Sheletta Makes Me Laugh
“BUILDING HER OWN TABLE”
by Cade Martin
Two-time Emmy-winning comedian, two-time Edward R. Murrow Award-winning talk radio show host, and Minneapolis-based owner of the Sheletta Makes Me Laugh platform Sheletta Brundidge has worked in the broadcast industry for over 25 years. Frustrated by the lack of support for diverse voices in traditional media, Brundidge launched her company in 2020—originally intending for the platform to provide her with greater control over the media content she was passionate about creating.
“I started this entrepreneurial journey just five years ago… because I was working at a radio station…” Brundidge said, “and they kept passing me over for promotions. So I said, ‘Instead of fighting for a seat at the table, I’m gonna build my own table.’”
Brundidge originally launched Sheletta Makes Me Laugh with the goal of hosting her own podcast. She was soon contacted by other Black content creators who saw the platform she was building as an opportunity to expand their reach.
“[They said], ‘We want to have a show on your network…we can’t get in traditional media.’ So I realized that was God’s opportunity to create something bigger.” Brundidge said, “I thought I was going to have a big giant ‘me fest’. But it turns out, it was supposed to be something for all of us.”
Today, the multimedia online platform Sheletta Makes Me Laugh boasts eight weekly podcasts hosted by Black thought leaders and subject experts. The podcasts aim to elevate Black voices and educate listeners by exploring a variety of important subjects, including: The Diversity Dude, where expert Lambers Fisher educates people about issues involving inclusion; Taking Authority Over Autism, through which Brundidge advocates for parents who have children with special needs; and It’s Not Your Fault, where mental health professional Brandon Jones addresses teen mental health in the Black community.
To explore all of the podcasts presently hosted on Sheletta Makes Me Laugh, please see the expanded list at the end of the article.
Brundidge’s award slide from MEDA’s Annual Event, featuring Brundidge along with her four children. Courtesy of Sheletta Makes Me Laugh (shelettamakesmelaugh.com).
The community development institution Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA) hosted its 2025 annual meeting in June at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. During the event MEDA awarded Brundidge with their Small Business Champion of the Year award.
Dozens of other small business owners, partners, and supporters in the audience applauded as Brundidge received the award in recognition of her substantial efforts as a vocal advocate and supporter of the Minnesota small business community.
Brundidge regularly uses her platform to expose disadvantaged businesses to resources and services available through the financial support MEDA provides due in part to the Minnesota Promise Act—through which MEDA distributed $19.9 million in loans to small businesses in the Twin Cities in 2024.
“Instead of fighting for a seat at the table, I’m gonna build my own table.”
Brundidge said that uplifting Black folks is the central purpose of her platform, and the experiences that the experts share on their podcasts are helping to diversify conversations around critical topics.
“Those are the voices we need to hear from,” Brundidge said. “Being able to speak about what's going on in our community in a way that we understand and know it, to the masses, is the most important thing that we could have brought to the table.”
Brundidge answers questions in a post-acceptance Q&A emceed by MPR’s “Minnesota Now” host Nina Moini (left), alongside other MEDA award recipients. Courtesy of Sheletta Makes Me Laugh (shelettamakesmelaugh.com).
Inspired by the success of Sheletta Makes Me Laugh, Brundidge became an ardent benefactor of the small business community in the Twin Cities. To Brundidge, the support she received from other small businesses in the area when she began her entrepreneurial journey felt like “a blessing.”
“When I started my business, I was a recently divorced mother on food stamps with four children… underpaid, underappreciated and overworked,” Brundidge said. “Now I'm able to do for other business owners what they did for me. They gave me hope. They gave me instruction. They gave me encouragement. They gave me resources. They gave me guidance. They gave me clients. And so [I want] to reach back and do the same thing for other entrepreneurs.”
Brundidge shared that she believes her faith and commitment to giving back to the community are the reasons that her business continues to succeed.
“I don't have a business plan,” Brundidge said. “I've never had a business plan… I have a blessing plan. I'm literally operating on faith and walking in the light of the Lord wherever he leads me… and he has never steered me wrong.”
In addition to providing financial support Brundidge frequently champions other small businesses by attending—and encouraging her audience to attend—small business events in the area.
Since 2023, Brundidge has hosted Black Entrepreneurs Day every February. The event brings hundreds of Black business owners to the Minnesota State Capitol, where they lobby for support for critical funding, resources, and services their businesses need.
The late Speaker Emerita of the Minnesota House of Representatives Melissa Hortman—recently assassinated in an act of political violence—alongside the late Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate Kari Dziedzic, were two legislators who supported Black Entrepreneurs Day’s founding. Together they helped rally other state legislators to attend and hear the concerns of business owners at the annual event.
Brundidge poses in front of MEDA’s Annual Event sign with their award, accompanied by other members of the community. Courtesy of Sheletta Makes Me Laugh (shelettamakesmelaugh.com).
Sheletta Makes Me Laugh also advances support for a variety of mission-driven programs in the community.
