The SNL Lesson on Talent and Fit with Lindsay Shookus

[upbeat music] Welcome to the Revenue Builders podcast, hosted by Jon Kaplan and John McMahon. Today we're joined by Lindsay Shookus, a four-time Emmy Award winning producer who spent 20 years at Saturday Night Live, including 10 years as a producer. In this clip, Lindsay shares what SNL taught her about talent fit, team dynamics, and performance under pressure. She explains why talented people can thrive in one environment and struggle in another, how leaders create the conditions for people to take risks, and why the best performers often succeed by trusting the team around them instead of trying to carry the whole room. For revenue leaders, this conversation gets to the heart of hiring, onboarding, and managing high performing teams. Talent matters, but the right environment, the right support, and the right role clarity determine whether that talent can actually perform. Let's dive in.

[upbeat music] Any examples of, 'cause it happens, like people that get missed.

Oh.

They didn't make it at SNL, but then they went off and they did great things. There's a lot of stories like that. There's people that didn't get hired at SNL, and just talk a little bit about your observation of that. Was there anything missed, or was it just underdeveloped or potential hadn't been realized yet? Do you have a good example of that without alienating anybody?

I mean, I'm try- like, you know, um, the first show that comes to mind is the show Hacks with Jean Smart that's on, that's I think just, just ended. But two of the people, um, Paul W. Downs, who created the show and, um, was on the show a little bit, and also, um, Hannah Einbinder, she, they both auditioned for SNL. You know? They, and they both, they both were funny. They just didn't get hired. Or, or there were people who were, um, put on the show and didn't, didn't like skyrocket to the top, but now are doing very well. Like, you know, there are people like, um, Casey Wilson, who's done so well since she left. There's a guy named John Rudnitsky. Like, there's people who have like come and like struggled a little bit to like get their footing and maybe only made it a season or two. Tim Robinson is another one who was a cast member on SNL for a year, and he just is like, he's all over Netflix. I mean, he's just done so well. So, so it's not necessarily... Like I said, I go back to if you are hired at SNL, you are funny. It's just a matter of like can we figure out how to make it all work with all the different dynamics and all the different players.

Well, in sales too, like for us, it doesn't mean that you can't sell.

Totally.

It doesn't mean that you're not gonna be successful. It's sometimes what happens is, is that there's a fit, like a cultural fit, and it's not a negative. It's like, you know, what will give people energy and what... We just had a con- we're just recruiting somebody. I just came out of a meeting, and I said to the hiring team, I said, "You're, you keep in mind, I know we all love this person, but you are going to have to spend an extra amount of energy to make them feel at their very best."

Mm.

"And are you guys up for that?" And it was kinda cool, 'cause they opted in. But I've seen when,