How Busy Philipps and Caissie St. Onge Are Doing Their Best

“It’s not a lot of work to be authentic. You just have to make a commitment to telling your truth,” said Busy Philipps, New York Times bestselling author, actor, activist and podcast co-host, at Social Media Week.

On their podcast Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best, both she and her co-host, comedy writer Caissie St. Onge, get real about setbacks, pivots and just trying to do their best, like we all are.

At Adweek’s summit, they spoke about their radical authenticity on and off social media and how they choose to work with partners who align with their values.

The talk show’s new era

After E! canceled their late-night talk show, Busy Tonight, in May 2019, Philipps and St. Onge wanted to find a new way to do a show powered by brand sponsorship rather than relying on a network or studio.

“In 2019, we were approached by a bunch of soon-to-be streamers who were offering us millions of dollars for our talk show,” Philipps said. “But I was like, ‘What’s in it for us? We don’t own it. They decide what’s a failure and what’s not.’”

Authenticity takes center stage

While planning their podcast, the duo were on a quest to retain as much creative control as possible. They set up meetings directly with brands to discuss partnerships when suddenly the pandemic hit, and like everyone else, they were forced to pivot.

“All of the things we had recorded seemed too dumb with everything that was going on,” Philipps said. “Then in June, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement happened, and we were like, ‘What are we doing? We need to pivot.’ So we decided, ‘Let’s just do a podcast about pivoting!’”

Since its debut in August 2020, Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best has released more than 140 episodes, where the duo fearlessly shares personal experiences and moments of growth navigating various aspects of life. With a commitment to authenticity, Philipps said the podcast is often a genuine conversation between two friends—with an audience.

“We have a really good relationship with our audience,” St. Onge said. “We learned a lot of valuable insights when we were doing our late-night talk show. We found the best way to keep it authentic is that whatever that week is the most pressing thing to talk about, we talk about. Whether it’s something in our personal lives, pop culture, politics or anything else.”

Forging genuine partnerships

The co-hosts prioritize authenticity, not only in their conversations but also in their brand partnerships. They made a commitment to trying out all products before talking about them on the show.

“We want people to know if we’ve agreed to have a brand sponsor our show, it’s because it aligns with something we like, use or believe in,” St. Onge said. “This commitment to authenticity and transparency resonates with our listeners, as they can trust that the endorsed brands have been carefully selected and genuinely endorsed.”