Afro American Farrah Gray made his first million when he was just 14. Now,
he runs a successful portfolio of multiple profitable businesses, and is
also a motivational and business public speaker. The lessons to learn from
him is never give up, follow your dreams and to not let anything stop you
from living up to your dreams.
How Inner-City-Kid Farrah Gray Became A
Millionaire By 14
Farrah
Gray got his start selling hand-painted rocks. Growing up in inner-city
Chicago in the 1980s, Gray grew accustomed to days "when the only thing in
our refrigerator was the light that
came on when you opened the door," he writes in his book, "Reallionaire."
It was also an event worth recording when a month would pass without anyone
being shot in his housing project, he writes. So he was determined from a
young age to become self-sufficient. He told AOL Jobs that he credits the
poverty of his childhood as the great motivating factor.
And not only did Gray become very rich, but he did so starting at a very
young age. At 6 years old, he looked around his block in search of something
that could be converted into a salable product, and settled on rocks.
"There's no idea dumb enough you can't get at least a billion people to
buy into," he says about his first $50 profit. He began by painting and
refashioning the rocks to make them into bookends and doorstops.
"It's the spirit of the Third World entrepreneur," he says. "You have to
create your own job. You can't wait to rely on Exxon or Wal-Mart to hire
you. And that's the spirit I try to teach to young entrepreneurs."
Following his stint as the rock-salesman, Gray moved on to homemade
body lotions and eventually his bigger enterprises, which included prepaid
phone cards. Along the way, he became a media figure, with his own radio
show, "Youth AM/FM," on which he opined about issues related to youth
entrepreneurship. He also wrote a series of books, starting with "Reallionaire,"
published in 2005. He also launched the Farrah Gray Foundation, which
promotes youth entrepreneurship among inner-city youth.
Of course, for every Farrah Gray, there's the countless number of failed
young entrepreneurs. The multimillionaire himself was forced to confront
challenges beyond just getting the financing for an idea. As a black man,
Gray says that he is regularly discriminated against. Just recently, when a
book of his was published in Russia, his picture was taken off the cover. "I
was OK with it, knowing it was a marketing decision, and that the
information would still get out."
Nevertheless, Gray has become the millennial generation's poster child and a
leading cheerleader for striking it on your own, at as early an age as you'd
like. Among his high-profile backers is Bill Clinton. And according to
research compiled by the Kauffmann Foundation, which is a partner of the
Farrah Gray Foundation, Gray's story is indicative of a generational
entrepreneurial drive. From 2007 to 2010, roughly 40 percent of those aged
18 to 24 have expressed a desire to start their own business, if they
haven't already done so. The most recent data set for 2010 came from polling
over 5,000 young adults, with help from Harris Interactive Polls.
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Teenage
Millionaires Earn $100,000 per Month: Teenage Millionaires Earn $100,000
It's amazing how these millionaires made it big, their lesson is to start
small; and not get into big debts. Also, to use latest technology (internet)
to make money. It is not easy, but you can see the results once you put in
the hard work.per Month.
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