January 14, 2022 • 23 mins
Amanda Seales is a multifaceted creative. She is a comedian, actress, writer, singer, producer, podcast host, and activist.
You may have seen her in HBO's Insecure, her very own standup special "I be Knowing." In addition, she is the creator and host of the variety game show "Smart, Funny, and Black" and the host of the insightful podcast "Small Doses."
Amanda drops the much-needed gems to anyone seeking to better themselves and career changes. She gives us a brief overview of her career as a child actor. The commitment performers have to their craft. Her idols in the business and how she became a brand herself.
Host IG: @itstanyatime
Guest IG: @amandaseales
Website: Smart Funny and Black
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Money Movers. Welcome back to Money Moves, the daily
podcast determined to give you the keys to the Kingdom
of financial stability, wealth and abundance. Our next guest is
the multitalented Creative that She is an actress, a comedian,
(00:23):
a writer, a producer and activist, and a singer. She
hosts a weekly podcast titled Small Doses, and she is
the creator and host of the variety game show Smart,
Funny and Black. You may have seen her as one
of the hosts on the talk show The Real, or
on HBO's Insecure, and her very own stand up special
I'd be Knowing Money Moves. Please welcome the multifaceted Queen
(00:46):
Amanda Seals to the show. It. Oh yes, Queen, I
love it. I saw that crown. Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to have you here. You are such
a gift and I have laughed and chuckled and had
some really deep conversations with you in my head, following
you on Instagram and on the real as well. So
(01:07):
it is such a pleasure to have you here today.
Appreciate you. I'm glad that I'm sparking thought. Oh, you
are certainly sparking thought. Sister, and we are so many
of us are behind you, rooting for you, cheering for you,
and grateful for the conversations and the seeds and the
gems that you plant in so many of our heads. Um.
But I'm just grateful for the time you're giving us today,
and we want to get a chance to sort of
(01:29):
understand a little bit about your journey. You're such a
multitalented um being in this world. So take us back
to young Amanda as a child. You know, you started
as a minor role in film, and here you are
role on me. You know, it was a big deal
for me because that film, being in Cop and I
have got me my sad card. He won't too. Now,
(01:52):
you're right, you're right, you're right. Let me give you
your praise, I will say, I will say. Tell us
about it though, because Cop and I half I remember
that that was totally in my day. I remember that
film for sure, for sure, for sure. So tell us
how you got your start in acting. I actually started
dancing at Disney when I was eight. I was in
(02:14):
a show called The Sparkling Christmas Spectacular. It was just
like you know, advertising the newspaper. We went, we auditioned,
I got it, and that was all she wrote. Because
like the kids who were already involved in the show,
they had already been on the acting track, so they
had headshots and agents and whatnot, and so my mom
took tips from them and we kind of set forth
(02:34):
and very quickly I was able to start booking stuff.
And at that time, Nickelodeon had a headquarters in Orlando,
so you know, it just allowed me to get into
the mix of things and fast forward. And that was
like I was on my brother and Me on Nickelodeon,
which was the first black show on Nickelodeon, And and
that was all she wrote. I mean, I just kind
of became a child actor, but it wasn't really taking
(02:58):
over my life, but it was a big part of
my jerse. And so not only as a child actor,
you're also a competitive gymnast. And I think this speaks
to like the drive it takes to succeed in this world,
and like we're one of the things we love to
talk about on Money Moves is how we can help,
you know, inspire and sort of set the roadmap for
success for so many not just in terms of securing
(03:19):
the bag and making Money Moves, but also in the
success of their careers. So what was it about you,
um that sort of instilled this drive from an early
age to pursue acting as well as competitive gymnastics. I mean,
my mom was always very much into like just putting
me in stuff. UM. I really get frustrated when I
see parents who are like, oh, I just don't want
(03:41):
to be bothered driving my kid to this particular lesson
or oh, you know I need I need knee time,
and it's like, well, you had knee time before you
had this person. Now it's like you need to understand
that there's a balance that has to happen. And I
know I don't have kids, but I say that as
the child of somebody who really made it their business
to put me for and that allowed me to develop
(04:02):
into a person who has the ability to help others
and help myself. And my mom put me in a
lot of different things, and that allowed me the opportunity
to learn that, like, you can try things and not
like them and try something else. You know, it taught
me about falling down and getting back up. You know
that it's not really failing, it's lessons. Um, these are
(04:24):
all things it taught me. Discipline, because these are all
things that have been able to carry me through. And
I'm in a business where it's very unwieldy, it's very unrelenting,
and it's very uncertain, and so the only thing I
can really depend on is me. And so by the
teachings that I had through going you know, through being
a part of these different activities and the different coaches
(04:47):
I had and instructors I had, I got lessons that
helped me to really know my full capabilities and have
confidence that has carried me through. I love that come
on Mom's with the early stage life lessons and I mean,
I just love of the back now. Really I love
the background of of sports as well because I feel
like it teaches so much determination and perseverance and you
(05:08):
know it really and I played sports as a kid too,
and I feel like it really helped me to set,
you know, the tone for how I was going to
be driven and approach things in life as well. And responsibility, right,
because you're not just responsible to yourself, you responsible to
your team, you know, to your coaches. And for me,
my my sport beyond gymnastics when I went to high school,
(05:28):
my sport was theater. I mean theater at my school, Dr.
