February 18, 2026 • 33 mins
What if the thing you’re meant to do isn’t the thing you planned at all? Tara Brown—award-winning, clean, family-friendly comedian—shares how a six-week class turned a lifelong PR career into a full-time calling, and why a simple prayer reframed comedy as an assignment to lift people who walk into the room carrying more than they can say.
Tara breaks down practical tools leaders can use anywhere: reframe nerves as excitement, use intentional self-talk, set the atmosphere with a clear purpose, and remember that one bad moment doesn’t define the story. We dive into clean comedy, audience empathy, and the power of presence, including a moving moment where a signed performance brought laughter to a hearing-impaired guest. Legacy, for Tara, isn’t a plaque on a wall; it’s how people feel after they’ve been with you—seen, lighter, and more hopeful.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:06):
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional, andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders, soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
let us know.
(00:27):
Best way to stay connected inCanada is through our newsletter
at leaderimpact.ca or on socialat LeaderImpact.
But if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out her
website at leaderimpact.com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is award-winning
comedian Tara Brown.
Tara brings clean,family-friendly humor to
audiences nationwide.
Named one of the stand-upcomedians you need to know in
(00:50):
Charlotte by Charlotte5.com andbest comedian by Queen City
Nerve in 2019.
She's the latest winner of theJeannie Robertson's Comedy with
Class humor competition.
Catch her on season two of StandUp Nashville on Circle Network,
dry bar comedy, open bar comedy,and sailing the high seas with
Carnival and Norwegian cruiselines.
(01:10):
Welcome to the show, Tara.
Hi, Lisa.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Oh, well, so I'm going to tellthe audience how we met Tara.
I saw her on a cruise, and forsome reason I was telling you
this.
We were with a group of people.
They sat in the back room.
I'm like, I need to sit secondrow center.
I came up, I sat down, and thenI'm like, now I know why.
(01:32):
And now you're here.
SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
I'm so glad that you did.
I'm so glad you were led and youdidn't say, you know what, I'm
going to sit with them.
I'm going to sit where I'm meantto sit.
So thank you.
And I'm glad that you did.
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Well, it would it, and then I stalked you after the
show and that didn't go so wellwith your producer.
But we're here.
So we're good.
SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
They were just being protective, but I'm glad that it
all worked out.
And I'm so glad that you didstalk me.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
Yeah.
So um I love comedy.
I love laughing.
I think it brings so much to ourlife.
So I'm excited to have you here.
I don't think I've ever had acom comedian on the show,
especially if you're winningone.
Or from Nashville.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
I'm the first.
I'm excited.
Yes.
I'm Nashville by way of uh NewYork, by way of Charlotte, North
Carolina.
So I've traveled a little bit.
SPEAKER_01 (02:13):
Okay.
Um I love Nashville.
I love country music.
SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
So great city.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
So we'll jump in.
We love hearing aboutprofessional stories and sort
of, you know, how did you get towhere you are today?
And I know the stories could belong, but more those pivotal
moments that really got you tothe turning point of your
journey.
SPEAKER_00 (02:31):
You know, I started out originally, I'm from
Brooklyn, New York.
And I started out in New York,and I was uh going to college
part-time and I took a job, andthe job was in book publishing.
And uh I what I I love to tellthe story because it's just a
reminder to people, it's justlike, you know, don't despise
(02:52):
humble beginnings.
I started out as a receptionistand book publisher.
Then people liked me and gave mean opportunity to work in the PR
department.
So then I went on to have acareer, what turned out to be a
30-year career in PR, um, justfrom that job at the reception
desk.
So I moved uh from New York toCharlotte, North Carolina.
The great thing about PR is sucha highly transferable skill.
(03:14):
So if you do it in bookpublishing, you can do it in
television, which is what I did.
So I transferred that skill uhto working it for an independent
cable television network outsideof Charlotte, North Carolina.
And that network did a lot ofacquired content.
So there wasn't a lot ofopportunities to do PR.
And I'm a New Yorker and I'mused to being busy.
(03:36):
So it was one of those thingswhere I was like, I need to be
busy.
So I'm not busy here.
I need to find a hobby.
So I Googled things to do inCharlotte, and comedy class
popped up.
And I said, hmm, um, people saidI'm funny.
I come from a long line of funnypeople.
My grandfather was hilarious, mymother's a hoot.
I said, I'll give it a shot.
(03:57):
So I took this six-week comedyclass at the comedy zone in
Charlotte, North Carolina, andit was fantastic.
And so this started out beingkind of a hobby or a side
hustle, but a funny thinghappened on the way to the
comedy club.
It started getting good.
And um, so then what ended uphappening is I started getting
all these amazing opportunities,and I ended up having what felt
(04:21):
like two full-time jobs.
So I had to make a decision ofwhich of those jobs I was gonna
let go.
And I let go of the PR job andstepped out on faith.
And three years ago, January2023, I quit my full-time job uh
and pursued a full-time comedycareer, stand-up comedy career,
(04:41):
and here we are.
Wow, were you always the funnykid?
I was not, and that's the thefunny pun intended.
That's the funny thing aboutthis.
Everyone says, Oh, you'refollowing your passion.
I was like, I'm not.
I never if you had told me thatI was gonna be a stand-up
comedian, you know, 20 yearsago, I was like, Me?
And the funniest thing aboutthat, okay, how many times can
(05:03):
we use the word funny in thiswhole uh yeah?
I'll count later.
Exactly, right?
Um, the interesting thing aboutthat is again, I come from New
York, so you would have thoughtif I was gonna do a stand-up
comedy career, I would havestarted it there, but I didn't.
So I started it in Charlotte.
So I I fell into this, and soeveryone's like, oh, you're
doing what you've always beeninto.
I'm like, okay, I didn't thinkthis is what I would be doing.
(05:27):
But I am so elated um with thisjourney.
And I I always like to tellpeople this.
As I was leaving Charlotte, um,the last Sunday I left
Charlotte.
I went to my church, uh, which Istill attend, the park church in
Charlotte.
And my pastor prayed over me,and he said five words I'll
(05:48):
never forget.
He said, I'm sending you onassignment.
And I never looked at comedy asan assignment.
But once he said those words, itreally changed the way I
performed comedy and the way Iwent about this work because it
really is an assignment, and I'mgrateful that I get to do it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
You need to dive deeper into sending you on an
assignment.
Like how so when you step onstage, you're like, I have a
purpose here.
SPEAKER_00 (06:14):
I have purpose.
I have there are people who arehurting.
There are people.
I've had so many instances wherepeople have come to me after a
show.
A good case in point, I wasperforming for a charitable
event.
And after the show, a womancomes up to me and she says, You
know, I've seen you performbefore.
And I said, You have?
She said, Yeah, and it was theworst night of my life.
(06:35):
And she went on to tell me why.
And she said, The last thing Iwanted to do that night was go
to a comedy show.
But my friends convinced me tocome, and you made me laugh so
hard that I forgot about what Iwas going through.
And then I hugged her, and youknow, we're both crying.
And so that is a part of theassignment, you know, just
remembering that when peoplewalk in that room, they're
(06:57):
walking in with things you don'teven know what's going on with
them.
And it's my job to make you feelbetter for those 30 minutes or
however long I'm with you, andjust maybe not make you think
about it for a little while.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
Yeah.
So in that, I'm gonna saypivotal moment because we're
talking about of leaving a PRcompany after 30 years to going,
okay, so this hobby turned intofull time.
That what was that moment like?
Like I remember making a changeand it was like I I knew I had
to make it, but I was like, Ithink I'm gonna be sick.
Like, oh yeah, scary.
Okay.
Yeah, oh, it's easy.
SPEAKER_00 (07:30):
No, terrifying.
