(You can read my professional bio here. And my more “personal” professional bio is below.)

Hello, my name is C.S. Hughes. I was born Christopher Shay Hughes of Ft.  Worth, Texas,  but have gone by Chris Hughes throughout my life. However, recently, I made a shift to C.S.  Hughes. Some of my friends, and even my family,  have asked me, “What's up with that?”  My answer is  simple, chrishughes.com  was already taken. So, say hello to C.S. Hughes and cshughes.com.

On a personal note, my wife, Sky, and I married in 2002, and have three fantabulous boys and one amazing princess. We do what we do, so we can be home with them 95% of the  time. We chose to raise them, infusing them  with our principles, rather than letting MTV, VH1, BET, violent video games and day care do the  job. And we are  so grateful.

Now back to business…

In my oppinion, I have one of the most most unique “rags to riches” stories I have ever heard. I like  it for three reasons. One, it's unique. Two, it's true. And three, it's about me. One of my friends  who earns more than $3,000,000 a year in passive income says, “If it's true, it's aint braggin.” So,  I'm gonna tell you the truth. If indeed the truth will set you free, and I believe it will, I say, prepare  to be liberated.

The relevant part of my story starts in high school. My parents divorced between my 8th and 9th grade years. So I started high school as a prepubescent, 14 year old, pretty boy who looked much more like a girl than a man. I was attended a new school across town, where the only people I knew were my two older brothers and my nemesis from church. I had lots of “friends” but never really fit in, so I got into my fair share of trouble, winding up in juvi once and jail once. And, I even wound up on national television, on the popular show COPS. You can take a peek below, and then keep reading (we haven't gotten to the good stuff yet).

As much as I would love to engage you in conversation about those gigantic glasses I was rockin', I'll continue…

I was in high school a long, long, long time. It took me 6 years to graduate. I was a senior 3 times, and I went to summer school 2 or 3 summers out of the 6 years I was there. I did graduate, and, even got a standing ovation. Actually, the place went bananas! It was pure pandemonium.

I went on to college, and when I finished after 5 years, I was a sophomore. It was like ground hog day; sign up for enough credits to be “full time,” so I could get financial aid. Then, slowly start dropping classes, so I could pick up more hours at the restaurant, so I could make the minimum payments on my credit cards. And then, do it all over again the next semester… for 5 years, in at least 3 different colleges.

I had more than 27 jobs before I was 27 years old. At 27, I was a college drop-out, living in the bad part of town, waiting tables at a restaurant. I was beginning to get more and more disgusted with myself, and was feeling the pressure of getting older, with no degree, no money and no plan for the future. Every day I went to work, I had to walk past the 60 year old bartender on my way to punch the time clock. That's your future, I would think to myself, unless you do something drastic.

I was on the hunt. I took a job at a personal development company in Dallas, TX. I was hired to do inside sales, but I never sold anything. After a couple of weeks, when I thought my termination for poor performance was imminent, sure enough, the owner of the company, Curtis, asked me to take a walk with him outside. Here we go, I thought. But what happened next shocked me.

“Chris, I want to start training you for outside sales.” he said. What?!? I was stunned. I expected him to fire me, not offer me a different and better position. I couldn’t help myself. I laughed out loud! “Outside sales!?” I blurted, “I can’t sell anything on the inside! What makes you think I could sell anything outside?”  Then came the reply, and the act of kindness, that would indeed lead me to my destiny and introduce me to my professional purpose.

“Chris,” he said, “You have everything you need to succeed in life. You’re a good-looking guy. You have great people skills, and you're easy to work with. You know what your problem is, though?” He asked. “This,” he said, pointing to my head. “You've got software issues. Your hardware is great, but you need to reprogram your head.” Then he handed me something. “These are audio tapes from some of our past seminars. I want you to take them home with you. Listen to them in your car, and see if it doesn’t help.”

There's no way he could have had any way of knowing how radically he would change my life, and the lives of countless others. The information inside that cassette tape case was the key to everything I have ever wanted. That key has opened every door I have ever wanted opened. It has allowed me to reach goals that I would have never even dreamed of without having had that discussion and received that priceless gift.

From that time in my life, though still in the relentless grip of poverty, I knew I would be doing exactly what I am doing today; speaking, writing, coaching, and helping people enjoy a more successful life. So, I knew what I wanted to do, I just didn't know “how” to get there.

I declined the outside sales job, because I was still burdened with self doubt, and frankly was scared out of my gore. So, I quit that job, and went back to the restaurant, where I could have more free time to “look” for something I was better suited for, that would pay millions of dollars, so I could have a killer rags to riches story to tell in all my future seminars (yeah I know).

As a result of putting all of my mental and emotional energies into finding the right vehicle for me, I attracted a very unique opportunity. In 1999, I started my own marketing business.

Initially, I was just 1 of 400,000 independent contractors with a New York Stock Exchange company. I had no clue what I was doing, and thankfully, as a contractor, they couldn't fire me. I began to apply some of the information I had learned, and was continuing to learn, and made three times more money working part time as an independent contractor than I did on my full time job. The next year, my income doubled again. And the following year, my income tripled again. I was in my late twenties earning a nice six-figure income. And by my mid-thirites, had earned my first million. Today, that marketing business is one of the largest of it's kind in the world, and continues to grow with or without my involvement.

Since then, I have gone on to create other businesses. One of which is my coaching and consulting business, where I work with businesses and individuals, in small groups and one on one, to help them reach higher levels of success. I recently completed my first book, and I do a handful of success seminars per year in various locations around the world. And in my spare time, I offer free success coaching on my blog.

I hope the information I share will do at least as much for you as it has done for me. If you're hungry, it's time to eat.

How can I serve you?