Philip High School in Orlando was treated with the same
up all our basketball yes, so we had to show up.
We had to show up for our classmates. We had
to represent our school for two seven six. We had
to be a part of the administration of the theater,
(05:49):
like everything was happening because we have students were empowered
to make sure it happened. And when you learn that
responsibility and accountability at an early age, I really do
think it. You carry that with you and people respect
you for it. No, and I appreciate you calling it
a sport because for some reason, I feel like that
hits with a lot of people. People think, oh, you're
a comedian or you're an actor. It's this natural talent
(06:11):
that you can just wake up every day, show up
on set and just do your thing. But it's it's
a job. It's an experience. It is like university one
oh one. You know it's it's it takes work, dedication,
and practice. Let me tell you, anybody I went to
high school with will tell you. And my high school
is very well known, like Wayne Brady went to my
high school. Joyful tone for Louis Fonsee, Like I have
(06:34):
a very there's a there's a solid roster from Dr
Ja khalid Um. Wow. We you know, for those of
us who came to the theater theater program, it wasn't
just like oh, we're here and we're amazing. No, you
had to work, You had to rehearse, you had to edit,
you had to you know there there, you had to
(06:55):
take take else you may not get gass in this. Yeah,
and there was a drive that all of us had
to being our best and we had a deep bench.
So we also needed to make sure that we were
not just like you were performing because you'll get picked
off the people here they are just as good as you,
(07:15):
if not better. And if they're not as good as you,
they're working harder than you. So yet it together. So
I think that all of that has helped me too
to really sustain and to to be able to pivot
because I've had a love I've had a number of
different career spaces that people have known me in um
and it wasn't they weren't hobbies, they were professional spaces
(07:36):
they had Again, they weren't hobbies, they were professional spaces.
I mean, but these are the things that I love
people to understand when they peel back the layers and people,
these aren't just hobbies. It's you know, you intentionally go
in and you build like expertise and wisdom over years,
and it's okay to pivot and do something else, but
you're just gonna be the best in another arena for
some time. Like that's that's really incredible, And that was
(07:58):
a full DJ for a time, you know, Like I
was DJing every night a week for a time, and um,
you know that was not something I took lightly. Uh
you know, I would say like in the contrast, I'm
a painter, and yes I have sold paintings, but I
purposely don't present my being a painter as a part
(08:19):
of my professional landscape because I don't want to have
to deal with what comes along with making creative spaces commercial, right,
Like you know when you say on TV shows, it's like, yeah,
I know you like this, but that may not be
with the market wants. So when you're painting and you
have to do that, it's it's sometimes you know, it's annoying.
You're like, I just want to people don't want to paint. Yes,
(08:39):
So I've been lucky enough to be able to keep
that space protected. But no, like I mean, I'm an actor.
I was a whole spoken word poet for years, you know,
I lecture at colleges, like all of these spaces were
not things that I stumbled into comedy being a stand
up like it used to just hurt my feelings when
(09:00):
people would be like, you know, you can't dabble with business,
like how dare you? What? How? I would never and
you can't. That's the other thing, right you buying in
the dabble you can't. Yeah, you won't make it. And
that's the thing about excellence, And that's why I love
talking to you know, successful people in all varieties. Like
it's about excellence and time and dedication to the craft.
(09:23):
And I just hope that so many in the Money
Moves audience listens to this and really understands what it
takes to get to the caliber and levels that we are.
And it's hard work. But at the same time, um,
you know, you come across a ton of pitfalls on
the way. And one of the things that I think
you've been really successful at is you turned Amanda Sales
into a brand into a business. No matter what facet
(09:44):
we're looking at, what was it about like, how did
you get the business mindset to mix in with achieving
all of these different facets of your success. So there
was a time frame in my early thirties, like thirty
one to thirty three, thirty four, where I really just
(10:08):
didn't know what I wanted to do. I had been
so immersed in hip hop for the last ten years
and that was always just like where I wanted to be.
But but the game and the music had started changing
and it really didn't feel like home anymore. And I
started readdressing like well, reassessing, well, what is it that
you're about where your passions lie? And I remember eventually
(10:30):
just realizing that I wanted to have a career where
I could speak and be myself because everyone was telling
me like, oh, you gotta get the white girls to
like you. Oh you gotta get the gays to like you.
You gotta get this person, you gotta be the it girl.
And it was just like it felt like I was
gonna have to be somebody else sportunism, yeah exactly, in
order to do that. And I was like, no, Like,
(10:50):
I just want to be me. And I started looking
at the career patterns of individuals who I respect and
who regarded. And I know that these three may not
seem like they line, but Ellen de Generous, Chulsea Handler,
and Chris Rock are all very unique in what they do.
But they have something similar where they have built a
multimedia mobiledum based on their point of view. So it's
(11:13):
not just based on like some books they wrote, it's
not based on a movie they were in. It's based
on what they think about things. So when you look
at all of those people, they have live TV. I'm sorry,
they have live shows. They have television, they have movie,
they have books, uh, they have specials, all of these things.
