EP. 74.5 — Bonus Episode: Monday Motivation

OFFICE-074.5-20200412-Buick-SKv05 CJ .mp3

[00:00:03] Jenna I’m Jenna Fischer.

[00:00:04] Angela And I’m Angela Kinsey.

[00:00:06] Jenna We were on The Office together.

[00:00:07] Angela And we’re best friends.

[00:00:08] Jenna And now we’re doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you.

[00:00:12] Angela Each week we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you

[00:00:19] Jenna We’re the Office Ladies. Hello and welcome to a very special bonus episode of Office Ladies.

[00:00:31] Angela Yeah!

[00:00:32] Jenna Today, we are talking about what motivates you.

[00:00:35] Angela And what motivates us. All right, so this bonus episode of Office Ladies is brought to you by the folks at Buick, makers of the all new Envision, and they’ve asked us to share how we make our Office Ladies podcast each week.

[00:00:49] Jenna Yeah, a lot goes into making this show,.

[00:00:52] Angela Yeah.

[00:00:52] Jenna But it’s very rewarding.

[00:00:54] Angela It is.

[00:00:55] Jenna Today we are going to break it down for you and talk all about what keeps us motivated and moving.

[00:01:00] Angela And then we’re also going to talk a little bit about BFFs.

[00:01:02] Jenna Yeah.

[00:01:03] Angela Let’s do it.

[00:01:04] Jenna Angela, you know, I love my structure.

[00:01:06] Angela Honey, do I know it.

[00:01:09] Jenna So I have fast facts for this bonus episode.

[00:01:11] Angela You do? What are your fast facts?

[00:01:14] Jenna All right. Fast fact number one. This one is from the folks at Buick.

[00:01:18] Angela There you go.

[00:01:19] Jenna I mean, when you sponsor an episode, you get to ask the first question.

[00:01:22] Angela I like it.

[00:01:24] Jenna By the way, you guys, we zoomed with the Buick folks, and they are the nicest bunch of people. And they’re really into the podcast, which I don’t know, that just made me feel so good.

[00:01:31] Angela It made me feel good, too.

[00:01:31] Jenna They had clearly listened to every episode. All right. Anyway, here it is, Jenna and Angela, you are both incredible multi hyphenates, so we imagine a lot goes into keeping everything moving.

[00:01:43] Angela When you told me they call this multi hyphenates, you know I had to look it up.

[00:01:46] Jenna Yeah.

[00:01:47] Angela OK, so according to the Cambridge dictionary, a multi hyphenate is someone who does several different jobs, especially in the entertainment industry. For example, we are actor- writer- podcasters.

[00:01:59] Jenna Yeah, I would add producers.

[00:02:01] Angela Yeah.

[00:02:02] Jenna And we run our own business.

[00:02:03] Angela Yeah. What else. We scrapbook.

[00:02:07] Jenna Is that in the entertainment industry?

[00:02:08] Angela We love a good sale. That’s probably shopping. I don’t know, I would count it as part of our multi hyphenates.

[00:02:15] Jenna Well Angela Buick is bringing everyone a challenge to make the best of their Mondays, so they want to know, do we have any rituals that kick off our week? And are you more of a Monday motivation person or a Friday feeling person?

[00:02:31] Angela I mean, I’m not really sure what they mean by Monday motivation. Is that like someone who’s like, let’s go and tackle the week, we’re going to hit the ground running on Monday, because that is definitely not me.

[00:02:40] Jenna That is not you.

[00:02:41] Angela I am not that. I am more of a Friday feeling person.

[00:02:43] Jenna Yeah. Everyone who listens to Office Ladies probably knew that.

[00:02:48] Angela Well, I don’t know. Is that shade? Are you throwing shade at me?

[00:02:51] Jenna I’m not throwing you shade. No, not at all. I’m sure it’s no surprise that I’m a Monday motivation person.

[00:02:56] Angela This is why we’re such a great team.

[00:02:58] Jenna It really is. And I definitely have rituals that kick off my week. We work mostly from home and a lot of what I struggle with is ignoring house chores when I’m supposed to be working.

[00:03:09] Angela Yeah.

[00:03:10] Jenna So I actually like to do things on Sunday evening to set myself up for success on Monday. So my Monday motivation starts on Sunday.

[00:03:20] Angela Of course it does. Your Monday motivation starts on the weekend. That’s so perfect.

[00:03:24] Jenna Here are some examples: I always make sure that we’ve done all the dishes so that I wake up to a clean sink. I have to wake up to a clean sink. This makes me very happy.

[00:03:33] Angela OK.

[00:03:33] Jenna We do all of our grocery shopping and meal planning over the weekend. And I like to have a clean home office on Monday morning. Like, I’ll even write down a list of priorities for my week in a notepad and I’ll put it on my desk next to my computer on Sunday night. This is how I set myself up for a great Monday.

[00:03:51] Angela I mean, I know this about you. And I also know if one of those things doesn’t happen, things can get wonky.

[00:03:56] Jenna Oh, I lose it. I lose it.

[00:03:58] Angela Well I’m definitely more of a Friday feeling person. I feel like I need something to work towards, you know, like that light at the end of the tunnel kind of thing to keep me motivated. And I have found with myself, if I think about, like the big picture, like everything I have to do that day or everything I have to do that week, I get overwhelmed. So I really just have to take it one day at a time. I set little like daily goals for myself and then I get a little reward.

[00:04:22] Jenna Oh, like what?

[00:04:23] Angela I mean, it doesn’t have to be anything big. Like I’ll work a long day and say, you know what, I’m going to go for a nice walk and I’m going to look at flowers and I’m going to just let my mind wander. I mean, I’m not exercising. You understand this like this isn’t like I’m-

[00:04:37] Jenna Nobody thought you were exercising. Don’t worry.

[00:04:40] Angela I’m not going to burn any calories. But that walk is like my mental break.

