Aspiring
t o Inspire:
Cardarius Grady
Motivates Others
to Reach for Higher Goals
By Dean M. Shapiro
“My mission is to empower,
inspire, encourage and uplift
those whose desire is to make
their dreams become a reality.”
With these words, Cardarius Grady
sums up his goals as a motivational/
inspirational speaker, author and, most
importantly, as a positive example to
others.
At 31 years old, he has already been
inspiring others with his words and his
own example for more than a decade.
The author of five published books and
originator of dozens of optimistically
worded catchphrases, Cardarius takes
his own inspiration from some of today’s
most prominent motivational purveyors.
They include Les Brown, Eric Thomas,
Steve Harvey, Bishop T.D. Jakes and Joel
Osteen, as well as his own pastor, Rev.
Fred Luter at Franklin Avenue Baptist
Church in New Orleans.
He even quotes former president
Barack Obama (“Our destiny is not
written for us but by us”) and Albert
Einstein (“Your imagination is your
preview of life’s coming attractions”) as
examples to which he aspires.
Growing up in the small town of
Magnolia, Mississippi, just ten miles
north of the Louisiana state line,
Cardarius experienced many of the
challenges faced by the youth of his
generation. Determined to overcome
the adversity he was confronted with, he
went out for sports at South Pike High
School, excelling in football, basketball,
and track. He also studied martial arts
and took part in amateur boxing matches
outside of school.
“When I talk about the trials and
tribulations I overcame, it was due to the
help from my mentors and coaches that
I was able to overcome them,” Cardarius
said. “They spent a lot of time showing
me different things that would help me
get to the place I am today.”
Among those early mentors to whom
he gives credit are his “father in the
ministry” in Magnolia, Kenneth Handy;
his “spiritual mothers” Patsy Handy,
Angia Rose Lee and Barbara Matthews;
his South Pike coaches, Joe Leavy
(basketball) and Brinson Wall (football);
and, he adds, “most of all, my mother,
Jessie Mae Grady.”
After graduation from high school,
Cardarius attended community colleges
in nearby McComb and Jackson and
he also studied at the University of
Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. In
2007 he met his future wife, Arianne
Boudreaux, through correspondence on
My Space. They stayed friends for eight
years, several of which Cardarius spent
in South Carolina working for FedEx
Ground package delivery service.
Finally, about two and a half years ago,
Cardarius moved to New Orleans and he
and Arianne tied the knot. The couple
will soon be welcoming the arrival of a
daughter who will join Cardarius’ fouryear
old son, Adreon Jeremiah Grady, as
Ca
i
a member of the family.
Currently living in New Orleans East
and still working for FedEx after 12
years, Cardarius states, in two words,
what drives his professional success as
an inspirational/motivational presenter:
“Life experience.”
“I’ve been through a lot in my life
and I want others to learn from my
experiences,” he explained. “When
people hear me speak I want them to
take something away from those talks:
a message they can use that will benefit
their own lives.”
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