" I believe the power of the African-American is strongly dependent on its unity. I often say that we as African-Americans are like snowflakes in the winter, as individuals our power can be insignificant, but when we fall together we can shut down city's."
Spoken by a self made "reallionaire" who earned his first million by the age of 16. Farrah Gray is a young African-American entreprenuer, venture capitalist, and self-made milllionaire who was raised in the projects of east chicago.
At the age of six years old he created his own blend of lotion by mixing the remains of near empty lotion bottles he found in his bathroom. He then renamed the product FG Enterprises and sold it door to door for $1.50, that earned him $9. "People tell me, 'Boy, you were born yesterday.' I always say, 'Yes, but I stayed up all night." Young Gray also started a club called Urban Neighborhood Economic Enterprise club in which he and his friends could learn about business and entrepreneurship. Shortly after forming UNEEC, Gray persuaded some local business people to lend the group money to invest. They made $15,000. At the age of 13 he began his first company, FarrOut Foods, where he sold his grandmothers strawberry-vanilla maple syrup. After one year of owning the business he sold it for 1milion dollars, and thats how he earned his first million.
"I believe there is a recipe for success," Gray points out. "Comfort is the enemy of achievement," I was just familiar with struggle." With company funds he started the Farrah Gray foundation which supports community iniatives and provides seed money for youth entrepreneurial projects. Since then he's had other successful business ventures, including Kidzel calling cards (prepaid calling cards that allow children to phone home for free from anywhere in the world) with telecommunications giant WorldTel. Farrah Gray recently authored a book called "Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich From the Inside Out," he also is a motivational speaker and is payed anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 each appearance. Farrah Gray has been an inspiration to many young entreprenuers and is a good example of "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps." He is now a 23 year old billionaire and believes that his success is available to all that are willing to work for it.
Posted By: Ezra Johnson
Wednesday, July 23rd 2008 at 12:14PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
