In this episode of Art of Authenticity, I had a thoughtful conversation with Karen Rinaldi, writer, editor, and publisher.

Today we welcome publisher, writer, editor and author, Karen Rinaldi. Karen is the publisher of Harper Wave, an imprint she founded in 2012, and a senior vice president at Harper Collins Publishers.  While Karen has worked in the publishing industry for over two decades, this is her first time in the role of novelist. Her book, 

The End of Men,

is something she worked on for over four years and inspired the story for the 2016 commercial film,

Maggie’

s Plan

. Karen is one of those women who might appear to “have it all“ but is not afraid to tell you when she sucks at something. In fact, she encourages sucking at something. So much so, that The New York Times even published her article on why sucking at something is so great. Today we talk about Karen’s journey – learning to surf at 40, what it means to “have it all,“ the role of men, authenticity, agency, and the liberation of what we have come to know today, as failure. Take a listen!

Thanks for Listening

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Show Notes

  • Why Karen started surfing at 40. [2:43]

  • Why you should always love sucking at something. [8:18]

  • Humbling versus humiliating; why the difference is so crucial to understand. [13:55]

  • Accepting imperfection and creating more opportunities to be vulnerable. [19:37]

  • End of Men: Delving into Karen’s book title and why she chose it. [21:54]

  • My choices, not yours; understanding agency and having it all. [26:07]

  • Why women have to step off the tightrope and take the extra leeway even when there is no applaus. [34:00]

  • Why Karen’s book came out after the movie. [36:44]

  • Learning to Keep your expectations grounded: Is there a time to give up? [42:36]

  • Surrender control, control surrender; are you controlling your surrender or are you surrendering control? [46:27]

  • And much more!

More About Karen

Episode Resources