The Comedic Reinventionist: Julie Kim

In this episode, internationally touring comedian and award-winning writer Julie Kim joins us to talk comedy, identity, and the art of reinventing yourself. Julie opens up about growing up above her parents’ convenience store, navigating life as a second-generation Korean Canadian, and the major pivot that took her from academia to the comedy stage.

We dive into the microaggressions that inspired her new podcast Bothered, the pressures of being a woman of colour in entertainment, and how she balances motherhood with a rapidly evolving creative career.

If you’re craving a conversation about reinvention, representation, and owning your narrative this one will leave you inspired.

Episode Transcript

(00:14):
Hello everybody and welcome backto the Creative Sisterhood
podcast. We have a very special guest
today. She is one of Canada's top stand
up comedians and one of the sharpest storytellers working
out there. She grew up above her parents
convenience store. She's a second generation Korean
Canadian kid. She left a stable career in
academia to choose stand up comedy.

(00:37):
She's headline shows across Canada for Just for Laughs,
wrote Simi Liu's viral I Am Canadian monologue for the Juno
Awards, which, no Big Deal, won her a Canadian Screen Award.
Her work blends identity, culture, motherhood,
representation, and the kind of observational brilliance that
makes you laugh, think, and textyour best friend immediately.

(00:57):
So we're so excited to have her and everybody.
Welcome to the creative sisterhood, Julie Kim.
Let's get into it. All right.
Thanks for the really kind words, by the way.
Oh. My gosh, thank you for being
here. We're so excited to meet you and
hang out with you and get to know you a little bit.
Yeah, same. So, OK, so we're going to get

(01:18):
right into it because that's what we do here.
Your path, Julie, has been anything but traditional, which
is the most exciting part of getting to know you and one of
the main reasons we're so excited to talk to you.
So before we get into the comedyand the tours and the writing
and all that stuff, can we startat the beginning?
What did early begin to look like?
Yeah, what did you? Well, I would show you what I
look like, but I think I've burned all the photos.

(01:39):
Fair enough. So as you mentioned, I grew up
above my parents convenience store.
So I was born and raised in Toronto and it's interesting
because I've always also identified as a second
generation Korean Canadian. But then just a few years ago,
when I was like starting to write this book and one person

(01:59):
show about stories from my childhood, I realized like, oh,
there must be something between 1st and 2nd generation because
my parents had me really soon after they came from South
Korea. They did not speak English very
well, if at all. And like for the first few
years, you know, when you're a child, you don't you don't know
anyone else. Like you're not able to, you

(02:20):
know, walk and stuff and go meetyour own friends.
So I would say my world was verylike, you know, at home, it kind
of was like as if I was born in Korea in a way because like,
yeah, my first language is actually Korean, which is just
so like, for me, it's so mind boggling every time I think
about it because I don't speak Korean now.

(02:42):
I wish I did, but I just like, yeah, I abandoned it as soon as
I, like, started going to schooland like feeling quite honestly,
like I wanted to be Canadian more or I wanted to be more like
everybody else around me and at school and everybody saw on the
TV and movies and, and magazinesand things like that.
So my very first language is Korean and probably for the

(03:04):
first three years of my life. And then I have not spoken it
pretty much since except like ina really, really broken way.
My parents even speak to me in English because they're like,
this is too difficult. Yeah.
Not slow down enough for you. Oh, my gosh.
It's more it's, yeah, it's superinteresting.
But now and I, I know this is a totally different topic, but you

(03:28):
know, it's so interesting because like now I have got a
daughter and she's half Korean, but she identifies as an Asian
way more than I ever did as a child because it's like in the
media. I also raise her to think it's
nothing. I'll put on Kim's Convenience in
the background. I have friends who are like
Asian actresses and actors and like, you know, far bigger

(03:50):
celebrities and they're Asian. And it's like nothing.
I don't point it out just the way that I hate when people
point out, oh, look, a female doctor, a female astronaut,
like, they're living in a totally different reality now
where, like, this is normal. And I think one way to normalize
it as a parent is to pretend it's absolutely, like, just
always been this way. Yeah.

(04:12):
Absolutely. It's so, yeah.
I totally relate to you on that in a big way because I was
raised the exact same. I feel like I'm in between
because my my mom is from South America so my first language was
Spanish and I only spoke Spanishfor the first three years of my
life too. And then my mom threw me into
French immersion just to like screw me up a little bit more.
And then I learned English afterthat.

(04:32):
Oh my God. Yeah.
So it's like, you know, I get it.
I get that. And I also tried to like, tried
to be as Canadian and as white as I could because that was the
time. That was our culture.
Again, raising our kids today, they definitely are more
relating. She's like my daughter's blonde
and blue eyed. She's like, but I'm Hispanic.
I'm like, yeah, you are. Yeah, it's like totally flipped
now. It's cool to be different.

(04:52):
Yeah, we were younger. We tried to hide it, right.
Yeah. When I when I look back, I don't
even think of it just as like a straightforward cultural
reaction. I think that people valued
conformity and like there were fewer media outlets and
magazines and shows, so it was much easier to push down
people's throat and idea of whatnormal is or beauty is.

(05:13):
Whereas I think it's more diverse now, like, you know,
with social media and like so many different shows and so many
books and so many like little micro trends and things like
that. So I also felt because living in
a store, I had like, almost fullaccess to, like, candy and
chocolate and like, processed food because it was like, our
pantry downstairs. So I ended up starting to get

(05:34):
fairly overweight. And between the grades 5 and 6,
I actually somehow discovered what bulimia was.
And I started, like, throwing upand like, counting calories and
doing all these things. Like when I look at a 5A grade 5
now, I'm like, you are such a small child.
And it makes me like, kind of sad for myself back then.

