If I'd Known Then
If I’d Known Then - Introduction PDF Print E-mail

    If this is the first time you’ve held a book from the What I Know Now™ series in your hand, I’d like you to think of it as a gift—from me, from the generous young women whose letters are featured here, and from my mother, Joyce Spragins, who inspired the concept contained in these books. Unlike many books that contain advice, rules, and mandates about how to live your life, this book will not tell you to do anything. That’s because each of the letters here is written by an accomplished young woman to herself at a younger age, with guidance, encouragement, or a warning she wished she’d been given at that time in her life. If I’d Known Then: Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves captures those moments of twenty-twenty hindsight we all experience about our own lives.

    Who knows better than Danica McKellar—the actress who played Winnie on The Wonder Years—what she needed to hear when she spent hours finding fault with herself in the mirror and days wondering why the object of her crush didn’t call?

    Who knows better than Olympic gymnast Amanda Borden what advice would have helped her thrive at the pressure-packed, elite level of competition when she was fifteen?

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OVERVIEW

IF I’D KNOWN THEN
Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters To Their Younger Selves

If I'd Known Then - Cover

    If you could send a letter back in time to your younger self, what would it say? Following in the tradition of the bestselling compendium What I Know Now™ comes a new collection that will speak directly to young women. Editor Ellyn Spragins asked women under forty to write letters to the girls they once were, filled with the advice and wisdom they wish they’d possessed when they were younger.

    You will recognize familiar names as well as meet new voices in these wonderfully candid missives, including: actress Jessica Alba; Olympic soccer gold medalist Julie Foudy; activist Zainab Salbi; actress Danica McKellar; and singer/songwriter Mya. Here are stories of young love and heartbreak; of feeling as if you never fit in – and realizing that some day that feeling will take you further than you’d ever dreamed; of learning to trust your instincts; of daring to chart a new path when everyone else tells you to play it safe; of making peace with the fact that perfection is a pipe dream; and of appreciating the messiness that life hands you.

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If I’d Known Then - Contributors PDF Print E-mail
Jessica Alba, Actress

Magali Amadei, Actress

Natasha Bedingfield, Singer/Songwriter

Sara Blakely, Founder of Spanx

Amanda Borden, Olympic Gymnast

Emily Brydon, Olympic Skier

Rebecca Budig, Actress

Sasha Cohen, Olympic Skater

Misty Copeland, Dancer, American Ballet Theatre

Hope Edelman, Author

Caterina Fake, Founder of Flickr

Julie Foudy, World Cup and Olympic Soccer Player

Bethany Hamilton, Professional Surfer

MY´a Harrison, Singer/Songwriter

Maureen Kelly, Founder of tarte cosmetics

Vida Zaher Khadem, Filmmaker/Painter

Monique King-Viehland, Executive Director, CCRC, New Jersey State Government

Sonya Kitchell, Singer/Songwriter

Mindy Lam, Founder of Mindy Lam Fine Crystal Jewelry

Dylan Lauren, Founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar

Dany Levy, Founder of DailyCandy

Lisa Loeb, Singer/Songwriter/Actress

Megan McCafferty, Author

Danica McKellar, Actress/Math Whiz/Author

Tara McPherson, Artist

Aimee Mullins, Paralympic Athlete/Model/Actress

Mary Osborne, Professional Surfer

Sabina Louise Pierce, Photographer

Atoosa Rubenstein, Founder of Alpha Kitty

Zainab Salbi, Founder of Women for Women International

Ariel Schrag, Comic Book Artist

Plum Sykes, Author

Ashley Warlick, Author

Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Actress

Elisabeth Withers, Singer/Actress