Cordell Brady Franklin has lived enough lives for several people. A state-placing track athlete, military veteran with record-breaking scores, actor in a feature film on Amazon Prime, and someone who spent five years behind bars—he’s now channeling all of it into a practice focused on what he calls “the blueprint for human transformation.”
Operating under both his given name and his artistic moniker FrankLooca$h, Franklin has built his approach around a premise that’s hard to argue with: he’s been there. The Chicago Heights native combines formal training in human behavior therapy and mentorship with what he describes as “radical transparency” about his own path—including his recent release from Vandalia Correctional Center in April 2025 after serving time for aggravated battery and other charges.
The Unusual Resume
Franklin’s background reads like several different people’s LinkedIn profiles stitched together. In his youth, he was a newspaper-recognized baseball star who collected trophies from 2001 to 2007. He placed third at the state level in high jump and both the 4×100 and 4×800 relays. He was a Mathletes and Chess Club champion at what’s now the Michelle Obama School of Technology and the Arts.
After high school, he attended Tougaloo College as a T.A.M.S. scholar, won a third-place creative writing award presented by civil rights activist Hollis Watkins, and eventually left to pursue music and acting. He landed a starring role in “Krank,” available on Amazon Prime. Then came military service: Franklin joined the Army as an 88M Motor Transport Operator and reportedly achieved the highest scores in that specialty’s history. He was selected to sing the National Anthem at his AIT graduation.
The Hard Turn
Between 2020 and 2025, Franklin was incarcerated following a 2020 incident that included a high-speed chase and charges of aggravated battery on peace officers, burglary, DUI, and resisting arrest. He’s open about this period, treating it not as a career footnote but as core material for his work now.
His practice targets what he calls the gap between “clinical science and creative soul.” He offers performing arts-based therapy services designed for high-performers and communities that don’t typically see themselves reflected in traditional therapeutic spaces. He’s written two books, available free through his social media, and he’s pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Colorado Technical University, with an expected graduation in 2028.
Franklin’s pitch is that most mentors offer roadmaps they’ve read in books. He offers a case study he’s lived. Whether that resonates depends on whether you believe the friction between his worlds—military discipline and creative expression, athletic achievement and personal setback—creates something valuable. He’s betting it does, and he’s building his practice around strategic empathy and storytelling to prove it.