Margarita F. Ramos

This is really a two-hour presentation I give to high school students, cut down to three minutes. And it all started one day on a plane, on my way to TED, seven years ago. And in the seat next to me was a high school student, a teenager, and she came from a really poor family. And she wanted to make something of her life, and she asked me a simple little question. She said, "What leads to success?" And I felt really badly, because I couldn't give her a good answer. So I get off the plane, and I come to TED. And I think, jeez, I'm in the middle of a room of successful people! So why don't I ask them what helped them succeed, and pass it on to kids? So here we are, seven years, 500 interviews later, and I'm going to tell you what really leads to success and makes TEDsters tick. And the first thing is passion. Freeman Thomas says, "I'm driven by my passion." TEDsters do it for love; they don't do it for money. Carol Coletta says, "I would pay someone to do what I do." And the interesting thing is: if you do it for love, the money comes anyway. Work! Rupert Murdoch said to me, "It's all hard work. Nothing comes easily. But I have a lot of fun. Did he say fun? Rupert? Yes! TEDsters do have fun working. And they work hard. I figured, they're not workaholics. They're work frolics. Transcription