(05:55):
But yeah, I think there were a lot of pressures in those ways
to like, look a certain way and conform and, you know, all that
kind of stuff. But I will say that I feel like
I had a childhood that did not like Permit going down a path of
creativity, but was quite creative because it was like
messy chaos. My parents were always working,

(06:15):
so my siblings and I were like home an awful lot alone, which
is just upstairs. So it's not like the proximity
was there, but we were on our own mentally and emotionally.
Like your own little watch? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And to watch as much TV as we wanted and to, like, take out
all the crafts or make whatever we wanted, like with food and
things and, and, and growing up,like with the sitcoms of like

(06:38):
the 90s and the late 80s too. I feel like that was kind of
neat because it gave me a sensibility like, you know, you
know, punch lines and laugh tracks and things like that.
And the world is kind of nice and bright and there's always
like, you know, a moral to the story.
Whereas now if you're on, if youwatch like any Netflix shows or
anything like popular, everybody's into crime and

(07:00):
murder and myself included, everything I watch was like so
dark. Oh, we love it.
But I feel like there was this sweet spot in there for a while
where it was all about the sitcom and the family sitcom.
So at least like I watched, you know, and and and was kind of
used by that a little bit secondhand.
So yeah, I think it was it was at least an interesting

(07:21):
childhood and without too much structure.
But then also a lot of, you know, pressure to do well and
excel and as an oldest daughter to like take on responsibility
just enough to like give me enough trauma to want to succeed
but not break me. I would say it was a nice.
To that one. Yeah.
And you've been known for saying, you joked that you said

(07:43):
that you became a man at the theage of five.
And we are both older, like the eldest.
And eldest sisters, Yeah, we can.
Totally relate to that because Ilike, Yeah.
We were kind of, you know. Especially in the 90s or like
80s, you know, when we did have different kind of rules, right,
like. Yeah, what rules?
Yeah, what rules? Exactly.

(08:04):
Yeah, yeah, the eldest, the eldest child is like the three
babysitter, right? And now we know the terms like
parentified child and mental load and all that kind of stuff.
And I think now maybe we prioritize like letting children
be happy and not have the responsibility of a full grown
adult and things. So for a lot of people, at least

(08:26):
so that I know that's how I try to do it.
For my daughter, which is harderas a parent, it would be easier.
Well, it's hard because like, you, yeah, you, you want to
like, you know, let your children have the freedom and
you want to give them. I used to joke like you want to
screw your kids up just a littlebit, but not to, you know, like
I just want them to like know life and understand life and

(08:47):
have responsibility, but like not too much responsibility and
not be too strap and and we're so much more, like you said,
aware of that now that finding that balance is interesting
because like our parents didn't think about any of that stuff.
So, but they didn't know. So it's also like you can't
really blame them. Nobody else was doing it.
Like I I learn all maybe 60% of my parenting things like on

(09:09):
TikTok, they didn't have TikTok,they didn't have the benefit of
that. Totally.
Absolutely. Do you think that that watching
the sitcoms and stuff was what kind of pushed you towards
comedy? Well, I think that watching the
sitcoms gave me a sensibility oflike knowing what funny was of
at least like laughing and knowing what it was to laugh.
And I think just valuing comedy and, and enjoying, you know what

(09:32):
I mean, Knowing what a joke looks like in a funny
interaction, even though it's quite contrived, especially like
with sitcoms back then. But yes, I think I pieced
together a little while ago that, yeah, that that all
probably really contributed to me.
Like, I wouldn't say there's a Direct Line to like, oh,
becoming a comedian one day, butdefinitely having a sense of

(09:55):
humor. Yeah.
And that's that's as much as I can piece together, but it's a
big part. We watch TV all the time.
I'm talking all the time. The second we got home and I
slept it in the living room for a good portion of my childhood
because we didn't have enough space for everybody.
Yeah. And so the TV was like, right
there and first thing in the morning until I went to bed.

(10:17):
It was very unhealthy. You.
Seem like you're fine. No, but you, you've made it.
I think you're fine. You're good, really.
Thanks. It could be worth.
Was there like a moment or anything like when you, because
I know you were, you know, goinginto academia, like you had like
a full on career, didn't you? And then all of a sudden one day
what happened? Like how did?

(10:37):
That yeah. Well, actually my, I started
comedy the same year that I started a PhD.
So I had started going down the yeah, like I had started like
lecturing while doing school, but the PhD itself was a thing.
I, I, I pursued it after I had worked for a few years, like in
corporate and I'm talking like Bay St. in Toronto for like,

(10:58):
like big firms and tech and stuff.
I don't think I ever deliberately said, hey, I'm
going to become a comedian now. I knew that working in corporate
was fine. Like it was a path I went down
because I didn't really know what I wanted to do and I was
scared to death of being like pigeonholed into something and
not having options. And I because I think having

(11:19):
options is power. And back then I think that I
thought education was power too.So I went into corporate, I went
into like being a consultant, which I thought itself was a way
to explore different things and then like choose something
because you work with different clients and different industries
and things. But at the same time, quite
frankly, after a while, I felt like, I thought I felt a little

(11:40):
bit like it was bullshit, Like Ihave to say, right, Solving
these problems or, you know, in these $1,000,000 projects that
sometimes led to good LED, sometimes we're productive and
sometimes we're like just not, you know, and working in
structures that were like very hierarchical for people that
like, I didn't think we're like that smart or didn't allow me to

(12:02):
be my real self. And I think back then I thought
of creativity as this while you're either creative and you
work in a creative field or you're not.
But I think it's very different now.
And I think that, you know, if had I had like leadership that
allowed me to be myself and likeused like really good skills
that I had to connect with people and manage relationships
and like add creativeness to problem solving, then maybe I

(12:25):
would have gone further down that line.
But I feel like I was in environments that were really
stuffy with people who didn't seem to me at the time like that
they were very human. And that's not like a dig on
them. Like I think a lot of corporate
environments have made a lot of people, especially women, feel
like they also have to fall in line and have a certain work
persona versus a real life persona.

