Regular People Who Quit Their Jobs and Made Millions: Shep and Ian Murray, Vineyard Vines

Michelle Fox from CNBC went and researched those people like you and me who had regular jobs but one day decided to go on their own journey and became tremendously successful.

Like she said in her post, success is by no means guaranteed, but for the lucky ones the decision to say “I quit” has been handsomely rewarded. With hard work and determination, they’ve been able to turn their ideas into booming businesses.

The following people quit their jobs and went on to make millions, whether it was creating personal wealth or revenue for their company.

Photo: Vineyard Vines

Brothers Shep and Ian Murray were miserable sitting behind desks at their corporate jobs in Manhattan. So in 1998, Shep Murray, an advertising account executive, and Ian Murray, who worked at a small public relations firm, quit their jobs within 10 minutes of each other. They took cash advances on their credit cards and, despite being told how “dumb” their idea was, started Vineyard Vines — a tie company based on Martha’s Vineyard. Or, as the brothers like to say, they decided to trade in their business suits for bathing suits by selling ties so they wouldn’t have to wear them.

At first they sold their ties one at a time out of their backpacks, on the beach, on boats and in bars. They sold out of 800 ties within the first week. They quickly re-ordered, paid off their debt and moved into their first office. More than a decade later, the business is now an entire clothing line.

There are now 18 freestanding Vineyard Vine retail stores around the country, and the line can be found in about 500 stores. The company is projecting about $100 million in sales for 2011.

Stay tuned for the next success story of those regular people who quit their jobs to make millions. For the meantime feel free to share and like the post.