And I saw all of these things that they were
doing and I was like, the only thing they're doing
that I'm not doing, or that I'm not able to do,
(11:35):
I should say, was stand up. Because I could write,
I could host, I'm saying I could act, but I
couldn't do stand up. And I was like, in order
for you to endear people to your voice as a humorist,
you need to start there first, because that is the
most raw space where you can demonstrate that. And that
was what I knew I needed to do, and I
(11:56):
kind of just put it out in the universe and
then it just showed up. And when the opportunity aim,
I knew that I had to step up, and luckily
I did not bomb. And I kept following that path,
and I you know, I did my I did my
dues and stand up, I did my open mics, and
I did my my little shows in the basement of
a Chinese restaurant and low speedl you know what I'm saying,
(12:17):
Like you do all the things. But there's a phrase
that someone told me once. I can't remember who told me,
but I live by it, and it's you can't stick,
you can't skip steps. It's so true, but you can
speed them up. Yep. That's the part that I feel
like a lot of people don't remember. They don't remember
(12:37):
that second part when they're maybe changing gears and career,
you know, or they're trying to level up. It's it
feels daunting because you're looking at that mountain like, damn,
how am I going to get up that mountain? But
at the end of the day, you are still in
charge of your destiny. Like I knew, like I know
I needed to do open mics, But you and open
mics for two years, you know, Yeah, so you could
(12:58):
be strategic about it and speed. I love that you
can't skip steps, but you can speed them up. Absolutely.
When people talk to me about stand up, they're like, oh,
you know, you haven't been stand up that long. I mean,
at this point, I've been stand up for eight years.
But ultimately, when I got to stand up, I was
already thirty one. I already knew my voice, I was
already comfortable on a stage, already knew how to handle
an audience and a mic. So there were certain things
(13:20):
that a lot of people needed to get through on
their journey to being a stand up that I had
already gone through. So that was a number of steps
that were sped up instantaneous. But I mean, I just
love how people feel like they can tell you, oh, well,
you haven't been doing stand up that long, so what
what does that mean? Right, You're like, I had the experience,
I had the talent. But people will do that, they'll
(13:42):
tell you what they think they need to know about
your career. And that's one thing I really love about you,
because you're very vocal about, you know, rejecting that from
other people, and I think that's really inspiring for a
lot of people. Well, people place their limitations on you.
People place their fears on you, and some times it's
for the from the best of intentions, you know, our parents,
(14:02):
our friends. I had a situation, not a situation, but
had a conversation with a friend the other day where
they were like, you know, I just get worried that
you're gonna get canceled, you know, because you just the
way you talk. I just get worried that you're gonna
get canceled. And I was like, why do you worry
about that? He was like, well, I've been in a
situation where, you know, I said something that was mistaken
and it ended up affecting a contract and everything. I
was like, oh, so you're putting your fear you are
(14:25):
totally right, and I'm supposed to carry that and change
my actions. It's like, oh shit, I am. And I
was like, you know, because that happened and that sucks, um,
but I bet there's more to There's more to there's
more reasons to why that happened than just you said
something right. And so that's the thing that we always
have to look at, is like, how do we create
(14:46):
scenarios where we can be our best selves? And I
know that, yes, I talk a lot and guess people
UM have definitely tried to come up with things about
my my career, and like you said, like I speak
out against it. But I also had to learn that
there were things I needed to change about myself and
not necessary don't even like the world change. Are things
I needed to improve about myself. There were things I
(15:08):
needed to improve about my circle, you know what I'm saying.
There were things I needed to improve about my process
in order to uh support the things that I was
saying in contrast to the assertions that people were putting
on me. And it's a growing and it's a growing practice, right.
I mean, I'm only forty. Oh my gosh. I'm telling you,
forty is the new fabulous I I have learned so much.
(15:31):
I love being forty. I'm telling you I love being
forty and I'm just gonna keep saying that for every
year of my life because it's just I love this
journey and I'm just embracing everything that I learned from
today to yesterday. So forty is incredible for me. I
got pay me to be in my twenties again. Oh
my gosh. I mean I thought it was good, but no,
(15:53):
I did it. I've done it. I agree, I agree. Okay,
So let me focus in now. So let's talk about,
you know, career in comedy and your special. Your comedy
special on HBO. That was am I right, it was HBO? Correct?
I thought I brain parted there. Okay, How incredible was that?
And talk about how you secured that, because one of
(16:14):
the things on Money Moves is we're always talking about,
you know, making moves to further our career and advance it.
What was it? How did you go after getting that
um special? Well? I would say, it's not just who
you know, it's who knows what you do. Okay, you
can know everybody, but I've been on what you do.
They will never talk about you in the other rooms
(16:36):
that they're come on, Amanda tell Us. And so I
began the journey to getting my comedy special because Jesse
Collins and I are homies. We were like really good
friends now, but at the time we were homies. And
he was in the meeting at HBO and they were
talking about the people they were working with, and he
(16:58):
was like, how are you not working with Amanda Sea
because she's on your network and she's hilarious and that
seed was able to then flourish because I had an
agent who really cared about me, and anybody that's in
like entertainment, if you don't, if your agent don't care
about you, might as well does not have an agent.
