Comedy as Confidence: Finding Your Voice and Owning the Stage with Lynn Harris

What if getting funnier could change the way you show up in your life… not just on a stage, but in your work, your conversations, and your confidence?

In this episode of Connect Inspire Create, I’m joined by Lynn Harris, founder of GOLD Comedy—a comedy school, creative community, and content studio where women and non-binary creators grow their voices and build meaningful careers.

Lynn shares how a moment at 16 shaped her understanding of comedy, confidence, and the extra layers many women navigate when stepping into visibility. What began as an observation became a lifelong mission: helping others claim space, be heard, and use humor as a powerful tool for connection and change.

We explore how comedy isn’t just about being funny—it’s about thinking differently, reading the room, communicating with clarity, and building confidence in ways that ripple far beyond the stage.

If you’ve ever felt hesitant to speak up, share your ideas, or take creative risks, this conversation might open a door you didn’t even realize was there.

In this conversation, we explore:
• Why humor is one of the most powerful communication tools we have
• How comedy skills translate into real-life confidence and leadership
• The role of community in helping us find and trust our voice
• What holds people back from being “funny” and how to move through it
• Simple ways to start building your creative confidence today

There’s something quietly powerful about laughter—it softens the edges, opens people up, and creates connection in an instant.

And as Lynn reminds us… when people listen, things begin to change.

Book your personal comedy consult! Come chat about where you are in your creative/comedy journey—and/or find out how comedy skills can support you in work and life!  BOOK YOUR CALL

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/goldcomedy/

I’m Carol Clegg, your host, an accountability coach and curious conversationalist inviting guests from a wide range of backgrounds to share insights on how they live, think, and navigate change.

Here, we explore:

• living with intention and self-trust
 • alternative ways of thinking and being
 • creativity, purpose, and personal growth

If you enjoy reflection, fresh perspectives, and honest dialogue, this space is for you.

If you’d like to experience this work in community, I host a complimentary monthly Accountability Circle  a supportive space to pause, gain clarity, and choose a gentle next step forward. More info at https://carolclegg.com/accountabilitycircle

For those ready for deeper, more consistent support, I also offer a 90-day Accountability Package, designed to help you move from scattered ideas to steady, sustainable momentum.

You can learn more at carolclegg.com

Let’s connect on LinkedIn and Instagram, or join my LinkedIn Group Flourish: A Community for Women Business Owners

Transcript

omedy As A Gentle Challenge

SPEAKER_00 0:00

People respond to especially to you know challenging ideas in comedy packages because they're not being lectured to, they're not being scolded, they're not being and there's pl there's room for that, believe me, but but in these cases, it just it's it's a very warm, fun, unchallenging way to be invited to consider a serious issue or a serious problem or something that is in serious need of a solution or change.

arly Comedy Pulls And Surprises

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Well, welcome everybody to Connect, Inspire, Create. This is a space for thoughtful conversations about creativity, personal growth, and the everyday moments that shape how we live and work. I am Carol Clegg, your host. I call myself the Gentle Accountability Coach, and each episode I am joined by guests from a wide range of backgrounds as we explore how they think, what inspires them, and how they navigate the beautiful complexity of being human. I would love to introduce my guest today, Lynn Harris. So welcome, Lynn. Thank you for joining me. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to learning all about comedy and the role that it can play in your life. So, Lynn Harris is a culture-shifting producer, award-winning journalist, and an author-co-author of over six books. Her comedy and campaigns for social justice and gender equity have changed laws and conversations from Capitol Hill up to NASCAR. She is the founder and CEO of Gold Comedy, the comedy school, professional network, and content studio where women and non-binary creators grow their comedy careers, build powerful communities, and make funny stuff. So, Les, before we dive into all about what I want to know about comedy and how it plays in our life, I'd love to start Lynn with just asking you a little more personal question. When people first meet you, what's one thing that they are often surprised to learn about you?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Well, I'm only 5'1, so I and I used to play ice hockey. So one question was always, you play ice hockey? Just because I don't seem, you know, I I seem more like I might play, I might be a point guard for basketball. So that was one thing. I also think another thing is certainly when I mention my business, and this is I'm gonna just like let out my frustrations here. When I mention my business, and I say, you know, I want I run a company company that helps women succeed in the comedy business. Often they say, Oh, or or later they come back and say, How's your program? How's your collective? How's your project? And I want to be like, did I like let's let's roll back the tape. I said business, I said company, and it's just it's just one of those things that you know, when a woman's talking about her work and also her work involves other women, immediately often people's brains go to, oh, it must be charitable.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Yes, this is a business. And I myself cannot wait to find out how this flows into how we can be better in our businesses and what we do and for ourselves as people. So I feel you on that frustration. You've certainly had a fascinating career when we look at the intersection of comedy, journalism, and then the social change. So can you share with us what first pulled you towards comedy as the creative path?

