We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Crawford. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.
Chris, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I want to credit my parents for my work ethic. There was never a time that they did not represent hard work, determination and grit in their efforts to provide the best home possible for me and my siblings.
My dad always worked very hard laborious jobs, such as construction, shipyards and steal mills. I even remember an instance while between jobs he chopped cotton for wages that most people would find laughable. He never allowed himself to falter as a provider to the household. This taught me that ensuring your family and financial responsibilities were cared for was priority number one. Hard honest work would always be available to a person who would give their best effort toward what ever task was at hand.
My mother spent many years working in a factory, attacking her task with just as much dedication as my father would his. There came a time when the factory closed and the opportunity to go to school was provided to some of the more long term employees. My mother took that moment to go back to school to get a GED and then press into a medical program which worked her to the point of exhaustion well into the evenings. Her GPA was very high and she reached her goal of becoming an RN despite having a job, being a mom and a full time student. This showed me that when one door shuts another may open. If you are ready to do what it takes to walk through it, it can change your life forever.
My dad gave me a bit of advice. He said that you should always assume that there is someone more talented, smarter and/or more qualified than you. However, you should always be willing to give more effort to the task; always be willing to work harder than the next guy.
Later in life I found what I think is my favorite saying, it is this. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” It reminds me of my father’s message to me: work hard, not everyone does and if you work hard to get where you want to be, there is nothing that can stop you.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am currently an instructor at a military technical school. This is the same school that I graduated from over 25 years ago as I began what would be a 20 year career in the United States Airforce. This job truly feeds my love of public speaking and continued service to my country as I train young Airmen to be true assets to our nation’s military.
I have a son who is a senior in high school, two daughters that are in college pursuing their professional certifications and degrees, a daughter in elementary school and an amazing wife who is a public school teacher and respected member of our community. Being the head of this household, a good husband, and father is my top priority in life and the highest honor.
When not teaching Airmen their tradecraft or spending time with my family, I have a huge focus on all aspects of standup comedy performance and promotion. My experience in comedy has been insane; I have learned from strong mentors and amazing experiences. I have traveled all over, meeting and performing for people from all walks of life and sharing in their joy and laughter as they enjoy a night out / break from their stressors.
Though I find making people smile and laugh truly satisfying to my soul, standup has made me a stronger public speaker, has made me a better instructor, and helped me both entertain and embarrass my wife and kids appropriately.
Being able to find the funny in the world around me and share it with others is fantastic, particularly when used to help out the community. The perfect show to me is one that has brought joy to people and raised funds that will in turn be used to help others within the community.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Compartmentalization: You have to keep your profession, family and extra pursuits separate from one another and prioritize them correctly.
Give each part of your life the correct level of effort and respect required to do it justice.
Set goals and work towards them. Accomplishment of goals is what will determine success not the approval of others.
Remember: “Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard” Do not get out worked.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Contributing to the community / helping other is so important to me. Comedy is fun but it is way more satisfying to me when I know that I have had a genuine impact that reaches beyond the moment of laughter that we share and into the community that we live in.
I am looking to work with organizations that could see a night of laughter as a way to impact the community in a positive way or agents that specialize in pairing performers with such organizations.
Email: Christopher.M.Crawford1@gmail.com
Website: https://chriscrawfordscomedy.com/
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chriscrawfordscomedy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopher.m.crawford1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ccrawford/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGfKOiPVxYZ-KwTlbUeI9pA
Image Credits
Jenni Moore Photography Alexis Crawford Gibbs Saad
