Happier in Hollywood

In honor of the incredible life and legacy of Dolly Parton, Liz and Sarah are doing an all-Dolly episode! In From The Treadmill Desks Of, they reveal how they wish they’d had Dolly’s backbone when they caved on a business decision that is having ramifications today. In Take A Hike, they discuss how Dolly lived her values. Then they introduce a new segment, Cup Of Ambition, in which they’ll talk about how to maintain healthy ambition — just like Dolly did. This week’s Hollywood Hack is a summer grown up glitter make up trend that Dolly would approve of — L’Oreal Le Shadow Stick. Finally, they recommend the classic 1980 Dolly Parton movie 9 to 5 and a tribute to Dolly as a writer from Tressie McMillan Cottom.

LINKS:

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library:

https://imaginationlibrary.com/

Happier In Hollywood Episode 242:

https://happierinhollywood.com/ep-242-what-would-dolly-do-2022/

The Values Bridge:

https://www.becomingyou.com/values-bridge

1977 Dolly Parton interview with Barbara Walters: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-poIrpApkw

L’Oreal Le Shadow Stick: 

https://amzn.to/3UnA06z

9 to 5 trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qni6HOyPNBA

“Loving Dolly Was Easy, Understanding Her Was Hard,” by Tressie McMillan Cottom: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/opinion/dolly-parton-appalachia-legacy.html

Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com and Sarah’s Chickening Out Substack at https://happierinhollywood.substack.com. They’ll come right to your inbox!

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Happier with Gretchen Rubin, andSide Hustle School . If you liked this episode, ’S please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

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Liz and Sarah discuss that one of the biggest advantages of having a writing partner is being able to take turns bringing each other up when one is down. Right now, Sarah is feeling the chaos of their career, but Liz is calm and optimistic.  Next month? It will likely be the opposite! In Take A Hike, they talk about how their recent visit to KCON made them appreciate the joy of rehashing. Then, in The Craft (& Fain), Liz and Sarah explore how getting granular with their characters’ wardrobe is bringing clarity to their latest pilot. This week’s Hollywood Hack is giving Sarah joy in the kitchen: the Cuisinart Custom Convection Bread Maker. Finally, Liz recommends the current season of Married At First Sight on Peacock.

Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCra

Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

Sign up for Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter Chickening Out at https://happierinhollywood.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

LINKS:

KCON USA: 

https://kconusa.com/

Cuisinart Custom Convection Bread Maker:

https://www.cuisinart.com/custom-convection-bread-maker/CBK-210NAS.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=%7Bcampaignname%7D&utm_term=&nbt=nb%3Aadwords%3Ax%3A21470027214%3A%3A&nb_adtype=pla&nb_kwd=&nb_ti=&nb_mi=8527973&nb_pc=online&nb_pi=CBK-210NAS&nb_ppi=&nb_placement=&nb_li_ms=&nb_lp_ms=&nb_fii=&nb_ap=&nb_mt=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21480652252&gbraid=0AAAAADFjouLkCDUQb6gHEBcKQXUClZOVC&gclid=CjwKCAjw7p_UBhBlEiwAhpIs7-bFC97gBSwmlijUmvWbDLJ94YpMcod6nLuELFkSyjqPyZUmikkKbhoCJA4QAvD_BwE

Married At First Sight Season 20 trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxO1zuoQtyA

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Liz and Sarah have added a useful new step to their pitch writing process — the talk-through step. If they’re working with someone they trust, they’ve discovered it’s super helpful to talk through what they’re thinking for a pitch before actually writing it. In Take A Hike, they reveal their new back-to-school plan to carve out every Monday morning for exercise. In The Mailroom, they answer a question from a listener who wants to know whether Liz and Sarah invested in various products they were curious about. This week’s Hollywood Hack makes sitting outside more pleasant: the Mosiller Electric Fly Swatter. Finally, Sarah recommends The Parian Heist by Jo Piazza.

Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com and Sarah’s Chickening Out Substack at https://happierinhollywood.substack.com. They’ll come right to your inbox!

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Happier with Gretchen Rubin, andSide Hustle School . If you liked this episode, ’S please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

LINKS:

Miss Mary of Sweden Bra: 

https://amzn.to/4x32hh2

Mosiller Electric Fly Swatter:

https://amzn.to/4zbSqqR

The Parisian Heist by Jo Piazza:

https://amzn.to/3UoxvRk

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz and Sarah discuss how their recent disappointment over a project that went up in smoke has once again taught them not to invest too heavily emotionally (or practically) in something until business affairs is involved. Then, in a new segment, Making It Happen, Liz and Sarah talk to veteran casting director Candice Bernstein about how she set about conquering the world of verticals casting. This week’s Hollywood Hack is great for anyone whose seatbelt drives them nuts: Leather Fixing Clips.

Finally, Liz recommends the memoir Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane by Lindy West.

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

Sign up for Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter Chickening Out at https://happierinhollywood.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCra

Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

LINKS:

Hoffman Bernstein casting: 

https://www.hoffmanbernsteincasting.com/

Leather Fixing Clips:

https://amzn.to/4q5PKXw

Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane by Lindy West:

https://amzn.to/45ipWhu

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz and Sarah are using a new accountability method to power through the pages of their novel Bad Trip. Every day, they’re writing down their respective word counts in their planners, even if it’s zero, and then reporting the number to each other the following morning. And it’s working! In Take A Hike, they discuss the question — how much of your day do you actually enjoy? Then, in Hits & Bombs, Sarah gives Liz a hit for helping Sarah and Violet during a tough time, and Liz gives Chuck a Hit for going to a very-out-of-his-comfort-zone dance class. This week’s Hollywood Hack comes from a listener— try “location scouting” in your own neighborhood. Finally, Sarah recommends the TV show Ride or Die on Prime Video.

Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com and Sarah’s Chickening Out Substack at https://happierinhollywood.substack.com. They’ll come right to your inbox!

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Happier with Gretchen Rubin, andSide Hustle School . If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

LINKS:

“This Is Your Home on GLP-1’s” by Elyse Moody:

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/this-is-your-home-on-glp1s

Alec Cohen dance classes:

https://www.werk.dance/gaychoreographer

Ride or Die trailer:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg_m61kBW0E&ra=m

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz and Sarah are experimenting with AI to make their work flow more productive. Will their new Chat GPT Work-generated schedule help them keep their project priorities straight? Next they interview Lisa Joyner (married to Jon Cryer aka Ducky from Pretty In Pink)and Morgan Walsh (married to Matt Walsh of Veep and UCB fame) from the fascinating new podcast, Plus One with Lisa and Morgan. How do they deal with having a partner who’s (usually) the one in the spotlight? Is it hard to maintain their own sense of self? This week’s Hollywood Hack is practical and pink — the Anker Zolo power bank. Finally, Liz recommends Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America, the new book from Andrew McCarthy (aka Blane from Pretty In Pink.)

Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCra

Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

Sign up for Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter Chickening Out at https://happierinhollywood.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

LINKS:

Plus One with Lisa and Morgan:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plus-one-with-lisa-and-morgan/id1896944012?i=1000777680587

Pretty In Pink trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRLQUGq8eE8

Veep trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Mo61W9e-8

Two and a Half Men trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIP2xlGnOEs

Anker Zolo power bank in pink:

https://amzn.to/4pIgkpq

Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America by Andrew McCarthy: 

https://amzn.to/4fys6y3

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Liz and Sarah are making it happen! They’ve been doing a deep dive into micro-dramas for several months, and now they’re at the beginning stages of Executive Producing their first one. They talk about how they’ve gone about educating themselves in this new (to them) form of entertainment and ask listeners when they’ve made something happen. Then, in Take A Hike, they discuss the value of having a repertoire of everything from meals to small talk topics. They also share a recent Day In The Life — from dealing with a water outage to writing at the cafe at Godmothers to breaking a new pilot at Bob Dylan concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. This week’s Hollywood Hack is great for anyone who loves audio — the AirPods Pouch from Bandolier. Finally Sarah recommends Beyond Paradise on BritBox.