It's no, please don't thinkthat.
It's you know, when you arestepping down on faith, I will
never forget when I was tellingeverybody and their mom that I
was I'm gonna leave my job, I'mnot gonna do PR.
Um, I a guy said something tome, and I thought it was a great
line.
He said, It's been myexperience.
Um, when you make the leap, thenet will appear.
(07:53):
And I said, Interesting.
So I I hadn't thought about itthat way, but this journey has
been one that has been faithful,and God has been faithful, and
I'm so incredibly grateful forhis faithfulness.
And I remember when I had,because I had been hemming in
Han about um leaving the job.
(08:14):
The other piece of that is thatum how I ended up in Nashville,
Tennessee from Charlotte is itwas encouraged of me by some uh
influential people here that youknow this could be a good move
for me to make.
And so I thought about it.
And so not only did I leave myjob, I left the city I had lived
in for 20 years and moved toNashville, Tennessee uh to
(08:38):
pursue uh stand-up comedybecause this is a while it's a
fabulous music city, as we allknow, it's also a really good
city for uh uh clean comedy.
And I have not regretted thatdecision.
It has been a wonderful move forme, and that's also a really
good feeling when you take thatleap, you step out on faith, and
it works out in the way that youhope that it would.
(09:01):
And again, it's not for thefaint of heart.
You know, there are times ofuncertainty, you know.
Um, with comedy, I always liketo say you eat what you kill.
So you have to you have to goout and just kind of find these
opportunities and make uh theright connections, but it has
been the most rewarding andfulfilling thing I've done.
SPEAKER_01 (09:21):
Wow, you inspire me.
SPEAKER_00 (09:23):
Oh, thank you.
I'm excited.
All right.
SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
Well, our next question we talk about uh best
principle of success.
If you have one, and if you cantell us a story that illustrates
that.
SPEAKER_00 (09:33):
My, you know, treat people with kindness and
respect.
You know, don't think you aretoo big for the moment or or the
room, or you know, I'm alwaysgrateful when someone offers me
an opportunity.
You know, sometimes people say,Oh, I didn't I didn't want to
ask if you would want to do theshow because it was, you know,
too small.
And I'm like, no, I'm gratefulfor when people want to talk to
(09:57):
me or want to offer me things.
It's so funny because I a lot oftimes you you and I met on a
cruise ship and I meet a lot ofpeople on ships, and I love
talking to people on ships.
And a lot of times people say tome, Thanks for talking to me.
I'm like, what?
Like, thanks for talking to me,you know.
So humility.
I'm I'm you know, there's thisthing.
(10:18):
I'm appreciative, people areconfident.
Nothing wrong with that.
I love that, but I'm a big fanof humility.
You know, I'm a big fan of justbeing appreciative of the
moment, appreciative of people.
People don't owe it to you to bekind to you, people don't owe it
to you to offer youopportunities.
So be kind and don't be a jerk.
(10:40):
No one likes a jerk, no onewants to work with someone who
they don't like.
So I try to lead with that.
I remember my I'm the daughter,my mom is a uh a preacher, she's
a prophetess and an evangelist.
And when I first started doingcomedy, my mom said to me, if
you honor God with your comedy,God will honor your comedy.
And that has been true.
(11:01):
So I just try to lead with that.
You know, the the old adage,treat people the way you want to
be treated.
Yeah, it's it's so true.
SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
Which really makes it easy for someone like me to
come talk to you and you know,thank you for talking, because
really, thank you for coming outand talking to me, because you
could have blew me off, right?
But you your presence is justyou know, so it's it's about
opening up too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:26):
That means the world to me that you said that because
I tell people all the time thething I love to hear most.
Listen, I love hearing.
Oh, we I thought you were funny.
The thing that gets me in allthe fields is when people say I
can relate to you.
Yeah, you know, and a part ofbeing relatable is being
approachable.
So I can't get on a stage andyou know share this experience
(11:49):
with you and we have all thesethings in common, and then I get
off and I'm super standoffish.
I'm like, I've just messed up mywitness there, you know what I
mean?
So it's it's I I try to just beas authentic as possible.
You and I had this conversationbefore.
I find that people can spotinauthenticity a mile away.
So if you just lead withauthenticity, I think that you
(12:12):
will go a long way in whateveryou're doing.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
And speaking of that, sometimes we don't.
So we're gonna talk aboutfailures because sometimes um,
you know, we fail or we have afailing and we learn more
because we learn more from thosethan our own successes.
So, do you have something thatyou could share that you learned
and something you learned fromit?
SPEAKER_00 (12:30):
How much time do we have?
I you I'll tell you this thething that stands out to me the
most is um I had what I like tocall, remember that children's
book, Alexander's Horrible,Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?
There's a children's book likethat where everything just went
wrong.
I had one of those type of days.
(12:50):
So I had left, I was going on myway to a comedy show.
I had left the house, got to theparking garage, realized I left
my wallet home.
So that was first thing.
And I was like, oh, so my friendhad to come pay for my parking.
Get on stage.
The set is not going well.
It's just, you know it when it'snot going well.
And then I ended the set byfalling off the stage.
Oh, fell.
(13:12):
And I knew I was falling.
And the funniest thing is atthat particular show, I had a
friend, I had asked a friend tovideotape me the wrong time to
do that because the set first uhfirst it wasn't going well.
And so as I'm tumbling down inthe front row, the only thing I
can think is, oh God, please lethim have stopped the tape.
And so thankfully he did.
But um, so I had fallen off thestage, I had a bad night, the
(13:34):
show wasn't great.
I think we were like six peoplein the audience, and I remember,
and then at the time, I didn'tdrive on highways.
Like I hated driving at night.
I didn't drive on highways.
I accidentally, after that show,jumped on a highway at night.
And I was like, oh my goodness.
So everything, like I said, thatcould go wrong that day went
wrong.
And I remember going to bedthinking, and I had a show the
(13:55):
next day at the same venue, andI remember thinking, I'm not
going back there.
Everyone saw me fall.
I was humiliated, I'm not doingthat again.
And then I realized in life,that's not life.
You know, you have opportunitieswhere you fall down, but you got
to get back up.
And so the next day I was like,okay, I'm going to dust myself
off literally and figuratively,and then go back.
(14:17):
And the next night was better.
There are times where I've beenon a show and again, it did not
go well.
And you know, you you you beatyourself up.
Like, why didn't that work?
I have done shows, literallyshows where I've done the same
set at one show and the audiencewas quiet.
And the next show, I thoughtthey were gonna have a parade
(14:38):
for me.
So it's just like, wow, you haveit, you have to have thick skin
with this.
You have to have, I tell peopleall the time, you have to have
both short-term and long-termmemory with this.
The short term, and like, okay,that was a bad one.
Tomorrow will be better.
And in the long term, toremember that I'm good at this,
I'm okay.
(14:58):
It's okay.
This is gonna be fun.
So I think, like I said, uh alot of it is just resilience,
having resilience andunderstanding that this one
moment, this one show, this oneset does not define who you are.
Because you can leave and think,I'm the worst person in the
world, where's all the HagenDoss?
I want to eat everything, youknow.
(15:19):
But it's just not life.
And so you just have to bereminded of that.
SPEAKER_01 (15:22):
Yeah.
So in I I'm a uh former projectmanager, and as a project
manager, we have crisiscommunications plan, urgent
emergency response plan.
So we think of, okay, whathappens when?
So when if I have a for you, ifI have a bad day, how do I get
out of it?
What are the tools I have?
Listen to loud music, go for awalk, break, you know, so these
tools.
And I just how do you prepare?
(15:43):
And I this made me think, how doyou prepare to fall off the
stage?
Just saying, because I speak onstage.
