Be The Best At The Worst

…Saint Simone Biles blesses us all

But First, A Little Bit Of News:

CHI-TOWN! Come hang out with me! Pretty please with sugar on top? We’re less than two weeks away. We have a kind of amazing turn out already (!!!) but we need YOU there to make it straight up magic! ??

And now, onto the newsletter…?

Being The Best At The Worst

I'm on a mission to have a Boring Girl Summer (if you want in, click here and you too can become boring af). “What’s a Boring Girl Summer?” you ask before passing me an Arnold Palmer (half lemonade, half iced tea, 100% delight).?

This is what a Boring Girl Summer looks like: luxuriating on my truly amazing sofa and watching the Olympics. NOT “sorta” watching The Olympics whilst online shopping whilst stalking my ex on Instagram whilst drinking an eleven dollar smoothie (which, btw, I’ve spent a small fortune on smoothies and I’m pretty unhappy about it). You'd think it would be EASY to sit and watch ONE program at a time, right? WRONG. It’s as tough as making plans with that one friend who’s either always on a work trip, or has a headache, or “already made plans months ago.” Is she trying to send me a message?

My mind focused on the TV, I was able to really take in the ICON Simone Biles do her warm-up, and I couldn’t help but wonder:

1. HOW CAN THE HUMAN BODY DO THIS?
2. Seriously. Can MY human body do this???
3. This is all so complicated, where did Saint Simone start?

Because let’s be real, we all have to start somewhere.

Watching greatness like Simone’s from afar - or up close like when I was working on Key & Peele starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele - makes everything look freaking EASY. These people are PROS - at the top of their game - they make the impossible seem inevitable. But, if we take a step back, we see that these artists spent YEARS (if not decades) doing extremely hard work before they got to this level. They all had to be the best at the worst before they could be the best of the best.

What Does "Be The Best at the Worst" Mean?

The idea started during my internship at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (yes, he’s amazing IRL, and YES I am beyond thrilled he’s back).?

I was in an intern meeting with Jon (and no, I’m not on a first name basis with him but we can pretend!) when another intern asked [Jon] what his first ‘big break’ was. Jon very quickly, very firmly responded: “There are no big breaks. There are only a series of tiny, little breaks. The key is to work your hardest and do your best at every little break.”

I took this to heart. While my fellow interns looked for the big break of being “discovered” by doing comedy bits in the halls (annoying The Daily Show staff), I focused on cleaning (and fixing) the single most important piece of equipment in any creative environment: the coffee machine. It was small but indispensable. I thought it could be my little break!

I don’t know if it was cleaning the coffee machine or my polite quietness that impressed the producers, but at the end of the semester, they helped me get an entry-level job at Comedy Central. The rest of my career sprung directly from that decision to be the best at something that seemed like the worst.

Back To Saint Simone

Flash back to me on the sofa, trying to keep my summer boring and watching Simone flip her way into history…I’m reminded that greatness always has humble beginnings. Saint Simone HAD to have a gymnastic equivalent to the coffee machine which led her to learn skill after skill until she became the best of the best.?

Let's be the best at whatever we do, no matter how small it seems at the start. In a best-case scenario, someone cool will notice. In a worst-case scenario, you will notice and feel pride knowing you are doing a good job, even if the task sucks. Simply put: Start where you are without worrying too much about how far you have to go.

What do you think?

I want to hear from YOU! What’s your coffee machine? Where are you on your career journey? What do you think of this advice? Helpful or doesn’t feel right in 2024? I want to know what you think!

T$ Stamp of Approval:

• Read: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. This is one of my favorite books EVER - I’ve read it 3x! In it, Lori Gottlieb takes us into the therapy sessions of her patients, but also, into her own therapy sessions with her therapist. There’s so much wisdom packed in one, highly entertaining book!?
• Watch: THE OLYMPICS ON PEACOCK! GET PEACOCK! Or as my BFF LoPo refers to it, “The Cock.” Not only does this app have ALL of the Real Housewives franchises, their coverage of the Olympics has been stellar. This is the bet “TV app” I have. It took one year of LoPo reminding me before I got it - a year I’ll never get back. Please don’t follow my mistake.

Glow Getter Of The Week:

I’m highlighting one Glow Getter each week who deserves some SHINE. These folks? are members of my paid community who show up, heal themselves, journal, and have committed to having a Boring Girl Summer with me. Come join us!?

Glow Getter Paige: “I am a mental health therapist from Akron, Ohio. I found out about your page through your books - they were completely life changing for me! I have CPTSD and your writing on reparenting has been so empowering and freeing to me! I love your writing & this community because of how down to earth and real it is - being a therapist I can get tired of “clinical” language and I feel like it’s helpful to find writers/communities where people are just talking honestly about real life.”

?Reason For Joining Glow Getters: “I am pregnant with my first baby and wanted some accountability to continue committing to myself and my own growth despite all the changes coming :)”?

Cheers to being the best at the worst,

T$