Meet The Man

Don’t be deceived by the easy smile, Gary Patti knows more than a little about knockdowns and rebounds. These days as a keynote speaker, life coach, business consultant, and bestselling author, his unique comeback story is teaching others how to stay in the game and win.

Gary was a two-week-old infant when a fractured femur (thigh bone) led to a diagnosis of Osteogenesis Imperfecta—brittle-bone disease. Before he was 12, he would have 80 fractures; as an adult he’d land in a body cast for months at a time. Instead of a sheltered existence, however, Gary’s remarkable life and career came together while mending through 100 broken bones and a dozen-plus surgeries.

In his late teens, the man up for a challenge played wheelchair basketball for the University of Illinois. Post college, he competed at home in New Jersey. Then came his real game: long-distance road races, starting with runs in which he was the only one not on foot. Before companies were building wheelchairs to race, Gary had designed and built his own. By 1977, in the wheelchair mile, he ranked third in the world. Then in 1979 in New Jersey, he opened a 2,500-square foot health club that expanded to a 20,000 sq ft facility. Soon after he became managing-partner of a five-health-club chain.

Calling it “unbreakable hope,” Gary has faced business pressures, bankruptcy, and betrayal from those closest to him. In 2009 he faced down prostate cancer, bringing his unconventional optimism to more kinds of physical healing. To people in businesses, the labor force, marriage, corporate America, school—young and old—his message now is to master the mindset that gives life: the belief that God has blessings and good plans for you.

In 95 percent of the cases people don’t fail, he says, they simply give up. 

In 2023, Gary coauthored the book “Never Give Up” with hall-of-famer Dick Vitale. This book hit best-seller status on the first day it was released. On the strength of his story there, his privilege now, he says, is to lift lives everywhere.

This 4’2” tall man is on a mission. A mission to give you hope. The Unbreakable Hope you need to live the victorious life you were born for. A life of purpose, promise and fulfillment…no matter what your circumstances, your obstacles, or your challenges.

Today Gary reaches business and sales professionals, students from elementary school through college, and all of us simply beat down by life with a message that always resonates. Gary’s delivery is honest, transparent, and engaging. His contagious can-do attitude helps each listener take the necessary steps to go from “No I can’t” to “Yes I can.”

Gary’s passion is to help clients and audiences explore the boundless opportunities that lie within life’s challenges and beyond every obstacle. His life and the lessons he’s learned demonstrate that Unbreakable Hope leads to a vision of the future that holds potential, possibilities, and promise.

Whether engaging one on one, in a small group, or a large audience, Gary’s message helps listeners learn how to:

• Propel Progress
• Develop Dogged Determination
• Fuel Faith, Vision and Confidence
• Achieve and Succeed More, Personally and Professionally

Contact Gary for one-on-one coaching, consulting, or to book Gary for your next event.