[00:04:44] Jenna I’m kind of opposite of you, Angela. I have to take my walk first thing in the morning. I find that I can quiet my brain if I work my body. But what I do each morning to set myself up for a great day at work, it also depends on what kind of work we’re doing. For example, if we’re working on our book, I have this little routine that I call my mental warmups. And I developed this from like I mean, listen, lady, I listen to all these podcasts of, like, people who have suggestions on how to, like, organize your life. You know, I love them.

[00:05:13] Angela You love that. You love like how to be successful. Five steps for every successful person. You love all that stuff.

[00:05:21] Jenna Oh yeah. So here’s what I came up with. I do 15 minutes of reading and then 15 minutes of journaling, I set a timer, but during that time I keep a notepad next to me and I write down anything that jumps in my mind. Like it might be an idea for writing later, but it might be a chore or an email that I need to return. So I jot it down and then I let it kind of flow through me and I keep reading and I keep journaling. And then when I’m done, I look at my list and I prioritize it. I say, what really needs to be done from this list before I start writing and what can wait? And somehow getting it down on the paper, it’s this way where I’ve tricked my brain into knowing that it’ll get done, but I can let it go for now and it doesn’t have to sit in my brain, doesn’t have to keep reminding me to do it because it’s on the paper now.

[00:06:09] Angela Right. Right.

[00:06:09] Jenna So that will really set me up for a great day of intense writing.

[00:06:14] Angela I like that. I think that’s just you practicing self care, because I know we’ve been friends a long time, that sometimes if you get a thought in your head, you’ve got to do something with it.

[00:06:23] Jenna Yeah.

[00:06:23] Angela You can’t just let it spin around up there.

[00:06:25] Jenna Containment is hard for me.

[00:06:28] Angela Well, I think you’re doing a great job. You know, Jenna, because I’ve sent you countless photos of me with my coffee mug on my back porch, I start my day by sitting on my porch. It’s really simple. I mean, gosh, sometimes I only get to sit for five minutes, maybe 10 minutes, but it just feeds my soul. And I don’t know if it’s like a Southern thing. Every one of my family at some point in the day sits on their porch. And my dad used to say, find yourself a thinkin spot and take a moment. And it just makes me feel good. So I guess my thinking spot is my back porch and I like to just have my cup of tea. I’m a big tea drinker, you know, and I sort of listen to the birds chatter and it’s like my moment of calm before kids and school and life and work and all of that just kicks into high gear. And I live for those few moments in the morning. And on days that I don’t get it because, you know, you don’t always get to have that little self care moment.

[00:07:27] Jenna Oh, yeah.

[00:07:27] Angela I don’t quite feel like myself, you know. So it’s a really small act of self care that took me years to figure out how much it means to me. And it’s just really a gift that I love to be able to make for myself in the morning. But guess what day is my favorite day of the week?

[00:07:45] Jenna Friday feeling?

[00:07:46] Angela Friday because I try to give myself a double reset. So I have my morning porch time right with my cup of tea. And then on Fridays, after I’ve worked my full day, I love to catch a little bit of the sunset, sit on the back porch with a glass of wine and that I look forward to all week. That’s my Friday feeling moment.

[00:08:05] Jenna Lady, this is really making me want to be you, because that just all sounds lovely.

[00:08:11] Angela Well, I was actually thinking, you know what? While I’m sitting out there having my cup of tea and listening to the birds, maybe if I took a little notepad with me, I could jot down some of the things I wanted to do that day and then I would have my list and not forget anything.

[00:08:24] Jenna Do you see how great this is when you share your rituals?

[00:08:26] Angela Yeah.

[00:08:27] Jenna I like it. Well, thank you Buick for kicking things off. Later in the episode, we’re going to tell you what we think of the Buick Envisions.  Spoiler alert.

[00:08:36] Angela Yeah.

[00:08:37] Jenna We love them.

[00:08:37] Angela We love them.

[00:08:39] Jenna All right. Should I move on to fast fact number two?

[00:08:41] Angela Yeah.

[00:08:42] Jenna Fast fact number two, we wouldn’t be making an Office Ladies podcast if we had not been on The Office.

[00:08:48] Angela Probably not.

[00:08:49] Jenna We wouldn’t know each other.

[00:08:51] Angela That is true. Well, we wouldn’t have met. I didn’t even think about that.

[00:08:54] Jenna That’s so sad.

[00:08:55] Angela Yeah.

[00:08:55] Jenna Well, we had a fan question from Michael S. who asked, when you guys have guests on the podcast you always ask them how they got to be on The Office, but how did you two do it?

[00:09:06] Angela Are you kidding me? Have we not talked about this?

[00:09:09] Jenna So I went back and we shared a little bit about it in the pilot episode of Office Ladies.

[00:09:14] Angela OK.

[00:09:14] Jenna But-

[00:09:16] Angela We haven’t like talked talked about it.

[00:09:17] Jenna I feel like there’s more to say.

[00:09:19] Angela OK.

[00:09:19] Jenna So in the pilot, you shared that you had originally auditioned for the role of Pam.

[00:09:24] Angela Oh, yeah.

[00:09:24] Jenna And you didn’t get the role, but you did not tell us about auditioning for Angela.

[00:09:28] Angela Oh, my gosh. For Angela Martin? I’ll tell you about it. Yes. OK, so I auditioned for the role of Pam. They said I was too feisty, buh-bye. But they said they liked me. But, you know, you hear that. You hear that. But you’re like, OK, but does that mean I’ll ever get called back? I just I had to keep on moving.

[00:09:44] Jenna Yeah, you kept going.

[00:09:45] Angela Kept going. That’s what you do. You just go to the next audition.

[00:09:48] Jenna That’s right.

[00:09:49] Angela You know, they say in Hollywood that the overnight success, you know, you’ve heard that expression, right?

[00:09:53] Jenna Yeah.

[00:09:54] Angela Oh, she’s an overnight success. I don’t know who came up with that because my overnight success was nine years.

[00:09:59] Jenna Yeah.

[00:09:59] Angela Right?

[00:10:00] Jenna I hate those overnight success stories because then when you’re not an overnight success after like three months of being here, you feel like a failure. But actually, that’s just normal.

[00:10:09] Angela That is normal for you. It was like what?

[00:10:12] Jenna I got cast on The Office after eight years.