And I had a comedian who gave usan example, he fell, and he
said, and as he's laying therewith the mic in his hand, he
goes, and now I'll takequestions from the floor.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Oh, nice.
So just being prepared.
SPEAKER_01 (16:01):
Like, I don't yes, I'm prepared for success, but am
I prepared, and I don't want toprepare to fail.
But if something bad happens inmy day, do I have the tools to
say, I'm coming back tomorrow,and and I'm gonna listen?
Like, what are those tools?
And I I talk to my daughterabout that a lot.
Yeah, having the tools to getout of, you know, crappy
thinking.
SPEAKER_00 (16:22):
And I think again, it goes back to just remembering
you're good at this.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Like you have to, there's a lotof self-talk you have to do.
I'm good, I I can do this, youknow.
I've done this, I've I've I'vedone this well, you know.
Um, this moment does not defineme.
I'm I'm I'm okay.
I'm okay.
(16:42):
And so it's a lot of, you know,a lot of times we can have uh
negative self-talk, but it'sjust again reinforcing those
messages to ourselves, like,girl, you got this.
You got this.
I saw um uh I was listening to apodcast once where a guy said
the way he hypes himself upbefore shows, he looks around
the room and goes, I'm thefunniest person in here, I'm the
(17:04):
funniest person in here, I'm thefunniest person in here.
And I was like, that's a goodplan.
And then I also heard one timethat um fear and excitement pull
from the same areas of thebrain.
unknown (17:16):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (17:16):
And so I've heard that if you when you're nervous,
if you change that to saying,I'm excited, I'm excited, I'm
excited, you start to feel andbelieve that.
And I've done that and it'sworked.
It has worked, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
I was just talking to my producer yesterday about
that about the brain doesn'tknow the difference between um
that and just I'm excited aboutthis and not.
SPEAKER_00 (17:39):
I'm excited, I'm excited.
I get to do this.
Like, you know, um, you know howmany people don't get the
opportunity to stand on a stageand just, you know, I can tell a
joke and uh I thought ofsomething that made you laugh.
That's incredible.
I I remember speaking of beingon ships, once I was on one and
I was performing, and a womanhad her back to me, and I was
(18:02):
like, okay, what's happeningthere?
But then what I realized is shewas signing my show uh for
someone in the audience who washearing impaired.
So when I realized what she wasdoing, I slowed down my cadence.
And then at one point, the womanwho she was signing for laughed
at something I said, and I hadto turn away because I almost
started crying because it justtouched me so much.
This woman couldn't even hear,but something I created in the
(18:25):
words I said made her have thatreaction.
And I tell you what, nothingwill get you more than that.
There's so many things.
So then I can't right.
So then I can't then get caughtup in I fell off a stage, I'm
horrible.
This is when I that I had thatmoment too.
So I have so many more of thoseexperiences, and again, that's
what you have to remind yourselfof because we tend to focus on
(18:49):
the negative, we tend to focuson the one bad thing.
I remember once doing a show,and everyone in the room was
laughing, but I look at thecorner of my eye, and this one
woman, she was not laughing, andthat's how our mind works,
right?
Like I got everybody herelaughing, but I'm focused on why
she's not laughing.
And then finally I saidsomething that she doubled over,
and I turned to her and I said,Was that the one you were
(19:11):
waiting on?
That's what it took to get you.
So just a lot of reminders thatyou've got this.
SPEAKER_01 (19:18):
Yeah, so good.
Um so at Leader Impact, we wantto grow personally,
professionally, and spirituallyto increase impact.
And I would love to, if you'rewilling, to share an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
life as a leader.
SPEAKER_00 (19:35):
Everything I do, I lead with faith.
Um I don't I pray before everyshow.
I ask God to set the atmosphere.
Lord, help me to say somethingthat's going to be a blessing to
those around.
I can't, I don't know how tolive a life that's not guided by
my faith.
I thank God for my mom becauseum my mom taught me the very I
(20:00):
accepted uh Jesus when I wasnine years old.
So, and that comes from my mom,you know, having such a strong
faith and leading me there.
And as I said, my mom is apreacher and I'm so super proud
of her.
And and even now when I leave togo on to go to sea or wherever,
the first call I get is herpraying over me.
(20:21):
So everything for me starts andends with my faith.
And I'm grateful because and toand to just honor this gift that
God has given me.
Like I don't take that forgranted.
Um, and as I said, when mypastor said those words over me,
I'm sending you on assignment.
(20:41):
I just I can't get over thatbecause it's just like, yes, I'm
on this assignment.
So I've dubbed the work I do thelaughter assignment because to
me it is that, you know, it isan assignment.
So I'm incredibly grateful.
So for me, it starts and endswith my faith.
I know that God works all thingstogether.
(21:02):
Um, and so even when a show doesnot go well, I pray, listen, and
so that people know this, I'veprayed sometimes like, okay,
God, let it go well.
And it didn't go well.
And you know what I've got?
Here's how I've grown in myfaith.
I'm not mad at him when thathappens.
I'll come back and I'm like,okay, it's not what you wanted
today.
I respect it.
There's a reason you did not letthose people laugh.
(21:24):
Okay, you know.
That's um, yes, exactly.
Yes.
So um, I don't know.
I just realized something.
Okay, I just wanted to make sureI'm sending you an assignment
with five words because I keptsaying it and I was like, it's
five words, right?
Yes, yes, okay, good.
Yes, but so I hope that answeredyour question.
SPEAKER_01 (21:44):
Yeah.
Um actually, you just said thatit it makes there was a question
I wanted.
Oh, where was I going when youjust said that?
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
Um Yeah, you talk to me, I can get it going.
I could throw you off.
SPEAKER_01 (21:54):
I know.
Oh, no, I was gonna ask you isKate, so you you were raised in
faith.
You came, you know, but for thepeople That and I feel I can ask
you this.
SPEAKER_02 (22:02):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (22:03):
People don't who have never done that.
And they're looking at you,going, but I what do you mean?
Like, you because I literallyI'll just stop and go, Okay,
God, we're doing this.
And that is literally how I sayit.
I'm like, okay, and then I pray.
What would you say to someonewho's like, I don't I don't know
what you mean?
Like, how do you just pray?
You just talk.
SPEAKER_00 (22:22):
You just talk.
And that's the beautiful thingabout it, right?
It's like it doesn't have to bethis eloquent thing.
You can come to him with yourfears, your anxieties when
you're mad.
You know, there's a song I heardone time, and every time I think
of the lyrics, it it touches mein all the fields.
And the guy says, God, I was madat you.
And I that was so real becausethere are times when it doesn't
(22:45):
always feel good and you don'tunderstand.
But God can handle when you'reupset or when you don't
understand.
And in fact, I feel like we getcloser to him in those moments.
So just start where you are.
You know, I think a lot of timespeople feel like it has to be
this most elaborate thing.
It does not, you know.
Just God, I don't understand.
(23:06):
God, I'm afraid.
That's a big one.
God, I'm afraid.
You know, the thing aboutstepping out on faith on this
journey that I have, there aremoments of scarcity.
There are times of scarcity.
There's like, I don't know wherethis is coming from.
But I promise you this, God hasbeen faithful through every
single step of the way.
So when I see that faithfulnessshow up, each time, you know
(23:30):
what it does?
It makes me a little lessafraid.
And that's the cool thing.
So for anyone who doesn't knowwhere to start, talk to him like
you talked to a friend.
Like if you were talking to afriend or you were talking to
someone who you trusted andsaying, I don't know why you did
that.
You know, I wanted it to go thisway, but you didn't do that.
And I'm trying to understand whyyou did that.
(23:50):
Just start where you are, andand that's the big thing.
That's another thing, too.
