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00:00:01
The Resurrection with Chrissy
0 Playsin 11 hours
After a 6+ month hiatus, WE'RE BACK! ILMJ returns with a special update episode featuring the funniest guest I know, Chrissy. She updates us on her life, her stand up, and her new job.
If you want to follow Chrissy, you can find her on Insta @chrissyteehees and at her website funnymeansbusiness.com
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Transcript
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello, welcome everybody. My name is Jackie and i lost my job.
00:00:23
Speaker
Wow, we are back you guys. I am so excited for this. I cannot even begin to describe. Six months later, the podcast is back.
00:00:38
Speaker
When I first started this podcast, one of my little dreams for it was that I would eventually get to record update episodes with my guests as they got jobs. Obviously, that's been very difficult for literally everybody in this market and continues to be extremely difficult.
00:00:59
Speaker
But, excitingly enough, Chrissy, one of my former guests, had reached out to me to let me know that she got a job. And I jumped on the chance to reconnect with her.
00:01:13
Speaker
When k Chrissy and I left off, she had been laid off. She had run out of unemployment and she was really throwing herself into the world of stand-up comedy.
00:01:25
Speaker
It was so great to get to catch up with her, see how stand-up's been going, see how the new job's been going, and how her job hunt wrapped up with some pretty incredible wrenches thrown in along the way. So I'm just going to let us get right into it. Let's chat with Chrissy.
00:01:45
Speaker
Oh my goodness. It has been so long. And this podcast is not the only thing that is back from the dead. ah It is so good. Perfect. It is so good to see you again, Christy. It is going to be here on the side of the living.
00:02:04
Speaker
I hear you have some life and death updates for us that I cannot wait to get into. But it is, it's been months and months since you and I last talked. And the last time we talked, you and i were both woefully unemployed. You, you were kind of out of your unemployment and things were crazy. um and your standup was really starting to take off. So Here we are now, months and months later, I didn't even count how many months, but many months later, both of us now gainfully employed and life has taken some turns. So, number one, welcome back. Thank you for being here. Thank you.
00:02:47
Speaker
Well, first of all, let me ask you this. How are you? I'm doing really well to the point where like, it feels weird saying really well, because it's been really not well for so long.
00:02:59
Speaker
I feel like if I say it, someone's going to take it away and send me back. No, you can't have that. Here's the shit again. That's enough stability for you, greedy girl. i'll Give it back.
00:03:14
Speaker
Now, are you're still in San Diego, right? I am. Yes. Yeah. You'll probably have pry Southern California out of my cold dead hands. My twice dead hands, I suppose.
00:03:27
Speaker
I don't blame you. san Diego's gorgeous. And if I could live there, I absolutely would. But you know, who can afford that? yeah I've accepted I'll never own a home. It's fine. It's worth it.
00:03:39
Speaker
ah Yeah, but you get the good weather, you get all the fun things to do. you know, there's trade-offs like own home, good weather. This is where we're at. Yeah.
00:03:49
Speaker
I mean, i don't have any kids. Who am I going to leave it to anyways? Well, since it's been so long since I've seen you, i would love to hear. Number one, let's start with kind of the job front. So obviously things have changed there. Yes.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yep. Oh yeah. I think last we spoke, my unemployment had run out and I was probably around job application number 300. I you know had my contracts here and there keeping me afloat.
00:04:19
Speaker
Yeah, doing standup, growing that, which you know as standup, it takes a long time to make money telling jokes to bars of tens of people. But ah yeah, things are very different now.
00:04:30
Speaker
This fall, I landed a full-time job as a content strategist at a at a startup. That's been incredible. But it was it was quite a road getting there. I mean, I think I ended with like 700-ish jobs applied for probably...
00:04:48
Speaker
went through about 15 to 20 interview processes, ended up final round for a handful of those maybe. Crazy, like at the end, the last week of being officially unemployed, I was in the final round with three different companies.
00:05:02
Speaker
which is like feast and famine, I guess that's how it goes. So I've so've been in my new role for like two months. And a month ago I started, um i took a job on the side writing jokes for an online political comedy show.
00:05:17
Speaker
So things are really moving and shaking over here finally. Oh, finally, when it rains, it pours. I feel like that is just such a common theme that I've heard from like, because I keep up with people who um were laid off with me from my former company and ah get the same thing. Like, yeah, it's nothing, nothing, nothing. And then all of a sudden, like, bam, three to four final interviews this next week, I might get at least one offer, or if not two to three offers kind of thing. It's It's wild. It messes with you, right? Like there's just nothing. And then all of a sudden it's everything. It's like, why can't we get this, you know, a little bit more systematic spread out even, I don't know. Wouldn't that be a little more reasonable?
00:05:58
Speaker
Yeah. I wish that there was like a line and it was like first come first serve to a degree. And like, if you could just get above the threshold of like, you just really, i mean, this is any job. don't have to be the perfect person for the job. You just have be good enough. And the rest of it you can train into like, wouldn't,
00:06:13
Speaker
i don't know how that would work, but wouldn't it be nice if there was just like a line? Oh man. How great would that be? It makes so much sense, but then you have to sit there and think that like life doesn't like to make sense. So you just have to roll with whatever the fuck life throws at you, which God knows what that would be. so yeah. And like, you can't look at all the job posting sites at the same time. You can't like be fully on top of LinkedIn and indeed and Glassdoor and, and like,
00:06:41
Speaker
You can't have it all. Like it you have to be good enough and win the lottery at the same time, which is, you know, signs of a super healthy economy. Oh my God. Yes. Well, so let's talk about kind of that like last, the last couple of weeks of unemployment. So you've got these three job interviews.
