Sherri Shepherd is undeniably a veteran within the entertainment business. She’s an actress, writer, standup comic, and host who’s earned a Daytime Emmy Award from her work on The View. Now she’s combining all of those talents to bring to life her very own talk show, Sherri.

Having been within the industry for nearly 30 years and shared her testimony from being homeless to one in every of the brightest lights in Hollywood, Shepherd believes wholeheartedly that that is the appropriate time for this enterprise.

“I used to be at Pastor A.R. Bernard’s church, Christian Cultural Center, this Sunday and he said ‘Sometimes you’ve got this dream but God doesn’t let it occur since you don’t have the religion to support it if he blessed you with it if you want it,’ she tells ESSENCE. “He said, ‘Sometimes you’ve got to mature into your dreams.’ So I’m so excited because my vision is so clear about what I would like to do.”

And that vision? “I would like people to laugh,” says the comedian who shared one element of her recent show shall be Sherri’s Laugh Lounge which is able to give up-and-coming comics, particularly Black women, at platform they may not have otherwise.

Benefiting from this chance for herself required Shepherd to maneuver from Los Angeles to Recent York, which she wasn’t initially thrilled about. Yet a message from a friend modified her perspective completely.

“I actually have to be honest, I didn’t need to move to Recent York because I had all my friends. But you recognize how you mostly have that one friend who hears from God greater than everybody? She said, ‘Sherri, Recent York is just not for you. Recent York is for Jeffrey to search out his independence. You realize my son has special needs. So you recognize I’m laid out on the ground but I haven’t any problem with Recent York. If Recent York is where I’m imagined to be for my son to advance and go further and find his passion, I really like the manhattan.”

Try our full interview with Sherri Shepherd within the video above.