I think as believers, we have tobe mindful that everyone is not
where we are.
And everyone, um, and we need tobe able to show people that it's
okay to be, you know, flawed andhuman.
Because I think a lot, as mymother says, sometimes we we
(24:13):
have to remember that we can'tbe so heavenly minded that we're
no earthly good.
You know, so you just have to Ione of the greatest examples of
this, and this blows my mind tothis day.
My mom and I, and like I said,she's my greatest example.
She's my faith leader, she's myprayer partner, she's
everything.
This always stood out to me.
Years ago, we were in New Yorkand we were on a subway, and um
(24:38):
there was a woman, a youngmother, and she was cursing her
child out really badly.
Like it was really bad to thepoint that people were moving
away.
And I remember standing next tomy mom and thinking, it's a
shame how she's talking to herdaughter.
And when I went to turn around,my mother was over talking to
the young woman, and she wasrubbing her back and said, It's
(24:59):
okay.
I was a young mother before,you're gonna be okay.
And then the girl collapsed intotears.
So you never know what peopleneed.
So we have to get out of thisthing of being judgmental.
You know what I mean?
So you don't know.
So that to me, if I go back withthe comedy, I don't know who's
walking in that room, I don'tknow what you brought in.
But my job is to make you feelgood for a little while, and I'm
(25:22):
grateful that God saw somethingin me that allows me to do that.
SPEAKER_01 (25:27):
Go.
Oh, this is so good.
I'm sitting here writing allyour one-liners, and I'm like,
oh, that is so good.
Oh, thank you.
This is gonna go on my mirror.
SPEAKER_02 (25:36):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01 (25:38):
So uh, you know, it's it's funny.
I lately I've been talking a lotabout legacy.
And um, leader impact isdedicated to leaders having a
lasting impact.
And as you continue to movethrough this whole journey of
life, I was wondering if youcould share what you want your
faith journey to be when youleave this world.
But the interesting question ismy my thoughts have gone to
legacy isn't something we leave,it's something we live.
(26:03):
You know, so when I ask so,because I I feel you are living
your faith every day, and Iyeah, I just want to be, I want
to live in Nashville now oranywhere you're gonna be.
SPEAKER_00 (26:12):
We'll have a meet and three and some sweet tea.
Come on now.
SPEAKER_01 (26:15):
But anyway, so the question is when you leave this
world.
SPEAKER_00 (26:21):
I I think again, I want to go back to I want people
to have felt something when theywere around me.
You know, like you know what?
When I was with her, I just feltso good.
She made me feel okay.
Um I can do this because shemade me feel like I could, you
(26:43):
know, I am closer to Jesusbecause I watched her example.
Like, I don't, I'm not one ofthose type of people.
I'm not a chapter and verseChristian.
I'll tell you that all the time.
Like, you know, but what I liketo do is I like to be to to live
my life in a way that made youknow who I am before I even
announced who I am.
(27:04):
So for me, what legacy is isagain, I go back to treating
people with kindness andrespect.
Having people be better for theexperience of having met me, so
that when they, you know, saywhen someone brings my name up,
like, oh my gosh, I met her, shewas great.
Like that type of thing.
One of my prayers uh daily is umGod, please let my name be
(27:29):
spoken in rooms I'm not in.
And not so long ago, I got thisamazing opportunity uh to tape a
special for K-Love on Demand,the Christian radio station.
And one of the things I was toldis like someone mentioned your
name and they wanted you onthis.
And I was like, there's a prayerthat was answered.
And then so when I got to talkto someone afterwards, she said,
(27:51):
you know, I saw you at uh aclub, a comedy club, and I knew
I wanted you on the show.
So again, living the life,right?
You know, one of my favoritecommercials is that I think it's
Liberty Mutual.
I'm pretty sure it's LibertyMutual, where someone does an
act of kindness for someone, andsomeone who's across the street
sees it, and then it forces themto do, you know, it encourages
(28:14):
them to do an act of kindness.
That's what I love so much.
So, you know, as the uh the theuh quote goes, be the change you
want to see in the world.
So I think I just want to livethe life.
I want to live a life thatpeople say, you know what, when
I was around her, she made mefeel good and and and I'm better
for it.
So not anything kind of likehoity-toity or super fancy, just
(28:39):
be a good human being, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (28:41):
Oh yeah, you've made my the half this half hour has
just been inspiring for me.
SPEAKER_00 (28:46):
I'm so glad you sat in the second row center.
SPEAKER_01 (28:49):
Right?
I was meant to be there.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, thank just thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Um, my last question, and butyou just you've made my cheeks
hurt already.
So what brings you the greatestjoy?
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Oh, that's good.
Um that's a good question.
You know what's funny?
It's just like when I get to behome and I get to have some
quiet time, like right now, youcaught me in the middle of a
two-week break, and that's veryrare for me that I'm home for
two weeks.
And so just having those quietmoments uh where I can watch
(29:27):
some guilty pleasure television,like the real housewives of
everything.
Like I just watched some guiltypleasure.
I said to my mother yesterday, Ididn't realize she didn't notice
about me.
I like cats, right?
I really like cats.
And my mother said, You likecats?
I said, I do, but I can't haveone because my travel schedule
is nuts.
So I'm gonna, there's a uh a catlounge where you can go play
(29:49):
with cats.
I'm gonna play with cats.
That's gonna bring me joy.
Like just a simple act ofplaying with cats.
My mother, why do you love cats?
I was like, because cats couldtake or leave you, they're super
smart, like they're just soindependent, and it's just so to
me, the simple things make mehappy.
The simple things.
SPEAKER_01 (30:06):
I was just gonna comment that and that it's it's
simple.
SPEAKER_00 (30:09):
It's so simple.
The simplicity of of joy is andit I tell people with a life as
an entertainer, with a lifestarting in PR, my I'm very
outward facing.
Everything about me isextroverted, right?
So when I get those quietmoments of introspection and I
(30:31):
get to be introverted for alittle while, it feels so good.
You know what made me feel goodyesterday?
I bought some caramelized oniondip from Trader Joe's.
Do you have a Trader Joe'sthere?
No, we don't.
But I know it.
But it's so good.
So, like that made me happyyesterday.
So it's the little things.
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (30:50):
Oh, I have loved this 30 minutes.
Thank you for joining me today.
And I'm glad you had two weeksat home.
Me too.
I'm so thankful.
Um, I'm sure people either theywant to follow you, they want to
maybe look up your schedule,maybe they're in town where
maybe you are, maybe they'regonna go on a cruise.
I don't know.
And people maybe connect you,find you, look you up.
Like, what is the best way?
SPEAKER_00 (31:11):
I would love it.
On um Instagram and uh Facebook,Tara Brown Comedy.
That'd be great.
I'm very um engaging withpeople.
So if you reach out to me there,I will always answer you and
always because I'm so happy thatpeople want to follow me and I
like I talk to everybody.
Um, and then I had my websiteterabrowncomedy.com, and there
(31:34):
you can find out where I'll beand all that stuff.
So yes, please connect with me.
I love talking to people, as youcan tell.
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
Yeah.
And I love when people and Ilove that you gave me the time.
So thank you for that.
Because you could have stayedbackstage, but to just come out
and you know, I'm one of 500people in this audience and you
just, you know, came and talkedto me.
SPEAKER_00 (31:51):
Did you hear me say I fell off a stage?
So anytime anybody wants to talkto me when I'm standing upright,
I'm here for it.
But th in all seriousness, thankyou for this opportunity.
I'm always um grateful to get toshare my story.
So thank you for allowing me todo that.
SPEAKER_01 (32:07):
Thank you.
And I will be following you.
Yes.
All right.
All right.
Well, I want to thank Tara Brownfor joining us today.