(12:47):
All I knew is it felt a lot likeacting and it felt fake.
And I wanted to pursue somethingdefinitely more flexible.
So then I went back to school and then I, I went back to
school again, like all while I was working to see if maybe
academia was a little bit freer and a little bit more creative.
So yeah, I started doing that asI started the PhD and then the

(13:11):
Sorry, started the PhD as I started doing comedy.
And then there was no conscious decision.
I just, like, focused on whatever made me happier.
And then I just happened to be more comedy than anything else.
But like, it's also a very difficult, like, there's no,
it's not stable. It's not, yeah, there's no,
like, one path. There's no, you know, guidance.

(13:32):
There's no guardrails or anything like that.
But that's also very exciting ifyou're OK with being
entrepreneurial and taking risksand, you know, all that kind of
stuff. And a lot of comedians now will
complain. They'll be like, well, I didn't
start off and open mics and, youknow, sharpen my skills as a
comedian just to spend 10 hours a week doing social media posts

(13:54):
and editing. Yeah.
Which was very reductive too, because I think it's also
amazing that like for anybody who wants to like start a
business or be creative person, you have so much freedom and
potential to make yourself and your creative career as much as
you wanted to be, right? It's not like, you know, 1012

(14:15):
years ago, I could not get stagetime unless like, you know, the
Booker liked me. I mean, and that part is still
true. I could not get into major
comedy clubs unless somebody somewhere somewhat arbitrarily
like thought I was funny or liked me or, you know, and and
there was a lot of like boys club, you know, stuff going on

(14:35):
now. Now, if you have a million
followers, which I do not, but if you have a million followers
and if you have an engaged audience, yes, yes, yet, yet.
But if you, if you, if you have that, if you're able to do
whatever you want online and geta following an audience with
like text based or newsletter based stuff or whatever, you now

(14:56):
have the power. You can perform anywhere you
want. You can set up your own show.
And all of these bookers at comedy clubs or theaters, they
can't deny you because they're like, she can sell tickets or he
can sell tickets. So in a way, it's much better.
I honestly think it just requires like more work.
But I also think it works in favor of a lot of women and
other people who don't have the benefit of the doubt often and,

(15:18):
and, and don't just have the benefit of looking like the
average comedian that comes intotown in whatever city in
whatever state or, or province. I was going to ask you about
being a woman of color in the stand up world.
And, like, now that you're at the headliner level, that's
still pretty rare. Do you think you are like Yeah.
I would say still like a lot of the highest paid comedians and

(15:43):
the ones that have the ability to like play around the world,
different countries, a lot of them are men.
There are women, of course, who are like so powerful in the
industry like Ali Wong, Amy Schumer, Whitney Cummings, like
Chelsea Handler. I know I respect and adore all
of them so, so much. That said, at a lot of levels,

(16:03):
especially like for newer comicscoming out, like every time I go
to the local scene, there are bookers that really want to book
more females and there are females out there, but not
nearly as much as as male comedians.
There are still times where I'llgo to like a city.
One example is last year I went to one of my favorite comedy

(16:24):
clubs in Minneapolis, MN. It's called Acme Comedy Club and
I just heard such great things about.
I was so excited to go there andI had no idea what it was going
to be like, but it was really great.
I met people after the shows. Some people were people of color
and a lot of women who said, like, we don't see a lot of
women here. And somebody there had said,

(16:45):
like, I've never seen an Asian woman at this club.
I know. And like, I think Margaret Cho
had been there before based on, like, you know, they always
like, write on the walls in the green room.
But I do believe it is still kind of rare.
One time I was I went in to do aguest set at a comedy club in
Seattle. This is like five years ago.
And the bouncer thought that I was coming in to sub for a

(17:08):
bartender. Oh.
My God, just for no. Reason.
Just my name up there. You should have.
Gone. Yeah, yeah.
I. Would say like, I don't feel
like it's a big barrier to me, like on a regular basis.
I do think that when I first started, it felt like, you know,
there was some tokenism, like I would ask to be on a show and

(17:28):
they're like, oh, we already had, we already have a woman on
the lineup, you know, like if there's multiple levels there
and. Then you wouldn't say to a man.
So I know all the time. I know.
So anyways, I don't, I don't feel that too much.
Now, I will say that something that I feel is a barrier, but
not in a bad way. Like something that I would like

(17:49):
to cross is that I, I don't knowif it's like in my head, but I
have made the assumption that, you know, I for a while that I
could only play major cities where audiences are always to
also diverse. And there are people that have,
you know, come and gone and where there's maybe higher
levels of income or education orwhatever, which are sometimes

(18:10):
just correlated with more diversity.
But I have had the opportunity to go to a lot of smaller towns
and cities also like at, you know, say opening for Rick
Mercer on this last tour where we went to like 2028 shows in
like 22 cities. And the odd time when I have
opened for someone like bigger in a small town like say Eugene,

(18:32):
OR, whereas when I would go to Oregon, I'd be like, Portland is
the place that I can play because it's cosmopolitan.
But I've been pleasantly surprised when I go to some of
these smaller places that like, it's really good and and it
reminds me that humans have a lot more in common than we have
differences among us. And I feel like I don't want to

(18:55):
undermine my career, but I also don't want to just ignore a
whole portion of the population that could potentially be my
audience. And I don't want to judge
audiences for where they live orassuming that they think this or
that or they wouldn't like me, you know?
So it has scared me a little bitto go to places that are not
major cities. Like I could make a whole career

(19:17):
of going to only major cities inCanada and the US would be busy
all year. But I feel like where the world
is right now, it's like so sad. Like people are so divided and
it feels so ignorant, like on all ends where people don't
really know what it what people on the other side of the
spectrum in terms of like politics and like demographics.

