Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser
Original price was: $29.00.$17.80Current price is: $17.80.
A Brit&Co Most Anticipated Books of 2025
An IPPY Gold Medalist in Essays
A National Indies Excellence Awards Memoir Finalist
Amy Wilson, co-host of the award-winning podcast What Fresh Hell, takes a funny and insightful look at how women are conditioned to be “happy to help”―and what happens when things don’t go that way.
Award-winning podcast host Amy Wilson has always been an ultimate helper. As a big sister, Girl Scout, personal assistant, sitcom sidekick, and, finally, mother of three, Amy believed it was her destiny to be a people pleaser. She learned to put others first and to look like she had everything under control, even when she very much did not.
Along the way, Amy started to wonder why doing it all had been her job. Still, when she tried to hand over some of her to-dos, no one was interested in taking them. And when she asked for help, in return, she got advice: have a sense of humor, quit nagging, and stop trying to be perfect.
Hilariously relatable, Happy to Help explores how you can be the one everyone else depends on and still be struggling―how you can be “happy to help,” even when, for your own sake, you shouldn’t.
From the Publisher
Publisher : Zibby Publishing
Publication date : January 7, 2025
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 1958506796
ISBN-13 : 978-1958506790
Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
Dimensions : 5.35 x 0.87 x 8.27 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #1,852,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #265 in Humor Essays (Books) #343 in Essays (Books) #1,341 in Women’s Biographies
Customer Reviews: 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 60 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Louise Flannery –
Happy to Help by Amy Wilson is a Fantastic read
An extremely emotional and funny account of a type A personality that I fully related to. This book can help you to see why and how women and moms tend to take on too much. I loved the essays that helped the author realize just how it all happened to her. Happy To Help is a fantastic read.
Nick Wilhite –
Great read!
Such a relatable book! Funny and normalizes our experience as women. Highly recommend.
Mike –
A great, insightful read- especially for moms
Honestly, there were times that I laughed out loud, times when I was frustrated along with the author, but most of all I found the book and its collection of essays to be extremely well written and full of great insights. Several of the essays are impactful enough to stand alone. The journey, with the essays woven together, is not straight nor the path expected but that is part of what makes it such a compelling read.
rt –
Good balance between thought-provoking and lighthearted
Really enjoyed this book. A thoughtful exploration of aspects of growing up in a big family, of parenthood, and of the ways that medical events can impact a family. Fully recommend!
Amazon Customer –
Devoured this book
Love Amy and her podcast What Fresh Hell with Margaret. Read Amy’s book in two days. Her stories are heartfelt and witty. Happy to help (and write this review).
Deb C. –
Nailed it!
This is a must-read for any woman who has spent her life as a go-to multi-tasker, master worrier, and sherpa for all-things (visible and invisible) that need to be carried on shoulders. Through the author’s personal essays, it is easy for readers to find parallels in their own lives. I found myself nodding away with the validation that came page after page.
Katya –
Excellent reading for perfectionist people pleasers!
This set of memoir-essays is delightful to read because of Amy Wilson’s authentic, funny and self-aware exploration of what it means to see that the very traits we think help everyone do not always serve them – or ourselves well. As a fellow people-pleasing perfectionist who long believed I could control so many things, I related to this deeply honest, unflinching reflection on the fact the only thing we can change is ourselves.
Caroline S –
Inspiring, Funny, and Poignant
This book had me at the title, and once I finally got to reading it this summer (because who has the time/energy to actually read the books that end up in a stack next to your bed?), I read it in two days. It’s a good balance of the author’s experience and research, so I felt both inspired by her story and more informed. The writing also made me laugh at times, and toward the end, I teared up at Wilson’s poignancy. It totally made me want to look up her podcast (that’s mentioned in her bio).