(17:18):
I know some people feel like, well, I need to
have an agent because it's a look. If they don't
care about you, they are actively working against you. And
I can say that as somebody who fired all my
agents at one point and was literally just like, I'm
out here, y'all got any jobs, I'll at a player.
I didn't want to be given money to people who
were putting me in delaterious situations. But I was really
(17:41):
fortunate that my agent, who was a junior agent at
the time, by the way, so he got on the
good foot and started really just putting the bug, continuing
to put the bug in HBO's ear. And then I
had some shows and um at Carolines in New York,
HBO name and they reported back and said they had
(18:02):
never seen somebody get a standing ovation in the middle
of a show. I was like, and so, you know,
you get excited and you're like, it's gonna happen. Maybe
a year later, a year later, still still like Okay,
well we're thinking about it, we're possibly gonna do it.
And then I had a show. I did Smart, Phonny
(18:23):
and Black at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn, and at Exact
for Specials came to the show and when she came in,
we had never met before, and she was like a
man the seals and I was like, hello, the person
who refuses to give me a special and met. And
the thing about it, though, is that some people might
(18:44):
some people misread me right, and they'll think like, oh,
like she's ent she's entitled, like she thinks she's all
at etcetera, etcetera. And it's like, you don't ask people
for what you want. You ask people what you deserve.
I deserve a goddamn special at that point. I wasn't
asked or for it because I want to look or
because I believe in hype or whatever whatever. No, I
wanted a special because I knew I deserved a special.
(19:07):
And I knew that because my audience had told me.
I didn't make that up, you know what I'm saying,
Like the audiences had told me that I'm doing shows.
People are like, we need your voice, we see you,
we love you. And it's like, well, lo and behold,
I'm only the second black woman to have a stand
up special on HBO and people were congratulating me for that,
(19:27):
and I was like, that's not a congratulations. Were behind
the curve. That's really a problem. That's why when people
ask me, Amanda, who are your who are your Black
women comedian idols? I'm like, I don't really have any,
because I didn't get to see any when I was
coming up. So I that was how my special happened.
And um, I just was really proud of what we did.
(19:51):
Stan Lathan directed it, which was a dream come true.
We did it in the supper club, which is where
I did Deaf Poetry jam ten years before, and stand
directed that, and um, and I really am mostly proud
of it because I feel like I got to speak
directly to black women did and a group of black
women that I feel like don't necessarily get spoken for,
you know, like the professional black women I feel like
(20:13):
oftentimes gets like overlooked and we are out here and
we're working and dealing with different types of issues than
other groups of black women, etcetera. So I really felt
proud that I could give a voice to that space. Yeah. Absolutely,
I know that very well and I appreciate. I loved
your special I laughed my ass off like over and
over at it. Um So I appreciate and I just
(20:35):
love how you claim it. You're like, it wasn't like
I wanted it. I deserved one. And I think, you know,
having more and more powerful women voice that, especially, you know,
as we've come through Black Lives Matter and the past
couple of years where we've just like I mean, we've
all gone through trauma, being able to stand up and
say like I deserve this is really important. One time
(20:56):
and this white exact was like, you're very overconfident, and
I was like, what are you basing that on? Because
what you seem to perceive as over confidence is simply
just me voicing the accolades that I have done and
what I want based on what I have proven myself
to be. But it's like, how dare you know you
(21:18):
should always there's this idea that we should always make
folks feel like they're giving us something and we should
always feel like appreciative that they have allowed us to shine. Yeah.
I love, I love just kind of breaking that idea
of be the good girl, be kind be nice and
be quiet, but it's like you can be you can
(21:39):
be kind, passionate, you can be empathetic without being a pushover.
Absolutely absolutely, Amanda, thank you so much. I loved just
sharing the space with you because you are so smart,
funny and black and I appreciate all of the wisdom
and gems that you drop in congratulations and just being
(22:00):
such an inspiration to so many of us. Um, thank you, no,
thank you all, and thank you all for creating this
space and for the work that you all are doing
to advance black folks because I can just being a
part of it in this even this small way as
an honor. Well, we appreciate you. And can you please
share with us where people can find you on social
media and um also on all the different platforms that
(22:23):
you're on so we make sure we don't miss a beat.
So you can follow me at Amanda Seals on Instagram
as well as at Smart Funny and Black, and you
can follow Smart Funny and Black on YouTube. You can
follow Smart Funny and Black on Facebook. You can also
go to Smart Funny and Black dot com, and you
can follow Amanda Seals on Twitter. But I don't really
be tweeting because that's like it's like a Seth school.
At this point, it's too much, it's too much, too much,
(22:44):
And don't forget October one, they're launching Smart, Funny and
Black on Patreon, so please you can join for as
low as five dollars or five hundred ye thanks so much, Amanda.
That's it for this episode of the Money Moves Podcast,
power ward by Greenwood. Thank you for joining us Money Movers.