[00:10:15] Angela Eight years. OK, so Jenna’s overnight success was eight years. Mine was nine years if that gives you an idea how long we were plugging away out here. And I had been doing every kind of job I could do so I could audition, right, I, I was a temp, I babysat, I was an operator at one hundred dentist. I worked at restaurants. But here’s the deal. I was also working at an improv sketch theater called IO West in Hollywood. I would work there Jenna so that I would get free classes.

[00:10:44] Jenna Oh, I did that so much of that.

[00:10:45] Angela So much right. You did this like work exchange. And here’s what I was doing. And this cracks me up. I was helping the accountant.

[00:10:54] Jenna What?

[00:10:54] Angela Yes. I was basically like the office manager and I would balance the spreadsheet. I learned how to do profit and loss statements. I became really good with quick books accounting software. Jenna, I had no idea I was training to be a fake accountant all along.

[00:11:08] Jenna That is amazing.

[00:11:10] Angela Yeah. And so here I am sitting in this little office of a theater and I get a phone call from Allison Jones. They want me to come in and read for the stuffy accountant that sits in the corner. And I thought, oh, come on, I got this right. And there you go. Feisty Angela Martin was born. I got to read with Ken Kwapis and he told me I made a meal out of my scene. I’ll never forget that expression. I walked out of there on cloud nine.

[00:11:36] Jenna That is so cool. How many lines did you have in your audition? Did they write a scene for you?

[00:11:41] Angela Yeah, they wrote a scene that didn’t exist in the pilot. And it was like a couple of lines. It was so fun. And I mean, I thought I think that went better than Pam.

[00:11:54] Jenna Well, I had shared that when I auditioned, my reader was Phyllis Smith.

[00:11:59] Angela Yes.

[00:12:00] Jenna Phyllis from The Office.

[00:12:01] Angela Right. Right. She read with us all, at least in that first round.

[00:12:04] Jenna Yes. Because she was the casting associate at Allison Jones’s office. She was not an actress.

[00:12:09] Angela Yeah, that’s true.

[00:12:10] Jenna And we had shared that the way Phyllis got her job on The Office was they were so impressed with how she read with all of us that they gave her a role.

[00:12:18] Angela Yeah.

[00:12:18] Jenna But what I didn’t share is that I had been auditioning for various shows and roles that Allison Jones had been casting and I had been reading with Phyllis for over five years before getting my audition for The Office.

[00:12:31] Angela Stop it.

[00:12:32] Jenna Yeah.

[00:12:33] Angela Phyllis had been in your life for five years.

[00:12:35] Jenna Yeah. As like a casting associate.

[00:12:37] Angela Oh my gosh.

[00:12:38] Jenna And this is the part of the story that I thought fit in really well with our theme of staying motivated, because, like we were saying, I had been in Los Angeles, you know, knocking around for those eight years of my overnight success. And over those eight years, I watched a lot of people throw in the towel and be kind of like, forget it, I’m not doing this anymore.

[00:12:56] Angela Same it was like flies dropping, right?

[00:12:59] Jenna Yeah.

[00:12:59] Angela We would have friends, an acting class that would just pack it up and go home.

[00:13:02] Jenna Exactly. And every time that happened, I thought, am I a crazy person for sticking this out?

[00:13:07] Angela Right.

[00:13:07] Jenna Why am I still here? But every year some little thing would happen that would give me hope. Like year five, I got my first speaking role on a TV show.

[00:13:16] Angela Which one?

[00:13:17] Jenna It was Spin City, the Charlie Sheen years. It was cast by Allison Jones. And I read with Phyllis. It was just three lines as an actress. And when I got the role, I thanked Allison. I told her, oh my gosh, I was really starting to lose hope. I was so happy to get this break. My family back home is finally going to see me on TV after five years. And you know what she said to me?

[00:13:42] Angela What?

[00:13:43] Jenna She said, the person you should thank is Phyllis. She put your audition at the top of the pile for the producers and she flagged you as our top choice. So Phyllis is one of the reasons that I had hope to stick around in Los Angeles long enough to audition with her three years later for The Office.

[00:14:03] Angela Phyllis Smith, I mean, do we need to love her more? How can we love this woman more?

[00:14:08] Jenna She changed my life.

[00:14:09] Angela She sure did.

[00:14:10] Jenna Sometimes I think it just takes that one person who believes in you, you know?

[00:14:15] Angela Yeah, we all need one person, right? We all need one advocate. I hope I’m that person to someone. You know, I think about all the people that helped me just keep going. And still do.

[00:14:27] Jenna Yeah. I try to pay that forward as much as I can.

[00:14:30] Angela Yeah, me too.

[00:14:31] Jenna Fast fact number three, Angela, we also could not be making this podcast if we weren’t best friends.

[00:14:37] Angela That’s true.

[00:14:38] Jenna I mean, Angela, I could not do this with anyone else, truly.

[00:14:41] Angela Oh, my gosh, lady, come on. I mean, I love. Oh, my gosh, it’s really hard for me to put into words how much I love our friendship. When I sit down-.

[00:14:50] Jenna Oh god, you’re going to make me cry, you just, like, zeroed in on my eyes with like such like love and appreciation. I feel moved.

[00:14:57] Angela Well, I took my glasses off if that tells you guys listening anything. You know, when you take your glasses off, you’re serious.

[00:15:02] Jenna That’s what I mean. It got real serious.

[00:15:04] Angela Well, I mean, you know, we just have this open dialog. There’s nothing I can’t say to you. And it’s very loving. You know, it’s like you always, always have made me want to be better. And like, I don’t think there’s a better compliment you can give anyone.

[00:15:20] Jenna Yeah.

[00:15:21] Angela You know, you raise up my game. I don’t know. I’m sure there’s some lingo there the kids use. You level me up. I don’t know what they say.

[00:15:27] Jenna That sounded good. Yeah.

[00:15:28] Angela Thanks. I’ll stick with it. But you do.

[00:15:31] Jenna Lady, same. The gift of our friendship. It’s everything to my life.

