Joseph Samuel Girardi (November 1, 1928 – February 28, 2019), better known as Joe Girard, was an American salesman, motivational speaker, and author.
[a] Girard later became a successful motivational speaker, and gave regular presentations for corporate clients including General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, and Kmart.
Girard was the son of Antonino Girardi, "an extremely poor man of Sicilian birth"[2] and his wife, Grace Stabile, a homemaker.
The then 35-year-old Girard walked into a Detroit car dealership and begged a skeptical sales manager for a job as a salesman.
He then became an author and public speaker, using books and in-person presentations to share his sales techniques.