Happy to Help

Adventures of a People Pleaser

By: Amy Wilson

Narrated by: Amy Wilson

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.

©2025 Amy Wilson (P)2025 Zibby Publishing

Critic reviews

“For all the women who do too much, who raise their hand to volunteer when they really would rather not, who feel the need to make sure everyone is happy, and everything is running smoothly, Wilson gets it. Packed with appeal for women of all generations and life stages . . . the book is part memoir, part survival guide for recovering people pleasers.” —Booklist

“In this honest, insightful, and often hilarious account, Amy Wilson explores her experience and frustrations as a people-pleaser—her story will resonate with anyone who has said, “Happy to help!” one too many times. I couldn’t put it down.” —Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

“Wilson's refreshing and hilarious essays illustrate the ridiculous nature of the advice meant to fix women and the unfair emotional labor expectations we place on women. Happy to Help offers a new narrative that inspires women to hold true boundaries and value their time as diamonds. A must-read!” —Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play