What exactly does it mean to be “self-made”? The debate about such a commonly used term is complex and enduring.
In March 2019, Kylie Jenner, only 21 at the time, was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine and was named the “world’s youngest self-made billionaire”.
The response created a storm of criticism, speculation and incredulousness with support and praise sprinkled in.
Kylie Jenner… Self-made? The youngest of the Kardashian clan was born to highly successful parents. Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, was a highly marketed Olympic gold medalist.
And of course, Kris Jenner, was relentless in her pursuit of legacy and wealth.
Kylie grew up in the spotlight surrounded by lavishness, luxury and seemingly unbreakable financial security. Many, understandably, feel that naming her self-made is a reach. By a long shot.
In contrast, famous figures with rags-to-riches stories are often deemed more worthy of this title.
For example, Chris Gardner, the man behind The Pursuit of Happyness is widely recognized as self-made.
This is due to his perilous journey from living on the streets to becoming a millionaire CEO of Gardner Rich & Co, his own company.
The designation of the self-made title is largely assessed by the amount of resources and the type of environment available to an individual at various points of life, enabling success.
In this article we’ll take a look at the material and psycho-emotional factors that determine our ability to become “successful”, as defined by conventional terms.
Who qualifies as “self-made”
Forbes uses a scale to establish different “Self-Made Scores” as follows:
- 7-10: Completely self-made, starting with little or no financial resources and building their wealth from scratch.
- 5-6: Self-made but with a supportive background (access to quality education, funding, and/or strong connections).
- 3-4: Inherited and actively growing wealth (expanding a family business).
- 1-2: Living off inheritance without much additional work.
Interestingly, those who inherited wealth are still included on the list. This has been a significant point of contention among critics.
Forbes argued Kylie Jenner is a “self-made” billionaire because she leveraged her inherited wealth, status and connections.
The fact that Kylie Jenner was born into abundance is why she is largely rejected as being “self-made”.
Furthermore, the scale is considered too broad and all-encompassing. Many find that it shadows the stories and efforts of those who had to fight tooth and nail for their wealth.
Chris Gardner, as mentioned before, is an extreme example. In a financial and material sense, he truly had next to nothing. He was homeless, carless and broke in the fullest capacity yet generated millions through his persistence and determination.
Starting with nothing can also occur at different intervals of life, not just when someone is first born. Both Gardner and billionaire John Paul DeJoria experienced homelessness later in life.
DeJoria was homeless twice in adulthood.
The Self-Made Myth
On the other end of the spectrum, some don’t believe that a scale exists at all — that the notion of being self-made is ignorant of the complexity of the human experience.
Matt Johnson, Professor of Neuroscience and Marketing at Hult, warns that categorizing people as self-made risks perpetuating the The Fundamental Attribution Error.
In social psychology, this term describes how, as humans, we tend to attribute the actions and behaviour of a person to their core personality rather than as a product of their situation.
A famous example from millennial pop culture is when Brittney Spears shaved her head in 2007. She became a symbol of instability with the media portaying her as crazy, entitled and an attention-seeking music star.
Spears has since revealed it was a way to combat the unethical control her family had over her career. She was desperate for a sense of agency and freedom in a suffocating situation.
Johnson asserts that the myth of being self-made reinforces that those who achieve success and wealth do so because they are fundamentally smarter, more determined and essentially superior to those who have not.
The successful are then framed as more deserving than others, despite the many unpredictable factors that influence outcomes.
In addition, the “self-made” model often leaves out the immense value of non-financial or material support in our development. This includes emotional well-being and psychological safety.
Back to Gardner, he made it very clear that his mother instilled a confidence within him that made the impossible feel possible.
In addition to the Pursuit of Happyness, Gardner published Permission to Dream in honour of his mother and the self-belief she nurtured within him.
Self-made vs self-actualized
It boils down to semantics. From an objective standpoint, no one is entirely self-made.
We are a collection and a reflection of our core personality traits, the actions of those we are raised by and the sociocultural environment.
Whether or not someone is self-made depends on the definition and criteria assigned to the term.
Some, like the Forbes scale, are more expansive while others follow the simplified “inherited vs uninherited wealth” formula.
However, we cannot ignore the level of resilience, originality and creativity that it takes to achieve financial and material success.
While we may not be “self-made” in a literal sense, we have agency and an internal compass. Discrediting that would be insulting to those who have pulled through against all odds and obstacles.
The way that we utilize the resources available to us creates a specific outcome. Choice is critical and those choices reflect the process of self-actualization.
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In Kylie-Jenner’s case, Forbes removed her from its billionaire list after learning numbers were inflated to assert her success.
Forbes stated that the Kardashian-Jenner family went to “unusual lengths” to depict Kylie as wealthier than she is.
Clearly, she was very successful and still is. But not to the extent originally thought back in 2019.
So, what does being self-made mean to you? For more stories like this, click here.
