My guest today is Ken Ott. Ken was introduced to me by our mutual friend Brandon Alexander. In 2017, Ken found himself in a dark place after some drastic life changes impacted his mental health. However, a failed suicide attempt gave Ken hope, and since then he has found opportunities to reach out to other men, including his own son, who were in similar dark places. This conversation comes with a trigger warning because we "have the hard conversation" and talk about depression, suicide, and similar painful topics. More importantly, we talk about how desperately men need connection and need to find healthy ways to unashamedly express their true selves in the world.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Ken is a father to one son and two daughters, whom he describes as his "constant source of light" and the "stars" that give him guidance no matter how much his own darkness threatens to swallow him up. His children give him the courage to share his journey and be himself, flaws and all, so that they can learn and hopefully not repeat or inherit the mistakes of their father. It's a focus on breaking the generational curses that can appear. Ken works as a manager of a team focused on process improvements and optimization.
When not at work, he loves to fish, read, and watch anime, along with working on getting a few more tattoos, and trying to understand the dating world. Ken is focused on figuring out what to do with his story. He hopes that in sharing this podcast, it will be the starting point to finding ways to prevent and shape others from the "death of a thousand papercuts" that leads many men to think suicide is the only decision left to make.
