2. Wendy Davis

Lawyer and Democratic politician Wendy Davis had a long road to get where she is now. The Texas senator was married at 18, divorced at 19, and had a kid by then to boot. But she never gave up; as single mother, she struggled through 2 jobs while attending community college.

“I knew I was poor because of the struggles that I and my young daughter, Amber, were experiencing,” she told TODAY. “I was having a really hard time making ends meet… Sometimes, it didn’t happen.”

Later on, she remarried and had a second daughter, after which she went on to study law at Harvard.
“I’m not an overnight sensation,” she said. “I’m a Texan. And I’m a Texas success story. I am the epitome of hard work and optimism.”