[00:15:36] Angela I know this whole process of doing this podcast and being co boss ladies, it just tickles me to no end when we say that. But really, I was telling our kids that I feel like you’re my co champion.

[00:15:48] Jenna Oh, yes, I love that.

[00:15:50] Angela Yeah.

[00:15:51] Jenna Well, lady, we got this question from Shauna M.. How did you two come to be best friends? Can you point to a particular day or moment when something clicked or was it a gradual build? We actually get a lot of questions about our friendship because I think it’s-.

[00:16:07] Angela Well, we we we talk about we talk about our friendship a lot. I mean, how can you not it’s like the biggest component to us.

[00:16:14] Jenna It’s true. And I know we shared about spending those many days sitting next to one another on the bench in the basketball episode from season one, and that’s kind of- that for me was like the beginning of our friendship. That was like I stamp this person best friend.

[00:16:30] Angela Yeah, no, we talked about it all. Like, I feel like we left the basketball episode and I was like, I know Jenna Fischer.

[00:16:35] Jenna Yes, that’s how I felt too. Yes. So if I had to point to like one particular moment, that was it. But at the same time, the depth of our friendship was built over many years of showing up for one another.

[00:16:48] Angela Yeah. That’s right. OK, so Jenna we’ve been talking a lot about the value of strong friendships in life and I wanted to share this letter to you from our Office Ladies mailbag. It really touched my heart. This is from Courtney J. My BFF and I had a falling out about six years ago. We are big fans of The Office and we used to watch it together. Since listening to your podcast during quarantine, I was reminded of our friendship, thanks to you ladies, and of how short and precious life is. My friend and I have since reconnected and we now bond over listening to Office Ladies each week. Thank you for inspiring me to get my best friend back.

[00:17:25] Jenna Oh my gosh. Courtney J. I am so happy that you got your friend back.

[00:17:31] Angela Me too.

[00:17:32] Jenna I mean, how about that for a Monday motivation, maybe reach out to someone you’ve lost touch with.

[00:17:39] Angela I just love that. I know for a fact this past year I feel like I have reconnected with people. I think just everything happening put so much into focus, you know? You feel like the reasons you lose contact with people, like when you really look at them, it’s like you can just put it all aside.

[00:17:55] Jenna Yeah, I love that idea.

[00:17:57] Angela Courtney, I love that you reached out and I love that you guys are listening to us. I’m sending you a, I don’t know, an air hug?

[00:18:03] Jenna An air hug, sure. Over the airwaves. And I think on that note, we’ll take a little break.

[00:18:10] Angela All right. Well, like we said earlier, this bonus episode is sponsored by Buick and Jenna, it’s time to talk about the Buick Envision. We’ve been driving the Envision Avenir, which is new for twenty twenty one. It’s their top of the line, most premium model, the highest expression of Buick luxury. And this vehicle is amazing. I love it. I mean, I really love it.

[00:18:36] Jenna I love it, too. I don’t want to give it back.

[00:18:39] Angela I know, me too.

[00:18:41] Jenna It works for me as a boss lady. It is totally luxurious. So I felt fancy. I felt pampered.

[00:18:47] Angela I did too.

[00:18:48] Jenna Because it drives great. But it’s also a total family vehicle, like one of the available features is a hands free power liftgate. So if your hands are full and you have the key in your pocket or your purse, you can just swipe your foot under the back bumper and the trunk opens automatically.

[00:19:08] Angela Jenna and I tried this out in real time, you guys.

[00:19:11] Jenna Together.

[00:19:11] Angela Together. We both did our our feet under the bumper and they opened and we were so excited.

[00:19:17] Jenna Lady, we cheered and jumped up and down.

[00:19:19] Angela In the parking lot.

[00:19:20] Jenna Yeah, it was very exciting. And by the way, our hands were full, so that was really very convenient.

[00:19:25] Angela Also, I just want to go sit in the Envision to do work. It’s quieter than my house. It smells better, has multiple places to charge things, and I’m in love with the seats.

[00:19:34] Jenna I know.

[00:19:35] Angela Not only are they comfortable and they look so nice, but the driver’s seat is heated. Do you know what this means to me? I am always cold. This is important. And the driver’s seat is like a massage chair. You heard me. It has a massage feature. That’s a standard feature on the Avenir. So while you’re running errands are just sitting in your driveway trying to do work, it’s like you’re getting a gentle rolling massage on your back. Listen, there are many things we loved about the Envision. It’s zippy, it’s got get up and go. It looks classy, but it’s also super functional and running my usual mom errands, it just felt like a mini vacation.

[00:20:10] Jenna The all new Buick Envision was an MVP for us these past few weeks. Staying motivated and staying on top of what we need is important in making the most of a busy week. And the Envision really helped us out here.

[00:20:22] Angela If you’re looking for the right vehicle to help you do the same, check out the Buick Envision at Buick Dotcom or at your local Buick dealer. And we are back, and now it’s time to break down how we make Office Ladies, I thought we could kick things off with a question from Harris in Akron, Ohio. Hello, Harris.

[00:20:45] Jenna Hello, Harris.

[00:20:47] Angela OK, Harris says, I never knew how much I needed this podcast. It’s been so great, especially this past year. What inspired you to make it? And thank you. I mean, Harris, come on.

[00:21:01] Jenna Thank you, Harris, for asking.

[00:21:03] Angela I know. What a lovely, lovely comment.

[00:21:05] Jenna Let’s see what inspired us to make it. I mean, I think the biggest thing that inspired us to make it was our desire to work together again.

[00:21:13] Angela For sure.

[00:21:14] Jenna Yeah.

[00:21:15] Angela Yeah. We’ve wanted to work together ever since The Office ended. Like, literally the day we drove off the Dunder Mifflin set, we were like, OK, when are we working together again? Because we have to have lunch every day.

[00:21:26] Jenna And I wanted to do your show Haters Back Off, but I was super pregs and I couldn’t travel.

[00:21:30] Angela I know.

[00:21:31] Jenna Remember that?

[00:21:32] Angela Yes. And then you were like, Ange, come be on my show. We did this back and forth. We’re like, guys, hey, we just got a new job. Can my friend Jenna come by?

