Welcome to Dear Ani: Where Women Tell the Truth About Their Lives

Dear you,
Welcome to Dear Ani, the corner of the internet where we talk about life the way women actually live it: beautifully, messily, bravely, and sometimes with chipped nail polish.

This space was born from the conversations I keep having — with friends, with strangers, with people who somehow start confessing things to me in airplanes.
Apparently, I have “tell me your business” energy.
I didn’t ask for it, but here we are.

And honestly? I like it. I’ve learned a lot from these conversations.
Enough to know that women deserve a place to sort through their thoughts without needing a PowerPoint or pretending to have it together.

So What Is Dear Ani?

It’s part advice column, part diary, part “listen, let me just save you some time.”
It’s where letters meet real talk, stories meet sense, and where I try to make meaning of the chaos we call womanhood.

It’s where I answer questions I’ve been hearing for years about work, love, friendship, aging, identity, and the occasional “should I block him?” (Usually yes.)

This isn’t therapy.
It’s not a lecture.
It’s not me pretending to have all the answers.
Half the time, I’m giving myself the same advice I’m giving you.

This is simply a space for the conversations women are already having — just with a little more clarity and a lot fewer interruptions.

The Big Three We’re Going to Talk About

1. Career

Ambition, pivots, boredom, burnout, office politics, staying too long, leaving too soon.
The moments you sit at your desk and think,
“Is this really my life? Or is this just Tuesday?”

2. Relationships

Romantic, platonic, family, adult children, situationships, friendships that feel like home, friendships that feel like unpaid internships.
Also: the fine art of deciding who gets access to your energy and who gets archived.

3. Personal Growth

Becoming yourself, unlearning nonsense, navigating new seasons, rediscovering joy, handling change without throwing your whole life away (tempting, but no).

Why I’m Writing This

Because women are always evolving, sometimes loudly, sometimes slowly, sometimes with receipts.
And because nobody warned us how many times we’d have to renegotiate our relationship with ourselves.

I’ve lived enough chapters to have perspective, and enough plot twists to speak from experience.
Consider this our open journal, edited for privacy because our families are online!

What You Can Expect

Short letters.
Long letters.
Tiny essays that feel like your older cousin telling you the truth at a family barbecue.
Stories from conversations I’ve had with real women living real lives, always edited for privacy.

Some entries will make you laugh.
Some will make you think.
Some might make you feel seen in a way that catches your breath for a second.

All of them will feel like you pulled up a chair next to me and said,
“Ani, can I ask you something?”

And I said,
“Of course. Sit down. Do you want tea?”

Before You Go…

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have perspective, gut instinct, and a love for women figuring out who they are in this season of life.

And I’m here, writing to you — not as a coach or an expert — but as a woman who has lived a real life, worn many roles, and survived enough nonsense to have a sense of humor about it.

So welcome.
You made it.
Stay awhile.
Read a little.
Laugh a little.

This is Dear Ani — where we tell the truth with love and sometimes brutal honesty.

Ani