Product Description

A remarkable teenager who went from public assistance to a million dollar net worth shares his story and offers 9 key principles to success.

Farrah Gray is no ordinary teenager. He wears a suit and tie; he has an office on Wall Street and another one in Los Angeles . . . and he sold his first business at the age of 14 for more than a million dollars. He invested that money in a partnership with Inner City Broadcasting, one of the most prominent African-American owned businesses in the country, and now is heading the relaunch of their signature magazine, InnerCity. According to People magazine, Farrah is the only African-American teenager to rise from public assistance to a business mogul without being in entertainment or having a family connection.

Reallionaire tells Farrah’s extraordinary and touching story. When he was just six, Farrah’s mother became seriously ill, prompting his decision to provide for this family, and he spent the first $50 he ever made taking them for a real sit-down dinner. At the age of eight, he founded his first business club. By fourteen, with a million dollars in his pocket, Farrah was well on his way to business success.

Each stage of Farrah’s progress is marked by one of the principles of success he learned along the way, creating not just an extraordinary story but also a step-by-step primer for others to create success in their own lives with honor; charity and compassion. In the tradition of great motivators and leaders, this is both an instructional book and a story to inspire others to live life to the fullest. And readers don’t have to be interested in business to enjoy it. In fact, Farrah is a role model for everyone—just think of him as a Les Brown for the 21st century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #250451 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780757302244
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Just 20 years old, Gray is a self-made millionaire, having founded ventures and made media appearances beginning at ages six and nine respectively. He chronicles and draws lessons from his successes and failures, from his first job selling handmade body lotion to his Los Angeles neighbors to his founding of Farr-Out Foods at 13, his sale of it two years later for over a million dollars and his current philanthropic and developmental projects like running INNERCITY magazine. With the help of freelance writer Harris, Gray presents a persona that is straightforward and confident, if somewhat generic ("Now, I want you to take a real 'lemon' from your life and make lemonade with it"), but the tale of his ascent is compelling. Fueled by his desire to help his family, especially his single, workaholic mother, Gray is virtually unstoppable; faced with rejection, he tries something else. It's that resilience that comes through most clearly, reinforced with chapter-ending "Real Points" and "Reallionaire Exercises." Despite the familiar gimmicks, the real parts of Gray's experience come through, making this a sound book for anyone seriously interested in getting ahead on his or her own terms.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Nineteen-year-old Gray grew up in the projects in Chicago and formed his first business organization at age 7, inspired by his mother's will and determination. By age 15, he had developed his own food company for kids, Farr-Out Foods, which he sold for $1.5 million. He has lived in Japan, England, New York, and Las Vegas; hosted the celebrity TV show Backstage Live; and is in high demand as a public speaker. It may be hard to believe that sound business advice can come from a teenager, but Farrah Gray is no ordinary kid. Although the book is punctuated with what he calls "Real Points" for success and exercises for things like building a great team and seizing opportunities, the real inspiration is his personal story, which speaks strongly of the importance of mentoring to young people and sends the message that you should never underestimate anyone, especially yourself. Farrah is a young man of true character and integrity, and we surely haven't heard the last of him. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap
Author Farrah Gray is nominated by The Network Journal magazine as one of the top "40 under 40" entrepreneurs in the United States. June 2004.

Customer Reviews

I'd give it more stars as an autobiography
OK. This kid is pretty amazing in that's he's extremely intelligent, charismatic, and persistent. A long-term goal of his is to be a talk-show host. I'm sure he'd excel at that or anything else that requires great skill in communication and persuasion, such as politics.

If this book were being sold as an autobiography or general motivational book, that would be one thing. But here it is in the books on finance, and he's been set up as a role model for getting out of poverty. He has some good general advice about following your dreams, not taking no for an answer, and working hard. But as advice on how other people can become wealthy, I just can't give this book much credibility.

For one thing, he might have made that million dollars, but already he's lost a chunk of his own and investors' money. He lost a "high six figure" investment in a Las Vegas project, plus his NE2W organization had to close down. (p. 256). As he says himself "If all my businesses dried up at age 17, why am I writing a book about success? And why are you reading it?" (p. 271) Because finally, after talking about making money for the entire book, he's decided success is not about money, it's about doing your work in the world, whatever it is.

And a lot of the attitudes and beliefs he leaves you with are just 180 degrees opposite of proven wealth-building behaviors discussed in books like The Millionaire Next Door (Stanley and Danko). For example, he's spent a lot of money on the trappings of looking successful (expensive suits, pens, shoes, etc.) because it's supposed to "open doors". (p. 237-238). Somewhere online I read he wears a $1600 watch. In The Millionaire Next Door, they are clear that most people who make and KEEP a million or more just don't spend money this way. They are apt to buy Timex watches and JC Penney suits. And no, they are not people who inherited their money, either.

An awful lot of his and his mother's business experiences seem to be about taking big risks (such as with the rent money), trying completely different types of businesses one after the other and hoping to hit the big jackpot with one of them. Again, in The Millionaire Next Door it's pretty clear that 99% of the time, businesses and wealth are built slowly and not from getting one big break. When you overextend yourself in business, taking orders for products you can't yet afford to manufacture, you probably won't be rescued in a 1.5 million buyout as Farrah was. (p. 190)

Finally, what about the photo with Michael Milken? Yup, Michael Milken, the Junk Bond King and white collar criminal. Why would someone talking about honesty and ethics throughout their book go out of his way to associate himself with Milken?

IMHO, read this book for general inspiration and because Farrah Gray's life is extremely interesting--just don't expect it to be a financial blueprint for becoming a millionaire yourself.

Million and one assistance
The PR on this book is that you will find an inspiring story for all. I did not find this to be true nor autobiographical, a story hopefully will be told in middle-age with more candor. Knowing the general sketch to success for this charming, winning gotta-be, the narrative was consistently pushed by cliche and quotations, streamlined to tell the rags-to-riches part without the nuts and bolts. The schmoozing, name-dropping, never-ending event-scheduling, expose a darker tale of mere marketing prowess and networking skills. Those who accept the packaging from childhood into a shelf commodity for acquisition, will see something here. Until now, America was about individuality; this book emphasizes "connections" over personal efforts. Honestly, Farrah Gray made it with supportive parenting,strong work ethics and influence. In the real world, you can have far more talent than Farrah Gray and go nowhere with just one or two run-ins. If you have similar products to Farrah's, food ideas etc., you can find inspiration, but consistently the nuts and bolts of achievement get lost in digressive medical setbacks. The rest of us cannot unload the obstacles to our "success" like co-workers, with Jack Welch-unconcern, and move on and upward.Throughout, Mr. Gray does say he is not entirely a self-made man. He deserves marks for that.

A rousing and inspirational read!
Even though he is a young man, Farrah Gray writes like an "old soul." His message is clear, his beliefs are strong. When asked to perform at a higher standard there are many who ask: "Why me?" Those who read this book will learn a better response is: "Why not?"

Reginald V. Johnson, Author, How to Close More Customers