Entrepreneur, comedian, television host, actor, writer, podcaster, producer, author, musician. Chris Hardwick has become “the voice for a generation of pop culture enthusiasts.”

According to his mom, Sharon Hills, Chris was born an overachiever. Sharon has become somewhat famous in her own right not just as Chris’ mom, which she wears as a badge of honor on her Twitter account @NerdistMom, but as a well-known animated sports fan. Sharon and I follow each other on Twitter, so I reached out to her, and she was generous and kind enough to spend some time telling me all about how her son’s passions haven’t changed since he was a kid. I wondered if Chris has always had a penchant for hosting and Sharon explained to me that when he was young Chris would “hold a wooden spoon like a microphone and pretend he was Johnny Carson.” When he was a kid, he would usually wake up when “The Tonight Show” was coming on and would venture into his parent’s room announcing, “Heeeere’s Johnny.” As soon as baby Hardwick could talk he embodied that host personality, inspired by Carson as he watched him “almost mesmerized” and, though his mother didn’t realize it at the time, he was “soaking [it] into his veins.”

Young Chris and his mother, shared by Sharon Hills

It’s no secret that Chris has taken on an impressive number of projects throughout his diverse career. I joked with Sharon about whether her son ever sleeps and she assured me that Chris has always been an overachiever. She admitted that she tried to “reign that in because [she] didn’t want him to put such high expectations on himself.” Straight A’s, scoring the highest “on his yearly achievement tests” and generally being the best at everything he did motivate the young Hardwick. He was such a hard worker even back then that his mom had a pretty unique stipulation for her son:

“I had a rule that he could not do homework right after school, until he did something fun, or relaxed for a bit, but he would usually finish it before he got home. Like what you see now, he had his fingers in many pies.”

Some of those pies, besides academics, included chess where his talent allowed him to “climb higher in the rankings,” and writing his own original comics based around a character he created in the 6^th grade called Super Oink. Chris received “almost more orders than he could fill” for those comics as well as T-shirts he painted his character on. Sharon tells me that Chris never did it for the money, “but for the love of the art.”

“Raising him was more fun than anyone should be allowed to have,” Sharon said, “and I loved every minute of it. He made me laugh every day. He would just say the funniest and most brilliant things…in my mind at least, but I had no idea that others thought so, too!”

Sharon’s love and pride for Chris is palpable through the words on the screen as she shares these stories with me.

Even at two years old, baby Chris was performing for the Hardwick’s friends, singing songs like Jim Croce’s, “Bad Bad Leroy Brown.” At the age of four, Chris caught the attention of Tony Orlando at one of his Las Vegas shows. “Next thing we knew, [Chris] was on that stage singing ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon!’” Sharon explains that soon after that Chris found his true love in comedy after discovering Steve Martin. “From that moment on, he knew he would be a comedian one day, and he never thought otherwise. I guess that proves the power of visualization!”

Chris is certainly a perfect example of what hard work and doing what you love can lead to. His ability to submerge himself in what he is passionate about and share that with the world (especially with those who relate to those enthusiasms) is what I admire most about Chris. His interests cover many different subjects, from everything pop culture to math, art, and philosophy, which he studied when he attended the University of California. His life-long interests in “science, technology, and all things geek” will be shared with fans and audiences when his new series, “The Awesome Show,” airs on NBC. The show will focus on scientific and technological advances, and Hardwick hopes that it will promote “humanity’s triumphs” while instilling “hope for our future” and inspiring “the next generation of young thinkers."

Hardwick’s intelligence, quick wit and his interactions with others immediately caught my attention when I first became a fan years ago. It is fascinating watching him engage with others no matter the setting. Chris appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” last Thursday, where his natural ability to captivate and take a sincere interest in others was on full display as he met one of his idols. Chris told Ellen it was an honor to appear on her show since she was one of the reasons why he was initially inspired to get into stand-up comedy. He brought up seeing her first appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and how Johnny had waved her over to the couch. Chris, showcasing that ever-present interest and curiosity, asked Ellen if she felt like her life “was gonna change at that moment.” Ellen responded that it had been her intent to be the first female on Carson that was waved over to the couch. I watched that moment more than once, always amazed by his natural ability to converse with people and in turn, seeing how others feel like they can comfortably open up and share pieces of their life with him. This attitude carried on with how he engaged the audience and was personable with everyone from Ellen to the two lovely ladies who were brought onto the stage to earn a chance to win some money playing “The Wall,” the new hit game show Chris hosts on NBC. Hardwick is a co-executive producer of the show, alongside LeBron James, that works to change people’s lives.