Be sure to tune back in next time to see
all the other great tips and exciting stories and information
(23:06):
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or a recap of this episode, please go to the
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(23:29):
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podcasts from
Hey, Money Movers. Welcome back to Money Moves, the daily
podcast determined to give you the keys to the Kingdom
of financial stability, wealth and abundance. Our next guest is
the multitalented Creative that She is an actress, a comedian,
(00:23):
a writer, a producer and activist, and a singer. She
hosts a weekly podcast titled Small Doses, and she is
the creator and host of the variety game show Smart,
Funny and Black. You may have seen her as one
of the hosts on the talk show The Real, or
on HBO's Insecure, and her very own stand up special
I'd be Knowing Money Moves. Please welcome the multifaceted Queen
(00:46):
Amanda Seals to the show. It. Oh yes, Queen, I
love it. I saw that crown. Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to have you here. You are such
a gift and I have laughed and chuckled and had
some really deep conversations with you in my head, following
you on Instagram and on the real as well. So
(01:07):
it is such a pleasure to have you here today.
Appreciate you. I'm glad that I'm sparking thought. Oh, you
are certainly sparking thought. Sister, and we are so many
of us are behind you, rooting for you, cheering for you,
and grateful for the conversations and the seeds and the
gems that you plant in so many of our heads. Um.
But I'm just grateful for the time you're giving us today,
and we want to get a chance to sort of
(01:29):
understand a little bit about your journey. You're such a
multitalented um being in this world. So take us back
to young Amanda as a child. You know, you started
as a minor role in film, and here you are
role on me. You know, it was a big deal
for me because that film, being in Cop and I
have got me my sad card. He won't too. Now,
(01:52):
you're right, you're right, you're right. Let me give you
your praise, I will say, I will say. Tell us
about it though, because Cop and I half I remember
that that was totally in my day. I remember that
film for sure, for sure, for sure. So tell us
how you got your start in acting. I actually started
dancing at Disney when I was eight. I was in
(02:14):
a show called The Sparkling Christmas Spectacular. It was just
like you know, advertising the newspaper. We went, we auditioned,
I got it, and that was all she wrote. Because
like the kids who were already involved in the show,
they had already been on the acting track, so they
had headshots and agents and whatnot, and so my mom
took tips from them and we kind of set forth
(02:34):
and very quickly I was able to start booking stuff.
And at that time, Nickelodeon had a headquarters in Orlando,
so you know, it just allowed me to get into
the mix of things and fast forward. And that was
like I was on my brother and Me on Nickelodeon,
which was the first black show on Nickelodeon, And and
that was all she wrote. I mean, I just kind
of became a child actor, but it wasn't really taking
(02:58):
over my life, but it was a big part of
my jerse. And so not only as a child actor,
you're also a competitive gymnast. And I think this speaks
to like the drive it takes to succeed in this world,
and like we're one of the things we love to
talk about on Money Moves is how we can help,
you know, inspire and sort of set the roadmap for
success for so many not just in terms of securing
(03:19):
the bag and making Money Moves, but also in the
success of their careers. So what was it about you,
um that sort of instilled this drive from an early
age to pursue acting as well as competitive gymnastics. I mean,
my mom was always very much into like just putting
me in stuff. UM. I really get frustrated when I
see parents who are like, oh, I just don't want
(03:41):
to be bothered driving my kid to this particular lesson
or oh, you know I need I need knee time,
and it's like, well, you had knee time before you
had this person. Now it's like you need to understand
that there's a balance that has to happen. And I
know I don't have kids, but I say that as
the child of somebody who really made it their business
to put me for and that allowed me to develop
(04:02):
into a person who has the ability to help others
and help myself. And my mom put me in a
lot of different things, and that allowed me the opportunity
to learn that, like, you can try things and not
like them and try something else. You know, it taught
me about falling down and getting back up. You know
that it's not really failing, it's lessons. Um, these are
(04:24):
all things it taught me. Discipline, because these are all
things that have been able to carry me through. And
I'm in a business where it's very unwieldy, it's very unrelenting,
and it's very uncertain, and so the only thing I
can really depend on is me. And so by the
teachings that I had through going you know, through being
a part of these different activities and the different coaches
(04:47):
I had and instructors I had, I got lessons that
helped me to really know my full capabilities and have
confidence that has carried me through. I love that come
on Mom's with the early stage life lessons and I mean,
I just love of the back now. Really I love
the background of of sports as well because I feel
like it teaches so much determination and perseverance and you
(05:08):
know it really and I played sports as a kid too,
and I feel like it really helped me to set,
you know, the tone for how I was going to
be driven and approach things in life as well. And responsibility, right,
because you're not just responsible to yourself, you responsible to
your team, you know, to your coaches. And for me,
my my sport beyond gymnastics when I went to high school,
(05:28):
my sport was theater. I mean theater at my school, Dr.
Philip High School in Orlando was treated with the same
up all our basketball yes, so we had to show up.