What a great day.
Um, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you are not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact.ca.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
(32:27):
Leaderimpact.ca, or if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outLeaderImpact.com or get in touch
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Info at LeaderImpact.ca and wewill connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
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This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us.
And remember, impact starts withyou.
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional, andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders, soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
let us know.
(00:27):
Best way to stay connected inCanada is through our newsletter
at leaderimpact.ca or on socialat LeaderImpact.
But if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out her
website at leaderimpact.com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is award-winning
comedian Tara Brown.
Tara brings clean,family-friendly humor to
audiences nationwide.
Named one of the stand-upcomedians you need to know in
(00:50):
Charlotte by Charlotte5.com andbest comedian by Queen City
Nerve in 2019.
She's the latest winner of theJeannie Robertson's Comedy with
Class humor competition.
Catch her on season two of StandUp Nashville on Circle Network,
dry bar comedy, open bar comedy,and sailing the high seas with
Carnival and Norwegian cruiselines.
(01:10):
Welcome to the show, Tara.
Hi, Lisa.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Oh, well, so I'm going to tellthe audience how we met Tara.
I saw her on a cruise, and forsome reason I was telling you
this.
We were with a group of people.
They sat in the back room.
I'm like, I need to sit secondrow center.
I came up, I sat down, and thenI'm like, now I know why.
(01:32):
And now you're here.
SPEAKER_00 (01:33):
I'm so glad that you did.
I'm so glad you were led and youdidn't say, you know what, I'm
going to sit with them.
I'm going to sit where I'm meantto sit.
So thank you.
And I'm glad that you did.
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Well, it would it, and then I stalked you after the
show and that didn't go so wellwith your producer.
But we're here.
So we're good.
SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
They were just being protective, but I'm glad that it
all worked out.
And I'm so glad that you didstalk me.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (01:53):
Yeah.
So um I love comedy.
I love laughing.
I think it brings so much to ourlife.
So I'm excited to have you here.
I don't think I've ever had acom comedian on the show,
especially if you're winningone.
Or from Nashville.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (02:05):
I'm the first.
I'm excited.
Yes.
I'm Nashville by way of uh NewYork, by way of Charlotte, North
Carolina.
So I've traveled a little bit.
SPEAKER_01 (02:13):
Okay.
Um I love Nashville.
I love country music.
SPEAKER_00 (02:16):
So great city.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
So we'll jump in.
We love hearing aboutprofessional stories and sort
of, you know, how did you get towhere you are today?
And I know the stories could belong, but more those pivotal
moments that really got you tothe turning point of your
journey.
SPEAKER_00 (02:31):
You know, I started out originally, I'm from
Brooklyn, New York.
And I started out in New York,and I was uh going to college
part-time and I took a job, andthe job was in book publishing.
And uh I what I I love to tellthe story because it's just a
reminder to people, it's justlike, you know, don't despise
(02:52):
humble beginnings.
I started out as a receptionistand book publisher.
Then people liked me and gave mean opportunity to work in the PR
department.
So then I went on to have acareer, what turned out to be a
30-year career in PR, um, justfrom that job at the reception
desk.
So I moved uh from New York toCharlotte, North Carolina.
The great thing about PR is sucha highly transferable skill.
(03:14):
So if you do it in bookpublishing, you can do it in
television, which is what I did.
So I transferred that skill uhto working it for an independent
cable television network outsideof Charlotte, North Carolina.
And that network did a lot ofacquired content.
So there wasn't a lot ofopportunities to do PR.
And I'm a New Yorker and I'mused to being busy.
(03:36):
So it was one of those thingswhere I was like, I need to be
busy.
So I'm not busy here.
I need to find a hobby.
So I Googled things to do inCharlotte, and comedy class
popped up.
And I said, hmm, um, people saidI'm funny.
I come from a long line of funnypeople.
My grandfather was hilarious, mymother's a hoot.
I said, I'll give it a shot.
(03:57):
So I took this six-week comedyclass at the comedy zone in
Charlotte, North Carolina, andit was fantastic.
And so this started out beingkind of a hobby or a side
hustle, but a funny thinghappened on the way to the
comedy club.
It started getting good.
And um, so then what ended uphappening is I started getting
all these amazing opportunities,and I ended up having what felt
(04:21):
like two full-time jobs.
So I had to make a decision ofwhich of those jobs I was gonna
let go.
And I let go of the PR job andstepped out on faith.
And three years ago, January2023, I quit my full-time job uh
and pursued a full-time comedycareer, stand-up comedy career,
(04:41):
and here we are.
Wow, were you always the funnykid?
I was not, and that's the thefunny pun intended.
That's the funny thing aboutthis.
Everyone says, Oh, you'refollowing your passion.
I was like, I'm not.
I never if you had told me thatI was gonna be a stand-up
comedian, you know, 20 yearsago, I was like, Me?
And the funniest thing aboutthat, okay, how many times can
(05:03):
we use the word funny in thiswhole uh yeah?
I'll count later.
Exactly, right?
Um, the interesting thing aboutthat is again, I come from New
York, so you would have thoughtif I was gonna do a stand-up
comedy career, I would havestarted it there, but I didn't.
So I started it in Charlotte.
So I I fell into this, and soeveryone's like, oh, you're
doing what you've always beeninto.
I'm like, okay, I didn't thinkthis is what I would be doing.
(05:27):
But I am so elated um with thisjourney.
And I I always like to tellpeople this.
As I was leaving Charlotte, um,the last Sunday I left
Charlotte.
I went to my church, uh, which Istill attend, the park church in
Charlotte.
And my pastor prayed over me,and he said five words I'll
(05:48):
never forget.
He said, I'm sending you onassignment.
And I never looked at comedy asan assignment.
But once he said those words, itreally changed the way I
performed comedy and the way Iwent about this work because it
really is an assignment, and I'mgrateful that I get to do it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
You need to dive deeper into sending you on an
assignment.
Like how so when you step onstage, you're like, I have a
purpose here.
SPEAKER_00 (06:14):
I have purpose.
I have there are people who arehurting.
There are people.
I've had so many instances wherepeople have come to me after a
show.
A good case in point, I wasperforming for a charitable
event.
And after the show, a womancomes up to me and she says, You
know, I've seen you performbefore.
And I said, You have?
She said, Yeah, and it was theworst night of my life.
(06:35):
And she went on to tell me why.
And she said, The last thing Iwanted to do that night was go
to a comedy show.
But my friends convinced me tocome, and you made me laugh so
hard that I forgot about what Iwas going through.
And then I hugged her, and youknow, we're both crying.
And so that is a part of theassignment, you know, just
remembering that when peoplewalk in that room, they're
(06:57):
walking in with things you don'teven know what's going on with
them.
And it's my job to make you feelbetter for those 30 minutes or
however long I'm with you, andjust maybe not make you think
about it for a little while.
SPEAKER_01 (07:09):
Yeah.
So in that, I'm gonna saypivotal moment because we're
talking about of leaving a PRcompany after 30 years to going,
okay, so this hobby turned intofull time.
That what was that moment like?
Like I remember making a changeand it was like I I knew I had
to make it, but I was like, Ithink I'm gonna be sick.
Like, oh yeah, scary.
Okay.
Yeah, oh, it's easy.
SPEAKER_00 (07:30):
No, terrifying.
It's no, please don't thinkthat.
It's you know, when you arestepping down on faith, I will
never forget when I was tellingeverybody and their mom that I
was I'm gonna leave my job, I'mnot gonna do PR.
Um, I a guy said something tome, and I thought it was a great
line.
He said, It's been myexperience.
Um, when you make the leap, thenet will appear.
(07:53):
And I said, Interesting.
