We recently connected with Valerie Lopez and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Valerie , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
The origin story began with my mom and dad. My father was a long-haul trucker, so growing up, I felt like he was always working. Meanwhile, mom served many roles: wife, mother, daughter (her mother would visit for months at a time from overseas), caretaker, chef, handyman, accountant, events planner, you name it, my mom did it. These combined forces taught me that you serve any role expected of you and sometimes you work endlessly. Through college and then passing actuarial exams, I very rarely slowed down, but when I did slow down, it was always through a memorable travel experience. I learned the real act of balancing multiple roles when I became a mother, and eventually a single mother who had to serve in all those roles for my son. Meanwhile, part of my healing process after my divorce was attending comedy shows in Austin, Texas. I became really invested in the lives of Austin comics and launched a podcast, then our website developed a live comedy events page that spans multiple Texas cities. Gradually, the act of writing profile pieces on the comics I interviewed on my podcast turned into me being an expert in the Austin comedy scene. I was asked to write for The Austin Chronicle, contribute to the Los Angeles Times, and most recently The Barbed Wire. All while maintaining the role of Chief Actuary for a software provider, supporting my son’s competitive swimming career (and all the traveling and long hours that entails), and becoming my mother’s caregiver. I know my dad was proud of me before he passed away and I know my mom (the original pro multi-tasker) appreciates all the juggling I do. It’s not for everyone, and sometimes, I don’t recommend it at all, but when it’s part of your DNA, you don’t question it, you just roll with it.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I work for a small software company so my role there is to grow our user base, support our clients, and develop new features. This is my baseline, this is where I learn time management and encouraging creative solutions to persistent problems.
Naturally, when I started attending comedy shows regularly, I started to develop a sense of humor and an interest in creative expression. In 2016, I launched a podcast called Comedy Wham Presents where I interview comics and have a conversation about where they are in their comedy careers. The original owner of Comedy Wham was starting a family and passed the full reigns to me and I partnered up with Richard Goodwin who is our web guru. Together we launched the Austin live comedy events page, which has now grown to include Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth. My true love remains podcasting and getting to know comics from their first few years in the industry to experts (including George Wallace, Howie Mandel, and other household names). The writing that I did that accompanied podcast episodes helped me in my role at work, too. I took creative chances and was almost always rewarded. I also love supporting live comedy – and not just those who sell out theaters. I love going to small clubs and theaters and seeing familiar faces of those I’ve interviewed and watching their careers blossom. I’d say my focus is on being a witness to their journeys and knowing that my support has been meaningful to them (or at least memorable!). I’m always looking at new ways to take Comedy Wham to another level and a few years ago, I added producing and hosting live shows, performing at festivals, and in 2025, I hope to take on a new challenge that represents who I think I am and what I think Comedy Wham represents in giving back to the Austin comedy scene that has rewarded me personally.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. High work ethic – I’m a math major, but I’m not a math genius. I just worked really, really hard at doing well in math because I loved the idea of finding a solution to a problem. I am almost ALWAYS looking for a solution to a problem.
2. Honesty – not always the best thing in every setting, but sometimes you have to be honest with yourself and others to get through conflict or feel good about yourself when you reflect on your day and your life.
3. Kindness – I don’t feel it serves anyone to be mean. I sometimes have a hard time with trolling culture because I don’t understand who benefits from being mean. I’m ok with staying true to myself on this one and that’s the bigger lesson – being true to yourself will always lead you to be a better person.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
As Comedy Wham has grown and with my professional occupation as a Chief Actuary, my son is the first person I think of when I consider who’s helped me overcome challenges and build skills. I learned a lot of foundational skills through past jobs, but my son has taught me a lot about humanity. Sometimes, I am not as direct as I would like to be, but he is. I look to him for advice regularly, even now that he’s attending college and has little time for advice-giving. One of my favorite practices was having dinner together and sharing our days ups and downs. As he got older, our conversations could span endless topics, and I could share just about anything and get advice from him. Don’t worry, I was dishing out plenty of advice as well! There have been work and Comedy Wham situations where I could explain a difficult issue and get his perspective and collaboratively we’d talk about ways to approach the problems I was having. That collaboration and team work is something that pays off in so many ways. He has encouraged me to see things from a different perspective and these days, I push myself to automatically think about whether there’s a different perspective I’m not considering. Having the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes is invaluable, especially when interacting with comics who have such varied backgrounds. Finding a way to relate on a common topic helps me be a better podcaster, helps me write so that readers of all backgrounds can get enjoyment out of my pieces, and so much more. I am extremely proud of my son’s contribution to my life and the life of others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://comedywham.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/comedywham/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ComedyWham
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/0yulC2j3XQwhRMxYBPCnva
Image Credits
Image credits for my podcast articles are all shown below the article title.
Image credits for the Austin Chronicle, The Barbed Wire are also included in the shot.
My headshoot is provided by An Indoor Lady.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