Get in touch on Instagram: ⁠@Sfain⁠ & ⁠@LizCraft⁠

Get in touch on Threads: ⁠@Sfain⁠ & ⁠@LizCraft⁠

Visit our website: ⁠https://happierinhollywood.com⁠

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at ⁠https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com⁠ and Sarah’s Chickening Out Substack at ⁠https://happierinhollywood.substack.com⁠. They’ll come right to your inbox!

Join our Facebook group: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/⁠

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—⁠Happier with Gretchen Rubin⁠, and⁠Side Hustle School⁠ . If you liked this episode, ’S please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

LINKS:

Godmothers:

https://godmothers.com/

Santa Barbara Bowl:

https://sbbowl.com/

Airpods Pouch from Bandolier:

https://www.bandolierstyle.com/collections/airpod-series

Beyond Paradise trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgrI_iPsS2o

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz and Sarah are answering more listener questions! Do they still drink espresso martinis? What advice would they give their college senior selves? Could they have been writing partners if they met as adults? What random photos are on their phones thanks to their adventures in TV writing? They discuss all this and more! 

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

Sign up for Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter Chickening Out at https://happierinhollywood.substack.com. It’ll come right to your inbox!

Get in touch on Instagram: @Sfain & @LizCraft

Get in touch on Threads: @Sfain & @LizCra

Visit our website: https://happierinhollywood.com

Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

Note: Go to the Happier In Hollywood Facebook Group for Liz and Sarah’s extensive Teens/Tweens Gift Guide. Thanks to listeners for such great ideas! Link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/903150719832696/permalink/3081705578643855/

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We discuss the biggest obstacles to moving more this summer with Sarah Fain from the “Happier in Hollywood” podcast, and share practical strategies for getting regular exercise.

This special episode is part of the Move 26 in ‘26 challenge to help all of us find more ways to move every day.

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Get in touch: [email protected].

Get in touch on Instagram: ⁠⁠@Sfain⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠@LizCraft⁠⁠

Get in touch on Threads: ⁠⁠@Sfain⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠@LizCra⁠⁠

Visit our website: ⁠⁠https://happierinhollywood.com⁠⁠

Join our Facebook group: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/⁠⁠

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at ⁠https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com⁠. It’ll come right to your inbox!

Sign up for Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter Chickening Out at ⁠https://happierinhollywood.substack.com⁠. It’ll come right to your inbox!

LINKS:

Join the Move 26 in '26 challenge here 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today Liz and Sarah are answering listener questions! If they weren’t TV writers, what career would they each choose? (Sarah would like to own a craft store, while Liz’s fantasy self is a birth doula.) What did they think of Caro Claire Burke’s novel Yesteryear? Why don’t they spend more time talking about the negative impact of AI? They discuss all this and so much more!

Get in touch on Instagram: ⁠@Sfain⁠ & ⁠@LizCraft⁠

Get in touch on Threads: ⁠@Sfain⁠ & ⁠@LizCraft⁠

Visit our website: ⁠https://happierinhollywood.com⁠

Sign up for Liz & Sarah’s free weekly Substack newsletter at ⁠https://happierinhollywoodpod.substack.com⁠ and Sarah’s Chickening Out Substack at ⁠https://happierinhollywood.substack.com⁠. They’ll come right to your inbox!

Join our Facebook group: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/HappierinHollywood/⁠

Happier in Hollywood is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—⁠Happier with Gretchen Rubin⁠, and⁠Side Hustle School⁠ . If you liked this episode, ’S please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends!

LINKS:

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke:

⁠https://amzn.to/440S348⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices