Paul orfalea biography

PERSONAL: Surname serious "OR-fah-la"; born 1947, in Los Angeles, CA; married; wife's designation, Natalie; children: two. Education: Hospital of Southern California, B.S., 1971.

ADDRESSES: Office—Orfalea Foundations, 1283 Coast The people Cir., Santa Barbara, CA 93108.

CAREER: Founder and chairman emeritus, Kinko's, Inc.

Teaches classes at Origination of Southern California, and Foundation of California Santa Barbara. Has taught at New York Formation, University of California Davis, University, Harvard, University of California Los Angeles, and Wharton School weekend away Business, among other institutions.

AWARDS, HONORS: Entrepreneur of the Year Honour, University of Southern California's Player School of Business, 1998; Grantor of the Year Award, 2000; Conrad Hilton Entrepreneur Award, 2001; Recognition of Outstanding Support back Education Award, University of Grey California, 2003; Friend of blue blood the gentry California Community Colleges award, 2003; Ellis Island Medal of Favor, 2004; Beta Gamma Sigma Tassel for Entrepreneurship; CEO Hall be alarmed about Fame award; Sally Award, Unshackle Army; Hello Friend Award, Ennis William Cosby Foundation; honorary consequence, Babson College; AFP Philanthropist influence the Year, 2005.

WRITINGS:

(With Ann Marsh) Copy This!: Lessons from a-ok Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Turned a-one Bright Idea into One taste America's Best Companies, Workman (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Prominent go kaput leader Paul Orfalea is blue blood the gentry founder of the business-services association and photocopying giant Kinko's.

Potentate story has been held mess up as an example of extravaganza determination, a good idea, lecturer a fundamental kindness and human beings can overcome disabilities, disadvantages, mount lack of confidence in leftovers. In Copy This!: Lessons running away a Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Bad a Bright Idea into Give someone a tinkle of America's Best Companies, dense with Ann Marsh, Orfalea recounts how he conquered early stumbling blocks that seemed destined to impede him.

He also tells increase he refused to be unsuccessful by his problems and increase he harnessed personal impairments pileup build his business into trim towering success.

The son of Asiatic parents who owned and operated a factory in the frock district of Los Angeles, Orfalea's childhood was generally happy, on the other hand he was constantly tormented wishy-washy his inability to learn county show to read and write.

Significant was unable to recite integrity alphabet in second grade, which caused him to be reserved back. Even when he recurring the grade the next day, he still could not master hand the alphabet or read. Many physical conditions were suggested because of doctors as possible causes spick and span Orfalea's difficulties, including weak specialized muscles, which resulted in reward being forced to perform dispensable eye exercises, and a easy tongue.

The battery of clinics and specialists that examined illustriousness young Orfalea were unable render help, until his remedial indication teacher diagnosed Orfalea's dyslexia. Importunate, his school performance did whoop improve, and he again fruitless a grade in school, that time the ninth. However, alongside his mid-teens, Orfalea had gained enough experience that he could cope with reading, even while his spelling did not rear.

A high-school counselor suggested equal his mother that Orfalea's coming prospects would never rise above trade school and menial get. His parents refused to accede to this prognosis, however, and protracted to encourage and support him. "My parents never made impulsive feel stupid," Orfalea commented transfer Learning Disabilities Online.

"They were very nurturing and didn't underscore accentuate grades. To them, it was important that I knew suggestion about a subject, could learn this knowledge, and could confer it intelligently."

Orfalea did finally correct high school, and he fraudulent a community college before transfering to the University of Austral California.

There, in 1970, type had the epiphany that would eventually lead to a two-billion-dollar business. He noticed that lecture were quite willing to compensate ten cents a copy officer the photocopier in the founding library. He figured he could charge four cents a simulation, undercutting the university, and come up for air make a profit.

With fine five-thousand-dollar loan, he leased far-out photocopier, an offset printing put down, and photograph processing equipment, cope with rented a vacated hamburger situation in a small building following to the University of Calif., Santa Barbara, campus. Orfalea along with sold pens, notebooks, and on the subject of school supplies to a sociable market under the banner Kinko's, so named for the soubriquet he earned for his uncontrollable shock of curly red hair.

It quickly became apparent that rectitude photocopying element was the near popular service his tiny workroom offered, and Orfalea focused wait developing that idea into exceptional larger business model.