So I I hadn't thought about itthat way, but this journey has
been one that has been faithful,and God has been faithful, and
I'm so incredibly grateful forhis faithfulness.
And I remember when I had,because I had been hemming in
Han about um leaving the job.
(08:14):
The other piece of that is thatum how I ended up in Nashville,
Tennessee from Charlotte is itwas encouraged of me by some uh
influential people here that youknow this could be a good move
for me to make.
And so I thought about it.
And so not only did I leave myjob, I left the city I had lived
in for 20 years and moved toNashville, Tennessee uh to
(08:38):
pursue uh stand-up comedybecause this is a while it's a
fabulous music city, as we allknow, it's also a really good
city for uh uh clean comedy.
And I have not regretted thatdecision.
It has been a wonderful move forme, and that's also a really
good feeling when you take thatleap, you step out on faith, and
it works out in the way that youhope that it would.
(09:01):
And again, it's not for thefaint of heart.
You know, there are times ofuncertainty, you know.
Um, with comedy, I always liketo say you eat what you kill.
So you have to you have to goout and just kind of find these
opportunities and make uh theright connections, but it has
been the most rewarding andfulfilling thing I've done.
SPEAKER_01 (09:21):
Wow, you inspire me.
SPEAKER_00 (09:23):
Oh, thank you.
I'm excited.
All right.
SPEAKER_01 (09:26):
Well, our next question we talk about uh best
principle of success.
If you have one, and if you cantell us a story that illustrates
that.
SPEAKER_00 (09:33):
My, you know, treat people with kindness and
respect.
You know, don't think you aretoo big for the moment or or the
room, or you know, I'm alwaysgrateful when someone offers me
an opportunity.
You know, sometimes people say,Oh, I didn't I didn't want to
ask if you would want to do theshow because it was, you know,
too small.
And I'm like, no, I'm gratefulfor when people want to talk to
(09:57):
me or want to offer me things.
It's so funny because I a lot oftimes you you and I met on a
cruise ship and I meet a lot ofpeople on ships, and I love
talking to people on ships.
And a lot of times people say tome, Thanks for talking to me.
I'm like, what?
Like, thanks for talking to me,you know.
So humility.
I'm I'm you know, there's thisthing.
(10:18):
I'm appreciative, people areconfident.
Nothing wrong with that.
I love that, but I'm a big fanof humility.
You know, I'm a big fan of justbeing appreciative of the
moment, appreciative of people.
People don't owe it to you to bekind to you, people don't owe it
to you to offer youopportunities.
So be kind and don't be a jerk.
(10:40):
No one likes a jerk, no onewants to work with someone who
they don't like.
So I try to lead with that.
I remember my I'm the daughter,my mom is a uh a preacher, she's
a prophetess and an evangelist.
And when I first started doingcomedy, my mom said to me, if
you honor God with your comedy,God will honor your comedy.
And that has been true.
(11:01):
So I just try to lead with that.
You know, the the old adage,treat people the way you want to
be treated.
Yeah, it's it's so true.
SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
Which really makes it easy for someone like me to
come talk to you and you know,thank you for talking, because
really, thank you for coming outand talking to me, because you
could have blew me off, right?
But you your presence is justyou know, so it's it's about
opening up too.
SPEAKER_00 (11:26):
That means the world to me that you said that because
I tell people all the time thething I love to hear most.
Listen, I love hearing.
Oh, we I thought you were funny.
The thing that gets me in allthe fields is when people say I
can relate to you.
Yeah, you know, and a part ofbeing relatable is being
approachable.
So I can't get on a stage andyou know share this experience
(11:49):
with you and we have all thesethings in common, and then I get
off and I'm super standoffish.
I'm like, I've just messed up mywitness there, you know what I
mean?
So it's it's I I try to just beas authentic as possible.
You and I had this conversationbefore.
I find that people can spotinauthenticity a mile away.
So if you just lead withauthenticity, I think that you
(12:12):
will go a long way in whateveryou're doing.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:15):
And speaking of that, sometimes we don't.
So we're gonna talk aboutfailures because sometimes um,
you know, we fail or we have afailing and we learn more
because we learn more from thosethan our own successes.
So, do you have something thatyou could share that you learned
and something you learned fromit?
SPEAKER_00 (12:30):
How much time do we have?
I you I'll tell you this thething that stands out to me the
most is um I had what I like tocall, remember that children's
book, Alexander's Horrible,Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?
There's a children's book likethat where everything just went
wrong.
I had one of those type of days.
(12:50):
So I had left, I was going on myway to a comedy show.
I had left the house, got to theparking garage, realized I left
my wallet home.
So that was first thing.
And I was like, oh, so my friendhad to come pay for my parking.
Get on stage.
The set is not going well.
It's just, you know it when it'snot going well.
And then I ended the set byfalling off the stage.
Oh, fell.
(13:12):
And I knew I was falling.
And the funniest thing is atthat particular show, I had a
friend, I had asked a friend tovideotape me the wrong time to
do that because the set first uhfirst it wasn't going well.
And so as I'm tumbling down inthe front row, the only thing I
can think is, oh God, please lethim have stopped the tape.
And so thankfully he did.
But um, so I had fallen off thestage, I had a bad night, the
(13:34):
show wasn't great.
I think we were like six peoplein the audience, and I remember,
and then at the time, I didn'tdrive on highways.
Like I hated driving at night.
I didn't drive on highways.
I accidentally, after that show,jumped on a highway at night.
And I was like, oh my goodness.
So everything, like I said, thatcould go wrong that day went
wrong.
And I remember going to bedthinking, and I had a show the
(13:55):
next day at the same venue, andI remember thinking, I'm not
going back there.
Everyone saw me fall.
I was humiliated, I'm not doingthat again.
And then I realized in life,that's not life.
You know, you have opportunitieswhere you fall down, but you got
to get back up.
And so the next day I was like,okay, I'm going to dust myself
off literally and figuratively,and then go back.
(14:17):
And the next night was better.
There are times where I've beenon a show and again, it did not
go well.
And you know, you you you beatyourself up.
Like, why didn't that work?
I have done shows, literallyshows where I've done the same
set at one show and the audiencewas quiet.
And the next show, I thoughtthey were gonna have a parade
(14:38):
for me.
So it's just like, wow, you haveit, you have to have thick skin
with this.
You have to have, I tell peopleall the time, you have to have
both short-term and long-termmemory with this.
The short term, and like, okay,that was a bad one.
Tomorrow will be better.
And in the long term, toremember that I'm good at this,
I'm okay.
(14:58):
It's okay.
This is gonna be fun.
So I think, like I said, uh alot of it is just resilience,
having resilience andunderstanding that this one
moment, this one show, this oneset does not define who you are.
Because you can leave and think,I'm the worst person in the
world, where's all the HagenDoss?
I want to eat everything, youknow.
(15:19):
But it's just not life.
And so you just have to bereminded of that.
SPEAKER_01 (15:22):
Yeah.
So in I I'm a uh former projectmanager, and as a project
manager, we have crisiscommunications plan, urgent
emergency response plan.
So we think of, okay, whathappens when?
So when if I have a for you, ifI have a bad day, how do I get
out of it?
What are the tools I have?
Listen to loud music, go for awalk, break, you know, so these
tools.
And I just how do you prepare?
(15:43):
And I this made me think, how doyou prepare to fall off the
stage?
Just saying, because I speak onstage.
And I had a comedian who gave usan example, he fell, and he
said, and as he's laying therewith the mic in his hand, he
goes, and now I'll takequestions from the floor.
SPEAKER_00 (15:58):
Oh, nice.
So just being prepared.
SPEAKER_01 (16:01):
Like, I don't yes, I'm prepared for success, but am
I prepared, and I don't want toprepare to fail.
