If you aren’t familiar with the names J.K. Rowling or Harry Potter, you have likely been living under a rock for the better part of the last decade. This talented author of young adult literature, and her most famous character, has seen success in areas that many never even thought possible. From wizards and spells, to danger and mystery, her Harry Potter fantasy series has spent more than its fair share of time atop the bestselling lists of the United States and the United Kingdom. Rowling’s personal story, though, also reads much like a novel with an unbelievable plot and a very happy ending.

J.K., born Joanne “Jo” Rowling, really is an entrepreneurial success story. In just about five years time, this amazing woman went from being a struggling single mother who was living on social security to a celebrity with a fortune estimated to be around a billion dollars. Since writing her first novel, she has received such honors as being nominated for Time magazines Person of the Year, having her name published on Forbes billionaires list, and being named the “Most Influential Woman in Britain” of 2010.

What I find most inspiring about her story, though, is the way that she never gave up on her dream to write and publish a story. Her entrepreneurial spirit is so evident in the way that she worked through every obstacle to see through the vision of what was inside of her. Despite a divorce, the loss of her mother to multiple sclerosis, the challenge of being a single mother, and a variety of financial hardships, Rowling never stopped writing and working towards success. In fact, when asked about her past, she happily gives credit to failures for making her who she is today.

“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” – J. K. Rowling, “The fringe benefits of failure”, 2008.

History has shown us that failure happens, and it happens to the best of us. While no one likes to look at their life and see lack, disappointment, or regret, those are the moments that can truly make huge differences in the future. So, the next time you are faced with a setback, a discouraging report, or a loss in your life or business, consider not the failure, but the freedom to turn that situation into a success story. Consider J.K. Rowling.

[Images via Featureflash/Shutterstock,Brendan Howard/Shutterstock]