NSBNF’s Amanda Hirsch on Why Being Delulu Actually Works (If You Do It Right)

When Not Skinny But Not Fat host Amanda Hirsch talks about being “delulu” during a recent solo AMA, she’s not just using Gen Z slang—she’s outlining a career philosophy that got her from odd jobs to media entrepreneur. 

For those unfamiliar, “delulu” is internet speak for being delusionally optimistic about your chances. Sometimes it gets thrown around as an insult. But Hirsch has reclaimed it as something more strategic: believing in your bigger purpose while actually doing the work to get there.

“I would tell her to keep being her delulu as self and that she was right all along when she was working odd jobs and in the back of her mind, there was a voice telling her, you’re meant to do something bigger,” she says, addressing her younger self. 

Hirsch doesn’t glamorize quitting everything to chase a dream. Instead, she applauds steady momentum. Her advice? “Always have that yearning for what you actually want to do. And always put some eggs in that basket.” The basket, for her, featured lots of small, gutsy moves that added up over time.

And all the while, Hirsch kept a job and paid her bills, while refusing to let the dream go dormant. The message isn’t to torch your life in a blaze of inspiration. It’s to keep feeding the thing that keeps calling you. The micro-actions are the plan behind the delulu.

Delulu but make it strategic

Hirsch’s formula is simple: fuel the future while you operate in the present. She makes space for risk—without pretending the stakes don’t exist. She encourages listeners to protect their basics and, at the same time, put real energy where they want to go. The examples she gives—emails, headshots, auditions, and pages of a book—are proof points, showing that one little push leads to the next.

When she talks about booking her show today, you can hear the continuity. The same self-start energy that got the pixelated headshot out the door now shapes a platform with reach. And she’s clear that the creative control over her platform stays with her, which is key in an industry notorious for taking that away from creators. Booking may look glamorous from the outside, but Hirsch keeps the power close. It is “a decision that at the end of the day I make. I don’t work for a TV network that’s making me have guests,” she explains. 

How she chooses her moments

Hirsch also situates the podcast within the modern press run without downplaying its significance. She maps the flow—daytime, podcasts, late night—and where her show lives in the mix. “It’s like they’ll come here, then they’ll go do Drew Barrymore,” she explains. “Or they will come from Kelly Clarkson and at night go to Watch What Happens Live. And this is their pit stop. It makes me feel so proud and so honored to be part of that press journey.” That perspective matters because it shows a creator who understands both the art and the business. 

So if delulu is the spark, the to-do list is the oxygen. Hirsch’s own list started messy—agents, auditions, a draft that might never see daylight, headshots mailed where they weren’t wanted—and that’s the point. 

By the end of the AMA, “delulu” doesn’t read as wishful thinking. In a world that oscillates between “follow your passion” and “be realistic about your prospects,” Hirsch has found a third way: strategic optimism backed by relentless action. Keep your feet on the ground and your eyes on the thing you can’t stop thinking about. That’s delulu with a plan.

Remember: words carry weight. Read, “‘Delulu’ May Be Doing More Harm Than Good.”

Read Next

• The Mid-Year Slump Is Real. Here’s How to Exit Your Flop Era
• Women Have Been Told to Play Small. Here’s How to Break the Habit
• Keep Your Culture on the Plate: ‘All on the Table’ Tackles Healthy Eating Without the Food Guilt