Young Entrepreneur – Dr Farrah Gray
Welcome back!
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.
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 24, 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, The Tavis Smiley Show, CNBC, BET, NBC, FOX, CBS, NPR, Ebony, Jet, Essence, Upscale, Black MBA, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
He was also featured as one of the Dream Team Financial Experts for “O” The Oprah Magazine in March 2008 issue. He is also a syndicated columnist with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) federation of 200 weekly newspapers reaching more than 15 million readers.
Gray began his entrepreneurial, personal and civic development 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, 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.
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 provides scholarship & grant assistance for students from at-risk backgrounds to attend HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). The Farrah Gray Foundation is also in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation, launching entrepreneurship programs in inner-city schools across the country.
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.
April 20th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I am also from chicago. I read your story think you are very inspirational. I currently am self employed and on way to be a millionaire, inside and out!
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:39 am
man u are great i want to be ur pal. am an up coming entrepreneur and also entrepreneur clud president in my school. pls keep me cencourage
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Thank You!
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:49 pm
plz tell about marketing skill of your product.your exp about marketing in your city. what difficulties come with you when start your own business.
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:02 pm
U got me thought provoked at the platform in lagos and now am on my way to the top… i love your message and encouragement man…. u are a plus to our generation
October 4th, 2009 at 5:12 am
i was at the platform at TBS in Lagos. I’m 36years old Msc holder,single and still struggling to feed myself,let alone carry family along, how much more a generation.Watching you speak about how you moved from practically nothing to where you are today a ‘reallionaire’ first i feel like i’ve wasted my time,but at second thought i feel like there is still hope if i make a mentor from people like you. I also grew up in povety,just like any African child in Africa– deprived;in fact i spent a decade of my life as destistute.Now i’m just a little better, i work to make ends meet.i really want tobe an entrepreneur, i really want to care for generations, please i need your guide; please keep correspondece with me. God bless you and your family.
Liberty.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
i am from nigeria and i was not able come for the session on wealth creation because i was out of lagos.i will like to have more information about it and the site
November 15th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
My name is Azure`Rae Turner and I am 13 years old. Seven months ago I started the process of starting my own fragrance line. I really like fragrances and thought that this would be an easy task. There was a lot of dedication, time, and organization that I had to put into it so that my product would come to pass. As well, as disappointments.The website of my product is http://www.dreamazure.com
I think there are many young people out there just like us who are afraid to step out and start their own thing. I would like to help inspire them. I am planning on going around to some local schools to talk about entrepreneurship and striving for success. It was so nice to read about Dr. Farrah Gray. I hope to meet him someday.
February 20th, 2010 at 1:10 am
I was at the platform show last year. where you were invited as a speekerm in Lagos, Nigeria. i was really impressed and I wish I could get in touch with you personally.
March 29th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Interesting post that you have. I stumbled on a new one the other day. They look open for business, but very similar to linkedin.com with more of a social business directory look and feel. Nice easy interface though. Found it at SocialTerrain.com
June 24th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I don?t usually reply to posts but I will in this case. Yeah WoW
August 20th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Hi this site of your blog was very interesting and funny for me. But it was really hard to find it with ask. Maybe you should improve it with seo plugins for wordpress like WP seo.