The Secret to Stopping Fear & Creating the Future You Want with Shonda Rhimes

The Mel Robbins Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts

Education, Mental Health, Relationships, Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 10.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 November 2025

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is a MUST listen. If you’ve ever felt stuck, small, or tired of letting fear dictate your life, you need to hit play. This is the most eye-opening, empowering conversation you’ll hear this year. It’s time to stop playing small. There’s a bigger possibility for your life, you are more capable than you know, and you can manifest the future you want. Today’s episode will show you how. In it, Mel is joined by Shonda Rhimes. Shonda is one of the most powerful voices in entertainment history. She’s the creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal and the Executive Producer of Bridgerton and How To Get Away With Murder. She’s won Golden Globes, Emmys, broken records, and built Shondaland, a global storytelling empire. But this is not a conversation about groundbreaking TV shows. It’s about taking your life back. Shonda reveals that despite all her success, she was still living in fear. Still hiding. And in this conversation, Shonda will challenge you to do the same things she started doing: to stop doubting yourself, stop waiting for permission, and start saying YES, even when it’s terrifying. This is a masterclass in courage, clarity, and finding your power. By the time it’s over, you won’t just believe change is possible. You’ll know it is. Because the life you want? It’s on the other side of YES. And it starts right now. For more resources, click here for the podcast episode page. Get Shonda’s book, “The Year of Yes: 10th Anniversary Edition,” here. If you liked the episode, check out this one next: 3 Questions to Ask Yourself to Figure Out What You Really Want Connect with Mel: Get Mel’s newsletter, packed with tools, coaching, and inspiration. Get Mel’s #1 bestselling book, The Let Them Theory Watch the episodes on YouTube Follow Mel on Instagram The Mel Robbins Podcast Instagram Mel's TikTok Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes ad-free Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast.
0:08.7	How many times have you tried to escape your life by plopping down on the couch,
0:14.6	turning on the TV, and just disappearing into your favorite show and the characters that
0:19.6	you're watching.
0:27.2	Well, what if I told you as Shonda Rimes was writing and producing some of the most successful shows in the history of television, Gray's Anatomy, Scandal, Bridgeton, she herself was doing
0:34.8	the exact same thing, escaping her life through the imaginary worlds that she had created.
0:41.9	Shonda was deeply introverted, afraid of everything. All she did was work, and her life was getting
0:48.0	smaller and smaller and smaller. And then her sister said something that changed everything. Shonda spent the next
0:58.1	year saying yes to everything that scared her. And the result, it changed her entire life,
1:06.6	her personality, her happiness, her body, the way she was able to be creative.
1:12.3	Well, today you're going to hear one of the most personal interviews that Shonda has ever given.
1:17.8	And Shonda will tell you, if you feel small, if you're tired of saying yes to everybody else,
1:23.1	if you're done with letting fear dictate your life, she knows what that feels like. And she's also
1:29.2	going to tell you, there's a bigger possibility for your life just waiting for you, that you're
1:34.6	more capable than you know. But it's not in escaping it. It's saying yes to it.
1:55.6	Hey, it's your friend Mel, and welcome to the Mel Robbins podcast.
1:59.5	I am so excited that you are here with me right now.
2:01.7	It is always an honor to be together and to spend this time with you, but today is going to be extraordinary. And if you're a new listener or you're
2:06.8	here because somebody shared this with you, first of all, I want to personally welcome you to
2:11.2	the Mel Robbins podcast, family, and boy, oh boy, did you pick an incredible episode to listen to?
2:22.3	Because today in our Boston studios, we have the one, the only, Shonda Rhymes.
2:29.8	She is an award-winning television creator, producer, author, and CEO of the global media company, Shondaland,
	...

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