Be the Alternative: Sherri Shepherd's Story

Whether on stage or screen, Daytime Emmy Award winner Sherri Shepherd's magnetic personality and hilarious sense of humor never fail to delight audiences. A self-described "class clown," she relocated to Los Angeles during high school and considered being a mortician, but took a job as a legal secretary. She was encouraged by friends to put together her own stand-up act after seeing Andrew Dice Clay perform. Ms.Shepherd's love of performing was instantaneous. Success, however, was not. For five years she toiled as a secretary by day and performed stand-up at night -- and got her first break in the comedy Cleghorne.
Ms. Shepherd is the executive producer and star of her own sitcom, Sherri, on Lifetime Television.


In August 2009, Daytime Emmy awards history was made when The View hosts Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Sherri Shepherd were named "Outstanding Talk Show Host." It was the first time in the 36-year history of NATAS that multiple talk show hosts received this honor.
In May 2009, The View hosts were chosen as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time. In July, 2009 Forbes ranked The View No. 11 among "30 of the Most Influential Women in Media."

I recently read an article about Ms. Shepherd and her faith, and this is what she had to say:

 "I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior. I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and rose again, and that’s my belief. I still don’t know what “Christian” means. I’m a follower of Christ, but I keep making a whole bunch of mistakes. And I thank God for forgiveness. I don’t know what Christian means. I keep falling down. I get back up. I’m trying to stay in the race."

What brought her to where she is now...


"My mom was dying. I was getting evicted left and right. This was in 1993. I got involved in a really abusive relationship. I just was involved with the wrong people. I got into stand-up comedy. My boyfriend went to prison--he was stalking me, and then he went to prison. I was getting evicted. My car was getting repossessed. I went to jail."

"I was in a jail for six or eight days, for traffic warrants. I felt like I was going to die. All this stuff was happening to me because I didn’t have God. I wasn’t going to church. I just felt like it was so evil from my upbringing. Why am I going to go to a church that was from the devil.
When I say I was walking dead, I had nobody. I knew how important it was to have God in your life. I felt like: "God, I love making people laugh, and this feels so natural. And I feel so at peace no matter what’s going on in my life when I’m on stage. But I can’t go back to being a Jehovah’s Witness. I’m going to die, so if I’m going to die, I’m going to write all kinds of bounced checks. I’m going to sleep with a lot of people. I’m going to not pay my bills. I’m going to die anyway!" There’s one scripture, “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry, because we’re all going to die.” That’s really how I felt. Let’s do everything! I went to jail because my registration was two years expired. Police would stop me and give me a ticket to appear in court. I had like eight of those. My bench warrants totaled $9,000."

God's Role in Her Success...

"If I didn’t have God I would have been dead. First of all, if I got into this entertainment industry without God. I would probably be on drugs. He put that desire in my heart when I was 4 years old. I loved to entertain my family. There was always that desire. I think he’s nurtured it. He’s opened doors. Why am I as successful as I am? I have no idea. I have no idea what I’m doing. Sometimes I look at God and go, “I think there’s somebody better to talk to these celebrities.” I really don’t know what I’m doing."

"It’s hard sometimes. I let people know I’m a Christian. It comes up naturally when I do things. If they say you did a great job, I go: “Thank you, Jesus.” I do not mind saying: “Thank you, Jesus,” because I’m not that good. When people hear that, they go: “She’s thanking Jesus a lot!”

"[When I autograph] my scripts, I’ll write “God bless you.” Before we go on to tape a show, I just ask people if we can say a little prayer. I’m not trying to force it on you, but I like to pray so God can make everything smooth. I pray with the cast and that opens it up to: “What do you mean you pray?”

"I had two very good friends, I absolutely respected their walk, they would just pray with me. I didn’t want it sometimes, but they would just pray with me and love on me. I said, “I want to be like you.” That’s what made me come to Christ. So I’m certainly not going to go up to somebody and go: “You got to stop what you’re doing!” That’s not for me. I’m going to do what brought me to the Lord. I’m going to love."


Sherri has a four-year-old son, Jeffrey, and she has also authored the book: "Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break", published in October 2009.

Check your local listings on Lifetime Television for Sherr's Sitcom-Sherri

Allow her story to motivate you to BE the alternative, the trend-setter that you are created to be


http://www.sherrishepherd.com/
http://www.abc.com/
http://www.belief.net/
www.twitter.com/sherrieshepherd