From Green Beret to the starting lineup, the story of Nate Boyer is so extraordinary that it’s almost unbelievable. Growing up as a kid with no self esteem and no hopes for his future, Nate decided to join the military to do something special with his life. Quickly rising through the ranks, Nate became an elite member of the United States Army, Green Berets. After five tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan, it was time for Nate to take the next step in his life. So, at 28 years old, Nate made the decision to enroll in the University of Texas, with the goal of playing football for the storied University of Texas Longhorns. The only problem; Nate had never played a day of football in his life.

Read the rest of Nate’s story here.

Inspired by her suffragette grandmother’s love of hats, Harlem-based community leader Rev. Georgiette Morgan-Thomas puts retirement on the back burner to take over a hat company. Thanks to Georgiette’s business savvy skills, and with a little help from Google, American Hats persevered through an incredibly tough transition time and is now on the upswing. Bringing the catalog online and investing in AdWords has helped reinvigorate an old school business and bring it into the 21st century

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria became the worst storm to hit Puerto Rico in over 80 years, destroying a third of the homes on the island, causing the largest blackout in U.S. history, and creating over $90 billion in damages. Small businesses were severely impacted. Because Puerto Rico’s local communities are powered by small businesses, helping them recover is critical to the island’s economic and social recovery. We produced this piece to support Google’s fundraising efforts for Hurricane Maria relief.

A mother desperate to aid her son’s eczema without the use of harmful creams turns to YouTube to create her own product and turns her invention into a successful business.