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Recently I spoke with Frank King about topics ranging from chasing your dreams to entrepreneurship to suicide. Frank King is a Suicide Prevention speaker and Trainer was a writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years.
Frank decided to become a comedian while he was in the fourth grade. He told a joke in front of the entire class and they laughed, and the teacher said it was hysterical. He was hooked. After years in the drama club, he was left with no spoken lines and always being in the chorus. Then he discovered stand-up comedy. He realized stand-up comedy would allow him to write his own ticket because he could write his own act, secure his live gigs, and do whatever he wanted. He went on to win the school’s talent show his senior year.
Frank had a big idea and decided to run with it. Unfortunately, his first wife was against a comedy career and wanted Frank to go into the insurance industry instead. When Frank speaks to entrepreneurship classes or organizations he has a few key pieces of advice for them. The first on is if you have a big idea to start your own company share that idea with your significant other immediately. Look them square in the eye and say “I’m not kidding, this is what I’m going to do. Are you in or are you out?” The second piece of advice for budding entrepreneurs is when you’re getting started don’t buy a new car or condo. Move back into your parent’s basement if you have to so you can keep your expenses as low as possible.
Another key piece of Frank’s journey is that he has a history of suicidal tendencies and depression, both run in his family. The disagreements in his marriage only added to his issues. At that point he decided to get divorced, quit his insurance job, and began to chase his dream to make a living in comedy.
Listen In!
During our discussion we go on to talk about:
- How Frank dealt with and still deals with depression and suicidal tendencies and why he now speaks about suicide prevention.
- How Frank and his new girlfriend took a BIG chance and went on the road for 2,629 stand-up comedy nights in a row, which is just over seven years.
- More advice about the correlation of stand-up comedy and entrepreneurship.
- The rest of Frank’s story including booking $200,000 in corporate comedy gigs in one year to bankruptcy to bouncing back again and how he did it.
- …and more golden nuggets of advice. (15:00)
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About The Guest
Frank King, Suicide Prevention speaker and Trainer was a writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years.
He’s fought a lifetime battle with Major Depressive Disorder and Chronic Suicidality, turning that long dark journey of the soul into five TEDx Talks and sharing his lifesaving insights on Mental Health Awareness with associations, corporations, and colleges.
Depression and suicide run in his family. He’s thought about killing himself more times than he can count.
A Motivational Public Speaker who uses his life lessons to start the conversation giving people permission to give voice to their feelings and experiences surrounding depression and suicide.
And doing it by coming out, as it were, and standing in his truth, and doing it with humor.
He believes that where there is humor there is hope, where there is laughter there is life, nobody dies laughing. The right person, at the right time, with the right information, can save a life.
