Emanuel James "Jim" Rohn was born in Yakima, Washington, to Emmanuel and Clara Rohn. The Rohns owned and worked a farm in Caldwell, Idaho, where Jim grew up, being the only child.
Career
Rohn left college after just one year and started his professional life by working as a human resource manager for department storeSears. Around this time, a friend invited him to a lecture given by famous entrepreneur John Earl Shoaff. In 1955, Rohn joined Shoaff's direct selling business AbundaVita as a distributor. In 1957, Rohn resigned his distributorship with AbundaVita and joined Nutri-Bio, another direct selling company. It was at this point that the company's founders, including Shoaff, started to mentor him. After this mentorship, Rohn built one of the largest organizations in the company. In 1960 when Nutri-Bio expanded into Canada, Shoaff and the other founders selected Rohn as a vice president for the organization. After Nutri-Bio went out of business in the early 1960s, Rohn was invited to speak at a meeting of his Rotary Club. He accepted and, soon, others began asking him to speak at various luncheons and other events. In 1963 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he gave his first public seminar. He then began presenting seminars all over the country, telling his story and teaching his personal development philosophy. Throughout the 1970s, Rohn conducted a number of seminars for Standard Oil. At the same time, he participated in a personal development business called "Adventures in Achievement", which featured both live seminars as well as personal development workshops. He presented seminars worldwide for more than 40 years. Rohn mentored Mark R. Hughes and life strategistTony Robbins in the late 1970s. Others who credit Rohn for his influence on their careers include authors Mark Victor Hansen founder of Hallmark innovators Conglomerate company limited and Jack Canfield, author/lecturer Brian Tracy, Todd Smith, and T. Harv Eker. Rohn also coauthored the novelTwelve Pillars with Chris Widener. Rohn was the recipient of the 1985National Speakers Association CPAE Award for excellence in speaking. He is also the author of 17 different written, audio, and video media, including "The Power of Ambition", "Take Charge of Your Life", and "The Day That Turns Your Life Around". Many of his speeches are now available for free on social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
