
“Dr. Farrah Gray Biography
Celebrity Entrepreneur,Philanthropist, Bestselling Author and Syndicated
Columnist - Dr. Farrah Gray was named as one of the most influential Black men
in America
by the National Urban League’s Urban Influence Magazine. Ebony Magazine
recognized him as an entrepreneurial icon, business mogul and best-selling
author. Raised in the impoverished South side of Chicago, Dr. Gray defied the odds and became
a self-made millionaire by the age of 14. At the age of 21, he received an
Honorary Doctorate degree of Humane Letters from Allen University.
This was in recognition of his ingenious economic mind and distinguished
commitment to the development of values such as leadership, integrity and
scholarship. In his rise from poverty to national and international prominence
as an entrepreneurial icon and pre-eminent power speaker, Dr. Gray has inspired
millions around the world. At the age of 27, he has achieved more than many
achieve in a lifetime. Since his first interview at 11 years old on KVBC
Channel 3, Gray has become a celebrity, featured in thousands of print,
magazine, radio and television media including The NBC reality show Starting
Over, 20/20,Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, The Montel Williams
Show, Oprah & Friends, Tom Joyner Show, The Michael Baisden Show, Russ
Parr, Radio One, TV One, The Tavis Smiley Show, CNBC, BET, NBC, FOX, CBS,
BRAVO, PBS, NPR, Bloomberg, Ebony, Jet, Essence, Upscale, Black Enterprise, Black
MBA, “O” The Oprah Magazine, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the
New York Post. AOL Black Voices named Farrah Gray one of the Top Ten Sexiest
Black CEO’s along with Kenneth Chenault, Tiger Woods and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
What makes him extra attractive is the stack of accomplishments he has achieved
at such a young age. He is also a syndicated columnist with the National
Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) federation of 200 weekly newspapers
reaching more than 15 million readers. As an AOL Money Coach, Dr. Gray gives
advice to millions of AOL subscribers daily on leadership, personal
development, diversity, strategic planning, creativity, business development
and financial management. Dr. Gray is the CEO of Farrah Gray Publishing (FGP)
which is distributed by HCI Books, which published the world famous #1 New York
Times, USA Today and Guinness Book of World Records; best-selling Chicken Soup
for the Soul series. Chicken Soup for the Soul has sold more than 112 million
copies, with titles translated into more than 40 languages and total retail
sales of Chicken Soup for the Soul branded merchandise have topped $1.3
billion. Continuing Gray’s love for the culinary field in 2012, he became a
restaurateur and investor with three restaurants in Las Vegas, including one on the Las Vegas
Strip. Dr. Gray began his entrepreneurial, personal and civic development as a
stellar young citizen at six years old selling home-made body lotion and his
own hand-painted rocks as book-ends door-to-door. At age seven, he was carrying
business cards reading “21st Century CEO.” At eight, Gray became co-founder of
Urban Neighborhood Enterprise Economic Club (U.N.E.E.C.) on Chicago’s South side. U.N.E.E.C. was the
forerunner of New Early Entrepreneur Wonders (NE2W), the flagship organization
he opened on Wall Street. NE2W enlisted, educated and engaged “at-risk” youth
by creating and developing legal ways for them to acquire additional income.
Gray is the youngest person to have an office on Wall Street. Between the ages
of 12 and 16 years old, Dr. Gray founded and operated business ventures that
included KIDZTEL pre-paid phone cards, the One Stop Mail Boxes & More
franchise and The Teenscope “Youth AM/FM” interactive teen talk show, Gray was
also Executive Producer of a comedy show on the Las Vegas Strip and owner of
Farr-Out Foods, “Way-Out Food with a Twist,” aimed at young people with the
company’s first Strawberry-Vanilla syrup product. Farr-Out Foods generated
orders exceeding $1.5 million. As a pre-teen, Gray reached 12 million listeners
and viewers every Saturday night as co-host of “Backstage Live,” a syndicated
television and radio simulcast in Las
Vegas. Gray’s inspirational spirit and grounded
personality sparked speaking requests from organizations around the country.
Dr. Gray’s sense of social responsibility motivated him to create the
non-profit organization, The Farrah Gray Foundation. Among other programs and
initiatives, his foundation focuses on inner city community-based
entrepreneurship education and provides scholarship & grant assistance for
students from at-risk backgrounds to attend HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges
and Universities). Dr. Gray donates his honorariums from speaking engagements
(which can be upwards of $15,000) and the proceeds of his book to his
foundation in what he refers to as his “self-imposed” youth tax. The Farrah
Gray Foundation is also in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, launching
entrepreneurship programs in inner-city schools across the country. Dr. Gray’s
work did not remain under the radar-screen for long. He soon then became the
youngest member of the Board of Advisors for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.
He was also given a three-year term on the Board of Directors of United Way of Southern Nevada at the age of 15. Dr. Gray’s continued
his philanthropic work signing on as the spokesman for the National Coalition
for the Homeless and the National Marrow Donor Program. As a private consultant
he was gone in to work with the likes of JP Morgan Chase and the U.S. Department
of Commerce Minority Development Agency. Dr. Gray’s latest books “Get Real, Get
Rich” and “The Truth Shall Make You Rich” a no-holds-barred rejection of the
fallacies we’ve all heard–and believed–about success and how to achieve it. Dr.
Gray’s first book “Reallionaire” was nominated by NBC & Publishers Weekly
Quill Awards in the category of “Health/Self-Improvement.” His book appeared on
the Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s Best-sellers lists two weeks before its
international release. “Reallionaire” was also named as the #1 Best-selling
Nonfiction Paperback book in the August 2005 Issue of Essence Magazine. “Reallionaire”
was endorsed by Former President Bill Clinton, Pierre Sutton, Stedman Graham,
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Gray’s book and his journey to succeed
against the odds have become required reading and part of classroom study from
elementary school to entrepreneurship departments on college and university
campuses such as Harvard University and Princeton.
Gray’s books, “Reallionaire,” “Get Real Get Rich” and “The Truth Shall Make You
Rich,” have been translated into Russian, German, Polish, French, Korean,
Indonesian, and Vietnamese languages with book sales in Africa, Australia and
Europe and in Central and South American countries. Gray is also a contributing
author to “Chicken Soup for the African-American Soul”. Dr. Gray’s honors
include Keys to the Cities of Dallas, Shreveport,
and Cincinnati.
He has also received Proclamations from the Governors of Illinois and Nevada, the Mayors of Louisville,
Kentucky, Chicago,
Las Vegas, New Orleans
and Wilmington, Delaware, and Clark County Nevada
Commissioners. Dr. Gray’s Awards include The National Urban League Whitney M.
Young Jr. Entrepreneurship Award, The Indiana Black Expo (IBE) Hoosier Lottery
Entrepreneur Award, The Alabama A&M Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE)
Award, The Davidson College Love of Learning Lifetime Educational Achievement
Award, Central State Award of Appreciation for contributions made in the area
of entrepreneurship, NV Magazine Vision Award, and the American Red Cross Award
of Appreciation.”.