224 | Kayleen Schaefer on Female Friendship, a Career as a Writer, Creativity and more LET IT OUT

Rarely have I rationed a book—savoring every last chapter and not wanting it end. Usually I sprint to finish a book for the sense of completion but with today's guest Kayleen Schaefer's book Text Me When You Get Home I clung to every last line, not wanting it to end much like a good conversation with a best friend. After hearing Kayleen on NPR and another podcast, I was sold on the topic of her book and eager to read it. As I gushed to her in this episode, her book far exceeded all my expectations. The hybrid memoir explores female friendship through the lens of Kayleen's personal experience with everything from mean girls in middle school to going from a 'boy's girl' to meeting her best friend Ruthie and discovering the importance of female friendship in her life. The book explores how female friendship is portrayed in pop culture, how it's evolved throughout history, and the how little value our societal systems value it. I loved every ounce, from Kayleen's vulnerability telling her experience, to her thorough historical research, to her pop culture analysis. While I started this conversation by gushing over the book and flushing out many of my favorite concepts with the author, we eventually cover her robust career working in magazines, her move to NYC from Texas, her thoughts on creativity, her process of writing the book, her thoughts on friendship, and where she sees the future of female friendship evolving. Kayleen was as delightful to speak with, as she was to read.