(19:41):
Like there's a lot of people whodon't really know what it's like
to be the opposite of what they are.
And I want to kind of know more.And I so in the first half of
2026, I'm I'm lining up dates mostly across Canada to go to
smaller cities and towns. Love that.
Yeah, thank you. Just in like less formal

(20:02):
settings. I don't care if they're bars or
little theaters. And because I talk about family
and childhood and like relate about complaining about men, I
mean, everybody loves to do that.
But then if you think about it also, like if you think about
the Netflix specials of like theAli Wong and people that maybe
you wouldn't think are going to appeal to those small audiences.
I mean, you wonder what the analytics look like in.

(20:25):
That I do wonder, and they do know that they do know that so.
Maybe they don't share. With the artists.
Stuff, right, Like, yes, you know, people are no, no from
around the world. Yeah, no, it's a great point.
And even if they don't really like me, but even if I go there
and if I'm like the first Asian woman that they've seen in
person and telling jokes and they can relate to like most or

(20:48):
some of the jokes, I feel like that's a lesson learned for some
of us. I feel like it's a little bit of
an experiment, but I feel I feelgood about it.
It's a little like just getting out of your comfort zone and
we'll see how it goes. So is there a topic like you
think has become funny unexpectedly, like while you've
done these shows, is there something that like leaning into

(21:10):
your identity or self reflectionor like something completely
different, the parenting side? Like what?
What have you? Yeah.
Surprised by? Well, I feel like I learned a
few several years ago that like even if you talk about things
that people don't have first hand experience in, it doesn't
mean that they won't be entertained by it as a comedian,

(21:31):
as a performer, Just means you might have to set it up a little
bit more and being like, OK, this is what a household is like
as a first generation immigrant.And they like, this is our
starting point. Do you know what I mean?
Where we didn't really talk to each other or whatever.
But I feel like even stuff like that, especially if you explain
it resonates to other audiences.Like it's such this broad brush
assumption to think like only many immigrants had parents who

(21:54):
didn't talk to them or talk about their feelings.
Like my husband comes from a family also where they didn't
really talk about the feelings and they still don't like
communicate properly because anyculture can be repressed.
I mean, there's so many cultures.
We're also at a time where like we have a lot of us have parents
or grandparents who fought in wars or who come from places

(22:17):
where they felt the effects in like really like formative times
in their lives, times of war andpoverty and things like that.
And they look like all sorts of people.
So you never know anybody's baggage, but a lot more people
have baggage than. They say, yeah, we all have
baggage. We all.
Have we do? Oh my gosh.
And and that kind of stuff I feel is fun to talk about,

(22:38):
right? Like our imperfections and
being, you know, raw with each other.
In this last tour with Rick Mercer, when we did go to some
of these smaller town cities, like and I performed in a lot of
East Coast Canada towns for the first time and I was nervous
about those. But they were some of my
favorite shows, although they were probably the most different

(22:59):
from me demographically and likein terms of like maybe everyday
sensibilities and lifestyle. They were also, and I will say
this as a generalization, the people on the East Coast laugh
easily. And they say they love to laugh
out there. I feel like comedy would be
impactful out there. Well, they.
Just aren't in. General I feel like.

(23:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so there's so many factors.
And so I'm trying to get over myown like ignorances too, and get
back and get out there. Because if I feel like,
especially after becoming a parent, I have realized like the
value of, you know, human connection and understanding
people, human behavior and just being trying to be a good

(23:43):
citizen. So this is part of my learning
journey in that in that way. That's so exciting.
Is your tour that you're doing? Is that your solo show?
What do you like? Yeah.
Yeah. Well, yes, when I go out between
like January to June, yeah, it'sme as headliner.
I'll have various openers. I'll I want all of them to be

(24:06):
Canadian. I want a lot of them to be
female because some of the showsare in, you know, women's month,
but then some of them will also be in Asian heritage month.
I did a tour last year, but lastyear at this at that time was
like major cities. So yes, it will feel very
different. There will be more trouble time.
It might be a little bit less glamorous, but I also think like
it'll be, it'll be more fun and I'll, I get to explore a little

(24:29):
bit more. I'll probably take a bunch of
content meeting people and goingto these places that are a
little less known to other people like 1, like Lethbridge,
AB, there's a comedy club there.I'll be going for the very first
time. And so yeah, it'll be, yeah,
it'll be, it'll be awesome. Have you thought about like
documenting your experience? Because this will.

(24:52):
Be interesting. Everything.
Content is everything. And I've thought about that.
I'm definitely going to, I'm thinking, thinking maybe, I
mean, I, I am definitely going to pitch this at some point in
case anybody wants to like formalize this.
But at the least I will blog. I will blog and and I think
it'll help me also if you, it's like, you know, when people say

(25:12):
that they journal, they think a little bit more deeply and in
anticipation of, of journaling. So yeah, I'm going to make it a
habit. Yeah, I mean, you never know.
You'll. Yeah, you'll.
You'll probably have some unexpected comedy come from the
experience alone, right? Yeah, I hope so.
And also, you know, a lot of people in Canada to watch that

(25:33):
to see what like rural Canada's like and going into those
different cities just it's also an education a little bit too,
right. So that's.
Cool. Yeah, that's a really cool.
Idea. I think we should definitely
pitch it. I will.
I'm doing it right now to your viewership.
Yeah, you are. So how did you go from comedy?
Like because you've also writtenin rooms, which is also really

(25:54):
cool. How did you get into that?
How did how did you start writing?
Because you started in Kim's Convenience and then.
Well, I'll tell you interesting stories.
So I had been doing comedy for acouple of years, a few years.
Sorry, like maybe maybe four or five years.
And then I got an e-mail out of the blue from somebody who said,
hi, Julie. My name is Insurance Troy.
I'm the creator of Kim's Convenience.

(26:15):
We're going into a second seasonof the TV show and we're looking
for some writers who, you know, would, would be good for the
show. So I met him at a coffee shop.
But I arrived seven months pregnant and never having
written before, which was reallythe main thing because the being
pregnant thing was, was one thing I didn't take even

(26:37):
maternity leave. My husband took the parental
leave, which is a whole other thing that I talked about.
But, you know, I didn't have anyexperience, but I said like,
here's some examples of some, you know, shitty writing pretty
much because I had just started to get an enamored with the idea
of it because it had never occurred to me before that I
could write for TV. It was just like this black box,

(27:00):
this mysterious thing that's other people.
There are people out there who go to school for that or I don't
know, it had never come to mind.And I didn't start writing with
them because, you know, other things.
And they, they, I wasn't a good enough writer at the time, like
quite frankly. And they had some solid writers
and I was off doing other things.
But a couple of seasons later, they opened up opportunities for

(27:24):
people to join them as guest writers.
And so I was able to do that a couple years later.
And then in the back of my mind,I was like, oh, I'd like to do
this more. I'd like to do this more.
And then I just didn't until thepandemic happened.
You've heard of the pandemic? Yes, there and and then live and

(27:45):
then live shows went away and then some comics started to do
like online shows, like zoom shows and I stayed 100% away
from them just because like theysucked so much.
They're you like I would, I would be like, would have to
like sit like this. Yeah.
And you can't hear anybody laughing.
And people are at home. I know there's nothing like

(28:06):
comedy. What is that?
Nothing like the live theater, just like getting the feedback
and it like right away, right? That's exactly what.
Replicate that on zoom. For me, but also for the other
audience members, right, Like you, nobody has pressure to like
laugh out loud. You can like multitask and be on
your phone like if you're, if you're just like in your home.
So mainly because I didn't want to do Zoom shows because I

(28:28):
thought they would like ruin my love of comedy.
Honestly, I avoided them completely.
But then I was like, well, I have other time to do other
things. So I started reaching out to
people and look for opportunities to do what I had
done in Kim's, like, you know, be a small part of writing rooms
to learn more and all that kind of stuff.
So then manifesting it in a way,but also like, you know,

(28:51):
starting to write and making connections.
That's when I started to be ableto like join some of these
shows. And that's how I came up with a
nice idea for my own show, actually, that I put into
development with one of the major networks.
Before there were a lot of layoffs and all of that kind of
stuff. But I got to have some really
solid experience and I've got a few more shows and a movie idea

(29:13):
I'm in love with that I am trying to make time to do.
I should write that down. I'm going to do it.
Early next year, yeah. Thank you.
Thanks for reminding me. Do you, do you ever like just, I
mean, this is kind of going backa bit, but I'm just curious
because like it sounds like, youknow, there was something about
being in the corporate side thatyou enjoyed with the structure

(29:34):
and the consistency. Now how do you bring that to
like you're saying like I want to do this and this and this?
Do you think that that world helps you?
It must, right? It must help you I think.
So I think so I definitely am good at like project managing my
life and like the different things going on with.
I find it harder because you know, what if I if you don't

(29:54):
have a deadline or like an immediate client, sorry, not
you, but like if I don't have a deadline, then I you know, it
can live in the nether world. Like I remember the first time I
got to the point where I was a stand up comic that had 30
minutes was because I had lied and said I had 30 minutes to get

(30:15):
into this festival. And then I had like four months
to come up at 30 minutes and then I had 30 minutes.
So it's sort of like, you know, when people say, like having a
guest come over or drop by is like the thing you need to like
clean your house. And my friends and I would joke
that we should like pretend we're coming over to each
other's houses and then not showup.
But in the meantime, we've cleaned our houses like so.

(30:36):
Anyways, I need you must be running.
HD Club. Yeah.
Yes, I think I think so. I think so.
So, so that's actually what I was going to say is that like
although I don't have as much structure as I made myself have
before, but I also don't have the same like, you know,
everything is self driven. So but I'm hard on myself too.

(30:57):
So I think I make enough progress, but I also have either
become more probable ADHD or accepted and accept imperfection
a little bit more. I also know that I'm more
creative, creative when I'm allowed to live in chaos a
little bit more. I think.
I also know now that I can't control as much as I would like

(31:17):
to. That just comes with, I think
having a kid and realizing you're not important at all.
Yeah. And then also I feel like the
you can't will when you come up with really great ideas.
Some of my best punch lines or TV show ideas or like script
ideas have come when I'm in the shower or decided to go for a 30

(31:39):
minute walk on a break. So I don't want to push it too
much with the structure, But when it's needed and there's
like a thing that needs to get done, like 2 weeks ago, I had to
submit a grant proposal and Oh my God, I focused like nothing
else. And I was exhausted at the end
and I loved it, but I was like, I couldn't do this every day.
Yeah, yeah. Well, that's really interesting.