[00:21:41] Jenna It really was.

[00:21:41] Angela Could she be in it?

[00:21:43] Jenna Is that obnoxious that we would get a job and we’d be like, do you have do you have a role- maybe a scene I could do with my best friend?

[00:21:49] Angela Is there a little quirky blond lady can cruise through?

[00:21:52] Jenna Yeah. So we really just wanted to work together again. But I would say something else that was happening after The Office ended was we realized how spoiled we were on The Office in the sense that The Office hours were six a.m. to six p.m.

[00:22:07] Angela I mean, we have Steve Carell to thank for that, right?

[00:22:09] Jenna We really do.

[00:22:10] Angela He was such a family guy before any of us had families. Steve was the guy that had a family and he wanted to be home for dinner.

[00:22:17] Jenna He did. And so we were able to do this work schedule that was very family friendly. And it was in one place. We rarely went on location or had night shoots. And when we did, it was just fun because it was such a novelty.

[00:22:30] Angela Right.

[00:22:31] Jenna But then as we started getting these jobs after The Office, there was so much travel involved, we were away a lot. When we would talk about that, we would say, oh, my gosh, in order to work as an actor, it seems like I have to go away or I have to work these jobs where-

[00:22:49] Angela Odd hours.

[00:22:49] Jenna Odd hours. And I was missing dinners and I was face timing bedtimes and and listen, I know this is true in a lot of professions. You’ve said before your sister is a nurse and she’ll have these three day shifts at the hospital. They sort of take her out of commission. But as I was watching my kids growing up and thinking about, gosh, I wonder-.

[00:23:10] Angela Is there a way we can be, you know, working together but more available to our families and home more.

[00:23:18] Jenna Yes. And this whole conversation was happening, by the way, while I was working on Splitting Up Together, a TV show. And I would talk to Oliver Hudson about it. And he said one day he said, well, Jenna, what you and Angela should do is a podcast. You’d be home all the time.

[00:23:34] Angela Oh, my God. Should I send all of her husband a thank you?

[00:23:37] Jenna You probably should.

[00:23:38] Angela I mean, he’s who planted the seed.

[00:23:40] Jenna He one hundred percent planted the seed. One hundred percent. He was like Jenna. I know how much you like to wear sweat pants. I know how much you love your BFF. I’m telling you, this job is going to tick all the boxes for you. You should really look into it.

[00:23:54] Angela Now meanwhile, you guys, I had been working on a show in Canada, in Vancouver, which beautiful place loved it. But I was flying back and forth, back and forth and back and forth. So when Jenna was like, Ange, I have an idea here of how we could work in sweat pants and be home more, I was like, ding, ding, ding. Tell me about it.

[00:24:15] Jenna Yeah. So that was really the inspiration.

[00:24:18] Angela Thank you, Oliver Hudson, for planting the seed. There will be a gift basket of some kind of muffins headed your way.

[00:24:24] Jenna Well, next, we have a question from Ben A., who asked, can you explain how a typical podcast episode gets recorded? What does a typical week look like for you?

[00:24:34] Angela This is actually such a good question. My kids have asked this because they they get to see part of the process, right?

[00:24:41] Jenna Yeah.

[00:24:41] Angela And they really want to come in the studio.

[00:24:43] Jenna My kids do, too.

[00:24:44] Angela I know. We need to have. Oh, my God.

[00:24:46] Jenna Family day.

[00:24:47] Angela Family day. Sam and Cassi, we’re going to have Family Day. So because they just see the part of it at home.

[00:24:54] Jenna Yeah.

[00:24:55] Angela All right. So let’s break it down.

[00:24:56] Jenna OK, so Angela, how do you start your week when you plan for the podcast?

[00:25:01] Angela Well, first of all, I watch the episode we’re breaking down like three or four times.

[00:25:05] Jenna Same.

[00:25:05] Angela Right?

[00:25:06] Jenna Yes.

[00:25:06] Angela So I first I watch it just like just like as an audience member in the kids usually watch it with me because my kids are older and they’re really into it, so I watch it with them. It’s so interesting to see the things they love, you know, and then I’ll watch it again. And I have my outline. We have an outline, you guys of the episode, like a scene by scene outline that we print out.

[00:25:28] Jenna Yes.

[00:25:28] Angela Our associate producer, Aynsley Bubbico puts that together for us. Thank you, Aynsley. So my second pass at watching it, I watch it with that outline and I go through and I just start making notes. You guys, my notes used to be on note cards,

[00:25:42] Jenna But Angela has graduated everybody, to adulthood. And she uses a proper outline. Applause for you, lady.

[00:25:50] Angela I know I put it all in one word document now, but I did that because I was in the closet, my husband’s closet, podcasting for a year and I had no room for my note cards.

[00:26:00] Jenna I know. I still feel like I, I miss the note cards if I’m honest with you.

[00:26:05] Angela Well, back in studio, they’re coming back, so get ready.

[00:26:08] Jenna All right.

[00:26:08] Angela But anyway, so then I start making notes, then we start really doing research. Anything that’s mentioned in the episode that I’m curious about, I’ll start Googling it and looking it up and finding out information. We’ll reach out to cast and crew with questions. Then I personally take the DVD commentary, deleted scenes and bloopers. Right, Jenna?

[00:26:28] Jenna Yep.

[00:26:29] Angela And you really go into fan questions.

[00:26:32] Jenna Yes. And that’s also with help from Aynsley. She’ll pull questions from our mailbag, from our Instagram, and she sends them to me and then I go through and try to figure out what do we know the answer to.

[00:26:43] Angela Yeah. And we will trade off text and cast and crew. So Jenna will reach out to people. I reach out to people. I mean, we just couldn’t do the podcast without the love and support of the Office family.

[00:26:55] Jenna It’s true. And, you know, in this whole process, because mine is very similar to yours, Angela, the way I watch it, we try not to tell each other specifically what we’re doing, because I want to surprise Angela. Like I. I don’t always tell her my fast facts. I don’t always tell her my deep dives.

