I stumbled upon Rachel from Gretchen’s Blog, and proceeded to purchase her book, MWF Seeking BFF. I really enjoyed it and found it to be a great read. I became more aware of how I socialized with Potential Friends, and sometimes even changed my behaviour to tip the Friending Scale in my favour.
I have my copy of her book and I’m willing to pass along and ship to anyone that’s interested. Shoot me an email and I’ll whisk it right over :o)
GirlHabits: What can’t you live without?
Rachel Bertsche: My friends!
GH: How do you squash self-doubt?
RB:I’m definitely still working on this one. It’s a learning process, but I try to just power through it. I don’t know that I squash it, I just don’t let it stop me and still always try for what I want. I guess I figure, “you never know until you try.”
GH: What was the hardest thing about your friendship project?
RB: It got exhausting at times–my schedule was jam-packed with first friend-dates and follow-up dates with the new friends I’d already met. Also, getting up the nerve to just ask a random potential friend out. But I got better at that as time went on. It’s like a muscle you need to build. The more you do it, the stronger you are.
GH: Tell me a little bit about your book writing process; how did you stay on track?
RB: I set mini-deadlines. If I didn’t, I’d have been trying to write a whole book overnight the night before it was due. So I set goal dates for each of the four sections. I’m a journalist by trade, so I thrive on deadlines.
GH: What’s your favourite place in the world?
RB: My childhood summer camp in Maine.
GH: How did your friendship project change you?
RB: In so many ways! But mostly, I’m much more friendly now and much better at going out there and meeting new people. I used to be the person on the airplane who put her headphones on as soon as she sat down. Now I look around, make eye contact, and see who I might be able to meet.
GH: If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
RB: To beam! I love going to new places but don’t love the travel time (I’m not the most patient person in the world). I wish I could just close my eyes and get to my next location — like apparating in Harry Potter.
GH: What’s the weirdest thing that has made you cry?
RB: Oh gosh, what hasn’t made me cry? You name the TV show, movie, commercial — I’ve shed a tear.
GH: Your most important goal for 2012 is:
RB: Write a second book!
GH: How do you show yourself self-love?
RB: By not scheduling anything. To me, there is nothing more luxurious these days than a day where I have nothing on the calendar and can just do whatever I feel like. It’s rare but fabulous.
GH: What’s your next big challenge?
RB: See question 9! I’m working on my second book right now (can’t reveal the topic just yet) and I’m very excited about it but it definitely means hunkering down and getting back to some serious work.
Rachel Bertsche is an author, journalist and editor in Chicago, where she lives with her husband. Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, More, Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Fitness, Women’s Health, New York, Huffington Post, CNN.com, and more. Her interview with Katey Sagal, aka Peg Bundy, reached #1 on CNN.com’s list of most-viewed stories of the day (her Q&A with Vince Vaughn also reached the top 10). Rachel’s work has been included in three of the O, The Oprah Magazineannual anthologies. Rachel loves diving into new subjects and has written about everything from porn films to shark skin. She has interviewed a wide range of politicians and celebrities, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and plenty of Oscar winners, including Al Gore, Yoko Ono, Hilary Swank, Tilda Swinton, Kelsey Grammer, Queen Latifah, James Cameron, Stephenie Meyer, Taylor Swift, Tracey Morgan, Ty Burrell and Joel McHale. Rachel graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she was the student newspaper’s resident sex columnist.
Prior to leaving the office life for the comforts of working from home (and in her pajamas), Rachel was a producer for Oprah.com and an editor at O, The Oprah Magazine. She teaches a MediaBistro course in Writing and Editing for the Web.
MWF Seeking BFF(Ballantine Books) is Rachel’s first book. Order a copy!
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