Farrah Gray Reveals: The Unconventional Path to Becoming a Millionaire Entrepreneur

I didn't really know what entrepreneurship was, but I believe that necessity is the mother of invention.

I went out with those rocks. Some people didn't think that was cool. They had no need for it.

People slammed the door on me, cussed me out. We see so many people living day to day with so much money and popularity, but they haven't built inner wealth. You know, people believe that opportunity knocks, you know, once or twice or annually. I would say opportunity never knocks. It's something you have to go after with a vengeance. We're trying to be the next this person or that person. Be the next you, 'cause everybody else is taken. It's important to always be prepared. I would say if you stay ready, you won't have to get ready.

He's an American businessman, investor, columnist, author, and motivational speaker. He began his entrepreneurial career at age 6 selling homemade lotion and hand-painted rocks door-to-door. He was named one of the most influential black men in America by the National Urban League. He's Farrah Gray, and here is my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 5 is my personal favorite. I'm really curious to figure out which one you guys like the most.

How did you know, and how did you have the wherewithal at that age, that young, to start selling things? I mean, you said you started selling rocks, and people were like, "Isn't that the rock that was by my door?" Right. And you sold it to them. You have the wherewithal to do something like that and the courage.

Well, I think that comfort is the enemy of achievement. Growing up poor, when I woke up, my mom was up. When I went to sleep, my mom was up. And my father was a Black leader and activist, and activism doesn't come with a salary. So I realized, I said, "Wait a minute, when my mom had a heart attack," I said, "I must do something to help her." So I went out and I sold oversized rocks that I saw on the streets. I would paint them and I would ask people, "Would you like to buy this?" And people look at me like, "Isn't that the rock that was in front of my door?" And I would say, "Yes, but it could be used as paperweights, bookends, and door stoppers." So I didn't really know what entrepreneurship was, but I believe that necessity is the mother of invention. So I got out there and I tried. And I think that, of course, as Grandma says, "Nothing beats a failure but a try." I was well introduced very early to rejection.

When I went out with those rocks, some people didn't think that was cool. They had no need for it. People slammed the door on me, cussed me out, all kind of stuff. But I just made a few dollars on that door, and then I said, well, let me go to this one. I made some money there, but the person in between cussed me out. So, you know, you kind of get a chance to see very early that not everybody's going to tell you no.

A real millionaire is someone who is rich from the inside out. We see so many people living day to day with so much money and popularity, but they haven't built inner wealth. So we see them getting pulled over for DUIs, going to jail, living really, I think, on what I call a self-sabotage mission. But what I've discovered is that you have to balance the inner richness and the outer richness. And that's what a real millionaire is, someone who is rich from the inside out. Most people say you have to be at the right place at the right time. I always say no, you have to be everywhere all the time because your visibility is just as important as your ability. So I think you have to show up. And I find a lot of times, even personally, people are just not showing up anymore. You can't win if you don't play. So we You have to show up. For example, right now I find that people aren't showing up for their opportunities. You know, people believe that opportunity knocks, you know, once or twice or annually. I would say opportunity never knocks. It's something you have to go after with a vengeance. Living in Las Vegas, I even give credit to people who, you know, hit the jackpot there because at least they showed up and put that dollar into the machine for a chance. So I think you have to give yourself a chance and show up in your relationship, show up on your job, show up in life. I had a teacher tell me, I told her I was gonna be a millionaire entrepreneur one day, I was 7. She looked at me and she said, "No, you're not. You're poor and your family's poor. You better go find somebody to work for." And she kind of pointed towards McDonald's.

Doesn't that make you go, "Hey, wait a minute, no, no, no." Doesn't that sort of empower you even more or just give you the fuel to prove that person wrong?

