Rachel Hollis wants you to know she doesn’t care what you think of her.
At least that’s what I learned from her most recent book, “Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals.”
A self-professed serial apologist, I’ll admit I was attracted to this book primarily by the title. I’d never really heard of Rachel Hollis, but I have always thought as a society we all apologize more than we need to.
Described as “the Tony Robbins for women,” Hollis is a woman who is kind of doing it all. Hollis is a motivational speaker, mom, lifestyle blogger, podcast host and No. 1 New York Times best-selling author, an accomplishment she is very proud of and makes sure you know it.
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Since going viral for a post about her stretch marks in 2015, Hollis has achieved what is considered great success on social media and off. I’ve never engaged in any of Hollis’ other media reaches, and upon reading her book it is clear why. She appeals to a defined and significant niche: working moms.
I think this is a great thing; with the deplorable advent of posting everything on social media, parents are under more scrutiny and pressure than ever, it seems. It makes sense that mothers are drawn to a successful businesswoman who is inspiring, nonjudgmental and is ready to tell things like it is.
In this book, Hollis is open about her journey learning to build and manage a “media empire,” raising children and making time for herself.
Readers who aren’t parents, like me, might not be able to relate as much to her narrative, as many of anecdotes are intrinsically related to balancing parenthood and a career.
I didn’t mind too much though. Certain aspects of her guide tend to read as a bit cliche. I mean, who hasn’t been told to drink more water and wake up earlier? Obviously the overarching message “Girl, Stop Apologizing” is more complex than that, but those are two actual, somewhat redundant pieces of advice in this book.
Almost all of the book actually is applicable to anyone setting out to achieve their goals. Being persistent, confident and dedicating yourself to your dreams are all undoubtedly great aspirations.
To be honest, I think there are better self-help books out there, but that doesn’t make this one worthless.
Over the course of reading this book it was nice to have a bit of the day filled with uplifting, if slightly overdone messages.
However it is a little hard for me to take the advice to “not care what other people think” (to paraphrase) entirely seriously from a social media star, whose job essentially depends on what other people think.
The appeal of the book obviously lies in Hollis’ degree of celebrity and relatability as a mom rather than her groundbreaking philosophical wisdom. She has become successful using techniques that are similar to plenty of other people, and that’s OK.
Rebecca Vrbas is the culture editor for the Collegian and a junior in mass communications. The views and opinions expressed in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.com.
