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 fitting 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 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 while you want it,’ she tells ESSENCE. “He said, ‘Sometimes you’ve to mature into your dreams.’ So I’m so excited because my vision is so clear about what I need to do.”

And that vision? “I need people to laugh,” says the comedian who shared one element of her latest show will probably be Sherri’s Laugh Lounge which can give up-and-coming comics, particularly Black women, at platform they won’t have otherwise.

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

Take a look at our full interview with Sherri Shepherd within the video above.