43+ Years
As a Financial
Advisor
$135M-$140M
Client assets under management
first Blind Person
To Earn m.a. in economics from UVA
43+ Years
As a Financial
Advisor
$135M-$140M
Client assets under management
first Blind Person
To Earn m.a. in economics from UVA
Motivational Speaker
For schools, corporations, & conferences
43+ Years
As a Financial
Advisor
$135M-$140M
Client assets under management
first Blind Person
To Earn m.a. in economics from UVA
Motivational Speaker
For schools, corporations, & conferences
- About
Meet Christopher Harvey
My parents both grew up on family farms with my dad one of 8 siblings and my mother one of 9 of siblings. So I was not born with the proverbial “silver spoon” in my mouth and have to earn everything I Have accomplished in life on my own. My childhood was very good with my parents taking us camping, fishing, hunting, the beach and the like.
The entrepreneur within
I was a born entrepreneur starting with tie dyeing T-shirts in our basement at age eight then sold Christmas cards door to door in the month of July. I moved on to mowing lawns and delivering newspapers on my bicycle. At age 12 I had my first job working in hothouses for $2.35 an hour. I put myself through college as a meat cutter and a heating and air conditioning mechanic prior to losing my sight.
Age 8
Tie-Dyed
T-Shirts
Age 11
Sold Christmas
Cards
Age 12
Mowed Lawns & Delivered Papers
Age 12
Had First Job In
Hothouses
Athletic Achievements
In high school I was All-County defensive tackle when we were county champs my senior year. We were 10 wins and one loss and I led Howard County with eleven fumble recoveries and averaged eleven tackles per game. Those were the good old days, especially when I learned that I made All-County football team and also that I was named to the National Honor Society in a single day.
all-county
defensive tackle
howard county
champions
11 fumble
recoveries
national honor
society
The defining moment
may 6,
1980
the day everything
changed
I was renting a house with two housemates at 221 W. Antietam Street in Sharpsburg, Maryland. A young man living in his parent’s basement diagonally across from our house came home drunk from the local tavern and took his 30-30 Marlin hunting rifle and started shooting at houses and cars parked on the street.
One of the shots penetrated the wall next to me while studying for a final exam the next day. The bullet pierced the front wall on my left next to me near where I was studying. That bullet entered the outside of my left eye, behind the bridge of my nose and out the far right corner of my right eye, which instantly and permanently severed my optic nerves.
I was transported to Hagerstown Hospital and flown from there to the Wilmer Eye Clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The Maryland Medivac helicopter was down for repairs. So they put me in a bubble on the landing skid and fed wires from me into the ordinary helicopter. If it were not for bad luck I was not having any luck at all that evening.
I awoke to the paradigm shift the next day in my hospital bed and I felt all my goals and dreams were destroyed. I asked myself who would hire a blind man, more or less even marry me. Eventually I still went on to achieve more than I could have expected or imagined.
“You do not have to like something to accept it, but you need to accept it to conquer it.”
The medical staff and psychiatrist at Wilmer Eye Clinic urged me to take a couple of years to deal with PTSD, then go to the Maryland School of Rehabilitation for the Blind to help me learn to dress and eat.
I declined their advice because I wanted to get back on track with my life as soon as possible. I wanted to be as much the person I was prior to the accident and was determined to be the leader to help my family move forward with my new life.
God knew this would happen to me in this fallen world, so built me with a type A over-achiever, extroverted personality to overcome it.
inspiring others through adversity
I have been the commencement speaker for a half dozen high school graduation ceremonies, Keynote speaker for opening of a new high school and they asked me to speak at their first graduating class.
I also have been the motivational speaker for corporations like Pfizer Pharmaceutical and other regional conferences.
breaking barriers
I attended the University of Virginia where I became the first blind person to earn a Master of Arts in Economics from UVA.
Turns out I would become the first blind person to do many things.
the greatest blessings
I met my bride Stephanie on a blind date, as you may have guessed. We now have three adult children and five grandchildren.
A career built on trust
43 Years
As a Financial
Advisor
$135M- $140M
Client assets under management
2025
Sold Ameriprise Financial Franchise and Retired
I was blind 46 years and the last 43 years I was a financial advisor. In 2025 I sold my Ameriprise Financial franchise and retired from the industry, managing $135 to $140 million dollars of client assets.
the next chapter
I started The Blind Broker Show financial Podcasts in 2026 in order to share my accumulated knowledge of financial industry.
Ready To Learn More?
Explore The Blind Broker Show and discover the lessons, resilience, and financial wisdom behind Christopher Harvey's remarkable journey.