00:06:59
Speaker
How was that feeling? Was it like, was there that feeling of like hope? Like, oh my God, this could be it. Or was it, oh, this is three more interviews and I'm probably not going to get any of them.
00:07:11
Speaker
For probably 90% of that process, it totally went to my head immediately. And I was like, I'm the greatest person on the planet. Everybody wants me. All y'all slept on me and I'm the greatest. And it's finally, I'm coming up. This is my time and everybody knows it.
00:07:24
Speaker
I'm the best. I'm going to get all these job offers. And then I had a little health scare and I was like, you know what? think we needed that to knock me down a peg.
00:07:36
Speaker
Let's okay so let's talk about that because we we keep in touch we've kept in touch a little bit and i can't remember how it came up if I saw it or if you mentioned it or something but like there was the part where it's like oh yeah by the way I died for a minute there and so I was just sitting there thinking well what the fuck that's kind of crazy so let's let's talk about that to the level that you're comfortable sharing.
00:08:03
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm comfortable with all of it. i So I have this heart condition, which normally doesn't kill me except for that one time it did. and It's called supraventricular tachycardia.
00:08:16
Speaker
And it just means that like my heart rate goes from resting to above 200 in like the blink of an eye. There's nothing that happens. It's not like stress. It's not food. It's not like There's nothing I can do to trigger it or anticipate it.
00:08:30
Speaker
It happens to me like once a year. And the kind that i have, like some people get it and it's caused by their heart, like the physical hardware of their heart. The kind that I have is the electric, like just the software of my heart sometimes is like, wouldn't it be fun if we like snorted a line of Coke and ran a marathon without...
00:08:48
Speaker
your permission and there's nothing I can do about it. And then my heart rate is just at above 200 for x amount of time. And so normally I can kick it myself with a couple tricks. I can make it go away in like two to 10 minutes. It's at the point, like it happens once or twice a year. it started when I was in my mid twenties. It's usually when I'm asleep.
00:09:08
Speaker
Like I'll have a dream that I'm like running or something and then I'll wake up and i'm be like, okay, my heart's doing the thing. So like put my Apple watch on cause it has the ECG reader thing. And so I'll track it and then I'll like, you can cough. Coughing breaks up the rhythm of your heart. If that doesn't work, I'll punch myself in the chest, which is a weird Matthew McConaughey experience for me.
00:09:29
Speaker
Do you get wrong goes out with it? Yeah. I'm just the, what is the thing he did at Womble Wall Street? He was like, and he's like humming. Figure that out. Or like cold showers, stretching, yoga. Like there's lots of things you can do to kind of jolt your heart and be like, hey, quit it, reset.
00:09:44
Speaker
little And it's never gone more than like 30 minutes. And this time i woke up the morning of a final interview for one of those jobs. So the interview was supposed to be like 10 AM and I woke up at six ish and my heart was going and it, you know, not a big deal, whatever.
00:10:03
Speaker
It didn't go away. It was not, it wasn't going away. And my ah my my partner who I live with, he had to, he like runs a nonprofit. So he was doing some board meeting thing, breakfast at 6.30 AM. m So he was already gone. So I'm experiencing this alone, which again, like in the beginning is not a big deal.
00:10:20
Speaker
And then it gets to like hour three, which had never gone that long at all. And I am starting to like lose my mind. It is such a weird thing to be in your body and not be able to control it in that way. Like I, I am literally losing, I'm going crazy. I'm like crying. I'm yelling at myself. I'm like trying to test if I can do this interview while my heart rate is like at 203. And I think I pretty much gave myself a panic attack. I think that my neighbors thought that I was like getting beaten up because
00:10:52
Speaker
ah sun good I was looking at myself in the mirror, hitting myself in the chest, being like, you can do this. Stop it. Stop. Stop doing this. Let me interview. so let me interview.
00:11:07
Speaker
Not like, don't kill me. Let me do this interview. That just speaks to exactly how bad the job market is. It's so bad. I was like, why are you doing this to me? Why today? let me interview.
00:11:21
Speaker
just weeping and hitting myself in the chest. It's just the whole thing is was just such an odd experience. So I finally, around nine, I texted the, cause I guess you text with HR now. I don't know when we started doing that.
00:11:37
Speaker
But like, yeah I don't know. I had the guy's work number. I'm assuming not his personal number. You never now I didn't ask. And I was like, Hey, you know, whatever. I'll call him Sam. I don't think I probably should use his real name. Hey, Sam, um something's come up. I can't, can we reschedule the interview? Which also the interview was with like the chief marketing officer, I think, or a VP. It was somebody high up at the company that was the final round.
00:12:06
Speaker
He is, the HR guy essentially told me like, this job is yours. You just have to impress this last person. Which also, I don't think you're supposed to say that as HR. I mean, it depends, right? it Like, i've I've seen that done before. It's that you don't do it for everybody. And it certainly is.
00:12:23
Speaker
You have to be very careful. Okay, so I'm going to take, going to do a little tangent here because i've place place my life's work. You have to be really careful what you say to people on the other side of the interview, because here's the thing.
