At the Cut’s How I Get It Done Day on Monday, March 4, actress, comedian and former SNL star Sasheer Zamata spoke about her decision to quit a highly sought-after job in comedy. Asked by moderator Lisa Miller about a career experience that didn’t meet her expectations, Zamata explains that she “got a job that everyone really wants in the comedy community,” and that “it was not what [she] thought it was going to be.”
As Zamata put it:
“It was a couple of years of figuring out: am I okay with this, do I want to just accept it as is and be like, ‘That’s just the job and I’ll stay and take it like everybody else,’ or do I want to try something else that makes me feel really good, and work with people who excite me, and who are excited about me and want to create things that make us feel fulfilled?”
Zamata says that she doesn’t regret her journey. “It didn’t suck at all,” she added. “I’m actually glad it happened in the way it happened because I feel like I left a better writer, a better performer, a better communicator, a better team-member.”
Zamata said one of the hardest things for her at this juncture was continuing to believe in herself, which she did with the help of “therapy, a good life coach, and a really strong friend group.”
“I think those situations will trick you into [thinking], Maybe I was never good at all,” she said. “You start doubting all your talents, and you have to be your biggest cheerleader and remind yourself, I’m here for a reason, I was fine before and I’ll be fine after, just go do your thing.”