45-year-old Zhou Qunfei, is a remarkable ‘rags to Riches’ success story that will inspire you to chase your dreams and ideas that you may have been hiding from others because they are too big.

Zhou Qunfei, is a self-made billionaire who owns Lens Technology, which supplies protective glass for Samsung and Apple products.

Its sales revenue to Samsung, Apple, and other companies amounted to an incredible nine billion Yuan in 2014, more than 70% of its total revenue.

Zhou was raised in poverty in a Hunan village in China in 1970. 

When she was five years old, her father died in an industrial accident. Her mother also went blind. Her father encouraged her to pursue education and to excel in her life.

She left her home to run her family at a young age. She began working in a Shenzhen glass-processing plant, where she would make watches out of glass. After a few months, she decided to quit because the work was monotonous and tedious. The company refused to accept her resignation letter and promoted her to a new factory department head. She claims that it was a well-written, descriptive resignation letter that caught the attention of her supervisor.

She was later promoted to the position of director for the entire manufacturing operation. In 1993, at age 22, she started her own business.

Zhou invented lens Technology’s scratch-resistant glass. She claims that scratch-resistant glass was inspired by her rural experience and years spent in a glass factory. She remembers watching the rainfall on lotus leaves as a child. She loved to see the drops of water roll across the lotus leaf without leaving any trace as a child.

Her savings of PS 1,800 earned from overtime was enough to start her business. Her company has expanded in size and now employs over 60,000 people. On March 18, 2015, her company was made public, and she was officially named the richest woman of China with 78.07 Yuan per share.

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