00:12:36
Speaker
Anything you say, people are going to take that and they're going to put meaning to it. So something as simple as, hey, it was really great to meet you. we Great conversation. Thank you so much for coming in We'll talk to you soon. a candidate's going to take that. They're going to go home. They're going be like, he said he'll talk to me soon. Like, that's a good sign. And he said he enjoyed the conversation and like, that's a good sign. And it's unfortunate because Of course, people are going to sit there and dissect that, especially in the job market right now. It's like you're just looking for that thing that's like, oh, my God, is this the job? Like, is this is this the one? Is this going to be the thing that, like, kicks me out of unemployment and I can have a paycheck again? The stakes are so high. Well, and to your point, I think his actual verbiage was, you know, you're everybody's favorite so far. This is the final step.
00:13:24
Speaker
So it wasn't like it was spoon fed to me, but it wasn't. exclusively said like, this job is yours. Don't blow it. But, but that's still the sentiment basically. I mean, it's the same thing, right? Yeah. Everybody's favorite. Who's going to sit there and be like, well, I might not get the job.
00:13:41
Speaker
Right. ands But like, that's not a good, like nobody's going to sit there and not think that they're getting this job if that's said to them. Yeah. So I have like the weight of 14 months of unemployment and rejection and,
00:13:55
Speaker
insecurity about my value and my worth as a professional and and my heart rate's over 200. And I'm also exhausted because the the good and the bad thing about SVT is you're actually burning the calories as if you are doing all of that work. So, which is like super cool. I don't have to work out.
00:14:14
Speaker
i basically ran I basically sprinted for four hours, like rad, I can eat whatever I want today. But like you don't get the medal for the marathon. There's no like participation beer at the end of this race. Like ah you're just fucking exhausted.
00:14:30
Speaker
so I'm like sitting there with this pressure of like, all you had to do was enter this interview. All you have to do is show up and this job is yours. And you can't do that because you have to go to the ER. text.
00:14:42
Speaker
slide text the, my HR friend. And I'm like, I, hopefully he doesn't think that I'm bullshitting him. Literally the most important interview of this process three, but two hours before I'm like, I can't do it. by Tell your VP or your CMO, whoever it was that can't do it.
00:14:58
Speaker
So I call my partner, have him come pick me up from work. Thank God he works like a mile down the road. We go to the yeah ER at no point. Did I ever think like, what do they do? If your heart rate is so out of control and we can't bring it back to normal,
00:15:11
Speaker
what do we do with you? i i don't know. i didn't think about I didn't have time. And so they see me immediately ah because apparently heart things are pretty important.
00:15:22
Speaker
They hooked me up to like all of these wires. I don't, there must've been 50. Like I was finding those little sticky things that that like keep the wires on your body. yeah I was finding them all over myself for days when I went home. Like on the bottom of my foot, which I don't even think we had a wire there.
00:15:39
Speaker
I had taken showers and I just kept finding them. And so there're genuinely at least 30 wires all over my body. So we're doing all these readings. He's giving me extra little tests and making me blow into tubes and trying to do things. It felt like trying to hear the hiccups.
00:15:55
Speaker
Did he like think you were, it was that like a breathalyzer test? Did he think you were drunk? Like, why were you blowing into tubes? So I think that's one of the tricks to try and, which which is like, i wonder how much they're to charge me for this shit. was like, He took a syringe, like a fat syringe, didn't have a needle in it. It was just the plastic part.
00:16:13
Speaker
And he was holding it with his thumb and he had it up to my mouth, which the whole thing felt weird and like phallic and uncomfortable. and He was like holding it in my mouth and he'd be like, blow. And I was like trying, but like there's nowhere for the air to go. And he'd be like blow harder. and I'm like, I don't like, man, I'm really tired. don't want to do this. There's a like a lot of people here. um I don't know you. Like,
00:16:37
Speaker
guess
00:16:40
Speaker
I it it i just, the whole thing, it was stuff like that. And i'm like, what are we even doing here? Like, I'm just blowing into a, s rentt and apparently like blowing into something without having it expand or like just blowing hard with a stopper is something that could like remind your heart to check itself, but that didn't work. So, um,
00:17:04
Speaker
So as I was sitting there with all my wires, he, which the doctor also pretty sure was younger than me, which is never a great feeling. And also all of my nurses were male, which is, is this the equality we were going for? Probably not, but didn't see a single woman the whole time I was in the yeah ER, not one.
00:17:19
Speaker
Oh my God. And next to me, there was a guy who needed to be in the psych ward and he would not sit in his bed. And it wasn't like a room. It was like the curtains. And he kept getting up and walking ah like just back and forth. And he would open the door to the closet, which was in my...
00:17:35
Speaker
my line of view. And he kept trying to go in the closet. And then some other attending nurse would be like, no, Mr. Whatever, please come back. The whole thing was like this weird slapstick, like blow into this syringe. And this guy just kept trying to go in the closet. and' like, no. And I'm like, put him in a room, put him in a room with a door. He's not going to sit in his chair.
00:17:54
Speaker
Please stop. Are you sure that you were in a hospital and not a Chippendales? Because this sounds like you may have ended up at a male strip club that was like disguised as a hospital. Like this is a very... I mean, I left losing probably about the same amount of money as if I was at a Chippendales.
00:18:16
Speaker
So all of this is happening. And the guy's like, okay, I give up. I guess we'll give you adenosine. And I was like, cool, what's that? And he says, well, it's this drug that we're going to put in your IV because I'm already on fluids because I'm exhausted. And he's like, we're just going to put it in your IV and it is going to technically stop your heart.
