Have you ever looked at someone who seems to have it all — the job, the glam, the life — and wondered, what the heck did I miss? That's the premise of the much-anticipated new novel "The Memo" by Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling, about a woman flailing in life and love, stuck in a rut while all her friends seem to flourish — and realizing it's because they got "The Memo," and she didn't. At her college reunion, she is given the chance to go back in time and change her life. The novel invites us to ask ourselves... would we? And other, thornier questions: what does it means to be happy and successful? Are those the same things? If we had the chance to go back and course-correct our lives, what would we be giving up? In this episode of "Your New Life Blend," Rachel and Lauren talk with host Shoshanna Hecht about how we define success (and how it is defined for us), how even successful women can feel like they missed the memo (yes, even incredibly accomplished writers like Rachel and Lauren who together have written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, the GuardianUS, Elle, the New Yorker, Buzzfeed and more), and what it means to choose — and love — the life you are living.

SHOW NOTES

Website:

Rachel Dodes
https://www.racheldodes.com
Lauren Mechling
https://www.laurenmechling.com

Books:

The Memo: A Novel, by Rachel Dodes & Lauren Mechling

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-memo-rachel-dodeslauren-mechling

How Could She, by Lauren Mechling

https://www.laurenmechling.com/how-could-she

Other Writing:

Rachel Dodes

https://www.racheldodes.com/writing

Lauren Mechling

https://www.laurenmechling.com/journalism-1

Podcast:

"Nope" with Rachel Dodes & Brian Hecht

https://www.racheldodes.com/podcasts


Social Media:

https://twitter.com/racheld

https://www.threads.net/@racheldodes

https://www.instagram.com/racheldodes

https://twitter.com/laurenmechling

https://www.instagram.com/laurenomics

https://www.instagram.com/thecloglife

Jenn Romolini is a success story, with the glowing "get her life!" press coverage to prove it. As a journalist, editor, author, podcast creator and creative executive, Jenn has had the kind of successful career across media, tech and entertainment that is a testament to ambition, vision and hard work. But in her new memoir “Ambition Monster,” Jenn shares the story of just how hard the work was, and just how deep the ambition went as she looks backward on a life that was not always the stuff of glossy press coverage. In this episode of "Your New Life Blend," host Shoshanna Hecht talks to Jenn about the deeply personal story she tells about family, class, workaholism, and identity; how her ambition was both her survival mode and what gave her hope; and what it means to allow ourselves to tell our full stories - and be fully seen.

SHOW NOTES

Website:
https://www.jenniferromolini.com

Books:
Ambition Monster: A Memoir
Weird In a World That’s Not: A Career Guide for Misfits

Podcasts:
Everything Is Fine (Jennifer Romolini & Kim France)
Stiffed (Crooked Media)

Newsletter:
Extended Scenes (Substack)

Social Media:
https://www.instagram.com/jennromolini
https://twitter.com/jennromolini
https://twitter.com/theeifpodcast

Christie Marchese is the founder and CEO of Kinema, a next-gen platform for filmmakers to share their work (and get paid for it!), to find new audiences and experiencing the magic of going to the movies as intended - in community. That's magic that Christie knows well, as a serial entrepreneur who has built a career around surfacing important work and bringing new audiences together to drive social change and tell stories that matter. (She was previously the founder & CEO of the impact agency Picture Motion, and worked in strategic roles at Righteous Pictures, Participant Media, Norman Lear's nonprofit Declare Yourself.) Community is also a North star of Christie's life, guiding her investment strategy, vision of family planning, and in the short term, how many people she and her husband can cram joyfully into their amazing lower Manhattan apartment for book parties, screenings, fundraisers and more. In this episode of "Your New Life Blend" host Shoshanna Hecht talks to Christie about the intentionality of building community in her life as she (happily) approaches 40 and the joy of working and building alongside your chosen family.

SHOW NOTES

Website
https://kinema.com

"Meet Christie Marchese, whose company Kinema wants to revolutionize film distribution," Fortune
https://fortune.com/2023/08/10/christie-marchese-founders-forum-2023

"Christie Marchese, CEO of Kinema, on Creating A Mission-based Company," WieSuite
https://www.thewiesuite.com/post/christie-marchese-ceo-of-kinema-on-creating-a-missionbased-company

Social Media:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiem
https://www.linkedin.com/company/kinemahq

https://www.instagram.com/christiemarchese
https://www.instagram.com/kinemahq

https://twitter.com/ChristieM
https://twitter.com/kinemaHQ

https://www.facebook.com/KinemaHQ