We had to show up for our classmates. We had
to represent our school for two seven six. We had
to be a part of the administration of the theater,
(05:49):
like everything was happening because we have students were empowered
to make sure it happened. And when you learn that
responsibility and accountability at an early age, I really do
think it. You carry that with you and people respect
you for it. No, and I appreciate you calling it
a sport because for some reason, I feel like that
hits with a lot of people. People think, oh, you're
a comedian or you're an actor. It's this natural talent
(06:11):
that you can just wake up every day, show up
on set and just do your thing. But it's it's
a job. It's an experience. It is like university one
oh one. You know it's it's it takes work, dedication,
and practice. Let me tell you, anybody I went to
high school with will tell you. And my high school
is very well known, like Wayne Brady went to my
high school. Joyful tone for Louis Fonsee, Like I have
(06:34):
a very there's a there's a solid roster from Dr
Ja khalid Um. Wow. We you know, for those of
us who came to the theater theater program, it wasn't
just like oh, we're here and we're amazing. No, you
had to work, You had to rehearse, you had to edit,
you had to you know there there, you had to
(06:55):
take take else you may not get gass in this. Yeah,
and there was a drive that all of us had
to being our best and we had a deep bench.
So we also needed to make sure that we were
not just like you were performing because you'll get picked
off the people here they are just as good as you,
(07:15):
if not better. And if they're not as good as you,
they're working harder than you. So yet it together. So
I think that all of that has helped me too
to really sustain and to to be able to pivot
because I've had a love I've had a number of
different career spaces that people have known me in um
and it wasn't they weren't hobbies, they were professional spaces
(07:36):
they had Again, they weren't hobbies, they were professional spaces.
I mean, but these are the things that I love
people to understand when they peel back the layers and people,
these aren't just hobbies. It's you know, you intentionally go
in and you build like expertise and wisdom over years,
and it's okay to pivot and do something else, but
you're just gonna be the best in another arena for
some time. Like that's that's really incredible, And that was
(07:58):
a full DJ for a time, you know, Like I
was DJing every night a week for a time, and um,
you know that was not something I took lightly. Uh
you know, I would say like in the contrast, I'm
a painter, and yes I have sold paintings, but I
purposely don't present my being a painter as a part
(08:19):
of my professional landscape because I don't want to have
to deal with what comes along with making creative spaces commercial, right,
Like you know when you say on TV shows, it's like, yeah,
I know you like this, but that may not be
with the market wants. So when you're painting and you
have to do that, it's it's sometimes you know, it's annoying.
You're like, I just want to people don't want to paint. Yes,
(08:39):
So I've been lucky enough to be able to keep
that space protected. But no, like I mean, I'm an actor.
I was a whole spoken word poet for years, you know,
I lecture at colleges, like all of these spaces were
not things that I stumbled into comedy being a stand
up like it used to just hurt my feelings when
(09:00):
people would be like, you know, you can't dabble with business,
like how dare you? What? How? I would never and
you can't. That's the other thing, right you buying in
the dabble you can't. Yeah, you won't make it. And
that's the thing about excellence, And that's why I love
talking to you know, successful people in all varieties. Like
it's about excellence and time and dedication to the craft.
(09:23):
And I just hope that so many in the Money
Moves audience listens to this and really understands what it
takes to get to the caliber and levels that we are.
And it's hard work. But at the same time, um,
you know, you come across a ton of pitfalls on
the way. And one of the things that I think
you've been really successful at is you turned Amanda Sales
into a brand into a business. No matter what facet
(09:44):
we're looking at, what was it about like, how did
you get the business mindset to mix in with achieving
all of these different facets of your success. So there
was a time frame in my early thirties, like thirty
one to thirty three, thirty four, where I really just
(10:08):
didn't know what I wanted to do. I had been
so immersed in hip hop for the last ten years
and that was always just like where I wanted to be.
But but the game and the music had started changing
and it really didn't feel like home anymore. And I
started readdressing like well, reassessing, well, what is it that
you're about where your passions lie? And I remember eventually
(10:30):
just realizing that I wanted to have a career where
I could speak and be myself because everyone was telling
me like, oh, you gotta get the white girls to
like you. Oh you gotta get the gays to like you.
You gotta get this person, you gotta be the it girl.
And it was just like it felt like I was
gonna have to be somebody else sportunism, yeah exactly, in
order to do that. And I was like, no, Like,
(10:50):
I just want to be me. And I started looking
at the career patterns of individuals who I respect and
who regarded. And I know that these three may not
seem like they line, but Ellen de Generous, Chulsea Handler,
and Chris Rock are all very unique in what they do.
But they have something similar where they have built a
multimedia mobiledum based on their point of view. So it's
(11:13):
not just based on like some books they wrote, it's
not based on a movie they were in. It's based
on what they think about things. So when you look
at all of those people, they have live TV. I'm sorry,
they have live shows. They have television, they have movie,
they have books, uh, they have specials, all of these things.
