire that left his family homeless and penniless ­ that he felt like Oliver Twist from the Dickens novel. Look just where he is now.

This Palestininian refugee's formative years were marked by poverty and adversity, but that didn't stop him from becoming the architect of one of Bahrain's big success stories.

He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but when offered a top position by his father in the family's auto business, he declined. "I'll start at the bottom," he told his father, and was true to his word.


 

Watch this space for more stories about people who have made it to the top of their fields in Bahrain.