As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, many famous founders and industrial titans are taking a turn in the spotlight for their roles in the development of American business and culture. To celebrate a less obvious cast of characters whose ideas have reshaped industries, organizations and communities, History Factory asked our people a simple question: Who is your personal business hero? That is, who are the people that inspire you whose contributions transformed American business, culture and society?

The responses featured in our “Heroes of Innovation & Enterprise” social campaign were as wide-ranging as you might expect from a group of history-loving storytellers, client advocates and archivists. The commonalities between our heroes—though they span industries and eras—have a lot to tell us about what’s fueled American ingenuity for 250 years.

Insatiable Curiosity

History often reduces extraordinary lives to single accomplishments. All of our heroes’ stories are much richer than what you may, or may not, know them for. They remained (and remain) curious, pushing creative boundaries and reimagining possibilities.

Ray Eames wasn’t just a furniture designer. She also explored art, exhibition design, filmmaking and product development, collaborating with the best minds in these fields. George Washington Carver wasn’t just the peanut man. He was also an educator and advocate for sustainable systems. Mary Pickford was more than a silent film star. She was a champion for creative freedom, cofounding United Artists, and film as an art form, cofounding the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Eadweard Muybridge may be famous now for his photos of horses running, but he also revealed landscapes like Yosemite Valley and the American West to the public and worked on convention-breaking human studies. 

Each hero saw possibility, especially in America.

A Land of Opportunity and Perspectives

American enterprise has always thrived by welcoming ideas, perspectives and ambition from around the world. Three of our eight heroes were immigrants, as were many of America’s greatest innovators, the founders of some of America’s most significant companies and many leaders of today’s Fortune 500 companies.

Muybridge, who laid the groundwork for motion pictures with his zoopraxiscope, was British. Canadian-born Mary Pickford helped transform Hollywood. Scottish accountant James Marwick cofounded KPMG, one of the world’s most recognizable professional services firms.

Success Is Ultimately About People

Improving the lives of others was (and is) the ultimate measure of success for many of our heroes. Marwick quietly invested in housing and care for retirees and left a lasting legacy of community philanthropy in California. Carver wanted to raise the quality of life of farmers in the American South. With a focus on excellence, Nick and Terry Saban have revolutionized college football and built a leadership pipeline that prioritizes civic responsibility. 

Across multiple platforms, Gertrude Berg pitched what she thought was good for her audiences. In the process, she built profound trust with them, long predating today’s creator economy. Steve Jobs pulled together the best teams possible to merge engineering with design and human experience and redefined how people interact with products.

As Christy Bobo, director of client development and partnerships noted: “Everyone has chosen someone who has made something better. They are leaving it better than they found it.”

The eight heroes our people chose may or may not make any official lists for America250, but they have much to teach us today. By expanding our view of who shaped American innovation and enterprise, we gain a deeper understanding of what drives it forward—curiosity, new perspectives and making life better for others. Those are stories worth remembering.

If you missed our series, you can find out more about each of our heroes at the links below. 

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