Christopher Gray: Finding Comfort in Making Dreams Come True

December 14, 2017

He’s on Oprah’s list of Most Influential People. Forbes’ list of Top Entrepreneurs. Any number of “30 Under 30” lists. Cadillac featured him in a yearlong advertising campaign featuring top social entrepreneurs. And in 2015, he walked away a winner on Shark Tank.

He certainly walks into any room like he owns it – but it wasn’t always that way for Christopher Gray. The son of a single mom with no money for college, Chris recalls growing up eager to contribute to the world but feeling extremely limited because he was sure he had no chance for higher education.

At the urging of a high school teacher, Chris began scouring the internet in search of scholarships. He was so persistent that within seven months he had amassed $1.3 million -- far more than enough to pay for his Drexel University degree, which he earned in 2015.

Through his experience, Chris recognized that millions of scholarship dollars go unclaimed every year because students don’t know about them. That inspired him to co-found Scholly, an app that students can use to easily find scholarships that are right for them.

Since his Shark Tank appearance, 850,000 people have downloaded Scholly and have secured $70 million in scholarships.

At Shark Tank, I so admired how he managed to redirect those feelings of discomfort into a life-changing service that is helping so many people achieve their dreams. It’s absolute proof of what we’re capable of achieving with enough encouragement and confidence.

I’m honored to be a mentor and coach to him.

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