This is an I-Heart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is our American stories, and we tell stories about everything here on this show from the arts to sports

and from business to history and everything in between, including your stories, send them

to our American Stories.com. They're some of our favorites. And this edition is with Bill

Coke, whose company Oxbow Carbon has over 1,200 employees and $4 billion in annual revenue.

Bill has also led America to a victory in the world's premier sailing competition,

the America's Cup, and did it on his first try.

But today he brings us some formational leadership stories from his younger days

at his high school, Culver Academy.

At Culver, you know, my first year, you know, I got beat up a lot and rassed a lot.

And when I was at Culver, some of the advisors told me that I couldn't get into MIT.

And then when I got into MIT, I said, well, you know,

you're at the bottom of the class. You know, I don't think you'll make it. And then I found out that if I wanted to do well, mainly to impress my father as well as mentally to develop my own skills and my own accomplishments.

So I just would work very, very hard.

You know, if I had to go to the bathroom, I take a book with me.

So I worked really hard.

And then I graduated with top honors and then got my doctor's degree from it.

And I've always seemed to be told that I can't do something, you know, being harassed and told I was dumb and an idiot and some other things. So that has become a big challenge for me.

I mean, it can have two effects.

Either you stay a nerd the rest of your life

or an idiot the rest of your life

or you take advantage of it.

...