And I saw all of these things that they were
doing and I was like, the only thing they're doing
that I'm not doing, or that I'm not able to do,
(11:35):
I should say, was stand up. Because I could write,
I could host, I'm saying I could act, but I
couldn't do stand up. And I was like, in order
for you to endear people to your voice as a humorist,
you need to start there first, because that is the
most raw space where you can demonstrate that. And that
was what I knew I needed to do, and I
(11:56):
kind of just put it out in the universe and
then it just showed up. And when the opportunity aim,
I knew that I had to step up, and luckily
I did not bomb. And I kept following that path,
and I you know, I did my I did my
dues and stand up, I did my open mics, and
I did my my little shows in the basement of
a Chinese restaurant and low speedl you know what I'm saying,
(12:17):
Like you do all the things. But there's a phrase
that someone told me once. I can't remember who told me,
but I live by it, and it's you can't stick,
you can't skip steps. It's so true, but you can
speed them up. Yep. That's the part that I feel
like a lot of people don't remember. They don't remember
(12:37):
that second part when they're maybe changing gears and career,
you know, or they're trying to level up. It's it
feels daunting because you're looking at that mountain like, damn,
how am I going to get up that mountain? But
at the end of the day, you are still in
charge of your destiny. Like I knew, like I know
I needed to do open mics, But you and open
mics for two years, you know, Yeah, so you could
(12:58):
be strategic about it and speed. I love that you
can't skip steps, but you can speed them up. Absolutely.
When people talk to me about stand up, they're like, oh,
you know, you haven't been stand up that long. I mean,
at this point, I've been stand up for eight years.
But ultimately, when I got to stand up, I was
already thirty one. I already knew my voice, I was
already comfortable on a stage, already knew how to handle
an audience and a mic. So there were certain things
(13:20):
that a lot of people needed to get through on
their journey to being a stand up that I had
already gone through. So that was a number of steps
that were sped up instantaneous. But I mean, I just
love how people feel like they can tell you, oh, well,
you haven't been doing stand up that long, so what
what does that mean? Right, You're like, I had the experience,
I had the talent. But people will do that, they'll
(13:42):
tell you what they think they need to know about
your career. And that's one thing I really love about you,
because you're very vocal about, you know, rejecting that from
other people, and I think that's really inspiring for a
lot of people. Well, people place their limitations on you.
People place their fears on you, and some times it's
for the from the best of intentions, you know, our parents,
(14:02):
our friends. I had a situation, not a situation, but
had a conversation with a friend the other day where
they were like, you know, I just get worried that
you're gonna get canceled, you know, because you just the
way you talk. I just get worried that you're gonna
get canceled. And I was like, why do you worry
about that? He was like, well, I've been in a
situation where, you know, I said something that was mistaken
and it ended up affecting a contract and everything. I
was like, oh, so you're putting your fear you are
(14:25):
totally right, and I'm supposed to carry that and change
my actions. It's like, oh shit, I am. And I
was like, you know, because that happened and that sucks, um,
but I bet there's more to There's more to there's
more reasons to why that happened than just you said
something right. And so that's the thing that we always
have to look at, is like, how do we create
(14:46):
scenarios where we can be our best selves? And I
know that, yes, I talk a lot and guess people
UM have definitely tried to come up with things about
my my career, and like you said, like I speak
out against it. But I also had to learn that
there were things I needed to change about myself and
not necessary don't even like the world change. Are things
I needed to improve about myself. There were things I
(15:08):
needed to improve about my circle, you know what I'm saying.
There were things I needed to improve about my process
in order to uh support the things that I was
saying in contrast to the assertions that people were putting
on me. And it's a growing and it's a growing practice, right.
I mean, I'm only forty. Oh my gosh. I'm telling you,
forty is the new fabulous I I have learned so much.
(15:31):
I love being forty. I'm telling you I love being
forty and I'm just gonna keep saying that for every
year of my life because it's just I love this
journey and I'm just embracing everything that I learned from
today to yesterday. So forty is incredible for me. I
got pay me to be in my twenties again. Oh
my gosh. I mean I thought it was good, but no,
(15:53):
I did it. I've done it. I agree, I agree. Okay,
So let me focus in now. So let's talk about,
you know, career in comedy and your special. Your comedy
special on HBO. That was am I right, it was HBO? Correct?
I thought I brain parted there. Okay, How incredible was that?
And talk about how you secured that, because one of
(16:14):
the things on Money Moves is we're always talking about,
you know, making moves to further our career and advance it.
What was it? How did you go after getting that
um special? Well? I would say, it's not just who
you know, it's who knows what you do. Okay, you
can know everybody, but I've been on what you do.
They will never talk about you in the other rooms
(16:36):
that they're come on, Amanda tell Us. And so I
began the journey to getting my comedy special because Jesse
Collins and I are homies. We were like really good
friends now, but at the time we were homies. And
he was in the meeting at HBO and they were
talking about the people they were working with, and he
(16:58):
was like, how are you not working with Amanda Sea
because she's on your network and she's hilarious and that
seed was able to then flourish because I had an
agent who really cared about me, and anybody that's in
like entertainment, if you don't, if your agent don't care
about you, might as well does not have an agent.
(17:18):
I know some people feel like, well, I need to
have an agent because it's a look. If they don't
care about you, they are actively working against you. And
I can say that as somebody who fired all my
agents at one point and was literally just like, I'm
out here, y'all got any jobs, I'll at a player.