00:18:33
Speaker
And then we're going to bring you back. So you will be dead for a little bit, but we're going to bring you back right away. It's really not a big deal. and I must've looked panicked. more panicked than I was when I walked in, I guess. And he was like, no, but don't worry. It's okay. We even let paramedics do this. Oh my God. Shots fired on the paramedics. Okay. I feel better now. They get to do it. if We even let those dum-dums do this. It's fine.
00:19:01
Speaker
So he's like, yeah, I'm just going to administer it. It's going to, he's going to be honest with It's going to feel weird. And I was like, Good weird or bad weird? Because that's like, what kind of weird are we talking about here? That's kind of a big deal.
00:19:14
Speaker
Right. And I'm for, I'm an insufferable patient because I will turn everything into a joke. I do not know how to handle these situations. I can't, I talk way too much. Like I admittedly, I walked in there and was like, I'm going to be your best dream or your worst nightmare, depending on your personality. Right.
00:19:33
Speaker
I'm so sorry for how I'm about to behave. And I have to tell that to everyone. And I don't know why. And I asked him, good weird or bad weird? And he goes, well, probably bad weird. And I was like, well, I was hoping for like a mushrooms experience because like my grandma's dead and I wanted to ask her some questions about my mom and I don't really feel comfortable talking to my mom about it. So like, if I could have like a good weird where i like talk to dead relatives, I think that would really help me with my journey.
00:19:59
Speaker
he was like, yeah, I,
00:20:02
Speaker
It's not going to be that. not That's not how that's going to go. it's ah Most people describe it as like um ah like an impending sense of doom. Oh, shit.
00:20:15
Speaker
And I go, joke's on you. I feel that every day. Let's go. Welcome to 2025. Pick him up. Let's go. ah you can't get worse than this. So that's, yeah we're fine. We're golden. Right. And like, I'm missing a third round interview after being unemployed for 14 months. Fucking try me. Bring me doom. Okay.
00:20:38
Speaker
look but but So he puts he so they administer this stuff and like also they bring in extra staff. They're recording it. And it slowly occurs to me that we are recording this in case I don't come back and we're covering our ass.
00:20:55
Speaker
Oh, my God. Like video recording it like there's a video of this whole thing. I have a little bit of video from Ray. They were definitely audio recording. I don't know if they were video recording, but they were definitely audio because they brought out extra machines and they even had like the backup defibrillator. If I didn't, if I couldn't come back and extra people like a crash cart and they had three, he like explained it to me. i don't really remember what it was, but there were three extra like crash cart things in there in case it didn't, it went too well.
00:21:23
Speaker
So he like injects the medicine. i don't feel anything for a couple seconds, but he's narrating everything too. Like a police report of like, He said young, healthy female. And I was like, hey, yes there yeah boy So I'm like, I don't feel anything. This is whatever. i don't know what you're talking about, doom.
00:21:43
Speaker
So the first thing that ah that happens is i it tastes like somebody took ground up marijuana and like rubbed it all over the inside of my mouth. And it was so disgusting. And I was like, you definitely could have warned me about that. and then And then the, I kind of, I wouldn't have called it impending doom. I would have just described it as like really painful.
00:22:04
Speaker
of Like at the sight of the medicine going into my arm, it it felt like, like a you know, like those old cartoons where they'd light a fuse to a bomb and you like watch the fuse go.
00:22:17
Speaker
That was every single nerve in my body. like thousands of those at the same time. And I felt it traveling up my body into my brain. It was the weirdest. Like I was so aware of every nook and cranny in space in every inch of my brain from the outside to the inside.
00:22:37
Speaker
And it was also on fire. Oh my God. it hurt really badly. And he said bad weird. And at no point did he talk about the pain or the marijuana.
00:22:48
Speaker
None of it. ah ah And I feel like we had plenty of time to discuss that. We talked about mushrooms. We talked about my dead grandma. We didn't talk about the pot mouth and the burning brain.
00:23:03
Speaker
you left out the most important parts of this experience. You said bad, weird, kind of vaguely, like not going to be good weird, but you forgot to tell me that like I'm going to have this disgusting mouthfeel and oh yeah, my whole body is going to be on fire and I'll feel every inch of my brain. Like you just kind of left those parts out. Left it all out.
00:23:24
Speaker
And it was over in like, I don't know, it felt like a minute, but it was probably 20 seconds. And then that was it. And oh, well, I mean, I heard myself flatline. Like I heard myself die, but I never lost consciousness.
00:23:37
Speaker
And I never felt euphoric. There was no, like people talk about when you die, like your body releases this hormone or a chemical or something that makes you feel at peace. Yeah. If that was there, it was masked by the brain pain.
00:23:49
Speaker
There was no part of me felt peaceful. There was no, like, it was just like, wow, this burn. I didn't think that I could feel like my brain was on fire. So then it was just over.
00:24:00
Speaker
And he looked at the chart and the numbers and I don't know, looked at some stuff on a screen and was like, all right, well, you can have caffeine tomorrow. Like that was it. Like, hey, welcome back from the dead. I know your brain's been on fire and your mouth feels like it was just put a weird weed paste in there. But like, have a coffee in the morning and we'll see you next time.
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah, i I flatlined for a couple seconds. I don't know. Couldn't have been more than five. Maybe I'm not really sure. And then it just my heart just started by itself. Yeah, before he left the room, i was like, hey, you just curious, like, is this now how it's going to be every time? what do I do? Like, what ah what do I do now?