Ski Trip Lesson On Bias

SPEAKER_00 3:51

I don't have a deep or interesting story or aha moment. Well, I sort of do, but but but overall, it really was just kind of like one of those big cartoon magnets, like in like in Roadrunner, you know, those big, like U-shaped, giant, like red and silver magnets. And I just I didn't have deep thoughts about it. I didn't have a plan. I just was drawn to that world, or at least as a first as a consumer and then as a performer. You know, in my in my house growing up, my parents were not comedians or involved in entertainment, but they were entertaining. The soundtrack or the you know, the video background of my childhood in the 70s and on was the Muppet Show, Miss Piggy, Laughing, Carol Burnett, I Love Lucy. And that was just what that was just comedy when I was growing up, and I loved it. And so I I I again I didn't make a plan or have a real compass, but I I just I just kept doing things that got me closer to doing that. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Well, I know that you shared, I think this is on your website that about a ski weekend when you were at sea. Yes. That night, and what's good with you?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yeah, no, thank you for asking. That is the specific story. It's not when I said, I will do comedy, but it is when something clicked for me about women in comedy, and that that did it was the engine that that led to, you know, for years that led to my caring about women in comedy. And that was that even though I was raised on, you know, the women I mentioned, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, no one ever, you know, Goldie Hahn, Lily Tomlin, you know, no one ever told me that they were, they were never sort of presented to me as female comics. That was, they were just comics, comics. They did comedy. I didn't think about it as different from like the rest of comedy, which is great. I would like to get us back to that place. But on this ski trip, which was like the event of the year for for the New York New England Jewish youth groups, and this is but this is the 80s, and that night, or the you know, the Saturday night, a bunch of dudes bar like borrowed girls' nightgowns and did sort of this like sloppy drag sketch that brought the house down. And I say sloppy not as a not as a not as a criticism. It's just that it was sort of impromptu, and that's what it was. It was just like, let's pop on some nightgowns, see what happens. And it brought the house down. One of them side note may or may not have been Adam Sandler. Um, it does check out autobiography, I mean, biographically. I didn't know him well, but he was in that mix. And I remember thinking, kind of looking around and watching everyone laugh and watching these guys kind of goof around, you know, which is fine. And you know, my first thought was, okay, what are the girls gonna do? Because, you know, my gang, we were funny, we were goofballs. And then my next thought, almost as quickly, even though I was like only 15 or 16 and had yet to take women's studies, I just thought, you know what? Something in my gut told me, not that women wouldn't be as funny, of course, but that we couldn't just run up there and do something equally sloppy. And I remember I say sloppy as not a criticism, but equally sort of underprepared, get the same kind of reaction. We would have to like have a writer's room and work for weeks and have costumes and you know, and a director, and just because it's the same, you know, same thing where and it's continues today where women have to work harder, and it's true in comedy, it's true in like, you know, science, it's true in business. Women have to work harder to get the same results. The expectations are higher, the bar is higher, all that stuff. And all that kind of flooded my brain without my really, really, you know, without a full analysis. But I was just like, nope, we're not doing anything. And that was a giant bummer, knowing that the women would not be received. No, no fault of our own, no lack of skill or talent, but that women would not be received the same way that those sort of you know delayful knuckleheads were. And that stayed with me, obviously.

hy Jokes Move Serious Ideas

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah, so the seed was planted. Yeah, I know that you something that's really powerful, and I I have to agree. I mean, laughter in so many ways not only is healing, but it makes people listen. Yes. And you know, so one doesn't stop to think of it as a powerful communication tool that it is.

omedy Skills For Work And Trust

SPEAKER_00 8:12

People often say, and I I'm sure you've heard this one, laughter is the best medicine. It is. I mean, it's you know, timed with the you know, with the COVID vaccine, but you know, it is. But I think often people think of it as, in that sense, they think of it as passive or a distraction or something that's different from our outside of life that we want because you know, we want as an escape or something like that. But I think it can be comedy, humor, whatever, it can be underestimated as something active, as a delivery system for challenging ideas, as something that actually really powerfully shifts a vibe in a room that brings people together in a really active, specific, concrete way. At the very like molecular level, most comedy can be distilled, I mean, all kinds of comedy can be distilled down to at some you know foundational level, a setup and a punch, like a direction and a misdirection, a setup and a twist. And if you think about it, if everyone, if your audience, you know, actual or kind of loosely speaking, follows you from that setup to that punch, like goes with you on that surprise, on that unexpected twist, you all got the same thing. Like that's not necessarily like you, you don't, not everyone gets the same joke, right? And not everyone can follow you around that corner. And when people do, and I mean that literally, but I also mean it kind of metaphorically, when everyone like gets a joke in the same moment, it's kind of huge and but also painless. So people respond to especially to you know challenging ideas in comedy packages because they're not being lectured to, they're not being scolded, they're not being and there's pl there's room for that, believe me. But in these cases, it just it's it's a very warm, fun, unchallenging way to be invited to consider a serious issue or a serious problem or something that is in serious need of a solution or change.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