“For the past three years, we've made over $1 million every year,” Brundige said. “And we give away probably a third of our revenue to other businesses and to causes that are important to us. After school care, mentoring, health and wellness, kids with autism, keeping them safe. Just so many things in our community that other people have forgotten about.”
As a mother of four, three of whom are on the autistic spectrum, Brundidge is a prominent advocate for autistic people and children. She said that raising the visibility of autism in the Black community through constructive representations—like the Simply Autastic Siblings podcast her children Brandon and Cameron host, or the several Autism-focused children’s books that Brundidge has published—is critical to ensuring that autistic Black children are provided with the resources they need to thrive.
“A lot of times Black kids with autism don't get a diagnosis. They get disciplined.” Brundidge said, “To have these children being the face of a show about kids with autism, and be Black, lets educators and therapists and school psychologists and counselors know that these Black kids are not bad. They don't need discipline. They need a diagnosis so they can get the same grace as their white counterparts.”
Brundidge’s advice to Minnesotans looking to strengthen their community is to support local businesses and local advocates who have and will continue to invest in the community.
“It's those local small business owners, those local podcasters, those local radio hosts, that are really going to make a difference in your life,” Brundidge said. “We’ve got to realize we have enough resources and funds and creativity and connections right here in the great state of Minnesota.”
To foster a sense of connection with her audience and the Minnesota community at large, Brundidge invites her followers to “Get Your Happy Back” and subscribe to her daily newsletter, SheLetta's NewsLetta, as a local alternative to the impulse to doomscroll on social media.
As the small business community finds more ways to support each other and strengthen the local business landscape, Brundidge encourages business owners to actively look for opportunities to support one another.
“We've got to be intentional about looking for opportunities and ways to make this happen,” Brundidge said. “We can't just say, well, if somebody asks. Well if somebody wants it, I'll go ahead.”
Brundidge encourages other BIPOC entrepreneurs to similarly strengthen their own businesses through consistent alignment of their business’s actions with their purpose.
“People see me walking in my purpose,” Brundidge said. “Figure out your purpose. Your purpose is your brand.”
Brundidge said that purpose-driven businesses and community efforts ripple out and help create an even larger impact.
“Kindness is reciprocal, so if I'm kind to them, they’ve got to turn around and be kind to somebody else.”
Brundidge cheerfully poses in front of MEDA board members and fellow MEDA award recipients. Courtesy of Sheletta Makes Me Laugh (shelettamakesmelaugh.com).
Brundidge said that she wants to serve as a positive and inspiring figure for her children and aspiring BIPOC business owners—both through her advocacy and as a visibly successful entrepreneur. Her advice to other aspiring Black entrepreneurs:
“You don't have to give away your creative brilliance and brain matter to somebody. You can turn that into a business.”
On August 9, in celebration of National Black Business Month, five Black Women-owned businesses will host sampling tables with their products at the Robbinsdale Hy-Vee, located at 3505 Bottineau Blvd. Brundidge reached out through her network to help set up the event, where the business owners will collectively sell their products—including banana bread popcorn, homemade sauces, body butter, granola, and more.
“It’s so important that we really get the word out there,” Brundidge said. “That we put as many customers in the store as we can to create awareness for these small business owners so they can generate new customers and new clients to go out with some of these new partnerships for themselves.”
With faith in the reciprocal nature of giving and support, Brundidge said that she will continue to empower entrepreneurs in her community.
“That's my thing. I'm not trying to just get it for me. I'm trying to make sure that we all have the same opportunities,” Brundidge said. “If one of us wins, especially Black women, we all win.”
To explore the variety of podcasts hosted on Sheletta Makes Me Laugh, please see the short descriptions for the platform’s current podcasts below.
The Diversity Dude Podcast, hosted by inclusion expert Lambers Fisher, MS, LMFT, MDIV, focuses on education surrounding inclusion and diversity in the workplace, classroom, and broader society.
The Simply Autastic Siblings podcast, hosted by Brundidge’s children Brandon and Cameron Brundidge, provides a critical space of visibility to the experiences of Black autistic youth.
The Financially Fit with Andre Creighton, MBA, provides listeners with tools and advice to build generational wealth.
J.E.T. Setting Divas podcast, hosted by world-travellers Jeanette Dillard, Evette Washington, and Tina Cormier, where the trio shares their experiences and advice.
The Laughing with Letta podcast, hosted by Brundidge, provides a more versatile format to share Brundidge’s own takes on news events, and a variety of discussions with guests alongside personal experiences.
The Taking Authority Over Autism podcast, also hosted by Brundidge, which focuses on autism advocacy, promoting the importance of and visibility for resources and awareness of the Black autistic experience.
The It’s Not Your Fault podcast, hosted by Brandon Jones which focuses on teen mental health in the Black community, and works to destigmatize the importance of seeking professional counseling.
The Tina & Sheletta podcast, hosted by Brundidge and her longtime best friend Tina Cormier (also of J.E.T. Setting Divas podcast) where they discuss current events and a variety of other topics.