[00:27:13] Angela Same same. Like if there is a nugget in the DVD commentary or my favorite, a deleted scene that I know is going to rock your world, I won’t tell you. I will give the audio clips to Sam and let him play it. And you react in the moment.

[00:27:28] Jenna So after all of this prep, we record our episodes every Thursday. And then we edit the following week. So our producer, Cassie Jerkins and our sound engineer Sam Kieffer, they will put together the episode. They assemble it for us, and then we get to listen to it and then we give notes. This is going to be weird to say, you guys, I love I love listening to the podcast. I love it.

[00:27:55] Angela We do. We do. You guys. I will. This is like such a lame story. But I listen to it while I do chores. You do too, Jenna.

[00:28:03] Jenna Oh yeah.

[00:28:04] Angela So one of my favorite things is to listen to it while I fold clothes. And Josh walked in, my husband, and I was just smiling. I was just grinning ear to ear and he was like, what you listening to? And I was like, oh me and Jenna. And he was like, oh my gosh, you’re such a dork. Well, it’s like I get to hang out with you for a whole hour.

[00:28:22] Jenna Yeah. And so after we have listened to ourselves and been delighted by ourselves-

[00:28:27] Angela and tackled big chores because Jenna you have told me you’ll you’ll like save a big chore in the house like you’re like going to organize your pantry.

[00:28:35] Jenna Oh I organized my son’s closet while I listened to Dinner Party because I was like, that’s a long one. That’s a good closet cleaning chore.

[00:28:42] Angela I can get a big project done.

[00:28:43] Jenna Exactly. So then we have a Zoom with Sam and Cassi, where we go through our notes together and we discuss things we want to cut out, things we want to keep. And guys, I know I’ve seen comments that are like, why do you edit anything? I want to listen to it. You don’t. You don’t.

[00:29:02] Angela Oh, my gosh. First of all, sometimes, like, we’re recording and I’m like, I’m really hungry. So I start eating a granola bar. You don’t need to hear that.

[00:29:08] Jenna You don’t need to hear that.

[00:29:09] Angela We need to edit out me crunching.

[00:29:11] Jenna I mean, we’ve been known to go on some tangents,

[00:29:15] Angela Real long tangents.

[00:29:16] Jenna I’m can you believe it, guys? Are you shocked?

[00:29:20] Angela And then and then also sometimes they’ll be part of the episode that we both separately loved and we both bring similar information. So then we decide, OK, wait, Jenna. I kind of like your your spin on that or I like what you researched. You lead with that. I’ll take this. Sometimes we’re we’re sorting it out right then and there.

[00:29:40] Jenna Yeah, well that’s kind of how we do it. I would say overall we spend about twenty to twenty five hours per week working on the podcast. It’s a full time part time job and that’s kind of the that’s the long and long of it I think. Right?

[00:29:56] Angela Ben, did we go on too long?

[00:29:57] Jenna So sorry, Ben.

[00:29:59] Angela Sorry, Ben.

[00:29:59] Jenna And I guess I do want to say one more thing. I want to give a shout out to our executive producer, Codi Fischer, because we just couldn’t do this without our team and our partnership with Earwolf. We’re very grateful.

[00:30:12] Angela We are so grateful. And then I just want to say that one of the things that has gotten me through this past year has been our team at Earwolf. It has been our weekly edit sessions. Not only do I enjoy doing the podcast with Jenna, but I equally enjoy hanging out with Sam and Cassi over a Zoom. We always have some hot topic we have to chitty chat about at the top before we get to work. And just seeing their faces, even though it’s been on a TV, has just- I don’t know, I just look forward to it.

[00:30:43] Jenna Well, this leads me very well into our next question, Angela, from Natasha B., what would you say is the most challenging aspect of making the podcast each week? Does working with your best friend make things easier or harder? Like, do you waste time in meetings just chatting as friends?

[00:31:01] Angela Well, ok, ok. Natasha, I definitely think being best friends makes it easier in so many ways, right?

[00:31:07] Jenna Yeah, I do.

[00:31:09] Angela We’re both really efficient and I don’t think we waste each other’s time, although we- Yeah, yeah. We do a lot of gabbing on the Zoom before.

[00:31:17] Jenna More of a question for Cassi and Sam maybe. Do we-.

[00:31:20] Angela Do we-.

[00:31:20] Jenna Do we gab too much, Sam?

[00:31:21] Sam I think it’s a accurate amount. I think it’s just the right amount.

[00:31:26] Jenna An accurate amount. That’s an interesting choice of word.

[00:31:30] Angela Well, Sam-.

[00:31:31] Sam I think it’s a healthy amount.

[00:31:32] Jenna Healthy amount.

[00:31:33] Angela You also have really good stories, too.

[00:31:36] Sam Yeah, I think I’m OK with that because I contribute so much to it.

[00:31:38] Jenna Maybe this is a question for Cassi.

[00:31:41] Sam Yeah, exactly.

[00:31:42] Jenna Stuck on a Zoom.

[00:31:42] Angela I know.

[00:31:42] Jenna All right. I agree that we both have a good work ethic. We’re both very driven people. What would you say is the most challenging?

[00:31:53] Angela About doing the podcast?

[00:31:54] Jenna Yeah.

[00:31:54] Angela The most challenging. I think for me, it’s just that I want to make sure we get it right. The Office is this hugely popular beloved show to so many people. And the truth is, the fans, they know the show. You guys know the show better than anyone.

[00:32:16] Jenna Yeah.

[00:32:16] Angela And every week I just want Jenna and I to do right by you guys. And I also want to do right by the cast and crew. I mean, hundreds of people worked together every week to make The Office come to life and each and every one of them were an integral part of the show’s success. And Jenna and I talk about this all the time. We just want everyone represented. We want to be able to share all the stories, all the little tidbits. And I think the pressure I feel is I don’t want to let the show’s legacy down, you know.

[00:32:44] Jenna Yeah.

[00:32:45] Angela And we do miss things.

[00:32:46] Jenna We do.

[00:32:47] Angela Yeah.

[00:32:47] Jenna We get things wrong.

