Suicide, the Secret of My Success
The Riches Are in the Niches
Frank King is a professional comedian who has worked with Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, and Robin Williams, was a writer for Jay Leno and the Tonight Show for 20 years and is a Suicide Prevention as a Workplace Health and Safety Issue speaker and trainer.
I know what you're thinking, "A comedian, speaking on Suicide, how does that work?"
Well, depression and suicide run in his family. It's called generational depression and suicide. His grandmother died by suicide, his great aunt died by suicide, and he himself has come very close to ending his life.
It was April 2010, he and his wife lost almost everything in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and he came near enough to dying by suicide that he says, "I can tell you what the barrel of my gun tastes like."
Spoiler alert, he didn't pull the trigger. A friend who was in the audience for one of his keynotes, came up after and asked, "Hey dude, why didn't you pull the trigger?" To which Frank replied, "Hey dude, could you try to sound a little less disappointed?"
I know what you're thinking, "Is there really anything funny about depression and suicide?"
Comedians will tell you that you can make fun of any group to which you belong. Frank is double qualified to speak and joke on the topic. He has major depressive disorder, and chronic suicidality.
Ironically, it wasn't until he came close to ending his life, that he realized what was to become the purpose of his life.
Shortly after his close call, someone gave Frank a copy of speaker and speaker coach, Judy Carter's book, "The Message of You, How to Turn Your Life Into a Money Making Speaking Career," in which she suggests that what audiences want to hear is not your successes, but your messes and stresses, and how you overcame.
Inspired by her book, Frank went from being a funny speaker, to a speaker who is funny, from simply making a living speaking, to, as Judy says, making a living and a difference speaking. It turned his business completely around.
What followed was four TEDx Talks (number five will be in February at TEDxSantaClarita in Monterey, CA in February), and the creation of his brand, The Mental Health Comedian.
Among speakers there is a saying, "the riches are in the niches." Frank has chosen a niche, within a niche, within a niche, and it has streamlined his marketing, and allowed him to raise his fee from $3,500 a day, to $7,500.
Mental health is a niche, depression and suicide prevention are a niche within the mental health niche, and Suicide Prevention as a Workplace Health and Safety Issue, is a niche within the Suicide Prevention niche.
As a speaker, he's no longer just comic relief for corporations and associations, he's possible financial relief for US businesses who, according to a https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/the-growing-economic-burden-of-depression-in-the-u-s/ for every dollar spent treating depression, an additional $4.70 is spent on direct and indirect costs of related illnesses, and another $1.90 is spent on a combination of reduced workplace productivity and the economic costs associated with suicide directly linked to depression.
It's no laughing matter, unless you're The Mental Health Comedian.