00:24:39
Speaker
just we just We just risk this every once in a while for the rest of our lives. What can I expect? And he was like, well, most people outgrow it. And I was like, well, 36. So when does that like, when does the outgrowing occur? yeah What does outgrowing look like? And he's like, well, in your 50s or 60s, your body will kind of just like get so tired that it can't really do it anymore.
00:25:02
Speaker
And I was like, yeah, that's not really outgrowing. That's like outlasting. yeah so i have to outlast my own body. i have to decay to a point where it can't fight me anymore.
00:25:15
Speaker
That's so crazy. Yeah. yeah So that's cool. So that all, I slept for like three days. i was so tired. I hope so. That's fucking ridiculous.
00:25:29
Speaker
Yeah, it was nuts. It was nuts. And then all of it in the, um, in the middle of this week that it was just like really needed. I really needed to be on top of my shit that week. and Your body knew it too. Your body was like this week, this week is the week that like everything needs to go perfect. And because 2025, like we're just going to fuck it all to hell. Like just, you know, we're just going to throw the biggest of wrenches into it.
00:25:56
Speaker
Oh my god God. Thankfully I had one offer in hand literally the day before I got an offer. And so at least it was like, no matter what I have this thing, it's in my hands, but it's still nice to have options.
00:26:08
Speaker
Right. Well, did they end up rescheduling that interview for you? We did. Yeah. I rescheduled it for probably too soon. i think I did it like three days later that same week. But I just was like, I just want to get this over with this whole season of my life. We just need to get this done.
00:26:24
Speaker
And so I did it. Probably was not ready to do it. I was definitely not my best because as it turns out, the VP... did not care for me.
00:26:35
Speaker
yeah
00:26:38
Speaker
I'm not everyone's cup of tea. That's okay. You know what? That sounds like discrimination against the dead. So i feel like there's a claim in there somewhere. Because I'm reborn.
00:26:51
Speaker
ah unfortunately ageism for being too young is actually legal in the corporate world you have to be over 40 before ageism claims kick in so sadly that right there not going to get you very far however being a zombie american i think could probably get your legal claims a little bit further so okay you know calling lawyers zombified patriot that's the reason that they did not I mean, if you phrase it that way, you got better odds right now. Okay. So didn't, didn't end up getting that job. You had the other offer in hand. And I think you said you had a third interview around that time as well. Is that right?
00:27:34
Speaker
Yeah, that one was much more casual. i had done some work for this company on spec, uh, or just like ad hoc by project. And they, Kind of, I mean, they were in a great position where they were like, we're comfortable doing this job by job. But if you want a full time job, we're comfortable with that, too. And they kind of which was a great place to be. But I was still, I think I just started working with them. So it was like, you know, we'll see if we like working together. And then I got an offer that was, you know, probably better than that situation. So I so I went with that one.
00:28:09
Speaker
And that's where I am now. So what was it like getting that offer? Well, first of all, let me ask, did they call you and like, did they do like a surprise call? Like, Hey, you've got the offer. Did they send you like an email ahead of time? Like we're putting this together. Like what was the setup for this? I i knew that I, I was pretty sure that I had gotten the job just because it was a, it was a case study and a presentation and the way that everybody reacted. And I knew there were only two people left.
00:28:36
Speaker
know. I just felt really confident about it. And then the, hiring person on the team who'd kind of been my main contact called me and I was like, yeah, this is it. And he said, i just want to make sure you know what the job is.
00:28:49
Speaker
I'm just going to run through the JD with you. Which i I was like, well, maybe then what? I've never had this happen before of like. That's odd. Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:00
Speaker
making it through all of those rounds with the giant case study that I've presented to like some of the team in other countries. like It felt like a bigger, like this was it. And then it was like, just want to make sure you know what the job is. And was like, I literally did a case study. like I think I know.
00:29:15
Speaker
like Why are you asking me? Why are you saying this? My first thought would be like, did the job change? Was it misrepresented during the hiring process? like Why is it that we're at the end and you're asking me or making sure that I know what the job is? like Something seems sketched there. was odd. And that kind of threw me off. And then, you know, I confirmed, like, yes, I'm aware. I know all these things, ticking boxes. Great.
00:29:40
Speaker
And then same person calls me two hours later and is like, I'm going to offer you the job. Yay. Cool. Great, because it got weird there a little bit on that last call.
00:29:52
Speaker
ah Well, so yay. So how, when he said that, when he was like, I'm going to offer you the job, like what goes, what goes through your head at that point? Because it's been months, you're out of unemployment, like taking side gigs to keep afloat. What was kind of the first thought you had once you had that offer? It's just relief, pure relief of like, I don't have to fight anymore. And I don't have to feel financially insecure anymore.
00:30:18
Speaker
Because i I had not gotten to the point where I was asking people for money. Like I wasn't, I didn't have to call home. um I wasn't asking my partner to cover my half of things, although he gladly would have. But I was getting to the point where I don't know how many more months were left of my savings. So it was just pure relief of, okay, this is regular work.
00:30:40
Speaker
This is on top of that, like obviously having regular money, but just having somewhere to be and feeling some sense of purpose, ah which, you know, kind of sucks us as Americans.