[00:32:48] Angela We get it wrong. And I really love our Office Ladies listeners, this community of people. You guys are so kind and you will lovingly let us know when we got it wrong. And that’s that’s the whole reason we started doing the revisited episodes.

[00:33:04] Jenna Yeah. For me, the most challenging aspect of making the podcast is probably just what’s most challenging for me in general in my life- I’m going to share – Is just managing my anxiety and nervousness. It was especially hard for me as an actress because sets are a very social environment. I think sometimes people assume that all actors are just extroverts and that we have this natural ease with being in the spotlight. But that is definitely not the case for me. So in a lot of ways, the podcast is a much better fit for me because our team is small. I do better in small groups of people. But even still, it is a challenge.

[00:33:45] Angela Well, you’ve shared a lot with me about this over the years, and you have a really great analogy that I thought was so helpful. You call it your backpack analogy, and I want you to share it because Jenna, I think it’s relatable. And I’ve shared it with my kids because we all have stress and anxiety. It’s something we all deal with. It manifests differently for everyone. But this is a great way to explain your stress. Will you tell us about it?

[00:34:11] Jenna Yes. My backpack analogy. The way I think about it is my anxiety is a backpack that I wear every single day. I take it with me every time. But some days the backpack is heavy and some days it’s light and some days it really weighs me down and makes it super hard to walk through my day. And sometimes I barely notice it. But it’s always there and I’m never going to get rid of it.

[00:34:34] Angela Right.

[00:34:35] Jenna What I love about our friendship and getting to work with someone who knows me so intimately, as you have said to me, lady, how heavy is the backpack today? And then I can tell you, and then I have different strategies for managing a heavy backpack, but sometimes, man, the heavy backpack, you wake up, there’s no reason for it. You’re just like, man, it’s a heavy backpack day? You’ve got to be kidding me. Come on. And I hate that. But, you know, that’s what it is. I’m no longer looking to get rid of the backpack and I don’t expect to. And just that little shift of acknowledging that it’s always there has really helped me a lot.

[00:35:16] Angela Yeah.

[00:35:16] Jenna It’s just me and it comes with me.

[00:35:19] Angela Right. And that you’re going to be OK.

[00:35:21] Jenna Yes.

[00:35:22] Angela Well, I love you and your backpack.

[00:35:24] Jenna Well, thanks, lady. Thanks. You help me carry my backpack a lot.

[00:35:30] Angela Aw. Well, since we’re talking about our friendship and all the ways it relates back to the podcast, Jenna, I have a fan question from Molly S., How has your friendship changed while making this podcast? Have you found out new things about each other?

[00:35:45] Jenna Hmm.

[00:35:47] Angela Well, yeah.

[00:35:48] Jenna Well, first of all, I had no idea Angela love notecards so much. I really didn’t. Angela also wears lipstick to every Zoom. Like she will not do her hair. She might be in a bathrobe, but she put on lipstick. I find that hilarious.

[00:36:04] Angela Well, here’s the thing. Jenna always has great hair, like I don’t get it. Like almost every morning for our Zoom’s she blows out her hair like this beautiful blowout. Today I am looking at her and she has a beautiful blowout. But she never wears lipstick now.

[00:36:21] Jenna Nope.

[00:36:21] Angela Never. I can’t tell you how many interviews, press junkets, red carpets we have done. We’re about to step out to have our photo taken, and I’ll be like, lady, you have no lipstick on.

[00:36:30] Jenna Yeah, I hate lipstick.

[00:36:32] Angela And I don’t feel like presentable unless I have lipstick on, which makes me feel like between the two of us, we’re almost a fully dressed person.

[00:36:40] Jenna This is true.

[00:36:41] Angela Right?

[00:36:41] Jenna I need my hair done and then I feel done.

[00:36:44] Angela Oh no. I throw it in a ponytail but I put on my lips,

[00:36:49] Jenna Well lady, I have a quiz for us.

[00:36:51] Angela OK.

[00:36:52] Jenna This is a best friends quiz that I found online. It was on Hello Giggles and it has like forty questions. I’m not going to ask you forty question.

[00:37:00] Angela Oh my gosh.

[00:37:01] Jenna I just pulled a few that were fun, but I thought this would be fun to try and see. Maybe we’ll see how well we know each other and maybe we’ll even learn something new now. Are you ready?

[00:37:10] Angela Is this the end of our friendship? No, I’m kidding.

[00:37:12] Jenna I hope not.

[00:37:12] Angela I’m kidding. I’m kidding.

[00:37:13] Jenna If it is, you’re hearing it now.

[00:37:14] Angela I’m kidding. OK. Yes, I’m ready.

[00:37:16] Jenna OK, no, it’s fun. Number one, which game show or reality show would I do best on? Or you can answer this question: if I were stuck on a desert island, why would I be an asset?

[00:37:30] Angela OK, lady, you would be great on reality TV, but you’d also get kicked off too quickly.

[00:37:39] Jenna So you’re basically saying I would make great TV.

[00:37:44] Angela Oh yeah.

[00:37:44] Jenna Because I’d be a hot mess.

[00:37:45] Angela We’d all want to watch you. But I feel like you would tell someone off or something. You would want to change the rules. You’d get kicked off, they’d vote you off or you’d get kicked off. And we’d be sad to see you go because you would have been the best thing about it. And so I’m going to pivot to the desert island question.

[00:38:05] Jenna OK.

[00:38:05] Angela OK. I think you’d be an asset because you’re very smart and you’re a survivalist. You really are. And you remember the most random trivia, like you would be the person who would be like, oh, wait, wait, I know this. I know how to collect rain water in a jungle. I know how to do this.

[00:38:20] Jenna Thank you for saying that, because, you know, my family is a really big fan of the show Survivor.

[00:38:25] Angela I know.

[00:38:26] Jenna And I always see them get their chickens, you know, and I remember this one time they were having this big debate about whether or not they should save the eggs or if they should hard boil them and save them. And I just wanted to scream at the TV, no fresh laid eggs can go days unrefrigerated! But the minute you boil it, you have to eat it, y’all, or you have to refrigerate it. Do not boil those eggs! Do not boil them!

