Yara Shahidi Talks Being An Introverted Extrovert

It is without a doubt that Yara Shahidi has established herself as one of TV’s most celebrated and relatable It-Girls. Whether it’s serving as the face of Zoey in “Black-ish” or her coming-of-age teenager role in “Grown-ish,” Yara sure knows how to make one hell of a debut on and off the screen.

Her new talk show, “Yara Shahidi’s Day Off” highlights key topics from family, food, and fashion to work ethos and culture. Her most recent episode, “Chopping It Up with Liza Koshy” discusses what it’s like to be an introverted extrovert among other important topics such as cultivating balance within her everyday life, the support of her family, and how the former first lady Michelle Obama pushed and encouraged her to experience new things in life.

Liza and Yara relate to each other as introverted extroverts.

Within the episode, Yara and Liza discussed what it’s like to be introverted extroverts. A term that describes having both an introverted and extroverted personality.

“So we both talked about being introverted ​​extroverts, basically. How do you deal with it? How did you set those boundaries?” Yara asked Koshy. “How’d you figure out what you would share with the world?”

“I kind of created my own canvas ’cause I saw the blank one that existed online and decided to go at it, being the artist I am, of creating these characters, writing these scripts, getting really into the editing process, the producing process, thinking ahead,” said Liza. ” It took a lot to own up to that, because at first, you’re just like, ‘I’m just a silly internet kid making online videos.’ But there was a lot of intention and thought that went behind it. And then didn’t realize what I was doing was, you know, acting and producing.”

Liza discusses balance in her life and how foundations in family, faith, and prayer have helped her

Family should always remain at the top of our support system. In “Chopping It Up with Liza Koshy,” Liza described how appreciative she is of her family’s support and how prayers have helped her through difficult times.

“I feel like the balance comes from, I think, a lot of foundation in faith, in my family, a lot of prayer. I’m raised in Texas with a very Christian background now, Mennonite, to be specific, which is derived from Amish beliefs. So I’m a brown Mennonite.” She continues. “It’s taken a lot of intentional– cultivating environments that cultivate creativity for myself, you know, being with the people that endorse that behavior from me, meaning the best humans that want to see you soar and fly up with you and amplify you all the more, and you do the same for them.”

Liza and Yara discuss growing up in bicultural households

We’ve seen a few snippets within “Mixed-ish,” “Grown-ish,” and “Black-ish” of what it’s like to live in a bicultural household.

Liza and Yara described their experiences one on one and discussed how their upbringing has motivated and inspired their work.

“Curiosity came from just my parents raising me. Those are two curious theater kids that met in theater. And then they made a theater kid themselves.” Said Koshy. “They made three of us, actually. Shout-out to my sisters, Rahel and Olivia, yes. I have a beautiful mother and father. My dad was actually born in Borneo, but he is of Indian background. And my mom’s side, though, is of German background. What about you?”

“So I also come from a very global family. My baba’s from Iran. He moved when he was quite young. And my parents met in Minnesota. But my mama’s from Madison, Wisconsin. I have such an incredible family that really set the precedent for me to be involved and civilly and socially engaged, because that’s my entire family. So we both grew up in bicultural households. And the idea of having an appreciation for both cultures in your home, but how that translates to finding your place in the world,” Yara said.