Mike McGuirl learned how to be tough when he was 14 years old, waking up early on Saturday mornings and trudging through a foot of snow in Ellington, Conn. to deliver newspapers.
He had to, McGuirl explains years later, because his parents made him come up with the money for his phone bill.
"It taught me that nothing was going to come easy in life," McGuirl said. "I had to work hard for everything. I was an underdog as a kid. I'm not supposed to be here. That kind of attitude made me into the person I am today.