Smith was born in Bay Springs, Mississippi,in the United States the son of James S. Smith, Jr (a high school football coach) and Adela Smith (an English teacher). The couple had daughter Tonya, before learning that Greg had muscular dystrophy. The family moved to Corning, New York, where James began a career in the corporate scientific products industry. In 1973, they moved to the Chicago area where Greg attended Downers Grove South High School. Smith underwent spinal surgery to correct a scoliosis in 1979 which resulted in the need for a wheelchair. In high school, Smith played the drums in the marching band from his power wheelchair and was the radio voice of the "Mustangs" on the student radio station. He enrolled at Arizona State University in 1982 and did radio "play-by-play" of football and basketball games on the campus station. While at Arizona State, Greg became a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.
After graduating from Arizona State in 1986, Smith endured a difficult time finding employment as a person with a disability. His first job was an inside telemarketing representative for Statcom Communications, selling pagers and cellular telephones. His persistence to find a job in his fieled eventually resulted in employment at Pulitzer Broadcasting, which owned KTAR 620 AM, a news-talk radio station, and KKLT (K-Lite 98.7 FM), a light rock station. His position as "Research Director" have him the responsibility of producing sales support and marketing materials.
Soon, Smith found his way on the air as host of "Cardinal Talk," a post-game call-in show that aired after every NFL Arizona Cardinals football game. In 1992, Smith ended his career at KTAR to start his own radio show, "Arizona On A Roll," which first aired on KFNN 1510 AM. To support his family, he found employment with the Phoenix area independent living center, Arizona Bridge to Independent Living (ABIL) and was introduced to the "Independent Living Philosophy." By telephone, he met the founder of Independent Living, Ed Roberts, who gave Smith an interview and continual support of his efforts to expand the radio show. From that beginning, Smith created independent versions of "On A Roll" in Las Vegas, NV and Dayton Ohio.
In 1996, Smith partnered with "New Mobility Magazine" and the program became syndicated. Smith appeared on the cover of the April 1997 issue of the magazine and began to slowly build the network of stations. In February 1999, the "Wall Street Journal" printed a story about Smith on the front page of the "Marketplace" section of the paper. CBS News' "The Early Show" did a feature on Smith later that year.
In 2000, Smith moved to Tampa, Florida to partner with "Acceslife.com," a web site targeting people with disabilities. In 2001, Accesslife.com went out of business and Smith moved to Ocean Springs, Mississippi with his family. In 2003, he joined the National Speakers Association and started to focus his career on professional speaking. As "The Strength Coach," spoke at conferences and events around the country, promoting a message of "inner strength." In 2003, through a grant from the Mississippi Council on Developmental Disabilities, he expanded "On A Roll" throughout Mississippi and delivered keynote addresses at events in the State.
In 2005, Joanne Caputo produced a documentary film about Smith that was broadcast nationwide on PBS. The film, entitled "On A Roll: Family, Disability and the American Dream," won the "Audience Award" for the PBS series "Independent Lens." Smith's first book, "On A Roll: Reflections from America's Wheelchair Dude with the Winning Attitude" was self-published in May, 2005.
His career was derailed in August 2005 by a viral infection that led to congestive heart failure and a month later being uprooted by water damage from Hurricane Katrina. Storm surged claimed both of his power wheelchairs, his modified mini-van and his entire radio show archive collection. He was forced to temporarily move to a nursing home in Ohio while his home was rebuilt.
Smith married Terri Nealy and the couple had three children before separating in 1996 and divorcing in 1999. Smith won custody of the children and moved in with his parents in Ohio
Books
On A Roll - Reflections from America's Wheelchair Dude with the Winning Attitude
Greg Smith published On A Roll
Speaking of Success
