Jim Barle is convinced that any success he has had in life is due to his lack of talent. "I have never been great at anything; therefore I felt that
I had to work harder than the next guy just to keep pace. I am convinced that whatever I have achieved in my life thus far is due the fact that I
have worked extremely hard."
Barle entered the business world as a nine-year-old entrepreneur in the late 1970's when he entered into an agreement with the owner of a house
with an overgrown lawn. "I knocked on the door and asked the owner if he wanted his lawn cut," recalls Barle. "He asked me the price. I told
him $3.50. It took me three days after school to cut his lawn. When I finished he gave me four dollars. I thought I was rich. Some time later
that summer, he gave me a month's worth of payment in advance with the understanding I would return to fulfill my obligation. That was the
beginning of my life as a businessman. I continued to work for that gentleman for many years after that." Barle was born in 1969 and raised in
Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The fifth of six children, he attended the public schools there. After graduating from Cleveland Heights High School
in 1987, Barle earned a BA from John Carrol University in 1991. Dreaming of a life as a journalist, Barle interned at a number of local
media outlets.
