As a boy working in his family's bakery, Ralph Slotnick learned two things: one, that in order to lead the life he wanted, he would need to be the boss of his own business; and two, that his dyslexia meant that academics would not save him. Instead, he would have to rely on his own hard work, tenacity, and business savvy to get where he wanted to go.

Unlike many successful businessmen born with silver spoons in their mouths, he forged a path entirely on his own. While Slotnick's father was a small-business owner, he had woefully little business sense-and it was only his son's...