Bio and Press Kit

There’s nothing more inspiring to me than watching someone discover she’s braver than she thought — and nothing that moves me more than helping someone realize she is not alone in her struggle.

I wrote Odd Girl Out to heal myself after being targeted as a child, but in the process came to terms with my own behavior as a bully—a story I have told all over the world to girls and boys alike. After co-founding the national nonprofit Girls Leadership, I spent nearly a decade teaching leadership skills to girls and interviewing them about the pressure to be perfect. I wrote The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Girls with Courage and Confidence, also a national bestseller. As I grew up, so did my students, and I now work with universities and corporations on leadership development. Today I am a parent to a girl myself, and I am passionate about coaching parents to model self-compassion and courage to their girls; that’s the message of my latest book, Enough As She Is.

Rachel’s Bio

Rachel Simmons is the author of Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy and Fulfilling Lives, and the New York Times bestsellers Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl. As an educator, Rachel teaches girls and women skills to build their resilience, amplify their voices, and own their courage so that they—and their relationships—live with integrity and health.

The cofounder of national nonprofit Girls Leadership, she is an experienced curriculum writer and educator. She is currently the leadership development specialist at the Wurtele Center for Leadership at Smith College, and is Girls Research Scholar in Residence at The Hewitt School in New York. Rachel has served as a national spokesperson for the Always #LikeAGirl and Keds Brave Life Project campaigns, and consults nationally on women’s professional development.

Rachel was the host of the PBS television special, “A Girl’s Life,” and her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Atlantic, Slate, and The New York Times. Rachel is a regular contributor to Good Morning America and appears often in the national media. Odd Girl Out was adapted into a highly acclaimed Lifetime television movie. Rachel lives in Western Massachusetts with her daughter.

Even More About Rachel

Rachel and her daughter live with Charlie, a rescue dog who is part greyhound and part yellow lab, and Rachel and Charlie are avid trail runners. As a lifelong learner, Rachel loves trying new things, partly because it helps keep her “failure muscle” strong. Since turning 30, she has learned how to ski, sail, and play tennis. Since turning 40, she has learned how to cook and garden. She hopes to get her pilot’s license by the time she’s 50. One of her favorite things to do is make people laugh. Rachel loves karaoke, dance parties, and chocolate chip cookies. She quotes regularly from Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kelly Clarkson and Lorde during her assemblies, wishes she could text entirely in gifs, and considers herself a New Yorker at heart, even if her zip code doesn’t match.