In Get Yours! The Girlfriends’ Guide to Having Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More, Amy DuBois Barnett provides just that. She creates the quintessential handbook that steers young women through life’s critical transitions. With personal anecdotes and interviews with some of our favorite celebrities, including Sanaa Lathan, Kelly Rowland, and India.Arie, Barnett emphasizes discovering the beautiful woman inside of you and allowing her to shine through every aspect of your life.Barnett addresses every major aspect of a young woman’s life from attracting positive friends to zealously pursuing your career. The text opens with a chapter dedicated to simply finding happiness, which remains the underlying theme. The author emphasizes the importance of finding what makes you truly happy. In sharing her own path to happiness, Barnett discloses her gripping experience of losing her mother but also reveals how her loss forced her to find herself.
This girlfriend’s guide answers many of the questions we have struggled with: how to grab your dream job; how to turn your house (or apartment, or even room) into a space that makes you feel good; how to become financially independent; how to find your personal style. She promotes getting healthy the happy way, without the taboo and stress of abusive diets. She also challenges the reader to reach beyond her comfort zone and to use fear as a motivator rather than an inhibitor. Yes, ladies she even offers advice on relationships. She concludes the book with a chapter on spirituality. Endorsing no religion in particular, she encourages the reader to ground herself with an appreciation of not her existence but also the existence of the life that surrounds her.
Barnett presents her life as an open book as she candidly shares her less than glamorous moments—her dreadful high school style, countless bad boyfriends, divorce, her bummy New York apartment and awful first job, situations that we all experience but which she conquered to become the woman she is today. The reader can trust Barnett’s wisdom because her success serves as a living testament of the advice she shares. A Brown University alumna, member of well-known Black sorority, former Editor at Essence magazine, former Editor -in-Chief of Honey magazine, the first African American as head of a major consumer publication as Editor of Teen People, and happy wife and mother, her achievements speak for themselves. Sharing her own rags to riches story, her perseverance serves as an even greater inspiration than the tips she shares.
Barnett’s approach to the text makes this not just an informative but also an effortless read. She includes quizzes to personalize the message and promise pages at the end of each chapter to help each reader take active steps in applying the wisdom shared. Barnett also enlists the support of well respected celebrities—Kelis shares her bold approach to her personal style and India.Arie conveys her take on spirituality, just to name a few. This book is well worth your while to read, and you will become a better person because of it. Living as an example that we can all admire, Barnett shares information to help us get there ourselves. Grab a pencil because you will want to take notes, take the quizzes and complete the promise pages in each chapter. By the end of it, you’ll trust her as if she really is one of your girlfriends.
The take home message: It’s about you and what you want. Go get it.
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I’m almost done with the book. I can’t wait until we start our book club discussion on facebook!
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I’m going to have to get this book. I know they say life doesn’t have an instruction manual, but this seems close.
It definitely is the closest I’ve read to a life manual. Since I’ve read it, I’ve referred to it on numerous occasions.
Eva – how’s the book? I wish Sassy members could get a discount *wink wink*
And I’d be happy to plug it on Bougie Balling too lol.
But all bargaining aside, I’m so mad I missed the event. Ms. Barnett sounds fabulous and like a real inspiration. I would have loved to have met her and spoken with her… and reached out to her on future occasions. Do you think she’d be interested in doing a (pro-bono) event with a group of us? Let me know what you think, I’d be happy to arrange it and advertise for it, and I can provide a location @ Princeton University.
The book is GREAT! It is one of those great reads that you can pick up and read just the chapter you need for the extra motivation to get you through whatever trying time you may be going through. Looking forward to discussing it!
I couldn’t agree with Miya more! Because each chapter is dedicated to a specific topic, it’s easy to read them independently.
And, the Facebook discussion group is up! Let’s get discussing!
Book Club Discussion:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=9990451115&topic=3526
Being a woman of a certain age__ i.e., a generation removed from the target audience__ I have not read “Get Yours. . . ” but based on the review, I wish I had__ say, about 30 years ago. Kudos to Ms. Barnett for opening her life and sharing her experiences with our younger sisters and dibs to the reviewer who did a wonderful job bringing it all to our attention.
I am thrilled to know that somebody is looking out for What (WE) Women Everywhere Want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am looking VERY forward to getting this book and taking in all of the advice that she has. It sounds life changing.
Thanks for the book recommendation… I’ll add it to my summer reading list.