We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Darren LaCroix. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Darren below.
Alright, Darren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?
After four years of business school, I went for the American dream. I bought a very popular franchise. The only way I could get a loan fresh out of school and no experience running a business was a franchise. I was excited. I dreamed of being a multi-unit owner and subsequently a multi-millionaire.
A year in, I was losing money and I had to get a day job to pay my employees so I did not default on my loan. I was also working 90 hours a week between my shop and my day job. It was brutal.
Six months later I had to sell the business at a loss. I was devastated. I now still had a business loan to pay off, but no business. I ended up getting a job as a telemarketer to figure out what I was going to do with my life.
Upon reflection my ego had gotten in the way and I thought I knew better than the success system.
Darren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Thanks to my business loss, my friend gave me a motivational tape of a man named Brian Tracy. He asked a question, “What would you dare to dream if you knew you wouldn’t fail.”
My answer? I’d be a comedian! One problem. I wasn’t funny. I was an introvert and had never been on stage before. That week I worked up the courage to try it once. Because of my failure, I had nothing to lose. I couldn’t live with the regret of wondering, “What if?” What if he was right?
I worked up the courage to walk into a comedy club for the first time and asked the headliner that night for advice. He asked it I was funny. I replied, “No!” He said, “Good!” Good? He went on to explain that being a class clown around friends and family, that is one skill set. If you put a clown in front of a group of strangers, they couldn’t make them laugh. That is a different skill set and that one can be learned. What? He handed me an ounce of hope. He told me what books to get and visit open mic nights and watch others just starting out. I did.
In 1992 I took the stage at a Boston comedy club and bombed miserably. I got one laugh by accident and I was hooked. I didn’t care how long it took, I was going to figure it out! I was hooked. No one told me I could do this. I took every class that I could and found every mentor I could.
I was taught the number one habit was “Stage time.” I was told any day I don’t get on stage is a day I wouldn’t grow. What? Don’t I have to be good? No, you have to go up to get good. I took it to heart. I used the persistence I learned from my failure and applied it to what I desired. In fact, I would drive 2.5 hour hours to Portland, Maine to go on stage for five minutes for free and go back to go to my day job the next morning.
I never looked back. In 1994 I discovered speaking. For many years I did both getting on stage as often as I could. Fast forward to 2001 I found myself competing against 25,000 contestants from 14 countries in the World Championship of Public Speaking. Thanks for hard work, years of experience and great coaching, I won.
Now, along with my coach, World Champion Speaker, Mark Brown, we help good presenters become UN FORGETTABLE. We wrote a book: Deliver Unforgettable Presentations and host a podcast as well. He have trained presenters and executives in 45 international cities and every state in the U.S.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
In 2001, when I was competing in the World Championship of Public Speaking I was competing at the semi-finals in Farmington, CT. I was excited, if I win here, I get to compete in the World Championship. The Keynote speaker at the convention was the 1995 World Champion, Mark Brown. I eagerly sat in the front row and wrote down every word he said. I was competing later that day. He was inspiring and obviously brilliant.
At the end of the conference, I competed. I won. My coach Dave looked me dead in the eye, walked me over to introduce me to Mark and said, “Darren, I can’t take you where I have not been.” He had never been to the big dance himself and wanted me to be coached by someone who had “been there and done that.”
Now, I had to write a brand new speech for the finals. When I first started working with Mark I drove 2.5 hours to New York to work with my coach. I was so excited, based on his process I wrote the greatest speech I had ever written. I could not wait to show Mark.
He looked at the first version of my new speech, shook his head and said, “Oh Darren, we have some work to do.” WHAT? Are you kidding me! That was the best I had. I was upset. After I calmed down, I realize my ego got in the way. I needed a humbling. I had an epiphany. I had just wanted a pat on the head and to impress him. I wasn’t truly interested help. I wanted approval. Big lesson learned, “If you aren’t coaching, there is no cure.”
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I started in 1992 with no talent, experience or stage presence. It took me nine years to be able to quit my day job and become a full-time professional speaker. I took my experience and now inspire people with my story from Chump to Champ and turned it into a book 17 Minutes to Your Dream, How to Get the Breakthroughs You Need.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://darrenlacroix.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darren.lacroix
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarrenLaCroix
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenlacroix/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DarrenLaCroix
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/stagetime
- Other: https://www.stagetimeuniversity.com