Well, at 7 years old it didn't. I didn't know. I remember going home to my grandmother, I said, "The teacher said I wouldn't be successful and I couldn't be successful." And she said, "Remember that no matter what anyone says, She says to you, wake up every morning, honey. She said, and say, why not me? If you want millions, if you want a mansion, she said, and prophetically, she said, if you want to put an end to homelessness, and I've been the spokesman for the National Coalition for the Homeless. When I found out that the average age of a homeless person was 9 and a half years old, I knew that I could give back. So she said, wake up and say, why not me? She said, if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. I had a guy, he was 75 years old. He called and he cussed me out. He said, "Farrah Gray." I said, "Yes." He said, "I've been working all my da-da-da life." That was the cuss words. President Hardin cuss. "I've been working all my da-da-da life, and why is it that you have money, Farrah, and I don't? I'm 75 years old." I said, "Because, sir, you have to find what God put you here to do." The richest place in the world is the cemetery. Why? Because many of us have so many gifts We're trying to be the next this person or that person. Be the next you, because everybody else is taken. You have dreams, you have seeds of greatness within you. You have the power to do anything you want to do, but you got to put your mind in action. Well, I realize that there are two fights. There's the fight to make the money, and then there's the fight to keep it. We've seen a lot of people hit the lottery. William "Bud" Post, Evelyn Adams, which I talked about in my book, Get Real, Get Rich. They talked, uh, we actually focused on the fact that they made all this money, they announced it to the world, they talked about it, and the next thing you know, they were broke. Uh, you have people that won the lottery twice and, you know, they live on public assistance. Those two personalities, one is in a trailer park and the other one's on public assistance. So it's really about studying what others have done as soon as they made money. Most people think that when you get that television show, your big break, that money, that, uh, that fame, film opportunity, that that's the time to relax. I think it's actually time to work harder and to multiply your success. And you need to think, I think, for generations yet unborn. So I had several mentors. One gentleman introduced to me numismatics at an early age. He said, listen, young man, if you really want to make money, he said, and have your children, children, children's children thank you, this is what you need to do. Listen to me. I said, uh, well, okay, yes sir, I'll listen to you. He said, follow my instructions, invest your money in gold, silver, and platinum. I said, all right. I did that at a very early age, um, so it allowed me to really learn the precious metals and the commodities market. Um, you know, I studied Berkshire Hathaway, you know, back when it was trading for a few thousand dollars a share. So I started making very strategic investments because I realized, yes, I may have this money now, but I didn't know what would happen 10 years from now, 10 years after that, and now I'm 29 years old. I've had great sustainability and I can still call myself— some of my friends can't call themselves that, but I can still call myself, by God's grace, a multi-millionaire. So I'm very thankful. You were the youngest member on the board of advisors at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. What kind of pressure was that? I mean, to sit at this— it's a pretty big position.

Right?

Did you feel prepared and worthy of being there? Absolutely. Yeah. I think it's important to always be prepared. I would say if you stay ready, you won't have to get ready. Yeah. So being on the board of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce basically gave me a front row seat of commerce and business and also helping and assisting in making decisions. And of course, some people looked at me like, "Isn't this kid, you know, wasn't he born yesterday?" And I would say, "Yes, I was born yesterday, but I stayed up all night." A lot of times warriors and successful people have to continue sometimes to walk alone, you know, and operate to the beat of their own drum. Yeah, that's true. And keep good people around you, right? Absolutely. I would say, you know, like the legendary rapper Chuck D said, "If you can't change the people around you, change the people around you." So I surround myself with good people. And some people are so negative, I would say they could walk into a dark room and develop. You gotta make sure you surround yourself with good people that build you up, build that all-star team. Because when you feel like maybe I can't do this or I can't do that— because one thing that a lot of people don't understand about success, they ask me, you know, is what you do difficult? I tell them what I do is easy. I mean, it is a piece of cake. The hardest part of what I do now was the before. It was believing that I could do it. And that's the key. So when you have people that encourage you, that build you up, because a lot of times what they say sinks into your subconscious mind. A lot of people say, okay, what do you mean by subconscious mind? When you hear a song on the radio, you know every single lyric to the song, but when it goes off, you forget it. So where were those lyrics? They were in your subconscious mind. Your dreams, some would say it comes from your subconscious mind. So when you hear people say that you're not smart enough, you're not good enough, I had a teacher tell me that I was too poor and I wasn't smart enough to be an entrepreneur. And recently she called and cussed me out.

She did.

She said, "Why did you put my name in your book?" I said, "Because I wanted everybody to know who you were so you couldn't crush anyone else's dreams." And like one of the greats of our time once said, "Never allow anyone's perception of you to become your reality." What is it that we do best? I always say find your area of excellence Because the two most important times I have learned is when we were born and when we find out why we were born. What did God put you here to do? So ask yourself three questions. First question, what comes easy to me but harder to other people? Second question, what would I do and do it for free? That one's tricky. And the third question is, how can I be of service and how can I give back? And I believe that once you're able to wrap those three things around you and your philosophy, the world, the marketplace will open up for you next year, your gifts and your talents.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Marceline B asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of the top 10 rules that we featured had the biggest impact on you and why. What are you gonna change now in your business or life because you watched this video? Leave it in the comments and I will join in the discussion. Thank you so much for watching. Continue to believe and I'll see you soon.