I didn't want to be given money to people who
were putting me in delaterious situations. But I was really
(17:41):
fortunate that my agent, who was a junior agent at
the time, by the way, so he got on the
good foot and started really just putting the bug, continuing
to put the bug in HBO's ear. And then I
had some shows and um at Carolines in New York,
HBO name and they reported back and said they had
(18:02):
never seen somebody get a standing ovation in the middle
of a show. I was like, and so, you know,
you get excited and you're like, it's gonna happen. Maybe
a year later, a year later, still still like Okay,
well we're thinking about it, we're possibly gonna do it.
And then I had a show. I did Smart, Phonny
(18:23):
and Black at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn, and at Exact
for Specials came to the show and when she came in,
we had never met before, and she was like a
man the seals and I was like, hello, the person
who refuses to give me a special and met. And
the thing about it, though, is that some people might
(18:44):
some people misread me right, and they'll think like, oh,
like she's ent she's entitled, like she thinks she's all
at etcetera, etcetera. And it's like, you don't ask people
for what you want. You ask people what you deserve.
I deserve a goddamn special at that point. I wasn't
asked or for it because I want to look or
because I believe in hype or whatever whatever. No, I
wanted a special because I knew I deserved a special.
(19:07):
And I knew that because my audience had told me.
I didn't make that up, you know what I'm saying,
Like the audiences had told me that I'm doing shows.
People are like, we need your voice, we see you,
we love you. And it's like, well, lo and behold,
I'm only the second black woman to have a stand
up special on HBO and people were congratulating me for that,
(19:27):
and I was like, that's not a congratulations. Were behind
the curve. That's really a problem. That's why when people
ask me, Amanda, who are your who are your Black
women comedian idols? I'm like, I don't really have any,
because I didn't get to see any when I was
coming up. So I that was how my special happened.
And um, I just was really proud of what we did.
(19:51):
Stan Lathan directed it, which was a dream come true.
We did it in the supper club, which is where
I did Deaf Poetry jam ten years before, and stand
directed that, and um, and I really am mostly proud
of it because I feel like I got to speak
directly to black women did and a group of black
women that I feel like don't necessarily get spoken for,
you know, like the professional black women I feel like
(20:13):
oftentimes gets like overlooked and we are out here and
we're working and dealing with different types of issues than
other groups of black women, etcetera. So I really felt
proud that I could give a voice to that space. Yeah. Absolutely,
I know that very well and I appreciate. I loved
your special I laughed my ass off like over and
over at it. Um So I appreciate and I just
(20:35):
love how you claim it. You're like, it wasn't like
I wanted it. I deserved one. And I think, you know,
having more and more powerful women voice that, especially, you know,
as we've come through Black Lives Matter and the past
couple of years where we've just like I mean, we've
all gone through trauma, being able to stand up and
say like I deserve this is really important. One time
(20:56):
and this white exact was like, you're very overconfident, and
I was like, what are you basing that on? Because
what you seem to perceive as over confidence is simply
just me voicing the accolades that I have done and
what I want based on what I have proven myself
to be. But it's like, how dare you know you
(21:18):
should always there's this idea that we should always make
folks feel like they're giving us something and we should
always feel like appreciative that they have allowed us to shine. Yeah.
I love, I love just kind of breaking that idea
of be the good girl, be kind be nice and
be quiet, but it's like you can be you can
(21:39):
be kind, passionate, you can be empathetic without being a pushover.
Absolutely absolutely, Amanda, thank you so much. I loved just
sharing the space with you because you are so smart,
funny and black and I appreciate all of the wisdom
and gems that you drop in congratulations and just being
(22:00):
such an inspiration to so many of us. Um, thank you, no,
thank you all, and thank you all for creating this
space and for the work that you all are doing
to advance black folks because I can just being a
part of it in this even this small way as
an honor. Well, we appreciate you. And can you please
share with us where people can find you on social
media and um also on all the different platforms that
(22:23):
you're on so we make sure we don't miss a beat.
So you can follow me at Amanda Seals on Instagram
as well as at Smart Funny and Black, and you
can follow Smart Funny and Black on YouTube. You can
follow Smart Funny and Black on Facebook. You can also
go to Smart Funny and Black dot com, and you
can follow Amanda Seals on Twitter. But I don't really
be tweeting because that's like it's like a Seth school.
At this point, it's too much, it's too much, too much,
(22:44):
And don't forget October one, they're launching Smart, Funny and
Black on Patreon, so please you can join for as
low as five dollars or five hundred ye thanks so much, Amanda.
That's it for this episode of the Money Moves Podcast,
power ward by Greenwood. Thank you for joining us Money Movers.
Be sure to tune back in next time to see
all the other great tips and exciting stories and information
(23:06):
that we've got for you. Tolu, thank you so much
for tuning in Money Moves audience. If you want more
or a recap of this episode, please go to the
bank Greenwood dot com and check out the Money Moves
podcast blog. Money Moves is an I heart Radio podcast
powered by Greenwood Executive produced by sun Wise Media, Inc.
(23:29):
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