00:30:54
Speaker
You get so much of our life's purpose and and validation from jobs. But I think that there's a healthy balance there that, you know, and and I'll speak for myself that I could probably do better with. But like it helps when you have somewhere to be on a regular basis and there is accountability for your life and your schedule. Like it just makes you feel Like you are contributing to not only yourself, but to society and you're doing things. And so to finally have that road end was just an incredible relief.
00:31:24
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And I wonder too, so I'm curious to know if you feel this way. So like when when I go through like something stressful, right? Like the layoffs being a big one and getting all of those like built up anxious feelings. Am I gonna get another job? Here's another interview I have to go through, whatever, whatever.
00:31:43
Speaker
And then you finally get to that resolution. I know for me, I feel like that sense of excitement and then I immediately feel exhausted. Like my body feels so tired because of all the energy I've spent worrying. Did you get that sense of happy exhaustion almost?
00:31:59
Speaker
Yeah. Oh yeah. That definitely was, ah i think, yeah like you realize how tired you actually are emotionally with everything. And like, oh, it's over. i can relax now, which is also an odd feeling because you had so much time before, which that's like the shitty thing that people say when you lose your job of like, enjoy your time off. Like, don't forget to do you time or do things for you. And then it's like you get the job and it's like, finally, I can relax. Finally, I can do things for me.
00:32:28
Speaker
Yes. Yes. The, oh, I feel like I've said this before too. Like the well-meaning stuff that people say, there's so much well-meaning in the things that people say to like, enjoy the time off or like you, you get, you know, all this free time whatever. And it's like, yes, but I can't enjoy that when I'm worried about how I'm going to afford my house or food or what do I do if I can't find a job and like, but like how are you supposed to enjoy any free time?
00:32:56
Speaker
It's all spent thinking about, holy shit, this is not a good place to be in Who can sit there and enjoy anything when that's all you can think of? Yeah.
00:33:07
Speaker
And i I mean, one of the first things I did, ah I have a list in my phone of all the things I wanted to buy when I, things that I would gift myself when I got a full-time offer and was like, oh, what can we do this week?
00:33:19
Speaker
What did you, what was the first thing you gifted yourself? I bought myself a surf helmet, which in retrospect shouldn't have been a gift. It's a safety thing. Probably should have just been something I bought.
00:33:31
Speaker
Wait, a a surf? I've never heard of a surf helmet. you Are you supposed to surf with helmets on? i mean, I'm not the most graceful surfers. I mean, literally yesterday, I bonked myself pretty hard. I probably got a mild concussion and i wasn't wearing my bump cap, my little surf helmet. It looks like a ball cap and it has like a shell in it with a little bit of padding and it's like hard if you knock it.
00:33:53
Speaker
hu And I was like, well, the waves are small enough today. Like it's, I'm not going to you know, it won't be that bad. And then a swell came in and my just nose. I mean, it was like really one of the more embarrassing kook gaffs that I've done. And, uh,
00:34:07
Speaker
I thought that the board was past me and I just stood up and the board was still in the air and it flopped out like a cartoon. And thank God my hair was in a bun and it kind of like mitigated the blast to my face. But god like I had friends that were pretty far away on the other side of the peak and they were like, was that your head in the board? Like they heard it. It was so loud. Like other people relatively far away outside heard it.
00:34:37
Speaker
So probably should have bought the bump cap sooner and probably should have been wearing it more, which I now will. Sounds like you perhaps should have gone back to the Chippendales yeah ER r that you had recently visited. No, but it was discussion. it was a discussion. i was like, that didn't feel good at all. Can you just take me back to the nearest strip club and ask the dudes to take care of me there? One of these guys must be in medical school.
00:35:04
Speaker
It's so expensive. There has to be... There has to be Chippendale's medical students. Right? I feel like it's it's the type of place you could just go in and like, kind of like on an airplane, you go in, you have an emergency. You're like, is anybody a doctor here? Is there like a doctor or a nurse? And like, somebody's gonna be like, yeah, me. And you're like, great, you come here. Yeah.
00:35:24
Speaker
Let's take care of this. And also the rest of you just keep going, do what you do. yeah Yep. Yep. So bum cow is probably number one. ah geez. What else? Well, I started my search to get a camera and then my partner ended up buying it for me. So that was very nice. again A nicer camera so I can film stuff. ah It's like great for filming at clubs for comedy since, you know, apparently you have to have um a lot of social media clips to be a comedian these days. It's not just enough to write and perform.
00:35:56
Speaker
You have to be really good at the internet too. Well, let's talk about that. Cause that was the other thing I wanted updates on. I mean, again, like last time we talked, you were, you know, you were getting your foot in the comedy world. You know, you had kind of like, you were building that up and I love seeing all the clips on your Instagram. Like your shit's hilarious. I love watching you.
00:36:17
Speaker
How have things evolved with your comedy career? They're going. it's It's kind of one of those wild things. I look at it like surfing of like it takes 10,000 hours to get good at something.
00:36:30
Speaker
But, you know, with surfing, it's like six seconds at at at a time actually on the wave. And with comedy, it's you get four to eight, 10 minutes maybe at a time.
00:36:40
Speaker
yeah so like this is going to be a while before we get to 10,000 hours. But it's it's been fun. i've I've bumped up to a feature comic at one of the local clubs here, which is basically like headliners at the top and then feature and you're opening acts. And so I've like had my name on the marquee a couple of times.
00:36:58
Speaker
I started hosting more. I've picked up a lot of corporate event gigs, which kind of is basically like improv standup comedy of like hosting charity events and auctions. It's been a lot of fun.
