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 story. Send them to Our American Stories.com. They're some of our favorites.

And it's time for our on leadership series where we hear from coaches, leaders in the military,

leaders in business, and leaders in communities across this great country. And this edition

is with Bill Coke, whose company Oxbow Carbon has over 1200 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 starting at his high school, Colver Academy.

At Culver, my first year, 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 been, seemed to be told that I can't do something, you know,

being harassed and told I was dumb, an idiot, 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. In fact, you know, I probably have a little OCD. And I looked at it and said,

...