Meet Eddie Francis

We recently connected with Eddie Francis and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Eddie, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?

Three things come to mind: 1) my high school alma mater, 2) public speaking, and 3) stand-up comedy. I graduated from St. Augustine High School in New Orleans which was founded to serve African American boys. We were encouraged to compete against whoever, whenever, wherever with no fear. My outlet for competition was speech and debate–a phenomenal team. So, it became natural for me to dive right into big situations.

That takes me to public speaking. I’ve done it for nearly 40 years, but I’ve learned so much as a coach! My clients always remind me of what it takes to bear your thoughts to a room full of people. At some point, you’ll question whether or not you’re the person to deliver the message, but you have to take the risk to find out.

Stand-up? There’s only one measurement of success in stand-up–laughter. It looks so easy and fun, I thought! You’ve made your friends laugh for years, they tell you that you should be a comedian, you sign up for an open mic, and you see someone bomb. Then, it becomes real and you realize there are no moral victories in stand-up. So, theeeen you get on stage, you see faces of folks looking at you like, “Make me laugh, funny man.” Then, you realize that you forgot to go to the bathroom. Then, you remember that piece of advice to imagine everyone is naked, which you realize is horrible advice. Then, you wonder who started that crap. Finally, the joke comes out of your mouth and hopefully it works. So, yeah, stand-up is a huge risk. And I’m glad I took it!

Here’s a piece of Eddie trivia. I once opened for Kevin Hart in New Orleans. I had a good set, thankfully.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Edify Ventures provides brand strategy and talent services. I’m really into employer branding for higher ed, because I think that colleges and universities should be the greatest places to work in the world. I’m elated about my first training coming up with a university’s newly created marketing and communications team. I also do brand strategy for individuals through public speaking, personal brand consulting, and resume design. It’s so cool to show a client their personal brand proposition, to show them how well they’ve progressed in their speaking or their redesigned resume and say, “Look at you, you leader, you!”

Where I really get into my work is as a speaker, broadcaster, podcaster, or voice over artist. After so many years of speaking and broadcasting, the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is that anyone can work a microphone, but your audience is really there for the message. They are trusting you to be both credible and compelling. I used think that it was all about my powerful, deep, resonant voice; I’ve always been fortunate enough to get that compliment. But, as a seasoned veteran, I take a lot of pride in making it about the audiences who do me the honor of letting me run my mouth.

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?

There are three qualities that have become part of my core values: resilience, intellectual flexibility, and humor. I was diagnosed, at 53 years old, with Adult ADHD. That helped me figure out why I’ve made so many “silly” mistakes throughout my life. I’ve had to bounce back from those mistakes, and resilience has also help me continue to take risks. At the same time, being intellectually flexible has helped me adapt to just about any situation. But, through it all, I make it a point to laugh at myself. Humor keeps me humble, positive, and grounded in reality.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

This is such a great question. I think it pays to be a bit more well rounded, because we all have blind spots. In my case, for example, I’m a strategist. I’m a 30,000-foot thinker and a visionary. So, my blind spot is project management. I’ve found that out the hard way in leadership roles. Being the resilient character that I am, I did two things. First, I took an online project management course. That helped me get an idea of how to organize my brain. Then, I asked a colleague who teaches project management to help me with a tool. He showed me this magical thing called a kanban board–game changer!

And, hey, I’m not necessarily looking to be a project management expert. There’s way too much happening in the details for me. But I needed to invest in that side of my brain to get stuff done. But, I think we can work in both/and mode. While I’m investing in my project management skills, I continue to develop myself as a strategist. To channel Loki from “The Avengers” movie, I am burdened with glorious purpose (hold for dramatic pause and pensive look to the side).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.eddiefrancis.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eddiefrancis06/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EddieFrancisUnscripted/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddiefrancis/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/augustus06
• Other: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@eddiefrancis06

Image Credits

1. Cfreedom Photography, 2. Cfreedom Photography, 3. Sabree Hill, 4. Rhedeont Photography, 5. American Marketing Association, 6. Cfreedom Photography, 7. Northeast Greek Leadership Association