[00:38:49] Angela This is why I think you’d be good on the island.

[00:38:52] Jenna Thank you.

[00:38:53] Angela But not good on Survivor because like the first week you’d be like, I’m sorry, but that is highly inappropriate and-.

[00:39:00] Jenna I would have a very hard time.

[00:39:01] Angela And I think this challenge is demeaning.

[00:39:06] Jenna Well, it’s funny you say this because my family has actually been watching Survivor together. My kids are super into it. And my answer was going to be that I think you would be amazing on Survivor. I think you could win it all.

[00:39:20] Angela Why?

[00:39:21] Jenna Because you are a hard worker and you don’t complain.

[00:39:25] Angela That’s why I now listen, we both have a hard worker in common, but that second one on the list would get you booted.

[00:39:31] Jenna Exactly. But you would be very friendly. You would get to know people on this really personal level. You would be social, but you also would not be perceived as a physical threat, even though I think you would do really well in a lot of the challenges. I think you could fly under the radar, you would be likable, I think you could win it all.

[00:39:52] Angela Thank you, Jenna. I never want to do it because they don’t show where they go to the bathroom. And I don’t want to poop in the woods. So.

[00:39:59] Jenna Yeah, they go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground, I think.

[00:40:01] Angela Yeah, I’m out.

[00:40:03] Jenna Are you ready for the next question?

[00:40:05] Angela Yes.

[00:40:06] Jenna If I became president, what do you think I’d do first?

[00:40:09] Angela Jenna you would do so many things. You would be such a great president.

[00:40:14] Jenna Hey, thanks.

[00:40:15] Angela You really would. First of all, you’re very fair. And so I feel like you would really be there for everybody. And I know for sure you would make sure men and women get paid maternity leave is part of their job.

[00:40:30] Jenna I would.

[00:40:31] Angela And of course, come on, equal pay for equal pockets.

[00:40:35] Jenna That would be my first executive order.

[00:40:37] Angela Yeah.

[00:40:39] Jenna All right. Well, I think you would learn every single name of every single person who works in the White House.

[00:40:46] Angela I would.

[00:40:47] Jenna And you would know a specific detail about all of their families.

[00:40:49] Angela I would. And they’d all get cake on their birthday.

[00:40:51] Jenna They would.

[00:40:52] Angela Be a lot of birthday cakes in the White House.

[00:40:54] Jenna You would be literally the most personable president ever. And as far as policies, that was a tough one for me, because you do not soapbox very often. But I know that education is very important to you. Your sister is a teacher. So I could see you advocating for teachers in a really big way.

[00:41:11] Angela I really would.

[00:41:12] Jenna Yeah.

[00:41:12] Angela For education for our teachers and our children.

[00:41:15] Jenna All right. Final question, Angela. When we are eighty five years old, what will we be doing together?

[00:41:21] Angela Oh, my goodness. Well, I hope we are sitting on a porch together gabbing away about anything and everything. That’s what I hope.

[00:41:29] Jenna I wrote two words.

[00:41:30] Angela What?

[00:41:30] Jenna Factory tours.

[00:41:34] Angela Oh, my gosh, I love it, but no stairs. Eighty five, we need an elevator.

[00:41:38] Jenna Or a ramp.

[00:41:38] Angela Or a ramp. Yeah.

[00:41:40] Jenna Well, if you guys want to do this quiz with your friends, we’ll put a swipe up to it in our stories. We’ll put it on Office Ladies Dotcom. You can do all 40 questions if you want. We’re nearing the end here, guys. A final question from Arden in Minnesota. Have you learned anything new about The Office by doing this rewatch podcast?

[00:42:02] Angela I feel like we’ve learned so much. I mean, every week we learn so much about each episode. For example, I, of course, didn’t think I would become so obsessed with the plants at front reception.

[00:42:14] Jenna Me either. I love it, though.

[00:42:15] Angela But now it’s like the first thing I look for. And then we both have characters we have fallen back in love with. I mean, I live for every single word that Phyllis says.

[00:42:25] Jenna Yes, well, I have a whole new appreciation for Ryan, the temp.

[00:42:29] Angela Yeah.

[00:42:30] Jenna I also love how you’ve noticed little things like the way John says D-wight.

[00:42:34] Angela It’s two words, D-wight,

[00:42:36] Jenna D-wight. Or, you know, go into the full Mindy. That was so fun.

[00:42:41] Angela Yes.

[00:42:41] Jenna And then just how we’ve developed an even deeper appreciation for our crew. I mean, we appreciated them. But as we go through these episodes and for example, learn what went into putting those plants on Pam’s desk.

[00:42:53] Angela Right. Or how that bobblehead, how Dwight’s bobblehead came to be.

[00:42:57] Jenna Yeah.

[00:42:58] Angela Our crew is amazing. Well, there you have it.

[00:43:01] Jenna Yes. Our bonus episode of Office Ladies sponsored by the awesome folks at Buick is complete.

[00:43:07] Angela Well, Jenna, I really love doing this episode.

[00:43:10] Jenna Me too. I think it was so fun.

[00:43:12] Angela Yeah.

[00:43:13] Jenna I think next time we should do a bonus episode called Friday Feeling.

[00:43:16] Angela Yes. Let’s break down Friday feeling and how you get there.

[00:43:20] Jenna I like it.

[00:43:21] Angela Well, thank you for sending in your questions. We will put a swipe up in our stories to the best friend quiz and a swipe up to the all new Envision if you want to check it out or you can go to Buick Dotcom.

[00:43:32] Jenna I’m sad we have to give the Envisions back.

[00:43:35] Angela I’m really going to miss my heated and vented massage driver seat. It’s like my rolling spa.

[00:43:41] Jenna I know. Well, guys, thank you so much for listening. And we hope this episode helps you stay motivated to crush the week ahead.

[00:43:50] Angela Bye you guys.

[00:43:50] Jenna Bye, guys. Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Codi Fischer. Our producer is Cassi Jerkins, our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico.

[00:44:11] Angela Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.

[00:44:14] Jenna For Ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to Stitcher premium dot com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium use code: Office.