<\/p>\n
Comedian<\/a>, actress<\/a>, and podcaster Nikki Glaser is a force to be reckoned with. Though she was named in Time Magazine<\/a> as one of 2025’s Most Influential People, her humility<\/a> never lets it go to her head. She’s obviously hilarious, but in a way that pushes boundaries most didn\u2019t even know existed. As a savage roast-master, she somehow simultaneously puts people at ease while she (sweetly) says the dark things we’re all thinking.<\/p>\n But it’s herself who she roasts the hardest. She’s unique and thoughtful with her approach to joke-writing, but is also not afraid to dig deep with the constant effort to better her life. She never shies away from getting truly vulnerable, making most people in the room feel like they’re her best friend. Luckily, I actually can call Nikki a friend and can wholeheartedly relay that she’s the kind of person who walks into a room and electrifies it. She’s not only wicked-smart, but she’s the kind of girl’s girl who shows up, no matter how busy she is. (I recall once complaining about the Los Angeles dating pool and within five minutes, she had set me up on a blind date.) She’s as solid as they come and I was thrilled to chat with her for Upworthy about some things I always wanted to know.<\/p>\n Upworthy: If you remember the movie Sliding Doors\u2014if one thing had gone differently for you\u2014what do you think you\u2019d be doing?<\/strong><\/p>\n Glaser: “I like to think that if my voice teacher in high school hadn\u2019t taken my mom aside after one of our lessons and told her I had a bad voice and would never make it in musical theater, that I would have kept singing. And maybe would have been able to pursue a career in music, (not musical theater, she was probably right about that one). But I think that I just assumed she meant all singing. Now, I\u2019m way too many years into singing improperly. I take voice lessons now, but it\u2019s so hard to undo years of poor singing that I could have avoided if I had never given up.”<\/p>\n Glaser continues with the message she wishes she had received earlier, and wishes to impart on younger generations:<\/p>\n “In general, I think that if I had just gotten the message at a young age that talent isn\u2019t born, it\u2019s developed, I would have pursued more things that I thought I just didn\u2019t ‘have.’ I was never someone who was naturally talented. Stand-up was literally the first thing in my entire life that I seemed to have a knack for, so I just kept doing it. I\u2019m glad I did, but after I read the book The Talent Code in my 30s, I really understood that all I really needed to do to be talented at anything I wanted to be was put in the work.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n