And you talk about it as a skill set, not just a talent. So obviously people can learn the skill set. So what sort of last skills that comedy actually builds?

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yes. So there are thousands of studies on this. This is not just like me, you know, being being a comedy cheerleader. There are thousands of studies that show, and some of these things will not surprise you, like building comedy skills, which by the way, again, many often when I when I say comedy, people think of stand-up. But I want to be clear. Of course, sure, I'm talking about stand-up, but we're talking about improv. We're talking about humor writing that you might read as a New Yorker or wherever. You we're talking about comedy TV shows that which come in many varieties. We're even talking about the humor writing that brands do a lot of, or funny commercial, funny on being funny on Instagram, whatever it is, all that stuff is what I'm talking about. But in any case, or just like joking during your day or viewing your day with a comedy lens, which we'll get to. But practicing the skills that are involved in creating those moments, it won't surprise you to help that they to know that they help you, you know, think faster, write sharper, and importantly, read a room. A lot of comedy is not about talking, it's about what you're doing when you're not talking. It's about listening, it's about understanding the vibe in the room and speaking to it and not speaking at all when the time is right. But there's also some other interesting stuff about, you know, we talked about how comedy builds connection, sure. It also builds trust, which is one of those things that, like, yeah, yeah. It's and there's there's a lot, there's information about how CEOs prefer to hire people who they sense have a sense of humor. And also people at work tend to actually trust their superiors when they have a sense of humor. And that doesn't mean that their CEOs or their superiors are giant goofballs with, you know, with lampshades on their head or who are always on or always working or always joking. It doesn't mean that. That's that's one way of being funny, but it's certainly it's by no means the only way. Where that comes from is knowing your audience. In other words, when when someone in your workplace makes a joke that everyone gets, they understand their audience. They understand you. And they're showing you in their way that they understand you. Is it the only effective way to be a CEO or a manager? Of course not. But it builds, it it builds that sense of connection. And you know, an example I'll give you in a slightly different context is that I hired the firm that I hired to handle the accounting for my company. I hired them, and this may not surprise you, but part of it might. I hired them because their website was hilarious. And if you can imagine an accounting firm having a hilarious website difficult, right, and it actually made me take them more seriously because they didn't, they weren't funny in a way that kind of betrayed their serious of seriousness of purpose. They were funny in a way that was kind of like taxes, am I right? Like, they're in giant pain. We hate them, let us help you. And that was the voice, and it made me feel like okay, there are real people working at this company who thought about who they are and what they want to say about themselves as a company. And that to me was very smart. And so it wasn't the humor itself, though it was, it was what it told me about that company and their use. It was just kind of goofy. It wasn't even like highfalutin, you know, James Serber level comedy. It was just like a wacky gif of like someone hating taxes. And I was like, I love their vibe.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Yeah, yeah. And what a word that just keeps circling around in my head for me is authentic. That yes, it perhaps in a certain way, comedy allows you to show up and and kind of play a little and and just yeah, just be you as opposed to feeling that you're walking this really straight, narrow road.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yeah, and you'd be surprised at how much how effective that can be with not much work or skill or experience in comedy. It's more like the the the being the one who says the thing, you know, even in the simplest, which is goes back to reading the room, right? Like even in the most simple context, you're you know, you're meeting a bunch of new people in a in a in an office, in a you know, you know, meeting room, whatever it is, and it's cold or it's hot. Like, I don't know, something is uncomfortable. And to be the one that like you're all awkward, you're meeting each other for the first time, whatever it is. And but just to be the one who says, you know, does anyone else need sunscreen? You know, or like, or, or just you don't even have to be funny. Just like it is it crazy or is it just me? It's not a joke. It's just saying what's so. It's not review, it's not even personal, it's not where you don't have to like reveal anything about yourself, or but it is authentic in that sense that like someone said this thing that was true.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Yeah, that was on their mind, and it's their brains did say this, and they didn't judge themselves and go, I mean, on that would you have you seen people come into gold comedy going, oh, I'm not funny, I can't be funny, and then they leave with a completely different sense of confidence all the time.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

