Dr. Farrah Gray

Dr. Farrah Gray Profile

Raised on the impoverished South Side of Chicago, Gray defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of 14. At 21, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Allen University in recognition of his ingenious mind in economics and distinguished commitment to leadership, integrity, and scholarship. From poverty to national and international prominence, Farrah Gray has inspired millions worldwide. By the age of 41, he has achieved more than many have accomplished in multiple lifetimes.

Farrah Gray has generated more than 40 billion online impressions and built a platform with over 7 million followers. Oprah Winfrey, in O, The Oprah Magazine, dubbed Farrah Gray “an all-star with priceless advice.” InfoLinks described him as “a social media powerhouse.” Inc. Magazine noted that he was “featured on two high-profile Inc. Magazine lists alongside Mark Zuckerberg,” and NBC News recognized Farrah Gray as “one of the most influential Black men in America.”

Since his first interview at age 11 on KVBC Channel 3, Gray has become a nationally recognized media figure, featured and quoted in thousands of print, magazine, radio, and television outlets, including 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, Oprah & Friends, Radio One, TV One, CNBC, BET, NBC, FOX, CBS, BRAVO, PBS, We TV, NPR, Bloomberg, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, People, Ebony, Jet, Essence, Upscale, Black Enterprise, Black MBA, O, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times, The New York Post, Huffington Post, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Publishers Weekly, and many more.

He was also an award-winning syndicated columnist with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a federation of 200 weekly newspapers reaching more than 15 million readers.

Farrah Gray began his entrepreneurial, personal, and civic development at just six years old, selling homemade body lotion and hand-painted rocks door-to-door. At seven, he carried business cards reading “21st Century CEO.” At eight, he became co-founder of the Urban Neighborhood Enterprise Economic Club (U.N.E.E.C.) on Chicago’s South Side. U.N.E.E.C. later became the forerunner to New Early Entrepreneur Wonders (NE2W), the flagship organization he opened on Wall Street. NE2W enlisted, educated, and engaged at-risk youth by creating legal pathways for them to earn income. Gray became the youngest person to have an office on Wall Street.

Between the ages of 12 and 16, Farrah Gray founded and operated ventures including KIDZTEL prepaid phone cards, the One-Stop Mailboxes & More franchise, The Teenscope “Youth AM/FM” Interactive Teen Talk Show, and Farr-Out Foods, known for its “Way-Out Food with a Twist.” Farr-Out Foods generated orders exceeding $1.5 million. He has also been a numismatist, or coin collector, since age 12. 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.

His inspirational spirit and grounded personality led to speaking invitations from organizations across the country. Farrah Gray’s strong sense of social responsibility inspired him to create the Farrah Gray Foundation, a nonprofit focused on inner-city entrepreneurship education and on scholarship and grant support for students from at-risk backgrounds attending HBCUs. The Farrah Gray Foundation partnered with the Kauffman Foundation, helping to launch entrepreneurship programs in inner-city schools nationwide.

Farrah Gray’s impact quickly drew national recognition. He became the youngest member of the Board of Advisors for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and, at age 15, was given a three-year term on the Board of Directors of United Way of Southern Nevada. He also served as a spokesman for the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Marrow Donor Program.

Gray’s books and his journey of overcoming the odds have become recommended and, in some cases, required reading, forming part of classroom study from elementary schools to entrepreneurship programs at colleges and universities, including Harvard University and Princeton University. His books include Reallionaire, Get Real Get Rich, The Truth Shall Make You Rich, Comfort Is the Enemy of Achievement, and Strong Women Only Intimidate Weak Men. His works have been translated into Russian, German, Polish, French, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino (Tagalog), Chinese (Simplified), and Vietnamese, with readership spanning Africa, Australia, Europe, and Central and South America.

Gray is also a contributing author to Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, Chicken Soup for the Extraordinary Teen Soul, and You’ve Got to Read This Book. He has also been featured in Put Your Dreams to the Test by John C. Maxwell and The Covenant with Black America, Parts 1 and 2.

His honors include Keys to the Cities of Dallas, Shreveport, and Cincinnati, as well as proclamations from the governors of Illinois and Nevada; the mayors of Louisville, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Wilmington, Delaware; and the Clark County, Nevada Commissioners. His awards include the National Urban League Whitney M. Young Jr. Entrepreneurship Award, the Indiana Black Expo Hoosier Lottery Entrepreneur Award, the Alabama A&M Students In Free Enterprise Award, the Davidson College Love of Learning Lifetime Educational Achievement Award, the Central State University Award of Appreciation, the American Red Cross Award of Appreciation, and the prestigious Trumpet Award, whose past honorees include Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Ray Charles, Nelson Mandela, Beyoncé, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Many of the world’s Fortune 500 corporations have sought his expertise. Notable corporate clients include Verizon, Hershey’s, Walmart, Toyota, Nissan, Procter & Gamble, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, First PREMIER Bank, OneUnited Bank, MasterCard, Deloitte, Union Pacific, PayPal Business, Johnson & Johnson, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, and SERVPRO, showcasing his expertise across a wide range of industries.