Ep 37: Everything's Fine with Sarah Cooper
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Everything’s Fine
Episode 37: Show Notes.
If you are at a crossroads in your life, between sticking with the conventional path and taking a leap of faith in the direction of your passion, you're going to get a lot of inspiration from hearing today’s guest tell her story in her own words.
Author and comedian, Sarah Cooper’s viral TikTok Trump impersonations have led to a Netflix show called Everything’s Fine, which is a comedic commentary on the state of America during “The Trump Years.”
After working in corporate America, Sarah was eager to follow her passion and become a stand-up comedian, but it took a real leap of faith for her to go into comedy full time. When Trump was elected president, she began openly voicing her opinion about him on Twitter, so much so that the former-president blocked her in 2017.
Eventually, each time Trump would do a news briefing, the media eagerly awaited Sarah's TikTok impressions; the floodgates opened, and she was offered a ton of exciting opportunities, from getting an agent to filming her recent Netflix comedy special.
In this episode, Sarah shares a bit about her backstory and connects the dots between her upbringing and her now global fame. She talks about her persistent feelings of never quite belonging, not being Black or white “enough,” and how she overcame having low self-confidence.
You’ll also find out how a date with Light’s brother inspired Sarah to take the stage, how her viral article inspired her to take a leap of faith, and how TikTok reignited her dreams of becoming famous. All this and more, including what her definition of success is now and what advice she would give 19-year-old Sarah, so make sure to tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
Hear a bit about Sarah’s background, born in Jamaica and raised in the US.
Find out a bit about her family dynamic, between her, her parents, and her three siblings.
Sarah explains that her favorite activity as a child was make-believe.
How racism was viewed in Sarah’s family and the benefits of pretending it doesn’t exist.
Sarah talks about her love for singing, dancing, acting, and Shakespeare.
Why Sarah felt that she didn’t belong anywhere; she wasn’t white or Black “enough”.
From University of Maryland to Georgia Tech: what Sarah learned during her years in college.
Sarah’s first time on stage in Atlanta and how it was inspired by a date with Light’s brother.
Why stand-up comedy was a better fit for Sarah than acting; she liked making people laugh!
How Sarah tried to fit in with corporate America and began taking notes while she was working at Google in New York.
Find out about Sarah’s path to meditation and how her and Light crossed paths in 2012.
Sarah’s viral article, ’10 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings’, and how it inspired her to take a leap of faith.
How Sarah dealt with negative reviews after she published her book and became well-known.
What Sarah said on Twitter that made Donald Trump block her in 2017.
At 40, Sarah started doubting herself and the work she had put into her stand-up career, but then she discovered TikTok.
Hear about the day that Sarah decided to do her first Trump impression on TikTok.
Sarah tells the story of how she made her first viral TikTok about Trump’s bleach comments.
The pressure to create that Sarah started feeling after the first few successful videos.
Building an audience out of people connected through their hate for Trump by creating a Netflix special out of her impressions.
How Sarah stayed true to her instincts while working with a big player like Netflix.
The essence of Sarah’s stories is understanding that there is no one, right way deal with racism, or micro-aggressions, or sexism.
Sarah’s definition of success now: proving that she is more than her Trump impressions.
The advice Sarah would give her 19-year-old self: focus on figuring out who you are.
Tweetables:
“I wanted to try stand-up as a way to get better at acting, because I was finding that I couldn't be myself. That's really what acting is. You think it's being a character, but it's really more about being as authentically you as you possibly can.” — @sarahcpr [0:37:34]
“The thing that I've always struggled with on stage is just being myself and not really caring so much what the audience thinks or laughs at. Just having the confidence to know that I'm talking about something important.” — @sarahcpr [0:51:03]
“Being an author and putting out a book, I thought I was going to be a millionaire. I thought it was going to change my life. I thought I'd get to that thing and it didn't happen. It was so anticlimactic.” — @sarahcpr [0:57:52]
“At 40, that was the first time I [thought], what am I doing? What's my community? What's my support system? How am I going to take care of my family and survive this, so that I can live a long life and be happy and comfortable and healthy? I thought going back to Google might be a good option.” — @sarahcpr [1:01:24]
“I didn't know what I was doing. I think that's the beauty [of it]. It's like the first time I did stand-up. When you don't know what you're doing, you find things that, if you were trying really hard, you wouldn't have found.” — @sarahcpr [1:12:19]
“There's no one right way to deal with racism, or micro-aggressions, or sexism. We all experience it and we all deal with it in different ways. Let’s just talk about it. Let’s just share how we deal with it and share maybe how we can deal with it better next time. Let's just be more aware of it. That's what's really exciting for me about bringing that to life, with characters and stories.” — @sarahcpr [1:22:03]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
’10 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings’
’10 More Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings’
100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings