Faking the Funk: the energy guy who couldn't ask for help
Larry Long Jr on the smile he wore all the way home, the day his wife told him to stop faking the funk, and learning to receive as much as he gives.
Larry is the kid who got sent to detention for talking, and now he gets paid to talk on stages around the world. He was just practicing. But the part of his story that matters on this show is what the energy covered up. At the office it was a smile for a mile. By the time he got home it was slumped shoulders and halfway depressed, and nobody on either end of that day knew both versions of him.
What finally moved him wasn't a keynote or a framework. It was his wife telling him to stop faking the funk. He had tried to be Superman for years, and the truth he landed on is the one he now teaches: getting unstuck is your choice, but you cannot fake your way out alone. My favorite thread in our conversation is how he met his wife, the best sale of his life, a fake name and a trashed business card and twenty years married since.
He went full-time as a live event speaker the same month live events died, which is the kind of timing that either breaks you or teaches you to know your numbers. The lesson he keeps coaching now is the one he had to learn himself: healthy people ask for exactly what they want, and receiving is a skill, not a debt. The energy is still a choice he makes every day. It is just not a mask anymore.
“Healthy people ask for exactly what they want.”
Notes
- He wore a smile for a mile at work and was halfway depressed by the time he got home.
- His wife telling him to stop faking the funk is what finally moved him, not another pep talk.
- Healthy people ask for exactly what they want, and learning to receive matters as much as giving.
- Getting unstuck is your choice, but you cannot fake your way out alone.