00:37:11
Speaker
And then I just got this job about a month ago. i now write jokes for a political news show. So I write for one of the anchors one day a week. I sit down and I write my monologue jokes and I write my segment jokes. And yeah, it's been really cool to write stuff and then see someone else do it behind a news desk. And then it like comes to life.
00:37:33
Speaker
Yeah. And I imagine you probably watch like as as they're like you watch the segments. I I would wager. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's I mean, it really puts into perspective what it takes to put a show or a podcast on of, you know, it takes me like three to four hours to write all of these jokes, especially if it's a segment of like kind of a longer form subject matter thing. And then.
00:38:01
Speaker
submitting it and then the next day knowing that the producer and the anchor comedian, they'll, you know, they get together, they kind of tweak it a little bit to their style, exactly how they want to phrase it and then how long it takes to cut it. So, you know, these five to 10 minute episodes that they put out three times a week take hours and hours. Like the, it just takes a lot more work than people think.
00:38:24
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, there's all the behind the scenes stuff. There's the, to your point, like the editing, the tweaking, the making changes. There's a ton that goes into producing literally anything.
00:38:38
Speaker
it's not It's not just a simple like point and click kind of deal. It's not. And we have to move so fast because the news, God, it's just so much. There's so much of it. Like I last week wrote a segment for Greenland, submitted it on Monday night.
00:38:54
Speaker
They tape on Tuesday. It airs on Wednesday. Four worlds of information have passed between Monday night and when it gets released Wednesday that like people don't even remember that Greenland exists by now. It's back in the news. So thank God it's like cyclical to a degree. But.
00:39:11
Speaker
You know, you just kind of hope that the subject matter that you that you write about gets done in time. You know, it's unfortunately it's not like The Daily Show or SNL. You know, it's not something that you can write that day and it goes live that night. So it's it's been a really great writing experience. Like, I love political commentary.
00:39:30
Speaker
I love political comedy. i don't I'm learning how to present that to the world with or without my face on it. I did post a clip I mean, really, like, as far as as jokes go about invading other countries, this one was very mild, and I still got death threats, and I'm like, I use my real name.
00:39:51
Speaker
People are unhinged. And here's the other problem. Like, with the internet, you can you never ah you can't tell who is real, who is a bot or a shill, or, like, you can't. either It's so anonymous, and...
00:40:10
Speaker
You have to sit there and be like, how real is this threat? Is this just somebody who's sitting there like mouthing off? Or is this somebody who's like, is this a legitimate threat to my safety? Like, is this person actually going to look me up?
00:40:22
Speaker
And, you know, our all of our digital footprints are just fucking everywhere. this somebody who's going to really try to come find me? That's why, I mean, at this point, I'm kind of like, all my information is out there. Like, it's the same on my LinkedIn. It's the same on my comedy pages.
00:40:37
Speaker
If somebody didn't like what I said politically, they could try to contact the startup I work for. It's not like there's a phone number that they can call, like if you're that upset. And also like, I didn't say anything particularly weird. like I'm also very equal opportunity. Like I, when it comes to politics, I have no allegiance to anyone or anything. So all it it kind of makes me giggle a little bit when the comp,
00:41:00
Speaker
the comment section will make assumptions about me because I am a purple haired millennial white woman. And half the time they're wrong. ah But you know, whatever. I don't know. That's part of the algorithm too, though. They they love, it wants rage bait. It wants...
00:41:16
Speaker
the friction it wants people to fight. I'm glad that standup has been going well though. Cause it's so cool to see like on your Instagram, the pictures that you post when you do have your name in the marquee and like all the different shows you're doing, it feels like it really is just kind of like picking up steam and really starting to go somewhere and all from something that you had this, you know, interest in at one point and finally decided what the hell I'm just going to pull the trigger. Why not just give it a shot? And now it's becoming something. It's really cool.
00:41:44
Speaker
And the catalyst literally was losing my job. I mean, within two hours of me losing my job at my previous company, I was Googling standup comedy workshop classes, how to get started in standup comedy. And that was a secret that I told my never voice to anyone. Like I had never said out loud, I want to try this.
00:42:03
Speaker
Yeah. And something just broke in me that day where was like, fuck all this. I love that job. That job I am, it was taken from me or I was taken from it, whatever.
00:42:14
Speaker
And, um you know, now I get to do this. You know, what do I have to lose? You know, I was like, I'm 35. I've always wanted to do this. I'm not getting any younger. And I literally don't have a reason not to. It used to be like, I don't have time. I don't have the energy.
00:42:28
Speaker
And I think that's kind of the biggest thing that this whole season, this whole shit, beautiful, weird, dumb, nice season of my life has shown me is like, I'm literally not getting any younger. i could die again and then maybe come back. Maybe not. Who the fuck knows? But like, you have to do the things that you want to do and just see where you would be. Like if I had started doing this at 30, at 20, can you imagine? I'm constantly like, why wouldn't I just do this when I was 20? Yeah.
00:42:59
Speaker
yeah where would i I feel you. 35 has to be kind of like the magic age because I am i am also 35 and it's starting to hit that. The time is now.
00:43:10
Speaker
The time is now to start really doing things, investing in the things that you've always told yourself that like you couldn't do it or why would you do it? Or that's so like, it's the pipe dream that like, you don't know if you'll ever get there. You need to feel so prepared before you start. Yeah. which, you know, for any big thing, you're never going to feel prepared. There's never prepared enough to start for something big like that.
