took acting classes, but dropped out during her freshman year. However, she is still listed as an alumna in Tisch's advertising.

Her first acting roles were bit parts in national advertising campaign ads, notably one for the Ford Edge. She also appeared in television programs such as 30 Rock and films such as Greetings from the Shore. Milioti is also known for her stage performances. She was the 2010 star of That Face[7] and received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for her work in Stunning. Milioti received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in Once in 2012, a play which she had been performing in since 2011. On March 24, 2013 she performed her final performance in Once.Her performance in Once earned the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. She also read aloud a short story for a 2011 episode of This American Life entitled "Adventure". She was cast in the hit CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother as the titular Mother (credited as "The Girl with the Yellow Umbrella"), appearing for the first time in the last episode of the eighth season, titled "Something New" and was promoted to a series regular for the series' ninth and final season in 2013. On December 25, 2013 Milioti portrayed Jordan Belfort's which was played by Leonardo DiCaprio’s first wife, Teresa Petrillo, in the Martin Scorsese directed film The Wolf of Wall Street. The film was released in the U.S..

Talking about her personal life there