In the very beginning of The Life Council, I write about a deep friendship rift in my life from 2020. I kept the details vague and the identity of the friend anonymous.

But that same friend was willing to have this conversation together here because we both agreed that it's a story that is so important to us. On the surface, it's about a group text gone awry. But you'll see that it was about so much more than that. And the reconciliation that followed became a turning point not only in our personal friendship, but in our lives.

We're ending the Secret Tapes where The Life Council begins: with a friendship reckoning.

I met Cyndi in 2001 in the earliest weeks after moving from Oklahoma to Los Angeles. And in that most formative year, she became my guide, my teacher, my role model and my mentor.

When Cyndi and I met to record this conversation together, I had only seen her in person a handful of times in the last decade. And yet she remains one of my life's greatest influences. Listening to this conversation, I think you'll see why.

Check out Cyndi's headstand project here.

I think the Daily Duty friend - someone you see or speak to almost daily - is like the Holy Grail of friends, but I didn't have a Daily Duty friend in adulthood until I was FORTY.

And then when she arrived it was from the strangest of sources: Volleyball!

Julie and I had been close friends before our daughters (both named Lucy) took up club volleyball together, but the time, effort, and logisitics involved with the sport is what changed our friendship status from being good friends to being everyday friends.

Julie and I are so different - she's Vietnamese, she grew up here in LA, she's sweet and gentle (and none of those things are true for me) - but we're also alike in some deeply important ways.

In this episode, we talk a lot about the school Halloween carnival where we first met, because it kind of became a microcosm for our larger friendship group. We talk about how my online persona is different from my real life personality, and she shares why they moved back to LA from Amsterdam after their year abroad (a decision that taught me so much).

There is only one person on the planet that I've lived with longer than family and that's Lindsay Lawler. We were freshman college roommates at the University of Oklahoma and then we lived together for years in Hollywood in our twenties.

We shared an address, a bathroom, a fridge, a LIFE.

In this conversation, you're going to hear two people talking who know each other so well. We can tell if something's off by just a single word or expression. We can also make one another belly laugh with just a single word or expression.

In the episode we talk about living together (of course), our varied college experiences, navigating Hollywood in our twenties, and the marriage pact we made together.

My friendship with Lindsay goes soul deep. I think this conversation will make you laugh, and it also might make you cry.

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Listen to Lindsay every weekend on Sirius XM

Listen to Lindsay on 10 Things To Tell You share about her adoption journey

Back In 2019, I infamously said on the 10 Things To Tell You podcast that the women in my business Mastermind were not my friends.

Jamie Golden, Bri McKoy, and Kendra Adachi are back to refute that claim and also take their offical seats on my Life Council as my "Business Besties," as I write about them in my book.

In this conversation we tell our Mastermind origin story, share the biggest mistake we've ever made as a group, talk through our occasional professional jealousies, and dissect what makes an actual Business Bestie.

We also tell a couple of vulnerable stories about making friends on the internet, talk about getting unfollowed by people we know in real life, and share stuff we've never before said publicly.

Maybe we didn't start off as friends, but Jamie, Bri, and Kendra have become some of the most important relationships in my life in the last few years.

Jennifer Welsh (Welshie) and I met working on jackass the movie in 2002.

I desperately wanted her to be my friend.

She told me point blank that we were not friends, only co-workers.

Cut to 2023 where she is a fixture at all our family holidays and my kids treat her like an aunt.

How did we get from there to here?

This conversation took an important, vulnerable turn that I wasn't expecting.

Jennifer Welsh is NOT my Business Bestie.

I don't consider myself easily intimidated, but the first time I saw Amber Haines, I was awestruck.

I still pinch myself that I get to be friends with someone like Amber and we've now traveled the world together under difficult circumstances, which is why she occupies this seat on my Life Council. We've watched one another transform literally before our own eyes.

Amber Haines is my Battle Buddy.

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Follow @amberchaines on IG

Three of the people who know my truest self date back to my childhood. We've been a foursome for almost thirty years now and they know a side of me that new friends would never understand.

We grew up in the same town, went to the same churches, and dated the same boys. There's just no replicating that...ever.

Drew (Andy), Meg (Megan), and Jaime (Elle) join me in this laughter filled conversation about how we grew up, when our friendship took a big turn (or two), and what our relationships look like now.

My High School Friends are my Old Friends.

I met Jamie Golden on the internet.

And our friendship has come to mean so much to me over the last few years. Jamie has the sole distinction of being the only person I write about in TWO separate seat on my Life Council. She shares a Business Bestie seat with the other members of our work Mastermind and she is also my Fellow Obsessive.

A Fellow Obsessive is just someone who shares your obsessions. And boy does Jamie Golden fit this bill for me. We have spent hours (and I mean hours) over voxer and text and zoom calls dissecting whatever it is we're both into at the moment, whether that's makeup and skincare or the latest instagram drama.

Jamie Golden is my Fellow Obsessive.

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Listen to Jamie's podcast The Popcast

Follow @jamiebgolden on IG

Meg Tietz is the reason I am a podcaster.

She's one of my oldest friends and her presence is felt on every page of The Life Council, most especially in the subtitle of the book, which I took from a podcast episode we created together back in 2016.

But even though I could have written about her filling many seats on my personal Life Council, for the purpose of the book I settled on placing her as my Password Protector. The title is both literal and metaphorical.

Meg Tietz is my Password Protector.

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Listen to Meg's podcast Sorta Awesome

Follow @sortaawesomemeg on IG