But if something bad happens inmy day, do I have the tools to
say, I'm coming back tomorrow,and and I'm gonna listen?
Like, what are those tools?
And I I talk to my daughterabout that a lot.
Yeah, having the tools to getout of, you know, crappy
thinking.
SPEAKER_00 (16:22):
And I think again, it goes back to just remembering
you're good at this.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Like you have to, there's a lotof self-talk you have to do.
I'm good, I I can do this, youknow.
I've done this, I've I've I'vedone this well, you know.
Um, this moment does not defineme.
I'm I'm I'm okay.
I'm okay.
(16:42):
And so it's a lot of, you know,a lot of times we can have uh
negative self-talk, but it'sjust again reinforcing those
messages to ourselves, like,girl, you got this.
You got this.
I saw um uh I was listening to apodcast once where a guy said
the way he hypes himself upbefore shows, he looks around
the room and goes, I'm thefunniest person in here, I'm the
(17:04):
funniest person in here, I'm thefunniest person in here.
And I was like, that's a goodplan.
And then I also heard one timethat um fear and excitement pull
from the same areas of thebrain.
unknown (17:16):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (17:16):
And so I've heard that if you when you're nervous,
if you change that to saying,I'm excited, I'm excited, I'm
excited, you start to feel andbelieve that.
And I've done that and it'sworked.
It has worked, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
I was just talking to my producer yesterday about
that about the brain doesn'tknow the difference between um
that and just I'm excited aboutthis and not.
SPEAKER_00 (17:39):
I'm excited, I'm excited.
I get to do this.
Like, you know, um, you know howmany people don't get the
opportunity to stand on a stageand just, you know, I can tell a
joke and uh I thought ofsomething that made you laugh.
That's incredible.
I I remember speaking of beingon ships, once I was on one and
I was performing, and a womanhad her back to me, and I was
(18:02):
like, okay, what's happeningthere?
But then what I realized is shewas signing my show uh for
someone in the audience who washearing impaired.
So when I realized what she wasdoing, I slowed down my cadence.
And then at one point, the womanwho she was signing for laughed
at something I said, and I hadto turn away because I almost
started crying because it justtouched me so much.
This woman couldn't even hear,but something I created in the
(18:25):
words I said made her have thatreaction.
And I tell you what, nothingwill get you more than that.
There's so many things.
So then I can't right.
So then I can't then get caughtup in I fell off a stage, I'm
horrible.
This is when I that I had thatmoment too.
So I have so many more of thoseexperiences, and again, that's
what you have to remind yourselfof because we tend to focus on
(18:49):
the negative, we tend to focuson the one bad thing.
I remember once doing a show,and everyone in the room was
laughing, but I look at thecorner of my eye, and this one
woman, she was not laughing, andthat's how our mind works,
right?
Like I got everybody herelaughing, but I'm focused on why
she's not laughing.
And then finally I saidsomething that she doubled over,
and I turned to her and I said,Was that the one you were
(19:11):
waiting on?
That's what it took to get you.
So just a lot of reminders thatyou've got this.
SPEAKER_01 (19:18):
Yeah, so good.
Um so at Leader Impact, we wantto grow personally,
professionally, and spirituallyto increase impact.
And I would love to, if you'rewilling, to share an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
life as a leader.
SPEAKER_00 (19:35):
Everything I do, I lead with faith.
Um I don't I pray before everyshow.
I ask God to set the atmosphere.
Lord, help me to say somethingthat's going to be a blessing to
those around.
I can't, I don't know how tolive a life that's not guided by
my faith.
I thank God for my mom becauseum my mom taught me the very I
(20:00):
accepted uh Jesus when I wasnine years old.
So, and that comes from my mom,you know, having such a strong
faith and leading me there.
And as I said, my mom is apreacher and I'm so super proud
of her.
And and even now when I leave togo on to go to sea or wherever,
the first call I get is herpraying over me.
(20:21):
So everything for me starts andends with my faith.
And I'm grateful because and toand to just honor this gift that
God has given me.
Like I don't take that forgranted.
Um, and as I said, when mypastor said those words over me,
I'm sending you on assignment.
(20:41):
I just I can't get over thatbecause it's just like, yes, I'm
on this assignment.
So I've dubbed the work I do thelaughter assignment because to
me it is that, you know, it isan assignment.
So I'm incredibly grateful.
So for me, it starts and endswith my faith.
I know that God works all thingstogether.
(21:02):
Um, and so even when a show doesnot go well, I pray, listen, and
so that people know this, I'veprayed sometimes like, okay,
God, let it go well.
And it didn't go well.
And you know what I've got?
Here's how I've grown in myfaith.
I'm not mad at him when thathappens.
I'll come back and I'm like,okay, it's not what you wanted
today.
I respect it.
There's a reason you did not letthose people laugh.
(21:24):
Okay, you know.
That's um, yes, exactly.
Yes.
So um, I don't know.
I just realized something.
Okay, I just wanted to make sureI'm sending you an assignment
with five words because I keptsaying it and I was like, it's
five words, right?
Yes, yes, okay, good.
Yes, but so I hope that answeredyour question.
SPEAKER_01 (21:44):
Yeah.
Um actually, you just said thatit it makes there was a question
I wanted.
Oh, where was I going when youjust said that?
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
Um Yeah, you talk to me, I can get it going.
I could throw you off.
SPEAKER_01 (21:54):
I know.
Oh, no, I was gonna ask you isKate, so you you were raised in
faith.
You came, you know, but for thepeople That and I feel I can ask
you this.
SPEAKER_02 (22:02):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (22:03):
People don't who have never done that.
And they're looking at you,going, but I what do you mean?
Like, you because I literallyI'll just stop and go, Okay,
God, we're doing this.
And that is literally how I sayit.
I'm like, okay, and then I pray.
What would you say to someonewho's like, I don't I don't know
what you mean?
Like, how do you just pray?
You just talk.
SPEAKER_00 (22:22):
You just talk.
And that's the beautiful thingabout it, right?
It's like it doesn't have to bethis eloquent thing.
You can come to him with yourfears, your anxieties when
you're mad.
You know, there's a song I heardone time, and every time I think
of the lyrics, it it touches mein all the fields.
And the guy says, God, I was madat you.
And I that was so real becausethere are times when it doesn't
(22:45):
always feel good and you don'tunderstand.
But God can handle when you'reupset or when you don't
understand.
And in fact, I feel like we getcloser to him in those moments.
So just start where you are.
You know, I think a lot of timespeople feel like it has to be
this most elaborate thing.
It does not, you know.
Just God, I don't understand.
(23:06):
God, I'm afraid.
That's a big one.
God, I'm afraid.
You know, the thing aboutstepping out on faith on this
journey that I have, there aremoments of scarcity.
There are times of scarcity.
There's like, I don't know wherethis is coming from.
But I promise you this, God hasbeen faithful through every
single step of the way.
So when I see that faithfulnessshow up, each time, you know
(23:30):
what it does?
It makes me a little lessafraid.
And that's the cool thing.
So for anyone who doesn't knowwhere to start, talk to him like
you talked to a friend.
Like if you were talking to afriend or you were talking to
someone who you trusted andsaying, I don't know why you did
that.
You know, I wanted it to go thisway, but you didn't do that.
And I'm trying to understand whyyou did that.
(23:50):
Just start where you are, andand that's the big thing.
That's another thing, too.
I think as believers, we have tobe mindful that everyone is not
where we are.
And everyone, um, and we need tobe able to show people that it's
okay to be, you know, flawed andhuman.
Because I think a lot, as mymother says, sometimes we we
(24:13):
have to remember that we can'tbe so heavenly minded that we're
no earthly good.
