Meet Grady J. Connolly

Here’s the short version of my story:

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I grew up in a small town in southern Maine in a loving home with my mom, dad, and sister. My parents taught me to put God first, work hard, and pursue work that brought meaning to our lives.

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I’ve been working as long as I can remember, pushing wheelbarrows of mulch for my aunt’s landscaping business at 10, bussing tables at a local restaurant throughout middle and high school, and juggling multiple jobs during college.

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I earned the Archdiocesan Scholarship to The Catholic University of America, one of six full-tuition awards given to incoming students, plus enough private scholarships to cover room and board. It was my dream school, and being able to attend remains one of the great blessings of my life.

While at Catholic U, I fell in love with my faith and with business as a “noble vocation” (to quote Pope Francis).

 

After graduating in 2021 with a B.S.B.A., I took a job in fintech for less than three months, long enough to confirm it wasn’t for me, and pivoted into the creator economy.

After a year at a creator tech startup, I decided to start my own business. In 2022, I founded Social Thomist (named after St. Thomas Aquinas), a social media agency working with Catholic priests, exorcists, and thinkers to evangelize and shape culture through media.

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It’s been anything but boring: building six-figure audiences for exorcists (yes, really), managing TikTok pages for pop artists, having morning tea with the Dalai Lama (twice), and producing content in more than 20 countries.

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I create my own content exploring faith, culture, travel, and human flourishing. I recently finished a four-year pilgrimage to all 94 Catholic minor basilicas in the United States, a journey chronicled in my new book, Basilicas: A Pilgrim’s Guide to America’s Most Remarkable Catholic Churches, published by Ave Maria Press.

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My work has been featured in the National Catholic Register, The Catholic Herald, and ChurchPOP, with appearances on SiriusXM, Newt’s World, and Catholic Faith Network.

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Today, I’m focused on how social media and algorithms can be used for good: to explore meaningful ideas, tell great stories, forge real-world connections, and help build a more human digital world.

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I live in Washington, D.C.