Struggling with dyslexia while growing up in Sweden, Bertil Hult quit school after junior high and eventually went to work making coffee and running errands for a ship broker in London. Six months later, without ever stepping foot in a classroom, Hult could speak English.

The time he spent in England showed Hult how everyday, real-world experiences could accelerate learning a language and understanding a culture — and planted the seeds for the company he would found when he dropped out of school for a second time as a 20-year-old college student. Nearly 50 years later, the company Hult started with just 5,000 Swedish kronor, or about $700, employs 34,000 people in 55 countries, organizing student trips and teaching English around the world.