Rising Stars: Meet Emily Henderson of West Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Henderson.

Hi Emily, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in Orange County, CA. Sorry, you’ll never catch me at a Dodgers game. In middle school, I took my first video production class. I fell in love with all of the basics and continued taking production classes throughout high school. In my junior and senior years, I was a student of a college-level program called FilmEd* Academy of the Arts. My classmates and I made high-quality short films and competed in local film festivals. We annually competed against other high schools in Orange County to make the best music video in 24 hours and the best short film in 48 hours. By this point, I learned that I was not good at the creative side of filmmaking, but I was very good at planning the logistics and keeping a production on schedule.

Around the time I got my diver’s license, I sensed a pull to start attending church. My family had not attended church since I was six years old. I didn’t recall anything. So I just started driving myself to church every week. The pastors answered my many questions. They gave me advice on which parts of the Bible I should read first. I didn’t like everything that I was learning, but the principles were helping both my relationships with my friends and the way that I viewed myself. Within a few months I converted. As a high school senior, I decided to study film at a Christian university.

In college I worked very hard outside of the classroom to build a resume before graduating. I juggled my classes, working in retail, and interning. In 2019, I became involved with a non-profit organization, Braver Angels, working to depolarize politics and foster healthy civic dialogue across the divide. The first presidential election I followed was 2016… so the mission resonated with me. I went to a local workshop. Then I was invited to attend a national convention in St. Louis. I went for three days and came back home inspired enough to start volunteering. As a college student, I organized a few workshops and a documentary screening in my community. I was a founding member of the Orange County chapter. I met many great people along the way. While interning on a nonpartisan political podcast, I was brought into the host’s emerging campaign for Mayor of Los Angeles. A few years later, after moving to LA, I met another politician and I was properly introduced to the world of local politics. I was invited to meetings and community events in LA and especially on the Westside. Now six years in, I am still doing depolarization work with Braver Angels in Los Angeles as a Co-Coordinator for Southern California.

In my final semester of college, I started working part-time at a stand up comedy club. I lived a sitcom: by day I was going to class at a very Christian campus where co-ed dancing was not allowed, and by night I was befriending my first drug dealer. I never did drugs, by the way. The idea of having something in my lungs feels too intimate. The live comedy industry fascinated me, but I was set on working in production.

Once I finally graduated from college, I had great opportunities to work on productions with NBC and Disney. I loved working as an Office PA. As my second contract was coming to a close, I felt called to return to working in the stand up industry.

I told a former boss that I wanted to work at a comedy club again, and I was in. Since then, I’ve been immersed in the LA comedy scene meeting comedians and going to every open mic, bringer show, and independent show I can. Drawing from my experience organizing workshops, working in production, and working in live comedy, I produced a private stand up show for a small church. These days I am developing an original political comedy live show. We’re going to save American politics and solve all of LA’s problems. You’re welcome.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think building a career in entertainment is ever smooth for anyone. Per the advice of a college career counselor, I tried to start working on productions the summer before I graduated. I quit my retail job to be available for last-minute gigs. As it turned out, I did not yet have a sufficient network. I didn’t land anything. The summer ended, and for the next four months, I couldn’t even get hired back into retail. Not even during the holiday rush! Some of my job searches since then have similarly felt more difficult than they needed to be. Since pivoting to the stand up industry, I’ve had to rebuild a whole new network. I severely underestimated how long that would take. I haven’t yet achieved everything I want to. I’ve been learning a lot about patience.

Additionally, I’ve struggled with overextending myself. I love to work and keep busy. For years, rest was never a thought until it was too late. I’ve had to learn that lesson a few times.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have a few projects:

I’m super excited about the live show I mentioned, but I can’t say much more about it.

I’m a talent manager for a comedian. He is a great writer; deadpan delivery. He’s also the first person to ever make me do a spit take.

Outside of comedy, I’m working with a friend to launch a podcast in tandem with his campaign for Congress. The podcast will focus on American history and conservation policy, among other things. Stay tuned.

As a Southern California Co-Coordinator for Braver Angels, I lead quarterly regional meetings with leaders from several counties. I have mentored new event organizers, supporting their work and sharing best practices. I recently onboarded a new volunteer to run our Instagram page. In this role I am increasingly taking requests to interview with local and international outlets.

I’m most proud of my event planning and my ability to bring people together. Last summer I helped a friend organize a large social/networking event for the comedy community. We brought together many young professionals who should know each other. Currently I’m planning my next birthday, which has historically earned feedback like “I’m having a good time but where do you find these people?”

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I loved the soccer league I grew up in. I learned to play every position. I did summer camps that were somehow always scheduled for the hottest week of the year. My sister played for a travel team so we spent a lot of time with those families. When I was older I volunteered to help run photo day and registrations. I refereed one season. I loved the program.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyhendersoncomedy/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-hen