"A year ago, I was laid off," Jamie Russo explains. "In that dark moment, I started writing. Along the way, I met a publisher willing to take a risk on a first-time author. The greatest stories don't always make the biggest headlines. The Underdog Paradox chronicles the journeys of five entrepreneurs who defied the odds en route to building a brighter future. This book isn't about me-it's about the unlikely heroes I've met that inspire others to dream big."

Marcus Bullock was sixteen years old when he was sentenced to eight years in an adult maximum-security prison. Today, he's the founder and CEO of Flikshop, the mobile application keeping families connected to incarcerated loved ones.

"The one thing that separates me from everyone else is that I didn't give up." Marcus Bullock

After the Bor Massacre killed 2,000 civilians in South Sudan, a mother and her daughters fled on foot as gunshots rang overhead. Over two hundred miles, the women traveled in search of refuge. The youngest girls did not survive the arduous journey. Upon her arrival at the border of Northern Uganda, the mother bore a son. She named him Lual.

Lual spent the first twenty-two years of his life growing up in a refugee camp. Passionate about computers and technology, he walked for three hours every day to study programming. Lual developed his first video game while living in Northern Uganda. Today, he's the CEO of Junub Games, a studio that builds video games for peace and social impact.

"If you have an opportunity to impact the world, you've gotta do it." Lual Mayen

Shavini Fernando suffered a heart attack while hiking through the mountains of Sri Lanka. After being rushed to the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with a congenital heart defect; she had less than two years to live. But Shavini is a fighter, and she has since dedicated her life to finding a solution.

"Once you go through something as I have, you learn to appreciate the small things." Shavini Fernando