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TO A SAMPLEGreg Smith is the founder of "The Strength Coach," the first and only live weekly syndicated commercial radio talk show on life and disability. Throughout his life, Greg has squarely faced obstacles and has emerged with a unique set of resources for making the most of whatever situation arises.
Greg was born in rural Mississippi in 1964. He was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in the "colored" waiting room at the New Orleans hospital for "crippled children" in 1967. His parents, Jim and Adelia, were teachers. Jim had been an All-America quarterback at Alcorn A&M in Lorman, Miss., and went on to coach high school football in Biloxi, Miss.
Greg remembers going to football practice and playing with the balls as early as age 3. In 1968, the Smith family moved to upstate New York, and then to Chicago, where Jim developed a star sales and marketing career and Greg was integrated into public schools.
Greg walked "funny" until the age of 13, becoming numb to the constant stares of strangers. The "funny" walk turned painful, as Greg's spine curved and started causing damage to his internal organs. When Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, Greg watched from his hospital bed, for nine innings putting the pain aside. He had had his spine surgically broken, straightened and repaired, fused with three long metal rods. This marked the end of Greg's walking days and the start of his life as a wheelchair pilot.
Greg attended Downers Grove South High School and expressed a desire to
play in the marching band. His band instructor obliged and his freshman
year, he played a variety of precussion instruments from the sidelines
as his peers marched in formation on the field. This was not what Greg
had in mind. He wanted to march like everybody else. So he and his band
instructor designed a foot control for his power wheelchair! This gave
Greg the same responsibility as everybody else in the band: to play his
parts right and to be in the right space on the field. He was a Marching
Mustang at Downers Grove South High School!
Greg's love for football is what brought him to radio. Seeking a way to get involved in the sport, he auditioned for play-by-play announcer at WDGC-FM, the student-run community radio station, and got the job. During football season, he traded his drumsticks for a microphone and each week, his father would carry him up the stands and into the press boxes of the often frigid cold suburban Chicago-area high school stadiums. After three years of live play-by-play announcing of football, basketball and baseball, Greg was certain about what he wanted to do with his life, or so he thought.
He chose Arizona State University for college because of the weather, the athletic program, and the start of a new campus radio station. As a freshman, he figured, he could get some "playing time" at a developing radio station. He became the sports director at campus station KASR and logged four years of live play-by-play action, attending classes with and calling the names of future stars such as Major League Baseball's Barry Bonds, the NBA's Byron Scott, WNBA star Kym Hampton and NFL veterans such as Randall McDaniel and Eric Allen. While in college, he also worked as a stringer, reporting from Phoenix Suns games and interviewing sports legends including Michael Jordan (Greg's frat brother!), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Isiah Thomas and many others.
One of Greg's greatest sportscasting memories was in 1985, when he was home for Christmas in Chicago. The Bears were making their run at the Super Bowl, so Greg called and acquired some locker room passes for the NFC divisional playoff game at Soldier Field. Because it was so cold that day, the Bears invited Greg and his cousin Ron up into the press box to watch the game. Afterward, despite the fact that Soldier Field's locker room was not wheelchair accessible from the press box, the Bears instructed ushers to lift Greg (in his wheelchair) up on their shoulders and carry him down the lower stands to the Bears locker room, where he interviewed Mike Ditka, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton and other Bear greats!
After earning his BA in broadcasting from ASU's Walter Cronkite School
of Journalism, Greg worked as a key member of the marketing team for Pulitzer's
KTAR/K-Lite radio stations in Phoenix. He served as research and sales
promotion director, where his primary activities involved sales presentation
material, ratings analysis, coordination of contests and events, and audience
promotion through newspaper, outdoor, television and direct mail campaigns.
From 1990 to 1992, Greg was the host of "Cardinal Talk," a call-in
program that aired after all of the NFL Cardinals games on KTAR and across
the Southwest.
Despite the thrills acheived in his young career, Greg wanted more from broadcasting, and felt a calling to do something that combined his knowledge and experience in radio, with his life experiences as a disabled person. He resigned from Pulitzer and started "The Strength Coach" as a local Phoenix, Ariz., program in 1992 on KFNN 1510 AM.
"The Strength Coach" now airs on 40 radio stations across the country and on the
Internet live worldwide. This growth has given "The Strength Coach" "household
name" status within much of the disability community. Greg is a recognized
speaker on self definition, motivation and on disability issues. He sees
his radio program and his speaking as effective tools to communicate the
potential of people with disabilities, and to promote the power of self
definition to all people. One of Greg's primary objectives is to motivate
people with disabilities to test the limits of their potential, particularly
in the area of employment. He has worked hard to establish partnerships
with entities that can help facilitate the hiring of people with disabilities.
In a nation where the unemployment rate is at an all time low, Greg sees
staffing solutions for corporate America in the disability community,
which is roughly 70 percent unemployed.
In addition to his busy career, Greg is the father of three active nondisabled children, ages 9, 8 and 4. Becoming a parent was something he had dreamed of as a child and young adult, but never expected. It has been and continues to be the most rewarding aspect of his life. His children embrace their 65-pound dad without question and love to ride around on the back of his power chair.
Greg Smith's motivational message pulls from his many stories of life experiences, reveals the lessons learned from each one, and translates that applicable message into the lives of every member of his audience, whether they are disabled or athletic ... or both! To book Greg Smith, call To book Greg Smith, call (228) 818-0148 or e-mail greg@onarollradio.com