Steve Harvey On Chasing Your Dream
One thing is for sure, the best-selling author knew he belonged on TV, but he just didn’t know how to actually get there.
From homeless to $100 million! Steve Harvey opens up exclusively to PEOPLE about overcoming homelessness to build an entertainment empire.
Steve Harvey wasn’t always the successful comedian fans have grown to love – he had to make some tough choices along the way to get to where he is now.
Harvey won the $50 first prize during his first shot at performing, and he quit his job the next day. That decision did not go over well with his wife and the mother of his two daughters, Marcia.
“I’m married, I have twins [Brandi and Karli, now 33]. I’m supposed to provide for them, but I had to take this chance,” he recalls.
Harvey continued to struggle and only made $3,000 as a comedian in his first year. He and Marcia went on to separate and eventually finalized their divorce in 1994.
His relationship with his daughters fell apart, something that took a huge emotional toll on the comedian. It wasn’t until they got older that Brandi and Karli were finally able to understand why their dad needed to pursue his dreams.
“Years later they said to me, ‘Dad, we didn’t understand why you left us, but we know now you had to go. You didn’t just belong to us. You belonged to the world,’ ” Harvey said. Admits Harvey, “That was emotional for me.”