00:43:32
Speaker
And it really is that just like take the leap, just leap into it. Because the worst thing that happens is you fall on your face, you fail and you decide that wasn't for me. The best thing that happens is it's something that does take off that you enjoy, that you're good at, and you make something out of it. And it's really cool, really, really cool. to watch you make something out of standup from born out of the shittiest situation. Yeah.
00:43:57
Speaker
And when you say falling on your face, don't you like you rock climb. So that literally is opportunity that could happen for you. i mean That is a literal risk. It is a literal risk. To be fair, there's a lot, you practice a lot of falling onto your back yeah because generally you fall,
00:44:14
Speaker
away from the wall, like you're hanging know on the wall, you fall away from the wall. So generally you're landing on your back. If you're landing on your face, it's usually because you're trying to do like a dynamic movement and you're like swinging around and you miss. Thankfully, I'm not there yet. Someday I will be. And I've probably had a near miss on my face a couple of times, but so far mostly just falling on my back, which is the very supported by all the mats that they have under the walls. Isn't that your, like, what do you think was your, in your stint of ah being unemployed? Like, what was your, got to do this now thing?
00:44:52
Speaker
This podcast, to be honest. Oh, yeah. Because I had the idea for this podcast shortly before I got laid off. And I had actually workshopped the idea to my boss at the time. And I was like, listen, I have this idea that,
00:45:08
Speaker
And i I want to do this podcast. There's so many people who's been laid off from their jobs. I want to interview people. I want to hear their stories. I want to know what it's like. I want to give that space of not LinkedIn of, you know, whatever. So I was like, tell i was like, I want to call it. I lost my job. I don't, it just, you know, it's not like it's this brilliant novel title, but it just like, it was the thing that just snapped in my head. It was like, it clicked. I was like, that's, that's it. That's the name. Like I lost my job.
00:45:34
Speaker
So I workshopped the Idea Tour a couple months before I was laid off, thinking that I would do it at some point. I don't know when, and I wouldn't know how to start it and whatever. And then once I got laid off, I was like, this is this is the time. i have nothing else to do. I have all the time in the world, aside from job hunting, obviously, but like I have all the time in the world to try this. And quite honestly, with a podcast, it feels low stakes in general because like,
00:46:01
Speaker
the worst case scenario is that nobody listens. And if nobody listens, then you know what, that sucks, but there's also nobody to feel embarrassed about, like having them listen, right? Best case scenario, it goes somewhere and it provides some meaning to people. And it just, it's, it's something that people can relate to and feel fulfilled with.
00:46:21
Speaker
And so that was kind of my, that was my, like the time is now thing because it was, It was a great opportunity. It was very relevant at the time. and even though, you know, it wasn't, the podcast has never been meant to be about me. I've always wanted it to be about other people's stories. But it just felt there was there is a piece of me that I feel like it healed too. So that's that is my answer.
00:46:51
Speaker
yeah. Yeah. Here's the other thing. I always dreamed of recording update episodes when people got jobs. And so i am so thrilled to be able to record this episode with you because you are the first one that I've been able to catch up with that has since gotten a job. So yes, gold medals to you. All of the all of the claps, all of the laughs. I am so grateful that you got a job because I know...
00:47:18
Speaker
We both know how shit it is to be unemployed. And I'm honestly just super grateful too that you've been able to keep your standup going because I know a lot of times people get a job and they have to cut off those pipe dreams, right? The things that they wanted to do, but they don't have time for anymore because, you know, job comes first. Yeah. I'm glad that you've been able to balance both because I would hate to see you have to give up standup comedy because you are so good at it.
00:47:43
Speaker
Oh, thanks. Yeah, I think i've I've definitely given up more of my social life, maybe. that' The first couple of the first like month and a half was like, I don't know how people do this. There's people like I have friends that do stand up. They have kids like I can't imagine. They have jobs and kids. I cannot imagine. be like I'm struggling balancing like, how do i work out? How do i have a social life? How do like it's I think I'm finally like in a nice I'm in a nice groove now.
00:48:12
Speaker
But the upstart of like getting used to that job and kind of getting the hang of it and like, dude, something's got to give. But we're I think we're pretty much there now. Yeah. well Well, Chrissy, I look forward to our next catch up because I know you're going to have more fun stories in the future like you have to There's just no way you're not going to have more awesome stories. When you start touring and you come to my neck of the woods, I need to know because I want to come see you live in person. and If I'm ever in San Diego, I'm going to come find you. I'm going to make sure that I come find you and watch one of your stand ups because it i I just love seeing the stuff you post. Oh, thank you so much. I'll let you know when I get out out to the East Coast. And anytime you want to come to San Diego, you're welcome to stay with us. well We got zoo passes. We'll get you into the zoo for free. We'll tell you where to eat and all the stuff.
00:49:03
Speaker
Love it. ah Well, Chrissy, always good seeing you. And I'm sure this won't be the last time we talk. So i will talk to you again soon. All righty. That sounds good.
00:49:15
Speaker
Another big thank you to k Chrissy for coming back to the podcast and giving us all of the amazing updates. If you want to find Chrissy, her Instagram and her website are in the episode notes.
00:49:27
Speaker
And if you are in the San Diego area, definitely look her up. Go see her stand up live. I promise you will not regret it. Until next time, y'all.