Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Got

one I think you're really going to like this week with one of the icons of Hollywood. Shonda Rimes,

she of course is the Queen of the Shandaland Empire, which began in 2005 with Gray's anatomy, a show she created and wrote,

it was really her first TV job, and she built something that is now entering its 20th season.

Since then, she's gone on to the spin-off private practice scandal, Bridgerton, and now a spin-off from Bridgerton that's streaming now on Netflix called

Queen Charlotte, a Bridgerton story.

She is fascinating is Shonda Rhymes.

She grew up the youngest of six children in Chicago. You'll hear

her talk about being a shy kid who sort of played in the kitchen pantry and

created these scenes and moved characters around. Went on to Dartmouth and just got a passion for creating and

for being a writer and went out to Hollywood where she struggled like so many people do.

She started writing some movies here or there and then had this

great epiphany while she was writing a movie during 9-11. Like what am I doing

with my life? What do I want my legacy to be? And from there she turned to television and started with Gray's anatomy.

And the rest is history. She recently signed a deal, a multi-year deal with Netflix reported

to be worth $100 million dollars. She is

truly one of the most prolific and powerful people in entertainment and in our

culture. She has created so much over the last 20 years of what we know and love on television, in movies, and streaming.

So I think you're really going to enjoy our conversation.

A little bit of background, Shonda and I got together at this kind of a tea shop.

Downtown in New York City we're trying to set the Bridgerton vibes because they're

talking about Queen Charlotte. There's some tea out, some little finger sandwiches

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