Netflix’s Michelle Buteau on Her Overnight Success … After 2 Decades: ‘I’m Just Getting Started’

Netflix’s Michelle Buteau on Her Overnight Success… After 2 Decades: ‘I’m Just Getting Started’

“I’m incredibly happy things are taking off,” Michelle Buteau says

If you asked Michelle Buteau what she wanted to be when she grew up, her first answer wouldn’t have been a comedian.

As a kid, “I always thought they looked sweaty and sad,” she tells PEOPLE. “Just yelling and complaining. I’m like, ‘That’s not me!’ ”

But nowadays, Buteau, 43, is making a name for herself as a comedic force — minus the whole sadness and complaining part. (There has, however, been some sweat.)

• For more from Michelle Buteau, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now

After working in the business for nearly two decades, she’s fresh off a whirlwind year-and-a-half, which includes: a part in Jennifer Lopez’s new movie Marry Me (due out next year), a handful of hit small-screen roles (including Always Be My Maybe, The Circle and Tales of the City on Netflix and The First Wives Club on BET+), a new book, and her first Netflix comedy special, Welcome to Buteaupia, which premieres Sept. 29.

Netflix Michelle Buteau

RELATED: Michelle Buteau on Her Struggles with Infertility and Adoption, as Well as Racism in Healthcare

“I’m incredibly happy things are taking off,” Buteau says. “I feel like I’ve got a Costco-sized blessing.”

Still, it’s been a long road to get there. After college, Buteau, 43, worked overnights as a news producer in New York City while performing two to three standup shows before her shift.

Finally, after gaining popularity doing comedy college tours, she made enough money to quit her day job.

Netflix Always Be My Maybe

RELATED: Always Be My Maybe's Michelle Buteau Celebrates Curves, Mommyhood in New Book — Read an Excerpt

“There was never a moment where I thought, I’m not going to make it,” she says. “When I’m in it, I’m in it to win it.”

Now, with her career at an all-time high, Buteau is savoring every moment. “I feel like I’m just getting started,” she says. “There’s not enough champagne to celebrate what we got going on.”