By Rachel Fagnant-Fassler
This week at CFW Careers, we lost a trailblazer, a mentor, and a devoted husband. David King started our firm in 1973 as a career school for women—a training ground that gave them the tools needed to get into business-to-business sales, make more money than women typically earned, and step into leadership roles that had been reserved for men in generations before.
I met David when I was 22 years old, fresh out of college, starting a Master’s program in New York City. I was completely clueless as to how he would ultimately change my life, as he did for so many people before me. And yet, somehow he’d change mine differently. David’s firm was built on coaching individuals through their careers, helping them think differently about what they could do, and I’d eventually realize that my professional strengths and values aligned with his approach.
I’d ultimately decide to become a part of the company he built, and I’d change it, evolve it, and shape it. David married the love of his life, Cynthia Auman King, the year before I met both of them in the CFW Greenwich Village office. Together, they would become my friends, my professional mentors, and my family. And over time, David would hand off his legacy and work to Cynnie and me, trusting us to go forth, to make it our own.
Though David was nearing the end of his career when I met him, he still loomed large, and he seemed to hand out life-changing wisdom to individuals—both candidates and clients in our business—like it was as easy as making a cup of coffee. We’d get thank you cards and emails gushing about the specific phrase or piece of advice that David had given—how it was invaluable and how it was pivotal to their next career move. I had the good fortune of being there while he’d negotiate with clients or advocate for a candidate, and his confidence was instructive, and infectious, for that matter. His confidence and strength remain a guiding force in my professional life every day. Years into his battle with Alzheimer’s, when Cynnie and I would have a business challenge to solve, we’d ask each other What would David do? and somehow, the answer would surface. So obvious.
When we celebrated our company’s 45th anniversary, we dug through old tapes and notes from David’s early days founding the firm. And the gold nuggets abounded. He was so ahead of his time and spoke with such clarity, it was fun to imagine his words hitting an audience back in 1975 in a stuffy, corporate setting, speaking truth to power without pause. David always felt that being provocative was important to shaking things up, to getting people to pay attention. So he didn't mince words. Though we’ve shared them before, I wanted to highlight my favorite, one that took my breath away when I first read it. Sometime around 1975, he said in a corporate speech:
I think the next great step in the Women's Movement will be the economic step. Every woman should have a career. Every woman should have her own money. As long as you have to ask someone else for your money, you can not be independent and you can not be equal. And when you become economically equal, you will then also become socially, sexually and psychologically equal as well.
While this sentiment may seem obvious now, David was bold at the time, pointing out the unacknowledged to men in corporations who had built a system of inequity. He was right, and it was brave.
I’m so grateful to have met David King back in 2006. And I’m grateful for all the work we’ve done since. As David and Cynnie watched and guided me professionally through formative years, I’ve had the pleasure of guiding other brilliant, talented individuals in the formative days of their careers. It’s been an honor and a privilege to do so. I hope that everyone reading this has the opportunity to be guided, mentored, and inspired the way I have. It’s a gift. David was a gift. Cheers to David. We’ll miss you terribly.
