When I was younger, if you asked me "what do you want to be when you grow up?" the answer would have changed on any given day. From President, astronaut, fashion designer, horse trainer, writer, PE teacher, cruise director, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, it was always different. And even now, I find myself being completely engrossed whenever I meet someone who happens to have an interesting career.
The more people I meet in this wide world the more I realize just how many amazing things there are to do with your life. So a couple months ago I asked my Twitter friends if anyone had an extra-interesting career. I also contacted a few of my friends. And here's the result - an 8-week series showcasing fabulous women and what they do for a living.
Today's super special lady is one of my favorite internet people. Can I actually just say my most favorite? She's hilarious. Adorable. And a whole lotta wonderful. I kinda, sorta live for her "5 Faves" she posts each week (seriously, check them out), and she also happens to be a founder of Hello Giggles and a writer for CBS. Awesome, right? Meet Molly McAleer, aka Molls.
Tell us about yourself.
I'm Molly McAleer, I'm from Lexington, Massachusetts, but I currently live in Los Angeles with my chihuahua Wagandstuff and awesome roomie, Sara. I run the blog MollsSheWrote.com, am a co-founder of HelloGiggles.com and write on the upcoming CBS sitcom, "2 Broke Girls."
Describe a typical day at work.
Basically my "typical" day is a lot more routine than it used to be. I used to wake up, walk a dog, grab a coffee, read the news, figure out what kind of stories I was writing for the day and then write them. I used to go out at night a lot. These days I'm on a staff schedule, so I wake up, walk the dog, head to Burbank and work in the room all day. It's a lot of bouncing around ideas and figuring out the outlines for each episode. By the time I get home, I'm pretty exhausted, so I just eat some dinner, watch TV, walk the dog again and pass out.
Did you always want to be a writer? How did you get into this field? What kind of schooling or background did it entail?
I joined a sketch comedy group my first week of college and was always much more into the writing end of things than performing. Once I graduated, I took a series of jobs at places that produced original material (mainly websites) and then, over time, convinced them to give me a shot writing. After I worked at Gawker/Defamer for about a year, freelance jobs started coming to me and that's basically how I've supported myself the last few years. The idea to start HelloGiggles came shortly before I decided that it was time to take the leap into TV writing, so I wrote a sample and wound up getting hired on 2BG.
Is this what you hope to do for the rest of your life? Where do you see yourself in 10 years, career-wise?
I'm honestly just focused on the present. I absolutely have big dreams, but right now I want to focus on maintaining and watching HelloGiggles grow and helping make 2 Broke Girls a hit.
If you could tell your 17-year old self (fresh out of high school and ready to face the world!) anything about your life today, what would you tell her? Is there anything you wish you would have known back then? Was there anything you would have done differently as far as your career, setting yourself up for success, etc. etc.?
I would just tell my 17-year old self not to sell myself short and to be ready when opportunities arise no matter how daunting they seemed or how unworthy I may have felt. Dream big. I really think a younger me didn't understand that I could actually see anything good ever happen to myself. I was ready to find a way in through the backdoor or settling for something adjacent to my actual dream. Obviously there's been a lot of hard work on my end, but I've also kind of mastered the art of taking advantage of everything in front of me. I should have known that that was in my DNA and just kept my chin up this whole time.
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