(31:59):
I think we can write. I know my answers are too long,
aren't they? They're really long.
No, no, no. Like.
You're the. Hosts and I'm not.
Letting you We're here to listen.
OK. Yeah, OK.
We want to hear. About you.
We're sitting in awe, like. Yeah, exactly.
Yes, absolutely. OK, so question, you have your
own podcast too? Yes, yes, Bothered.

(32:23):
Yes, which is chronicling microaggressions and moments
that piss. You off?
I love that so much. We love that.
I literally have a microaggression that I'm going
to share with you, but what inspired you to create that
space? Like what was the catalyst that
made you be like? I have to do a podcast about
this because it pisses me off somuch.
Well, thank you for asking. It's more that I came to the

(32:45):
realization because my husband, actually my husband listens to a
bunch of podcasts. His favorite podcast is with two
comedians, Joe List and Mark Normand called Tuesdays with
Stories. And I swear to God, him
listening to that podcast is thesame as cheating on me, like me
talking to him and I see him laughing at something and it's

(33:05):
just like him. So now I call them his friends,
you know, because he'll always talk about them.
Oh, the guys were saying this orthat, but he he was seeing how
great they were doing with Stan with podcasting and how so many
people were doing well with podcasting.
And he's like, well, as a comic,you should like do a podcast.
And he said he's also been a bigfan of the Bill Burr podcast,

(33:26):
where the guy Bill Burr who likeis one of my comedy idols to
sometimes will like do a solo podcast for like an hour or two
hours or somewhere in there. The thought of doing so he was
like, you got to just do like doa podcast.
But the thought of doing 1 and being committed to doing like
something weekly was daunting, especially when I start to
travel a lot. The thought of collaborating

(33:48):
with someone seemed not possiblegiven that, well, one, I work
kind of well on my own. But then that introduced another
problem in my head, which was who the hell am I that anybody
would listen to me for like thatlong, right?
And then what am I going to talk, you know, about and all
that kind of stuff. And then after mulling over it

(34:09):
for no less than like 5 or 6 months because I didn't have a
deadline, I thought about what really makes me feel alive and
also what presents a little bit of a different value proposition
and something that I think I would listen to and my audience
would listen to. And I know that my, a lot of my
audience members are like me. They're busy women.

(34:29):
They get shit done. Some of them are parents.
But even if they're not, they'rebusy people.
And I don't want to do a long podcast.
So I thought maybe I'll do a podcast.
It's like 15 minutes or like some episodes have been 9
minutes, some have been 24 minutes, Something easy because
I know that I fall off. A podcast will fall off for me.
Like I'll listen to it, but oh, I'm in the car, I've reached my

(34:49):
destination. I might forget about it.
So I thought something quick andeasy, like on the way to pick up
or drop off. And then I know that I always
have these stories to share withmy friends and I get rubbed the
wrong way. And I'm OK with that because
comedians have to have, I think,a level of discontent.
We notice things, they bother us.
They don't have to be like this person pissed me off, but we

(35:12):
noticed these little thing and as a woman and as a woman of
color, I had accumulated a very large library of stories of
things that have happened to me.Sometimes a man would do
something or a woman or a salesperson or something.
And in most of the cases I knew they were microaggressions, some
of them macro aggressions. And I am someone who does not

(35:36):
get embarrassed that much and I do not hold back.
So I've got a lot of these stories where stuff happens to
me and I will like push back or get somebody back and it.
Yeah. And it ends up being kind of
like an interesting story that some people find a little
aspirational, but even more people find a little bit cringy,
but at least in an educational way.

(35:56):
And so the last part I'll say was I thought maybe it's
something about stories like this because we know that most
podcasters are men and most of the women that are out there,
which are still underrepresented, most of the
women out there are not women ofcolor.
And so I also feel like it's we're at a point in time where
we're beyond saying, you know what, I'm going to be the best

(36:19):
person I can be and I try to be kind and all that.
That's total bullshit, OK? Like there is a room for
justified rage and revenge. I feel like with Kendrick, the
Kendrick and Drake thing, when Isaw that happen, I was like, oh,
people are into this, right? And we are lying and doing a
disservice to ourselves if we pretend that we're perfect and
just turn the other cheek and begracious.

(36:41):
A lot of us don't have the luxury to be gracious because
especially as women, we're secondhand citizens, like the
way that we're treated. And I'm not even talking about
the disgusting amounts of violence against girls and women
and the pay gap and all of that kind of stuff.
So in general, I wanted to talk about stuff that had happened to

(37:03):
me. I've started to fold in things
like in the media, like the president of Mexico being groped
and those kinds of issues. Yeah, yeah.
Now. Yeah.
And then bringing it back to myself.
But then in the future, in the second season, we're going to
have like more guests and thingslike that.
That's. Exciting.
I love that. Yeah.
That platform like that, that. Yeah, it's great.

(37:26):
It's a great form. It's so relievable.
It is. Thank you.
It almost reminds me of like Seinfeld or Curb where it's
like, oh, right, yes. I love Seinfeld and Curb so
much. I can I can take as much cringe
as possible. I am just like every Larry David
episode. Oh my.
Gosh. Yeah, I would be like him.
I would be like, but why did youdo that?