You know, so you just have to Ione of the greatest examples of
this, and this blows my mind tothis day.
My mom and I, and like I said,she's my greatest example.
She's my faith leader, she's myprayer partner, she's
everything.
This always stood out to me.
Years ago, we were in New Yorkand we were on a subway, and um
(24:38):
there was a woman, a youngmother, and she was cursing her
child out really badly.
Like it was really bad to thepoint that people were moving
away.
And I remember standing next tomy mom and thinking, it's a
shame how she's talking to herdaughter.
And when I went to turn around,my mother was over talking to
the young woman, and she wasrubbing her back and said, It's
(24:59):
okay.
I was a young mother before,you're gonna be okay.
And then the girl collapsed intotears.
So you never know what peopleneed.
So we have to get out of thisthing of being judgmental.
You know what I mean?
So you don't know.
So that to me, if I go back withthe comedy, I don't know who's
walking in that room, I don'tknow what you brought in.
But my job is to make you feelgood for a little while, and I'm
(25:22):
grateful that God saw somethingin me that allows me to do that.
SPEAKER_01 (25:27):
Go.
Oh, this is so good.
I'm sitting here writing allyour one-liners, and I'm like,
oh, that is so good.
Oh, thank you.
This is gonna go on my mirror.
SPEAKER_02 (25:36):
Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_01 (25:38):
So uh, you know, it's it's funny.
I lately I've been talking a lotabout legacy.
And um, leader impact isdedicated to leaders having a
lasting impact.
And as you continue to movethrough this whole journey of
life, I was wondering if youcould share what you want your
faith journey to be when youleave this world.
But the interesting question ismy my thoughts have gone to
legacy isn't something we leave,it's something we live.
(26:03):
You know, so when I ask so,because I I feel you are living
your faith every day, and Iyeah, I just want to be, I want
to live in Nashville now oranywhere you're gonna be.
SPEAKER_00 (26:12):
We'll have a meet and three and some sweet tea.
Come on now.
SPEAKER_01 (26:15):
But anyway, so the question is when you leave this
world.
SPEAKER_00 (26:21):
I I think again, I want to go back to I want people
to have felt something when theywere around me.
You know, like you know what?
When I was with her, I just feltso good.
She made me feel okay.
Um I can do this because shemade me feel like I could, you
(26:43):
know, I am closer to Jesusbecause I watched her example.
Like, I don't, I'm not one ofthose type of people.
I'm not a chapter and verseChristian.
I'll tell you that all the time.
Like, you know, but what I liketo do is I like to be to to live
my life in a way that made youknow who I am before I even
announced who I am.
(27:04):
So for me, what legacy is isagain, I go back to treating
people with kindness andrespect.
Having people be better for theexperience of having met me, so
that when they, you know, saywhen someone brings my name up,
like, oh my gosh, I met her, shewas great.
Like that type of thing.
One of my prayers uh daily is umGod, please let my name be
(27:29):
spoken in rooms I'm not in.
And not so long ago, I got thisamazing opportunity uh to tape a
special for K-Love on Demand,the Christian radio station.
And one of the things I was toldis like someone mentioned your
name and they wanted you onthis.
And I was like, there's a prayerthat was answered.
And then so when I got to talkto someone afterwards, she said,
(27:51):
you know, I saw you at uh aclub, a comedy club, and I knew
I wanted you on the show.
So again, living the life,right?
You know, one of my favoritecommercials is that I think it's
Liberty Mutual.
I'm pretty sure it's LibertyMutual, where someone does an
act of kindness for someone, andsomeone who's across the street
sees it, and then it forces themto do, you know, it encourages
(28:14):
them to do an act of kindness.
That's what I love so much.
So, you know, as the uh the theuh quote goes, be the change you
want to see in the world.
So I think I just want to livethe life.
I want to live a life thatpeople say, you know what, when
I was around her, she made mefeel good and and and I'm better
for it.
So not anything kind of likehoity-toity or super fancy, just
(28:39):
be a good human being, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (28:41):
Oh yeah, you've made my the half this half hour has
just been inspiring for me.
SPEAKER_00 (28:46):
I'm so glad you sat in the second row center.
SPEAKER_01 (28:49):
Right?
I was meant to be there.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, thank just thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Um, my last question, and butyou just you've made my cheeks
hurt already.
So what brings you the greatestjoy?
SPEAKER_00 (29:02):
Oh, that's good.
Um that's a good question.
You know what's funny?
It's just like when I get to behome and I get to have some
quiet time, like right now, youcaught me in the middle of a
two-week break, and that's veryrare for me that I'm home for
two weeks.
And so just having those quietmoments uh where I can watch
(29:27):
some guilty pleasure television,like the real housewives of
everything.
Like I just watched some guiltypleasure.
I said to my mother yesterday, Ididn't realize she didn't notice
about me.
I like cats, right?
I really like cats.
And my mother said, You likecats?
I said, I do, but I can't haveone because my travel schedule
is nuts.
So I'm gonna, there's a uh a catlounge where you can go play
(29:49):
with cats.
I'm gonna play with cats.
That's gonna bring me joy.
Like just a simple act ofplaying with cats.
My mother, why do you love cats?
I was like, because cats couldtake or leave you, they're super
smart, like they're just soindependent, and it's just so to
me, the simple things make mehappy.
The simple things.
SPEAKER_01 (30:06):
I was just gonna comment that and that it's it's
simple.
SPEAKER_00 (30:09):
It's so simple.
The simplicity of of joy is andit I tell people with a life as
an entertainer, with a lifestarting in PR, my I'm very
outward facing.
Everything about me isextroverted, right?
So when I get those quietmoments of introspection and I
(30:31):
get to be introverted for alittle while, it feels so good.
You know what made me feel goodyesterday?
I bought some caramelized oniondip from Trader Joe's.
Do you have a Trader Joe'sthere?
No, we don't.
But I know it.
But it's so good.
So, like that made me happyyesterday.
So it's the little things.
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (30:50):
Oh, I have loved this 30 minutes.
Thank you for joining me today.
And I'm glad you had two weeksat home.
Me too.
I'm so thankful.
Um, I'm sure people either theywant to follow you, they want to
maybe look up your schedule,maybe they're in town where
maybe you are, maybe they'regonna go on a cruise.
I don't know.
And people maybe connect you,find you, look you up.
Like, what is the best way?
SPEAKER_00 (31:11):
I would love it.
On um Instagram and uh Facebook,Tara Brown Comedy.
That'd be great.
I'm very um engaging withpeople.
So if you reach out to me there,I will always answer you and
always because I'm so happy thatpeople want to follow me and I
like I talk to everybody.
Um, and then I had my websiteterabrowncomedy.com, and there
(31:34):
you can find out where I'll beand all that stuff.
So yes, please connect with me.
I love talking to people, as youcan tell.
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
Yeah.
And I love when people and Ilove that you gave me the time.
So thank you for that.
Because you could have stayedbackstage, but to just come out
and you know, I'm one of 500people in this audience and you
just, you know, came and talkedto me.
SPEAKER_00 (31:51):
Did you hear me say I fell off a stage?
So anytime anybody wants to talkto me when I'm standing upright,
I'm here for it.
But th in all seriousness, thankyou for this opportunity.
I'm always um grateful to get toshare my story.
So thank you for allowing me todo that.
SPEAKER_01 (32:07):
Thank you.
And I will be following you.
Yes.
All right.
All right.
Well, I want to thank Tara Brownfor joining us today.
What a great day.
Um, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you are not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact.ca.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
(32:27):
Leaderimpact.ca, or if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outLeaderImpact.com or get in touch
with us by email.
Info at LeaderImpact.ca and wewill connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating, or a review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us.
And remember, impact starts withyou.
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