Out of all of his projects and shows, my favorites, as a self-proclaimed fan of his, are those in which he gets to have a conversation with another person. Chris is excellent at deferring to others so that his guests can openly speak their minds while also being aware when to take back control or properly steer a conversation. He knows when to be sincere and let his ability to listen take over, and has wonderful comedic timing. Kent Alterman, president of original programming at Comedy Central, states simply that Chris is “very adept at making his guests funnier." Joel Stillerman, president of original programming and development for AMC and SundanceTV, stated that Chris is “the ultimate fan guide, advocate and conversationalist” expanding that others have tried to emulate Hardwick’s talk show model, but it can never be duplicated “because Chris is the key."

Chris is the founder and CEO of the multimedia company, Nerdist Industries, a “media empire under the Legendary Digital Network.” His very successful “Nerdist Podcast” that he hosts “garners over 6.9M downloads per month” on the site and is a personal favorite. Hardwick’s new talk show on AMC, “Talking with Chris Hardwick,” combines elements of his podcast with his other talk shows on AMC (i.e. “Talking Dead”) and comic-con panels to cover all areas of pop culture instead of just a single show. In a brilliant move, the extended, unedited and uncensored versions of the show will be posted on the “Nerdist Podcast,” utilizing the best of both worlds and more time with Chris and his amazing guests. After spending years listening to Chris and watching him on his various platforms, I have created a mental list of my favorite celebrities that I wish could all sit across from Chris and have lengthy, illuminating discussions with. There simply isn’t another host, comedian, or personality like him.

People will likely always question how Chris is able to be a part of so many projects and work so hard without being overwhelmed. In his own words, Chris explained to The New York Times that after being sober for over 13 years, he “just channeled all that energy that went into drinking into time-management skills." That drive to dream big, work hard and dive into his biggest passions has been a part of him since he was a kid, according to his mother. Thomas Tull, the chief executive of Legendary Entertainment, remarks that “Chris has been able to build a brand because he is genuine and authentic. In a world with plenty of white noise, he cuts through because he loves what he does, and the fans sense that.”

One of my favorite qualities about Chris is that he does not celebrate negativity or viciousness. For his podcast, he “always wants people to leave feeling a little bit better than when they got there.” He doesn’t care if people bash him on social media for being positive or a “cheerleader,” saying that: “I feel there’s enough negativity, there’s enough cynicism, there’s enough walled garden and exclusionary behavior.” In describing his empire, Hardwick explains that “the soul of it, if I were really breaking it down psychologically, is simple: I always felt excluded when I was in grade school, and I wanted to create something where no one would ever have to feel that way.”

Not only is he smart, multi-talented and funny, but he also has a great heart. The guy even spent his bachelor party at one of his favorite places on earth, Disneyland, before marrying Lydia Hearst on August 20, 2016^th complete with a sci-fi theme. How can you not love him?

“Talking with Chris Hardwick” is currently airing on Sunday nights on AMC. You can also catch Chris on "@midnight" Monday-Thursday night on Comedy Central. On May 25th, Chris will be hosting NBC's "The Red Nose Day Special," to raise money and awareness for children living in poverty. "Talking Dead" will return on AMC after the season premiere of "Fear the Walking Dead" on June 4th, with new episodes of “The Wall” airing on June 22nd on NBC. His "Nerdist Podcast" is regularly updated, and Chris still does stand-up comedy and tours whenever he gets the chance. His new series, "The Awesome Show's" premiere date on NBC is TBA.

In March, Chris announced the launch of the first ever ID10T Music Festival & Comic Conival, a two day event celebrating many facets of pop culture such as music, comedy, gaming, technology and more. Taking place Saturday, June 24th and Sunday June 25 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA, this festival will bring together enthusiasts from various interests and will feature panels, podcasts, exhibitor booths, comic book artists, musicians, actors, comedians and even a “special live taping of Hardwick’s own Nerdist Podcast.” For tickets and more information, click here: ID10T Fest.

To get an idea of what it’s like to be Chris Hardwick, The New York Times followed him around for a week, which you can read about here: "Chris Hardwick, King of the Nerds, Is Expanding His Empire."

For more information on Chris, his impressive career and life in his own words, check out the links below:

Fortune.com

Nerdist.com

Hollywood.com

Billboard.com