The Story

The start of a bigger story

Tony didn’t come from wealth.

As a child he had four different fathers and an intense mother. Food was scarce. One Thanksgiving a man knocked on the door holding bags filled to the brim with groceries — an anonymous gift from someone who knew his family was struggling. Tony’s father at the time was immediately angered and tried to refuse the gift. But Tony was overjoyed. This was more food than they’d had in a long time.

The secret to living is giving

What he realized that day is meaning means everything.

To his father this gesture meant he was a failure. He became angry — and stayed that way. But to Tony this meant strangers care. And if strangers could care, he could too.

This was the catalyst for Tony becoming a practical psychologist. He became obsessed with learning what causes one person to thrive and another to remain stuck. Gathering knowledge about success from the world’s best, he set out to help people become the best version of themselves, no matter their circumstances.

Nearly 5 decades later Tony and Sage have served over 100 million people from 195 countries through his books, audio and video training, and live events.

And there’s one guiding principle he’s learned — the secret to living is giving.

A life dedicated to a greater purpose

Tony’s innate desire to give back is why he continues to do what he does today, impassioning more than 30 thousand people at a time for 14 hours a day to step up to the best version of themselves. And it’s the driving force behind his work to fight global hunger, provide grants to health and human services organizations, and implement life-changing curriculum in correctional facilities around the country.