COMBS, Patrick

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: San Francisco State University, B.A., 1989.

ADDRESSES:

Home—San Diego, CA. Office—Good Thinking. Co., 3707 Fifth Ave., No. 140, San Diego, CA 92103; fax: 619-295-2779. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

Author, consultant, and motivational speaker. Has worked for Levi Strauss & Co. and GEO Group (corporate training company), as well as part-time and temporary jobs, including manager of a rock band, testing video games for Electronic Arts, guest reporter for television programs Hard Copy and Real TV, spokesperson for 1997-98 Visa Success Tour, and television personality on Career Advantage, Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Has performed as a stand-up comic at HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and as a performer in ne-man show Man 1 Bank 0. Has appeared on television talk shows, including Good Morning America, Montel Williams, The Late Show, and Donahue.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Inducted into Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame.

WRITINGS:

Major in Success: Make College Easier, Beat the System, and Get a Very Cool Job, Ten Speed Press (Berkeley, CA), 1994, 3rd edition, foreword by Jack Canfield, 2000.

(With Justin Boudreau & Friends) Gearing Up (Inside & Out) For a Great Life: A Smart Guide for High School, Light Matrix Books, 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

Patrick Combs is a motivational speaker, personal coach, and author. He has been a reporter for the television shows Hard Copy and Real TV, and has been a lecturer on career, personal growth, and success topics in areas throughout the country. He continues to communicate with current and potential clients with his company, Good Thinking Co., and his Web site, goodthink.com. A writer on the Patrick Combs Home Page reported that Combs has logged more than 1,000 speaking engagements at businesses such as Shell, Motorola, and Visa, and at universities such as Stanford University, Babson College, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Combs's first book, Major in Success: Make College Easier, Beat the System, and Get a Very Cool Job, gives prospective and current college students practical advice on how to succeed in college and in life. The book includes success stories and profiles of people who have achieved their dream careers. Combs discusses four steps to finding success: attend college, determine the kind of work that gives you satisfaction, develop the skills and experiences necessary to increase your worth in the work world, and develop good work habits to make your dream job a reality. Combs encourages students to "Do things that increase your enjoyment of life."

Combs told CA: "Major in Success is full of tips and strategies for college students. It goes into detail, from a peer's point of view, of how students can become a major success in college and life."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Major in Success: Make College Easier, Beat the System, and Get a Very Cool Job, Ten Speed Press (Berkeley, CA), 1994.

PERIODICALS

New York Times, August 20, 1995, p. 1.

ONLINE

Patrick Combs Home Page,http://www.goodthink.com (October 4, 2004).

University of California Berkeley Career Center Web site,http://career.berkeley.edu/ (October 4, 2004), review of Major in Success: Make College Easier, Beat the System, and Get a Very Cool Job.*