On May 6, 2016, the Washington Post published an essay by Danielle Sepulveres, freelance writer and stand-in for Julianna Margulies on CBS’s long-running drama The Good Wife (whose last episode aired May 8). Danielle’s essay is titled “For 7 Years, I’ve Followed in Alicia Florrick’s Footsteps – Quite Literally.”

Her essay uses her job as a stand-in for the lead actor in the series as a starting point for sharing intimate details about her own past work life. As Danielle reveals, much of what Margulies’s character Alicia Florrick goes through on the show mirrors her own past experience as a female in the corporate world, where male co-workers would not give her voice and ideas respect, but where they would later claim her voice as their own and implement her ideas as if they had authored them.

But rather than just finding only negative parallels with Alicia Florrick’s journey, Danielle also found positive parallels with her own life.  She learned not just from her experience standing in on the series, but also from the character of Alicia Florrick — her more ambitious choices as well as her flaws.

There is no doubt Danielle’s experience standing in on The Good Wife was a profound one.

Click here to read Danielle Sepulveres’s essay:

For 7 years, I’ve followed in Alicia Florrick’s footsteps — quite literally – essay from the Washington Post

What have you learned about life from your stand-in job? Share your insights below!