(37:47):
Or like you do you know what I mean?
Like I would make a thing out of.
It I love it, I love. It there's so many moments.
There's a new show right there like take all these things that
are happening in hues that are like microaggressions that piss
you off 2 two year old and then that's.
Your best? Yeah, like the.
Transportation, I don't know if you guys saw that the US
transportation minister put out this whole thing saying that he

(38:09):
wants to stop people wearing pajamas and slippers in airports
and go back to the 50s and you have to like dress up to get on
flights. I was like, wait, who's I got
the US transportation minister, like yesterday I saw that.
Oh. My God, I can't even get into.
All that I know it's. So much, but there's.
So much comedy. He's a man, he's an old man.
On top of that. Anyways, moving on.

(38:30):
OK, what's a piece of advice that you might give to women
that are like looking to pivot their life since you've pivoted
so many times? Oh gosh, I think I still will
pivot. I'm still trying to pivot.
But that's the thing, I feel like maybe our baseline
shouldn't be sticking to one thing, right?
We change so much in life. We change our hair, we change

(38:51):
our personalities, we change boyfriend and like, do you know
what I mean? We move all the time, but people
have had this idea that you haveto have like 1.
So I don't know. I mean, for me, I've never
thought of anything as a hard pivot.
It's all just been a transition.And aren't we always doing that,
you know? And I feel like it's never been
a better time. So many people have like side

(39:13):
hustles and a different, different online persona.
And I feel like we just all wantmore freedom and autonomy,
especially for women. So I feel like autonomy, that
kind of power and freedom, thoseare equalizers for women.
And I think a big part of leaving corporate also had to do
with the fact that, like corporate does not treat women

(39:33):
well a lot of the time, right? It's difficult.
And like we know like school starts at 9, it ends at 3, then
who has to take care of the child, right?
And I know, and by and large it's sad, but a lot of times it
is the the woman, a lot of my female friends are the ones that
take on the PA days or pro D days when there's no school and

(39:54):
things like that. So I think the equalizer is US
going out like either doing as well as we can in corporate and
a lot of women do and a lot of companies are really great.
But if you don't have the time and the patience for that and
don't want to, you know, don't feel like you're in the right
place, I feel like there are opportunities out there, but
not. To make it sound easy, not

(40:15):
everybody's an entrepreneur. Not everybody can take those
risks. But some of us, like me, need to
do them because they feel like there's no other way to live,
you know, the way they want to live.
So that's all. I don't know if I haven't.
I don't want to be held accountable for anybody's
decisions and financial ruins. No, of course.
Yes. No, no.

(40:35):
You're like, I'll stay in my lane and take care of my own.
And is there, is there a format or genre that like you haven't
tried that you think that you'd like to try?
Like, is there something else that interests you?
Well, one thing that I'm lookingforward to, like I played around
a little bit with the one personshow format and I you know, the
kind that you'll see it in the fringe or often they'll do that

(40:58):
a lot in Australia and England. I played around with that a few
years ago it with that show of like collection of short stories
growing up above the store. That's actually something that
I'm currently working on in terms of making it a book.
And then it actually started offas a book ID and then I was
like, I can't write. I got to perform this.
So then I performed it and then I was like, I now have tested it

(41:20):
and I know like there's an audience for it and people
really liked it. I can make it even better.
So that's the next thing I wouldlike.
That's the next big thing. I would like to tour like end of
2026 and 27, an actual theater show.
And when I did the last couple iterations, there were visual,
there were sounds and some interaction also.

(41:41):
But I do feel like I want to play with a little bit more
depth comedy sometimes, like stand up comedy, you know,
you'll see those clips with me with a little punch lines and
like, you know, talking to people, you know, who Heckle the
show and things like that or anyother audience interaction.
That's really fun. You can go deep with that.

(42:02):
I have not that much. And sometimes it makes me feel
like I'm a little being a littleshallow or glib and I'd like to
take it a little deeper and I'd like to play with a bigger range
of emotions. So I want to do that kind of
thing which is not that separatefrom comedy.
A lot of people have been doing those things for a while, but I

(42:25):
I feel like that's part of my growth as a person and a
performer too. So that is what I would like to
play with. I also am trying to write a
screenplay. I love films so much.
I've got this idea I've been sitting on for a long time, so
I'm trying to make that a priority too.
And that's what that's why I feel like there's always so much
to do. I feel like, yeah, I'm always

(42:47):
like transitioning or pivoting. They're all just different
variations, different like outputs of like being creative,
you know? So yeah, I'm excited, but also
daunted. Is that what you say?
Daunted. Daunted.
It's daunted. No, but.
Daunted. Yeah.
Yeah, I feel, I think. That's a word did I make.
Up. We're making it a word.

(43:08):
OK, now it's daunted. That's the name of my next
special. Perfect.
OK, We have taken up so much of your time today, but we have one
question we have to ask you before we go.
It's the question we ask every guest we have, and it's just
what does sisterhood mean to you?
Thank you for asking that question because I have been
thinking recently. Sorry again, no short answers.

(43:31):
I feel like as I was growing up,I felt very alone and on the
hook for my own responsibilitiesand happiness.
Like I feel like I grew up with very not with a big sense of
like importance of like relationships.
So I feel like I've always been an island and I feel like that
even in my work, like as a standup comic, all the sports I've

(43:54):
ever done have been solo sports.Anything I've ever done
meaningfully, martial arts or like what was the other one?
I did for a while golf, right? But as I grow, especially now as
a parent and now as trying to bemore evolved as a performer, I
recognize the importance of community and also of connection

(44:17):
and human connection. I feel like I have had a lot of
female friends throughout the years.
I have purposely kept myself kind of independent, I think
because I grew up with a detached attachment style or an
avoidant attachment style. Maybe that came from having a
deep shame about like myself or my real insides feeling like a

(44:40):
bit of a weirdo or whatever. Maybe it comes from feeling like
a perfectionist and wanting to not show people my fault.
So that has kept me from having long lasting meaningful
relationships generally. But included in that is long
lasting female relationships. I do have some close female

(45:02):
friends now, but as someone who feels like a lone wolf I haven't
relied on them heavily. I do have a group of friends
that I believe would come if I needed them in the middle of the
night or if I was dying to like shave my legs or whatever.
I'm just kidding. I had laser hair removal and
there are people for whom I would do that too.

