Isabella Varney is more than just a writer and comedian. She is someone who captures comedy in a way that is so organic and honest, you think she could read everyone’s minds. And just as crucial as her writing is how Izzy handles a delivery. Nonchalant, blunt, and to the point; Izzy is not one for flowery wording. I wasn’t shocked at all to hear that she has landed a job working with TV talent, because only someone with so much confidence and charisma could deal with the most high strung type A’s. And more than just type A, these celebs are A listers; Cardi B and Offset, Lizzo, the cast of “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” her face light up as she listed off her coworkers. But Izzy is not one to be starstruck, and vows to never be fake. She is more than just a writer and comedian because this Emerson alum has a fiery passion for getting out there and being true to who you are in the workplace. Setting an example to revolutionize the power dynamics in Hollywood.
After meeting Izzy my freshman year at Emerson, the pandemic tested our weathered friendship and before this interview, we hadn’t seen each other in quite some time. Her studio city apartment is home to her and her dog, Kiko, who sat under her chair while we had a glass of wine. Izzy’s past roles as personal assistants have given her more than just professional experience, but social practices too. “There is a culture to everything in Hollywood. The line between networking and hanging out is a super line. You have to know how to be social in this industry and that is exciting to me, being able to use my personality to develop my work connections.This wine we’re drinking is actually my old boss’s favorite. He used to make me run out and grab him a bottle or two for the week and eventually he would buy me one for the weekend too, and then eventually, he started inviting me out on the weekend. People love their weekends in LA,” she spills while we pour another glass. Izzy’s boss ended up sending her resume to a friend, who then sent it to another friend, whose interest was piqued by the comic’s hardworking commitment to her responsibility, but fun loving and easy going nature. It’s the celeb filled job that she has now, and the company is Digital Media Management (DMM), her title “Social Media Coordinator.” DMM is a company that loans out laborers, so Izzy is similar to a freelancer in the sense that she is moving from job to job, but different because she is protected by the company and represents its professional practices.
An individual who is strong-willed and filled with wise advice, even at her young age of 22, Izzy thanks her time at Emerson College’s ELA program for bringing her to LA, even during the pandemic. Moving out about a year ago, she took some time to warm up to LA, missing the snow covered mountains back home in New Hampshire. But her ELA internship soon took off into an exciting distraction from the home sickness.The internship was for a late night talk show and lots of communication handling through emails and zoom. Her love for being active on set had to wait, but she was still making her time worth it with any role she could perform. Izzy decided she wanted to be more involved with production and set life after the fast paced life of development, and that’s when she decided to do personal assistant jobs. In the summer of 2021, she was interested to her wine connoisseur boss who helped her get to position now.
Izzy’s first job as a social media coordinator was a focus on a “Behind the Scenes’ segment for a LTBTQ+ reality show for Logo Network. She would go into set twice a week, take pics of behind the scenes, videos of the cast for socials and scoot on out. Her other days were filled with editing photos and getting contacts ready for social media engagements. After the show ended, Izzy was hired through DMM by Lizzo’s team to be her social media manager for Lizzo’s debut night of her new show “What Out For the Big Grrls.” And how does that role play out? “I got to follow Lizzo as she was twerking down Hollywood Boulevard with all of her cast- it was one of the best experiences ever. It was honestly a very relaxed position, I just needed to capture everything throughout the night and make sure Lizzo looked great, which isn’t hard to do” Besides her current position perks and her love for the job and the experiences, I wanted to know how she felt as a worker and as a young worker. How do bosses treat her, how celebrities and their teams treated her, how she does not burn out from moving from job to job, and if she would like to keep doing a similar job in the future. Izzy feels a sense of community while working on set and off. “It is so much more important to like who you’re working with than to like your work. Right now I’m young enough to just appreciate having a job, so the artistic endeavors don’t really concern me too much. The one thing I’m the most concerned about is who I’m surrounding myself with and how honest I can be as an individual and not just a worker.” Izzy and her new supervisor have created a great work relationship that serves her both professionally and personally. She believes her work ethic and kind personality while interacting behind the scenes, have earned her respect by higher up positions.
Izzy plans on staying in LA for the next ten years, and trying to make it into a writing room. She’s got experiences with improv and late night, and would like to work in teen television. Her guilty pleasures are Riverdale and Glee, and she hopes to make Ryan Murphy proud one day. She believes working up the ladder in her company can help her land a representative or agent, which would be a huge development for her writing goals long term.
Izzy has a more “go with the flow” attitude that I think actually serves this industry really well. You need to be able to adapt quickly and find the good in a not so good job sometimes, which Izzy credits the people.There is always experience to be gained, and believing in yourself helps you see that silver lining. But being flexible does not come with being lazy. Izzy works harder than the average person, and makes sure to do it authentically with respect. Izzy’s work ethic is incredible and her charisma and honesty is the heart this industry is missing.