Meet Emily O’Brien

 

We recently connected with Emily O’Brien and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily , great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.

I didn’t truly get comfortable with risk until my 30s. Once I crossed that threshold and realized that life moves on whether a risk works out or not, it was genuinely life-changing. The confidence I gained from taking one risk then helped catapult another jump and so on.

From moving abroad to moving cross-country, traveling solo, leaving a staff job to go out on my own, and publishing a book, I’ve learned that taking risks is about embracing uncertainty while staying anchored in a sense of purpose.
Each risk has brought its own challenges, but each one has been an opportunity to grow, adapt, and trust in my own abilities.

Two things have really stood out to me:
– If you don’t try, the answer will always be no.
– No one really cares that much about what you do. I don’t mean that to sound like a downer—quite the opposite! It’s freeing to know that people aren’t sitting around judging you for what you have or haven’t done. Everyone’s too focused on their own lives, and honestly, that can be incredibly liberating.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a Raleigh-based writer and magazine editor, currently serving as the managing editor of SUCCESS, a business magazine focused on personal and professional development. I also write for various magazines and businesses, mainly covering lifestyle, architecture, travel, and wellness.

In October, I released my debut book, Things I Heard While Dating. It dives into the quirky, cringe-worthy, and often hilarious world of real-life dating encounters. This collection features over 100 memorable lines from dates, marriages, and questionable pickup attempts, each paired with funny backstories and dating insights. It’s a lighthearted take on modern relationships, offering both an entertaining escape and a reminder that we’re not alone in navigating today’s dating landscape. It’s unconventional, it’s fun, and in its 6×6-inch paperback format, it’s been known to make the rounds at wine nights. But beyond the humor, this book is really about empowerment and knowing your self-worth.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Protect your dreams while they’re first developing. If you have a great idea, don’t feel pressured to share it right away. It’s okay to keep it to yourself. Sometimes, even well-meaning people ask questions that can trigger fear or self-doubt, and I believe a certain level of confidence needs to be built before you start sharing your ideas widely. It’s also about protecting your energy—you want that focused on developing the idea itself, not spent trying to convince others it’s worth pursuing.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Mark Manson emphasizes this a lot, and for good reason. Growth comes through discomfort, and embracing fear, uncertainty, and even the possibility of failure is essential for progress. By taking small steps toward your goals, you train yourself to navigate discomfort. Over time, you’ll increase your tolerance and become more resilient in the face of new challenges.

Reframe your definition of success and failure. Ask yourself what success really looks like for each project. When I first decided to create a compilation book, I wasn’t sure what success would mean. For me, success meant making progress and putting myself out there. I wanted to stay true to the essence of the book: connecting with others and providing readers with a lighthearted escape. Success, for me, has come through the journey itself—setting a goal, engaging with the creative process, and seeing it through to the end. Everything else has been icing on the cake.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I stop and check in with myself. I try to determine what’s triggering this feeling. This might sound like something your mom used to say, but it’s true: The best advice I’ve ever received is to learn how to listen to your gut.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, carve out 5–10 minutes today, tonight, or first thing tomorrow to sit quietly. I know it can feel impossible with everything you need to do, but trust me—just try it. Sit, breathe, and ask yourself what might be at the root of your overwhelm. The answer may come right away, or it might click later when you’re doing something else, but it will come. And often, once you identify the root, solutions follow quickly.

For instance, if I feel overwhelmed with work, I’ll reassess my to-do list priorities to identify what tasks are most urgent and important. Sure, I may have 30+ tasks I’d like to get done each day, but realistically, only 3–5 of those are ‘musts’ for today or tomorrow. The rest are ‘wants.’ Then, I consider if I can delegate some of these tasks or batch similar ones, like social media scheduling or spending an entire day dedicated to writing first drafts of assignments, instead of jumping between a dozen different things at once.

Time blocking on your calendar can also be a great way to set realistic expectations. My husband laughs at how maximized my calendar is, and I’m not going to lie, it is pretty intense-looking at first glance, but it helps me see where my time is actually going. Each time something new comes in and I block out a set time to work on it, my anxiety diminishes because I know I’ll have the time and energy to tackle it.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All credits belong to Nicola O’Brien.

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