(45:24):
I was not raised in a way where I chose to be a good sister even
to my own sister. My mom has sisters and all I
knew of her relationship with her sisters is that they were
not close either and they were combative, etcetera.
So this is something I've thought about a lot like and I'm
talking about in the last month.So, so it's very timely that you

(45:46):
ask me. I know it's important to have
sisterhood. I have started to make a
conscious decision to prioritizemy female relationships more.
My most important female relationship is with my small
daughter who is 8 years old, whoI want that for very badly.
And as an only child, she's alsoinclined to like be a little bit

(46:08):
of a lone wolf. But I also we put her in a
soccer team with a bunch of girls.
She's got some good besties and I really try to teach her good
lessons in terms of being a girl's girl and like not being
jealous like she wanted she wanted these nails.
I don't know. I was looking around.
She's nowhere close to me, but she scares me.
She wanted these press on nails.There was only there was only

(46:31):
one of the left of the stores. And then she's like, I got to
get those before my friend gets those.
And I was like, you know, what would make you a better friend
is if I will buy one for you, but let's also get one for your
friend and you can give it to her as a Christmas present.
So it's top of mind for me rightnow.
It's a challenging, as someone who's busy and with a child to

(46:52):
make a bunch of time. I've never done, no.
Maybe one time I did like, a girl's trip, but it was like for
a wedding, I'm always working. And so I don't prioritize that.
Yeah, that much. But I do want that more.
And I do want. Yeah.
So. So I plan to invest more in
sisterhood. So what does sisterhood mean to

(47:14):
me? Gosh, I feel like it is being a
good friend. I feel like it's, you know,
friends as found family. I try to try to be a good sister
in female comedy. I feel like like my last her.
Every time I perform, I try to lift up like a female comedian
who's newer. Yeah.

(47:34):
Try to because I know female comedians who came up when I was
coming up, when it was hard, when it's like you couldn't get
booked unless like you let someone touch your ass.
And I'm like exaggerating. And I remember talking to one
female comic who of course I won't name, but she said it's so
easy for female comics now. They think they can just come
and get booked. When we had to work really hard

(47:54):
for it. And that's when I knew that we
were different because I was like, it's so great that it's
easier for them. Isn't the fact that we had it
hard and maybe made it easier like a good thing that now it's
normal? But there are people out there,
and I have met older women like that who do not like when
younger women have freedom or don't have to do as much like in

(48:16):
terms of like domestic things because they're like, we had to
do it, but now you don't have todo it.
And they're angry about it. That is the opposite of
progress. And I try as much as possible to
wish the best for newer comedians or women coming up
because I want them to have an easier life and not have this
baggage. I, I love where we're going in
society with women and girls notbeing afraid and being bold and,

(48:40):
yeah, expecting equality and notthinking it's normal to get
harassed and assaulted. Like I'm, I'm really heartened
by that. So I will do the best that I
can. I want to be a, become a better
sister and then, you know, invest in sisterhood more.
Maybe I do it more than I'm saying, but but not on a

(49:01):
personal level. So I'm I'm working on that.
Did I get it right? Is there an actual?
There is no right answer. No, it's your own answer.
And we love that. Like that's why we there's no
right answer. And I think that, you know,
that's what this is all about. This whole podcast is just about
like, what does sisterhood mean to you?
For us? It's like this community of
people and like having you on here, it's like, OK, now I can
call you, you know? I hope you do.

(49:22):
I hope you do. That's really what it's all
about. And and showing other females
and non binary folks out there that there aren't we, we are not
like hard, we're not gatekeepers.
It's like, you know what? If you need something, e-mail
me. You know, I can help you.
I will, you know. I love that.
I also feel like part of it is like it's only in the last few
years that I felt a lot more comfortable being vulnerable and

(49:45):
talking about my flaws or my journey or like things I need to
learn. And I feel like that's probably
a part of sisterhood too, because it like the not
pretending to be perfect and notpretending that it's easy is
freeing, I think for oneself, but also to other people to know
that it's, it's hard and we all,you know, deal with this and

(50:05):
it's OK to feel insecure or unsure some of the time.
Well, in our generation, it was like, we never heard that from
anybody. So for me it's like, how can I
make it better for my kids generation and everybody below
that? So it's like, yeah, let's talk.
About it and I love that Yeah, agreed.
Thank you SO. Much, Julie, It was actually
such an honor to have you on theshow and so good to hear what
you're doing. I'm so excited about all the

(50:27):
things and I hope we get to worktogether in real life.
I hope so. Please just keep in touch.
We will. OK.
All right. Thank you so much.
Have a thank you, you too. Bye.
If today's episode lit a fire under you, share it with a
fellow creative or screenshot this episode and post it to your

(50:49):
socials. Don't forget to subscribe, rate
and leave us a review. Want more?
Follow us on Instagram at The Creative Sisterhood and check
out Grand Blvd. Entertainment to get plugged
into the movement. Until next time, keep telling
your story, stay bold and remember.
We don't play by the rules. We make our own.