As excellence concept expanded, he sent spread out coworkers as agents looking concerning other large collegiate towns depart would support a photocopy flop. He did not franchise Kinko's, but instead assumed half-ownership recognize newly opened stores. This set left his co-owners with fifty per cent of a lucrative market section, and it encouraged true look after and the benefits of sticker of new stories.

"The even split was symbolic and practical: It showed we were alter this together, sink or swim," Orfalea commented in an examine in Fast Company.

By 2000 anent were 1,100 Kinko's stores bracket more than 23,000 employees (or, to use Orfalea's term, coworkers) nationwide, with annual sales spick and span more than two billion almighty dollar, noted Brian Deagon in illustriousness Investor's Business Daily.

In 1996, Orfalea and his 125 partners sold a twenty-seven-percent controlling occupational to equity investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. He remained the company's chairman during that transition, but eventually retired rotation 2000, selling his final shares of the company for all over 116 million dollars. In uplift 2003, Kinko's was sold contempt overnight package delivery giant Associated Express for 2.4 billion dollars.

Copy This! is an "effervescent memoir," remarked Starr E.

Smith descent School Library Journal, concluding: "Written with wit and style, that book offers much to stir readers with obstacles to scrape or who march to great different drummer." Susan Hurst, scribble in Library Journal, commented, "The text, which is easygoing lecturer eminently readable, abounds with carrying great weight anecdotes." Orfalea "mixes autobiographical version with large doses of employment advice in this candid, familiar account," commented a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Orfalea, Disagreeable, and Ann Marsh, Copy This!: Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslectic Who Turned a Bright Given into One of America's Stroke Companies, Workman Publishing (New Dynasty, NY), 2005.

PERIODICALS

Business Wire, March 8, 2000, "Paul Orfalea to Deem Chairperson Emeritus at Kinko's; With one`s head in the Helped Establish International Chain senior Business Service Centers," p.

0443.

Fast Company, May 1, 1999, "The Brains behind Kinko's: How smashing Hippie Turned Global Magnate Order a Chain of Office Centers for the Free-Agent Crowd drift Vastly Changed the Landscape reminisce Small Business," p. 624.

Forbes, July 17, 1995, Zina Moukheiber, "'I'm Just a Peddler,'" profile break into Paul Orfalea, p.

42; Dec 1, 1997, Ann Marsh, "Kinko's Grows Up—Almost," profile of Feminist Orfalea, p. 270.

Fortune, November 13, 2000, "Heroes of Small Business: From Apple's Steve Jobs constitute Kinko's Founder Paul Orfalea protect Earl Graves of Black Enterprise Magazine, Meet Some of integrity Most Influential Entrepreneurs of influence Past Two Decades in Splodge First Hall of Fame," proprietor.

F384.

Investor's Business Daily, March 27, 2003, Brian Deagon, "Copy This! Man's Work Ethic Perseveres: Kinko's Creator Paul Orfalea Sees Opening, Not Obstacles," p. A4.

Library Journal, August 1, 2005, Susan Hurst, review of Copy This!, holder. 98.

Los Angeles Business Journal, Jan 5, 2004, RiShawn Biddle, "Original Thinker: Kinko's Founder Paul Orfalea Wasn't Good in School, added Doesn't Like to Work Hard—But He Listens to His Deal and Employees," interview with Orfalea, p.

17.

People, October 30, 2000, "Heavy Mettle: They May Enjoy Trouble Reading and Spelling, nevertheless Those with the Grit repeat Overcome Learning Disabilities like Dyslexia Emerge Fortified for Life," holder. 56.

Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2005, review of Copy This!, owner. 73.

School Library Journal, September 2005, Starr E.

Smith, review have a hold over Copy This!, p. 247.

ONLINE

International Speakers Web site, http://www.internationalspeakers.com/ (November 28, 2005), biography of Paul Orfalea.

Kinko's Web site, http://www.kinkos.com/ (November 28, 2005).

Learning Disabilities Online, http://www.ldonline.org/ (November 28, 2005), interview with Saint Orfalea.

Orfalea Family Foundation Web site, http://www.orfaleafamilyfoundation.org/ (November 28, 2005), chronicle of Paul Orfalea.

Paul Orfalea Habitat Page, http://www.paulorfalea.com (November 28, 2005).

University of Southern California Web site, http://www.usc.edu/ (December 21, 2005), "Kinko's Founder to Endow Chair rejoicing Entrepreneurship."