We were lucky to catch up with Aisha Alfa recently and have shared our conversation below.

Aisha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Some of the most interesting parts of our journey emerge from areas where we believe something that most people in our industry do not – do you have something like that?

I am an actor, stand up comedian, writer, host and Mama. I make great efforts to make time for my family, my wellness, my friends and my mental health. Some of my friends ask me how I balance everything and my response sometimes shocks them– I tell them, I don’t balance everything. The truth is I am constantly failing at something. When I am spending time with my kids I am NOT writing my script, when I am on set acting on a TV show I am NOT doing stand up shows, when I am overseas at a comedy festival I am NOT available to volunteer in my community. There is no way to balance it all and that can feel hard. In our industry the idea of always “hustling” is how people measure productivity and success. This idea that you need to be working ALL the time, available ALL the time, and willing to sacrifice for success. Show business doesn’t care about a whole life, it encourages creatives to (falsely) believe that everything else should be put on hold or sacrificed in order to make room for work. And I do not believe in that anymore.

Performing is fun and it is also hard. Entertainment as a job is not consistent, it is full of rejection, work is not necessarily based on talent and it is not linear. I do not have a boss or a bi-weekly pay stub. I do not get health insurance as a default for “putting in the work”. We don’t have business hours, so there is a sense that in order to increase the chances of success, we should be constantly working.

But the truth is, we are all going to die and I so my goal is to live a life that makes me happy and proud. So I remind myself to take a step back and ask myself, “if I never booked a gig again, what about this life would make me happy?” That’s an important question to help create boundaries in this industry. And for me what makes me happy is my kids, feeling healthy, having fun with my friends and husband, being silly, creating stories and helping others. So, yes “hustling” ALL the time in my work could get me more jobs, but that is a huge gamble. I could sacrifice other areas of my life for potential work, and get nothing in return. I would be missing out on all the wonderful areas of my life that make it worth living. It could mean living a life that is not fulfilling in the hopes of getting a role. And honestly that sounds super lame to me.

So I prioritize my family, my joy, my health and my actual life. I hustle less, but I still have passion and drive, I create strong boundaries and still find ways to make exceptions for inspiring work opportunities. I focus on what’s most important in the moment and try not to worry about what I’m not doing. So when it comes to the balancing act, I would say I’m failing. But when it comes to a fulfilling life I know I am winning!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into performing late in life. I was a professional soccer player, a wedding planner and a life coach before I stared doing comedy, acting, writing and hosting. I realized when I started performing as a career that my goals were to create art that is optimistic, darkly funny and relatable. And now being a Mama of two there is a lot of material to mine from. I perform stand up comedy around the world at festivals, act in comedy and drama TV and film, host live events and TV and write scripts and sketches from my unique perspective. People sometimes ask me what I prefer most from acting, comedy, writing and hosting and the truth is I wouldn’t be fulfilled doing just one. I need them all at different times and in different doses to allow my creativity to thrive. One of the things I’m most proud of lately, is my short film BLOCKED which began as a premise for a stand up joke about cleaning up blocks after my kids, and the more I worked on it and dove into it, the more it became a dark comedy thriller! So I wrote it as a short film and then got to engage with an amazing production team to bring the concept to life. I wrote it, acted in it and it was also my first time directing a film. So I got to use every aspect of my creative career to make a film I love. And after post-production I had a wonderful film that has accepted into multiple festivals around the world. It feels nice to share my unique point of view globally and that wouldn’t be possible in such an all encompassing way if I only engaged with one aspect of creating. So I am truly a multi-hyphen and wouldn’t change it for the world. Aisha Alfa: Actor, Writer, Comedian, Host!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I was always told to not rock the boat, be easy to be around and not be disruptive. That translated into not speaking up for myself and my needs. I had to learn that what I need to be comfortable and do my job best is important. Knowing what I will or will not do, no matter what others want from me, is paramount to longevity and joy. I remember an early hosting gig when they writers kept trying to get me to do jokes I felt were sexist and demeaning. It was one of my first big gigs and I didn’t want to upset anyone, but I also felt very uncomfortable saying some of the things these white, male writers had put in the teleprompter. So I said some of the jokes and they used them and I regretted it. It was a wonderful lesson about creating boundaries and sticking to them. The next time I encountered a similar situation I spoke up and offered to help re-write the jokes so I could endorse them. It’s all about learning what works and doesn’t work for you and keeping that information for the next time.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I am a very hard worker and I love my job! I may not have the most social media followers, I may not have the most training or be on the red carpet all the time, but I love what I do and will always do my best to over deliver. I think that goes a long way. Plus I’m fun, grounded and get along with most people so that helps!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.AishaAlfa.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aishaalfa/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AishaAlfaComedy/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LetsGetBiblicalpod
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/aishaalfa

Image Credits

Troy Jensen, Austin Nelson, Just For Laughs, Peacock