Comedian Ian Lara joins me for a conversation about identity, creativity, first-gen expectations and learning to become more yourself.

Born to Dominican parents and raised in Queens, Ian reflects on growing up Afro-Latino, navigating the complexity of identity, and the experience of leaving New York and realizing how often people outside of his community misunderstood who he was.

In this episode, he talks about studying political science and economics with plans for law school to pursuing stand-up comedy after discovering a passion for the craft. What followed were years of open mics, writing, performing and slowly building a career that eventually led to Comedy Central, The Tonight Show and his HBO special Romantic Comedy.

We get into the reality of making a living as a creative, the importance of repetition and practice, and why Ian believes pursuing a creative career requires a balance of delusion and self-doubt.

Tune in to hear about all things comedy, dating, Dominican culture, colorism, representation, and the process of figuring out what parts of ourselves we want to carry forward and the parts we're ready to redefine.

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Episode filmed live at Sueños Social Club in LA.

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