How To Be An Awesome Sidekick

It’s not very often that a friend calls you up and says, “hey, I’m going to LA to shoot a TV show, will you come with me and hold my hand?” But let me tell you this, if you ever do find yourself in that position, do what ever it takes to make it happen. I did and I quickly learned how to be an awesome sidekick.

 

 

My friend Kyla, from Mommy’s Weird, was invited to be a guest on Tyra Banks’ new daytime talk show, The Fab Life, to chat about how she broke her bra doing a workout DVD (true story). When she got the green light to bring a friend along for moral support and general giggles, I was lucky enough to be her first call. It took a little bit of planning and shifting but we made it happen and I’m so glad I did.

 

 

First step to being an awesome sidekick is to show up. Even though Kyla is a tough and confident woman who, in reality, doesn’t need anyone to hold her hand, she still wanted someone to come along for the experience. She could have asked any number of other people. People in her home town, people in her family but she asked me knowing that I would be comfort, distraction, support and most of all, fun. When someone needs you, whether it’s for a trip to LA or a trip to the hospital, you’ve been chosen for a reason, don’t make them explain it, just show up.

Second step to being an awesome sidekick is to take notes. Being in a high stress situation, even the exciting kind, means you have to watch for cues. Distract when  distraction is needed and privacy when privacy is needed. The call time at the studio wasn’t until mid afternoon which left a large part of the day open. This called for distraction so off we went for a studio tour and lunch. It was just the right amount of distraction and fun to burn off the nervous energy. For me, a high stress situation usually means Ativan and a quiet room, in case anyone is taking notes on being my sidekick one day!

 

 

Third step to being an awesome sidekick is to step back.  I got so much joy in watching Kyla shine. From the moment we were greeted by the show staffer at the hotel who walked us to the set, to the hair and make-up people who fawned over her, to the people who kept popping in to the green room to “see if she needed anything”. There are a handful of moments in a friends life that deserve the spotlight: when they get married, when they have a baby, when they get sick, when they suffer loss, when they win an award, when they go to LA for a TV show taping, you get the idea. Good or bad spotlight, they need to be priority in this moment, step back and let them have it.

 

 

Helping a friend shine doesn’t mean standing in their shadow but rather raises them up so they shine back on you.

Being an awesome sidekick sometimes means driving for hours in the dead of winter just to sit with a sick friend after surgery and help put up her Christmas tree with her 4 kids while she lay in bed (another true story). And sometimes, being an awesome sidekick means hoping on a plane at 8am to California, either way being a sidekick makes you a great friend and makes it all worth it.

Never pass up the opportunity to be an awesome sidekick!