By Jake Sasseville

three years ago
in 2007
i was a fresh faced 21 year old
Overstock.com had just paid me $125,000
Ford was about to pay me $300,000
and give me a car.
I knew nothing.
I was launching my Jake After Jimmy on ABC campaign
and was 3 months before launching after Kimmel in 40 million homes.

the first city i went to
St Louis
i performed with Guster and Brett Dennen at St. Louis university
the crowd roared.
i did an “act”
10 minutes that one of my best friends Manuel Rappard and I
came up with on the plane ride to STL.

it was a beautiful Fall evening
perfect in every way
10,000 kids at SLU
screaming.
I went off stage to get Guster on

I had gotten on the golf card to go lay
in a patch of grass
to come off my high.

the Producer of the show stopped me
“Jake, they are chanting your name,
they need you back out there.”

surreal in every way
my first time out
JAKE JAKE JAKE
unreal.
feels natural to be back
to launch this next phase
of my career
here in St. Louis
in many ways, this is where everything started
and where i learned how to have the courage…
the courage that i would need when i failed.

loving st. louis!