All the time. And we do have a lot of people join us who are who are not interested necessarily in pursuing a comedy career, who are not quitting their day jobs, who are someone in some cases they have a creative side hustle or a passion project that's going on. Like in many cases, you know, we have women who are like, if I don't write this pilot that's been sitting in my head, I feel it may kill me. You know, I like I have to get this out. And like, why why wait? Why am I waiting? We've had one who is a veterinary oncology surgeon and not quitting that job, you know. But she was like, I gotta do this thing, I've got this idea, it's gonna, it's living rent-free in my brain, and I gotta get it out there. And we also have women who, yeah, who are just who feel like this is this is going to enhance. I I want to do this as it. Like I really want to do like try comedy, but I also I understand how it can enhance how I show up. And but often, yeah, often people come in being like, well, I don't really know how funny I am, but I figure you can help me out. And it's just not to me, that's just like not really a thing. You know, it's just because I think of you know, of course, yes, at some level, we all know people who see like seem to be amazing at sports when they were four, or can open up your refrigerator and just like cook a thing when you to you there's nothing there, you know, or or just people who are who seem like naturals. And that's of course there's that. But it's really more about like letting yourself be yourself and doing the work. That's pretty much it. Like there's work involved, it's practice, but you don't have to come in. I think people two things. I think people come in with the idea that all comedians are loud on all the time, and if they don't see themselves that way, then they're like, Well, I can't be a comedian. It's just it's completely you don't have to be less shy, more confident, any of that to show up. And the other thing is like women, I'm so I'm like, I hate that it's 2026 and women still get the message that like we're different, we're less funny, we don't have confidence. Like, that's all just crazy talk. It's just it's just very silly. It's just very silly. So, really, we have so many people who either come in and say, like, I'm I think I'm funny, but I don't I need I need some I need someone to tell me the science. So, yeah, right. And then we have other people being like, I don't know, I just I just want to be near comedy. I don't know where to start. Like, just help me out. And what's nice about us is that it's not like walking into, even though this might be very nice, it's not like walking into an you know an open mic of all like 25-year-old dudes who again might be very nice, but they might not be your people. And then we come back to what we mentioned right in the beginning.

nside Gold Comedy And Its Classes

SPEAKER_01 18:10

When you say it's work, it's the skill set. You're bringing that on. So let's talk about you know what kind of things happen inside gold that people might not expect from a comedy business, a comedy school, could you call it a comedy school?

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Yes, yeah, we call it it, and it's all online. Let me hasten to say it's all online, with some exceptions. It's all like the core stuff is all online, so you can join from anywhere. Yeah, so the core stuff is we're a comedy school, a professional network, and a content studio. So we have classes all the time. We have celebrity and prof, we have uh speaker series with comedy celebrities and pros. We have open mics twice a week, we have one-off workshops all the time. We have members who then, whether out of taking a class or just because they've got something going on, who collab who get together and collaborate to, as you said before, rightly make funny stuff. So that's the content studio piece. We have our members have made web series that are out there now. We have members making digital video sketches, which are hard to find with only women or you know, basically not all dudes. We have members making uh putting on creating solo shows that are that that they've done Boston, New York, they've toured them. So they were just two of them have partnered together and they just did their show again in Birmingham. Like they're that's the sort of flow over into the, you know, into bricks and brick and mortar places. But people really can find their own path because we offer classes and experiences in all different kinds of comedy and even experiences for people who don't see themselves as creators or performers, as writers or or stand-ups or or what have you, but who, you know, just want to like how can I be part of making something? And they're the people who are doing the editing, the camera work, the lighting, the sound that we also have that we need to make some of the funny stuff we make. By and large, the folks who are listening might be the ones who come in and kind of be like, I want to learn stand-up, I want to learn sketch, just show me. And specifically, last thing I'll say about that is that we also have a class that really attracts women who are accomplished in other fields, who the ones who have that idea for a TV show, a movie, whatever it is, a book in their heads. We have a class taught by very accomplished Emmy Award and PV award PVD award-winning producer who guides you on a very high-level college level actually curriculum, getting that idea into the shape it needs to be, in the uh develop to the depth it needs to be, for you then to be able to pitch it in the proper language and style to the people who can help you make it happen. So it's developed the idea and the pitch. So that's that's one of our like most exciting classes, and the women who do it are come from every walk of work you could possibly imagine.

einvention And Using Humor To Lead

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, I love it because you're so passionate about what you're sharing, which is absolutely beautiful. And I just, you know, it stops me for a moment to think for the people that might be listening. Often we hit a stage in our lives where it's time to reinvent.

