For Tiffany Haddish, the road to success was not easy and certainly not clear.
In a keynote conversation for the Variety Changemakers Summit, the Emmy Award-winning comedian opened up about her time in foster care and how it shaped her outlook on life prior to her success in the entertainment industry.
“When I was in foster care, I mean, I thought I was going to die there,” Haddish said.
“I didn’t think I would make it to 18. And when I made it to 18, I was like, ‘OK, I got to really think bigger.’ And I did think bigger, and I’m definitely where I thought I would be. Well, it’s bigger than what I thought, but I feel the way that I was hoping I would feel and that’s secure in my ability to provide for me.”
During her interview, the 'Girls Trip' breakout star Haddish revealed she created She Ready Foundation, a program that pairs foster kids with internship programs, as a way of uplifting foster kids.
The actress reflected on how moving during her years in foster care made her feel like garbage.
“When I was a kid and I was moving around, all my stuff had to be in trash bags, and moving like that is not good for the self-esteem because it make you feel like garbage that can easily be transported to here or there,” Haddish said. “You start thinking of yourself as such, as garbage. That was the worst feeling in the world personally, and I told myself, if I ever get any power, I’m going to try to make sure kids don’t feel like that. If I can reach out, I’m going to try to change that feeling for them. So I started my foundation, and we started with just giving out suitcases.”
