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She's So Lucky

How to Beat the Odds: Amy DuBois Barnett on Starting Over, Betting on Yourself, and Winning

She's So Lucky

She's So Lucky

Balancedblackgirl, Self-improvement, #Shessolucky, Balancedles, Business, Entrepreneurship, Lesalfred, Education

4.8 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#347: In this episode, I’m sitting down with Amy DuBois Barnett — media powerhouse, former Editor-in-Chief, and now author of If I Ruled the World — to talk about what it really looks like to bet on yourself throughout the many chapters of your life, and the importance of being willing to start over at any time.

Amy has built a career most people only dream about — from running iconic magazines to leading at the highest levels of media — and then made the boldest move of all: walking away from it to start over as a novelist.

This conversation is a masterclass in betting on yourself. We talk about what it takes to trust yourself at the highest level, especially when it doesn’t make logical sense to anyone else.

She breaks down her philosophy that fear is actually growth, and why the very things that scare you the most are often the clearest indicators of where you’re meant to go.

We also get into something that I think doesn’t get talked about enough: the cost of ambition. What you gain, what you lose, and how to stay connected to yourself while you’re building something big.

We talk about timing. About taking years (sometimes decades) to bring something to life, and why that doesn’t mean you’re behind… it means you’re building something with depth.

This episode is about self-trust, reinvention, and understanding that betting on yourself isn’t a one-time decision — it’s a mindset you come back to over and over again.

This episode is for you if…

  • You’re ready to take a bigger, bolder bet on your life
  • You’re thinking about making a big pivot but it doesn’t “make sense” on paper
  • You’re scared to start over after building something successful
  • You want to trust yourself more but still look for validation from others
  • You’re navigating ambition and questioning what it’s costing you
  • You have a creative idea that won’t leave you alone but haven’t acted on it yet
  • You’re learning how to love all parts of yourself — not just the polished ones


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This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The following podcast is a dear media production.

0:12.0

Here on She's So Lucky, we talk a lot about finding your thing, but what if the real flex is knowing that you can embody so many things over the journey of your career and your

0:22.6

lucky life. If you've been listening, watching, and paying attention to our latest episodes,

0:26.6

you know that we've been talking a lot about you, the business of you, investing in you,

0:31.6

betting on you, what it looks like to build a career, a life, and a sense of self that actually

0:35.6

reflects who you are as you grow.

0:38.7

And one idea that keeps coming up is this concept of a portfolio career.

0:42.8

Not just being one thing, but allowing your work to expand and evolve with you.

0:47.5

And today's guest embodies that in a way that feels both aspirational and deeply real.

0:52.7

Amy DeBois Barnett has built a career across journalism, editorial leadership, media, and now

0:58.2

authorship, and not in a straight line, but in chapters.

1:01.8

Chapters where she chose to begin again, to shift, to take risks, and to trust that each

1:06.3

version of herself was leading her somewhere intentional.

1:09.5

We also talk about her new novel, If I Ruled the

1:11.7

World, which she'd been working on for nearly two decades, which in a culture that rewards

1:17.3

speed and constant output, feels like a radical choice in itself. This episode is really about

1:23.0

what it means to take your time, to create work that you're proud of, and to trust that your

1:27.1

path doesn't have to make sense to anyone else as long as it makes sense to you. So if you ever felt

1:32.1

like you're changing too much, starting over too often, or moving too slow, this conversation

1:37.7

is going to meet you exactly where you are. Amy, welcome to the show.

1:52.3

Thank you so much for having me.

1:53.6

I'm so excited to have you.

...

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