I RAN MY FIRST WRITER’S ROOM! I can’t believe it began, and I survived, and that it’s done. Showrunning is basically like suddenly becoming a CEO after spending many years making little bracelets in your room alone while your favorite music plays. Suddenly, you are in charge. Not just of the bracelets. Of everything. There’s a meeting and there’s a quiet and you realize it’s because it’s your turn to lead. With that power comes insecurity, moments of clarity, moments of brilliance, overwhelmedness, learning and grace. Even after writing for TV for 13 years now, there were extreme feelings of what am I doing, and what are people and what are words. But 8 episodes later, now entering production, I can confidently say I’ve learned to worry less, leave the phone in the other room, lean on the people around you, invite your writers into your home and feed them (MY BRILLIANT WRITERS PICTURED ABOVE,) and the quiet lesson of my entire life: always, always Listen.