When a young Steve Harvey wrote “I want to be on TV” on his sixth-grade assignment, he couldn’t have predicted the harsh reaction from his teacher— or the life-changing wisdom his father would provide in response. What could have been a dream-crushing moment for the 9-year-old instead became a powerful lesson in manifestation and perseverance, one that would help shape Ohio native into the entertainment mogul he is today.
The incident began when Harvey’s teacher publicly challenged his aspirations in front of the entire class.
It Ain’t An Apple
As Harvey recalled the incident during his “Oprah’s Master Class” episode in 2017, “She said, ‘But why would you write something like that on the paper?'”
Another video gave more insight on the embarrassing incident. During one of his stand-up routines, he recalled the teacher demanded to know if he knew anyone on television or had any connection to the industry. When Harvey mentioned Bill Cosby on “I Spy” as his inspiration, she was unmoved, sending him home with a note pinned to his coat and calling his mother to report his “smart aleck” behavior.
While his mother initially sided with the teacher, it was Harvey’s father who would turn this moment of humiliation into an unforgettable lesson.
As Harvey recounts, his father, who he calls his “greatest supporter,” entered his room and gave him instructions that would change his life.
“He said, ‘Alright, this is what I want you to do … Put that on the paper. Take that to school tomorrow and give it to her. Take your paper and put it in your drawer. Every morning when you get up, read your paper and every night, before you go to bed, read your paper. That’s your paper,'” the father of seven said.
This profound guidance from his father taught Harvey “a principle of success,” as he explains: “If you write it down and envision it, anything you see in your mind you can hold in your hand.” His father’s wisdom protected Harvey’s dream at a crucial moment when it could have been destroyed by adult skepticism.
In a delicious twist to the story, Harvey would later send his former teacher television sets every Christmas.
“After that, every year, when the teacher was living, I used to send her a TV for Christmas because I wanted her to see me,” Harvey revealed.
The teacher eventually told him, “Boy, you send me all these TV from wherever you are and you don’t understand I got too many TV I have to give these TVs away sometimes.”
Harvey’s journey from that classroom to becoming one of television’s most recognizable faces is nothing short of remarkable. Starting as a comedian on “Def Comedy Jam” and hosting “It’s Showtime at the Apollo” in the early 1990s, Harvey has built an entertainment empire that spans television, film, radio, and literature.
His sitcom “The Steve Harvey Show” ran successfully from 1996 to 2002, but it was just the beginning.
Since 2010, Harvey has become synonymous with “Family Feud,” hosting over 1,100 episodes, making him the longest-running host in the show’s history, according to IMDB.
With the comedian at the helm, the show “became the first nationally syndicated TV series ever to increase its ratings for seven consecutive years.”
His hosting and producer portfolio expanded to include (but not limited to) “Celebrity Family Feud,” “Little Big Shots,” and most recently, “Judge Steve Harvey.” His film career includes appearances in “The Original Kings of Comedy,” “The Fighting Temptations,” and “Johnson Family Vacation,” among others.
Today, Steve Harvey’s net worth stands at approximately $200 million.
The “little boy with the stuttering problem,” as he refers to himself, is now “on TV seven days a week,” proving his sixth-grade teacher monumentally wrong.
Harvey’s story serves as a powerful reminder that dreams, no matter how improbable they might seem to others, deserve to be protected and nurtured. And his father’s wisdom – to write down your dreams and read them daily – provided a foundation for success that Harvey has built upon throughout his career.
