Steve Harvey may be a big-name comedian today, but at one point he was a 27-year-old man supporting his young family as an insurance salesman. Yet once he decided to pursue comedy, he found some roadblocks along the way.
“The day I quit, my boss … he talked me right out of it,” Harvey says in the Monday, Sept. 23 edition of his online segment “Motivated.” “He said, ‘Are you kidding me? You’ve got a family. You put that stuff back on your desk and I’ll give you your job back. But don’t you ever come in here again with something ridiculous. You’re gonna be a comedian?'”
The boss, who said he’d never heard Harvey utter a humorous remark, had punctured the comic’s hopes. But then, a co-worker expressed surprise once Harvey returned to his desk and told him, “He don’t know you. You the funniest dude I know … I told everybody you were leaving today.”
Harvey was inspired to go back into his boss’ office and quit, a decision that the boss said was a “huge mistake.”
“He was right,” Harvey told the audience. “I became homeless. I made a big mistake! That motherf–ker was right. I became homeless. I lived in a car for three years.”
Yet two decades later, that same boss showed up to one of Harvey’s comedy shows in disbelief.
“He was backstage. He said, ‘Oh my God, I always knew you were gonna make it!'” Harvey recalled, adding no one in his family believed in him aside from his father.
“Everybody else told me no. Laughed at me, all kinds of s–t,” Harvey said before making a mocking laugh and gazing around his former talk show studio.
The message was a profound one for fans who happily accepted Harvey’s story as inspiration.
“Lol that laugh at the end was like Haha you was wrong about me look at me now!….don’t let anyone stop you from your dreams guy’s! Dream big!!”
“Amen Steve. It don’t matter if your family don’t believe in you long as you believe in you brother. Be blessed.”
“That laugh in the end was to all his haters😂….Family just wait for you to fail, just use it as motivation.”
“Your story brought tears to my eyes! Good for you, Mr. Harvey! Way to go, man!”
And while “Steve” has been canceled, the comedian remains a staple on TV by hosting “Family Feud” and its spinoff “Celebrity Family Feud.” Additionally, he recently sparked hopes that he’ll return to the talk show circuit after he invested in two cable networks earlier this month.
