Ep. 488: No Wallowing Policy & Start In Neutral
Happier in Hollywood
Liz and Sarah discuss how productivity serves as their emotional antidote to professional setbacks, sharing a recent rejection that led them
Key takeaways
- Productivity acts as emotional medicine for Liz and Sarah, helping them recover from professional disappointments faster than wallowing.
- They implemented a 'No Wallow Policy' after choosing to stay productive despite a major rejection.
Main topics
- Productivity as emotional healing
- No Wallow Policy
Notable quotes
"For us, especially when we are down about something professionally, being productive is what really provides the cure for us."
"We realized anew that being productive for us is the best medicine."
Conclusion
Liz and Sarah reaffirm their commitment to staying productive even in ad
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:02) Liz, I think almost everyone has had that moment where you think, I could turn this into a business. And then you start to think about everything you'd actually have to do to make it happen. And suddenly it feels completely overwhelming. Speaker 1 (0:17) That's where Shopify comes in. Their templates and AI tools can help you build a great looking site quickly with no coding required. And everything you need to manage your business is together in one easy to use platform. Shopify Speaker 2 (0:32) also makes the buying part easy. Shopify Checkout helps more customers actually complete their purchase, and returning customers can Speaker 1 (0:40) check out in a single click. So instead of spending all your time figuring out the technology, you can focus on actually growing the business. Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide, from household names to people just getting started. If you're ready to hear the... Speaker 2 (0:57) Of your first sale today, head over to Shopify.com slash Happy Hollywood to start your free trial today. That's right. Start your Speaker 1 (1:05) free trial at Shopify.com slash Happy Hollywood. That's Shopify.com slash Happy Hollywood. Speaker 2 (1:13) This message comes from Harvard Business School Executive Education. Now is the time to invest in yourself and change the world with your voice. Our programs connect you with faculty at the forefront of their fields, introduce you to a global network of leaders, and help you step into your full potential. Speaker 1 (1:32) The next chapter is yours. Let us help you write it. Apply today to accelerate your future. Learn more at hbs.me slash accelerate. That's hbs.me slash accelerate. So, Sarah, what should I wear when we speak at Violet's drama class? Is this a jeans situation? Pants? I think it's probably a jeans situation. Speaker 2 (1:58) Yes. I don't know if I have any jeans that I like enough. I might wear pants. I always break out a skirt when I don't know what to put on. Speaker 1 (2:05) Ah, yes. You do like a skirt. I do. Speaker 2 (2:15) Hi, and welcome to Happier in Hollywood, the podcast about how to be happier, healthier, saner, more creative, more successful, and more productive in a backbiting, superficial, chaotic, unpredictable... fundamentally insane world. I'm Sarah Fane, a TV writer and producer living in Ojai, right outside of LA. And with me is my high school friend and writing partner, Liz. That's me, Speaker 1 (2:37) Liz Craft. On this podcast, we talk about being writers in Hollywood, how we balance a career and friendship, and how to survive the war of attrition that is life in Los Angeles. Speaker 2 (2:47) Today, we're going to talk about why for us, being productive is the best medicine. Then we've got to take a hike courtesy of Liz's son. Jack. We're Speaker 1 (2:57) also answering a mailroom question about our writing nemesis. This week's Hollywood hack is now part of my daily makeup routine. And finally, Sarah has a book recommendation. But Speaker 2 (3:08) first, we have a couple of updates. We wanted to remind people about our weekly sub stack events that we do. On Wednesdays, we do something called BTS Working Lunch. That's behind the scenes. We go live on Substack. And basically, it's giving you a behind the scenes look at our creative process. Speaker 1 (3:32) Yes, we talk for an hour. Usually it's 1230 Pacific time on Wednesdays. And we just work on whatever we're doing. So it could be breaking the pilot we're working on, angry, unlikable women. It could be working on a pitch. It could be something else. And you can just observe the process. And sometimes people also help us with character names and things like that, which is nice for us. It certainly is. And Speaker 2 (3:59) resources. Someone emailed us some really interesting resources to look into a couple of weeks ago. Speaker 1 (4:05) And then every Friday at 1030 a.m. We have the Killer Bee Work Hour, which is something we really do on Zoom. You open a Zoom room and anybody, whether it's Substack or if you want to join, we try to put it in the Facebook group as well, although it's always on Substack. The Zoom link and we just go sound off, video on. Or you can turn your video off if you'd rather. And everybody just works on whatever they want to work on. But it's having company. It's motivating. We try to have everybody put what they're going to do in that hour in the chat. So it's always fun to see what people are working on. And we just have a very productive power hour. And then, Liz, you Speaker 2 (4:50) wanted to thank people for letting you know about something coming up that is a huge... cultural phenomenon. I think people are going to be riveted by this. Speaker 1 (5:01) Yes. So thanks to everyone who alerted me about the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary coming out on October 16th. It's from Nathan Felder and A24. It's called You Can See Everything. And he apparently had enormous access to Elizabeth Holmes. She is at the center of this. And of course, Sarah, I absolutely am dying to see it. And I had several people reach out and let me know it existed. And I think Connie in our Facebook group also posted about it. So yes, I will be watching and I will report back. The trailer is something Speaker 2 (5:42) that if you have not seen it. You should seek it out. It's very short and mind-boggling. Well, Speaker 1 (5:49) it's odd. I mean, it's going to be an interesting documentary. I don't think it's going to be standard issue. Speaker 2 (5:56) No, I think it's going to be something we talk about for a long time. Yes. Speaker 1 (6:01) Okay, but now it is time for From the Treadmill Desk of, where we talk about what's most pressing in our work psyches. And this week, it's the fact that... We realized, not for the first time, but we realized anew that being productive for us is the best medicine. Yes. And of course, Speaker 2 (6:22) the common idiom is laughter is the best medicine. Don't get us wrong. We love laughter. Laughter is excellent medicine as well. But for us, especially when we are down about something professionally, being productive is what really provides the cure for us. Speaker 1 (6:41) Yes. And this came up because we pitched something recently that we really thought would sell at a particular place. It's something that we absolutely love. We feel so good about the material and the pitch. And we found out that they did not buy it. And it really was a huge blow. Yes. I feel like I, Speaker 2 (7:04) as I've said, I expect nothing good to happen at this point. So most things don't really get me. But this... And part of why I think is I had just read an article about how women are creating fewer shows. And it just infuriated me because, of course, women are not creating fewer shows. They're buying fewer shows from women. They're employing fewer. women. They're not paying attention to women's voices. Thus, we're writing our Angry Unlikable Women pilot. In the context of that, having pitched this thing that we love so much that really should be a show, I was very upset. Speaker 1 (7:45) Yeah, and that's not this particular place. That's just, in general, a global thing happening that, you know, much is being written about. Yes. Okay, Sarah, we got this news. It was pretty early in the day. So our first thought was, let's just take the day off and be sad. Let's go lick our wounds, climb into bed and watch reality TV or, for you, spin some yarn. But we had a meeting that day shortly after we got this news and we didn't feel like we could cancel it. So disconnecting wasn't an option. So we're like, OK, well, we'll do this meeting. And then what