Why studying how successful comedians made it can help professional coaches and consultants succeed -- and five great examples

Comedians are in one of the toughest entrepreneurial professions there is. Succeeding as a coach or consultant is nothing compared to overcoming the abysmal odds of succeeding as a comedian.

At the same time, coaches and consultants can learn a lot from comedians about how to be spontaneous, present to an audience, incorporate humor, and find our unique voice.

I love listening to interviews with comedians at all stages of their careers, reading books by and about comedians, and watching the many comedy specials you now see on Netflix and other streaming services. When I learn what some of these characters have overcome to achieve success, it makes it much easier to keep moving forward as an executive coach and advisor.

Here are five examples that have inspired me. Please list your own at the end of this article.

One: Kevin Hart. Read Kevin Hart's autobiography, I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons. Those of you who can't help but do the politically correct thing and mention his recent Oscar controversy and past insensitive tweets, go ahead; I don't care and I can't wait until the tide turns on everyone policing everyone else's speech for perfect sensitivity. If you don't like his comedy, go ahead and complain about that, too; I don't love some of his routines either. But his autobiography tells the story of a kid who had no right succeeding in anything. He grew up poor. His dad was crazy. He was failing in school. The only thing he achieved in school was an award for attendance on his swim team. He found this award so pathetic that he gave a speech about it during the award ceremony. It made people laugh and showed him he might have a gift for comedy.

His initial career after high school was selling shoes for Foot Locker, and it looked like that was the best it was ever going to get for him. Somehow he found the perseverance to develop his comedy material at open mike nights. He listened to advice (especially about shifting from telling jokes to telling stories and being himself), and kept moving forward despite being totally broke. Over time, he reinvented some rules about the business model of being a comedian and achieved phenomenal success.

Throughout it all, he remained incredibly -- and I mean incredibly -- positive. Read the book, especially his lessons at the end. He is by no means a perfect figure. In fact, he makes some dumb, nasty, and really poor choices as he goes along. To his credit, he realizes this, admits it, and keeps moving forward. His persistence and positive attitude are inspiring.

Two: Jerry Seinfeld. Everyone knows the successful Jerry Seinfeld. To learn about how he got started, see his Netflix special Jerry Before Seinfeld. In it, he does some of his original jokes in comedy clubs now, to see if they still stand up, while also telling the story of how he succeeded. As with any comedian, Seinfeld inspires most in his early days, when he went to clubs because....well, because he just had to. He kept working and working until he succeeded, and that's what we have to do as coaches and consultants. At the end of the special, he does something amazing: He lays out every piece of paper he ever wrote a joke on. The paper -- all yellow legal pad paper -- fills an entire street across and down. Seinfeld's work ethic is legendary. You can't just be funny to be a comedian. You have to work at it, and work some more, and work some more. The same is true for coaches and consultants. We can't just be good listeners or have good presence. We have to work at it. That's why it is called a practice. Seinfeld embodies the idea of work ethic and practice.

Three: Jim Breuer. Unfortunately for Jim Breuer, most people know him as Goat Boy from Saturday Night Live. However, he is one of the funniest impressionists and story tellers in the world. I recently heard him interviewed by Ron Benington on his Unmasked show on Sirius Radio. On it, he explains that about 10 years ago, he was out with a group of other dads in his hometown. A woman came up to him and said something like, "You're that famous guy, right? I've never seen your act and I never will because you are too dirty." Breuer initially took offense but then realized that if this woman had this reaction to him, then many, many other people must have the same reaction. This, plus the fact that he was now a dad and was in a new phase of his life, caused him to take her comments seriously. In fact, he decided to completely reinvent his act and make it clean. He started watching his stand up tapes and realized how often he inserted swear words that didn't need to be there. He also saw opportunities to tighten things up. Now, 10 years later, he says he is in a really good place. He's found his real voice, and is true to who is is now. The lessons from Jim Breuer: 1). You can always reinvent yourself. 2). It is never too late to find your true voice. 3. Keep making yourself better.

Four: Dave Attell and Colin Quinn. I list these two comedians together because when other comedians, especially out of New York, ask who they most admire and who gave them their first break, they often mention one, the other, or both of them. Dave Attell and Colin Quinn are known not only for their great comedy but for being incredibly generous mentors to the next generation of comedians. They are generous with advice and coaching, generous in opening doors, and generous as advocates for the comedy profession as a whole. I hope more coaches and consultants can be as generous.

Five: Tig Notaro. I realize that I've listed four male comedians and no women until now. One reason is that I don't know too much about the stories of many women comedians; there doesn't seem to be as much content available to read about their journeys. However, one woman that stands out for me is Tig Notaro. See especially her Showtime Special about her post cancer tour, Knock Knock, It's Tig Notaro. Here you meet a comedian who is getting over a double mastectomy, still going through treatments, and still finds the energy to go to random fans' houses and do stand up shows in their front or back yards. That's the kind of courage, heart, and commitment that coaches talk about all the time, but we don't always demonstrate ourselves.

There are many, many more examples. Comedians go through hell to make it, against terrible odds. If you want inspiration as a coach or consultant, study a profession that has some similarities, but where the chances of success are much lower. It will give you resolve.

What about you? Who would you pick as examples from the comedy, entertainment, sports, or other worlds that inspire you in similar ways to move forward?