Cari Fund spent decades being the good girl: the peacekeeper, the people pleaser, the one who was always "fine." Then a friend asked why she wasn't writing the book she was born to write. We recorded on her launch day to talk about Autopsy of a Good Girl, keeping your circle small while you write, and why lived experience is all the credential you need.

We also got into:

• Why you keep your circle small while you're writing about your own life
• Building a platform while you write the book
• Defining success without a sales-chart measuring stick

As Cari put it: "just because you don't have a degree in it doesn't mean that your life experience doesn't count for something." It does.

Take a moment to step back in time with me. We're hopping in our time machine back to the epic year of 1990. While I'm the youngest of three, by '90, I was the only kid left in the house. It's the year my mom brought out the poster board, markers and stickers to begin the era of the chore chart.

It didn't come without wincing and whining, but at this point in my life, it was made very clear that the new black and olive green Airwalk sneakers I was dying for were only going to be acquired from the act of "doing" and earning.

Now, my chore chart was mostly centered around room tidying and bathroom cleaning (the part I hated the most), and the only way to even BEGIN to summon the energy to execute these tasks was music. I dropped in the Wilson Phillips CD, and waited for the beat to take me over so I could get the chores done.

Now, as a parent, I have tried all sorts of things. Lots of charts, the Skylight calendar, rewards systems, you name it. But something has always felt a bit off. Why should I be rewarding for the basic act of helping?

Then I came across Same Kelly and her ​SamKelly_World​ instagram page and my mind was blown. She was teaching an audio course called Notice and Do–a program where you teach your children about the mental load at home. As in–Mom is not responsible for all the things–it's time to be on the family team.

HELL YEAH.

I messaged her relentlessly over months on IG asking her to work with me to develop a book proposal, and finally, she caved. HA!

That book, ​Notice and Do: Raise Capable Kids, End Motherhood Burnout, and Lighten Your Mental Load​, comes out October 20th, 2026.

This week on Bound & Determined, I welcome Sam to the show to share her methodology and dive into her book process. You don't want to miss it!

Also, Sam has some really incredible free gifts if you preorder before the 20th, so don't miss out!

Since so many people refer to their books as a baby, I'm going to lean into the metaphor for today's message.

It is certainly 9+ months to write and edit a great book, just like it is to create life. But when we give birth to our children, we don't walk out of the hospital empty handed and declare "Whelp, that was tough–hope that baby will be okay" and then continue on with our life.

No! We have to raise the baby!

The same goes for books. The job is JUST beginning when you finish writing it–now it's time to market that thing! This is part of why I always remind people that to be an author these days is to be an entrepreneur. There's no hiding behind the keyboard and just hoping people will find it. You have to do the work.

Unfortunately, a lot of authors feel deeply uncomfortable promoting their books and, even worse, they don't know where to begin.

Enter: This week's podcast guest! Joining me this week on Bound & Determined is Aryn Van Dyke of Book Rockstar. Aryn is a book marketing consultant and author coach who has worked on hundreds of book launches, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, spanning across multiple nonfiction genres. After getting her start at HarperCollins, Aryn founded Book Rockstar in 2019 to make book marketing strategy more accessible to all authors.

If even thinking about marketing your book gives you hives–listen to this episode.

If marketing doesn't scare you–tune in to hear what's working in the current climate.