unknown 21:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Reinvent ourselves. And I'll share because I'm slowly learning how to put this out. I'm newly into widowhood. I have just lost my heart, thank you, over a month ago. And it keeps coming at me that this is now the time in life to reinvent yourself. And you know, reinvent doesn't have to have been a loss or a death. I mean, it could be many things like moving or even just midlife or lost the job, or just so many things that we kind of go, ah, I need a spark of something new in my life. And you know, when I listen to what you're sharing and going, because being creative, we all have it in. Somewhere. It really does. You know, finding how to channel it and the challenge of trying something new. Why not? You know? So thinking from a business point of view, many of my listeners are, you know, entrepreneurs or they are creators. How would comedy skills help somebody in their business life or their leadership?

SPEAKER_00 22:20

It definitely helps you be able to engage and pitch and talk, being able to take a breath, let down your guard and feel uh less formal when you talk to people, um, which people you think you have to be and you don't. People are always so happy when you're not, you know, right? And being able to sort of what I kind of call like speaking to plain language, writing shorter, writing shorter. If there was nothing else, saying what you can say in, you know, taking you saying what you thought you needed 500 words, 200 words for, and saying it in 10, you could do that. We used to have an exercise where where we would make someone take an entire chunk or a story or anecdote and shorten it until it was as long as a tweet. But even before the first iteration, when they were half the links that they send me now. So just brevity is the soul of wit, as we know, but that kind of directness of speech and relating to people, and then directness of writing, and then also as we were talking about the sensitivity around reading a room and knowing what, knowing what, knowing when to talk, knowing when to pause, knowing when to ask questions, that could all come from comedy and not just improv. People love improv. Nothing is we love improv, but but it's people like often equate improv with those skills, and it's really not just improv. Because remember, when you're doing stand-up, you're also talking to live humans. You know, it's not it's not just like, oh, I'm gonna go say my words and leave. You know, you are talking to live humans and you must. And or even if you're, you know, even if you're some comics tend more toward crowd work, some less, but like no matter what, it's a conversation. The other people may not be actually interacting with you live, like with words, but it's still a conversation. And you're still listening to the room, reading the room. So just a that skill, your listening, you know, for your 10 minutes may tell you that you don't need to interact directly with the audience. Or it may, you might, I don't know, some someone might drop something, or it might, you know, you may need to respond to something in the room, and and being able to do that can help you with your keynote. We'll always tell you to open your keynote with a joke. And often people like Google a joke, and it's not funny because it's not not funny, but it's not organic. Right. And it's not organic to the situation. So, how do you do that? How do you add more humor to your keynote without being a goofball, you know, without like feeling like you're undermining this, your seriousness of purpose? Like all those things can be learned with the you know, with the with the practice of comedy.

ow To Connect And Closing Invites

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Yeah, Lynn, this has really been such a wonderful reminder that yeah, you've got creativity and you've got humor, not just being entertainment, but that connection and that confidence, and then just giving people permission, woman permission to show up. Yes, please. All right. Well, I would love to share with our listeners where they can connect with you and learn more about gold comedy. And I know that you did share with me they could have a personal comedy consult with you.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Yes, that's I really invite that because I, you know, there's a lot of people have a lot of thoughts, you know, about like, okay, that sounds great, but not for me. Or that sounds great, but I don't think I and and I'm not gonna like talk you into anything, but I at all. But I but I that's one reason why I would love to talk about talk to individuals and find out like, I don't know, what are your goals? Is it a funny keynote, or is it just like smiling more during the day, or you know, anything in between? Let's talk about how we can get you there. And so yeah, that we'll provide the link.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Super. I've got the calendar link, so I'll put that in there. And then your website is goldcomedy.com. And then I have YouTube for you, I have LinkedIn, and I have Instagram. Yes, very hard not to find. All right, lovely. Well, then thank you. Really, this has been inspiring and a good start to my day. So I hope that are listening, they're gonna be inspired to just connect with you and take you up on that conversation and just find out you know how comedy can fit into your life, your business and your personal life. So, well, thanks to everybody for listening to Connect Inspire Create. And if today's conversation sparked something for you, I invite you to just share it with somebody else who you think might enjoy this. And if you're navigating change and not following through the way you want to, I offer warm, consistent accountability that fits your real life while we work both on your mindset and next steps. And there are a couple of ways we can work together. You can join my complimentary mindset to momentum accountability circle. We meet once a month, third Tuesday of each month, or you can explore my packages that I offer to support you. So you'll find all the details at Carolcleg.com or connect with me on LinkedIn. And so until the next time, may your choices bring you ease and flow.