Jeff Foxworthy
Atlanta, GA USA
"Everybody’s got a name and a story. Mine isn’t any more important than yours."
Career Roadmap
Jeff's work combines: Acting & Theatre, Television, and Communicating / Sharing Stories
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
A few months after winning the Great Southeastern Laugh-off in Atlanta, I decided to quit my corporate job at IBM. My mother thought I was crazy and told me I couldn't go through with it. But I didn't want to be 30 years down the road still wondering what life would've been like if I had tried to make it as a comic. Life has a few moments where you need to just hold your nose and jump and that was one of them. I decided to go through with it and it ended up working out.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
I grew up in Hapeville, Georgia.
2.
As a child, I would save my allowance to buy comedy records, memorize them, and perform those bits for my schoolmates, but I didn’t realize that was something I could do for a living.
3.
I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I graduated high school, so I went to Georgia Institute of Technology for college because it was the least expensive and closest to home.
4.
I worked full-time in a grocery store while going to school—after three years of college, I took a break from school because my grades were struggling and I just never ended up going back.
5.
After leaving school, I worked at IBM for five years but the corporate job wasn’t a great fit for me.
6.
Some of my coworkers dared me to enter a contest at the local comedy club and I ended up winning!
7.
Within a few months, I quit my job at IBM to try and make it as a comedian—in eight years, I had done 500 shows.
8.
Since becoming a comedian, I’ve performed as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, worked on a variety of TV shows, and released multiple comedy albums, including ”You Might Be a Redneck If…”
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Parents:
You can't quit your job! What are you thinking?
How I responded:
A few months after winning the Great Southeastern Laugh-off in Atlanta, I decided to quit my corporate job at IBM. My mother thought I was crazy and told me I couldn't go through with it. But I didn't want to be 30 years down the road still wondering what life would've been like if I had tried to make it as a comic. Life has a few moments where you need to just hold your nose and jump and that was one of them. I decided to go through with it and it ended up working out.