2017 40 Under 40 Yearbook: Jeff Jenkins, 44

Then: Executive director and president, Upside Down Creative Group; artistic director, The Skinny Improv  
Now: Owner, El Jenko Comedy Collective; sales associate, American Detection Specialists

Since 2006, Jeff Jenkins has lived in three states, but his passion – and sometimes catharsis – remained focused on entertainment.

“I take aspects of improv and use those for struggles with depression and anxiety,” he says.

The Skinny Improv co-founder relocated to Oklahoma City briefly before moving to Arkansas to help out his parents. He then landed in Chicago, where he was an assistant producer at The Second City comedy club.

Now, three years after he shut down Skinny, Jenkins is back in town developing his next creative venture El Jenko Comedy Collective.