The Satellite Sisters - Youre the Best: A Celebration of Friendship

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Copyright 2015 by the Satellite Sisters/Mudbath Productions

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Youre the best: a celebration of friendship / the Satellite Sisters. -- First edition.

pages cm

1. Friendship--Humor. 2. Female friendship--Humor. I. Satellite Sisters (Radio program)

PN6231.F748Y68 2015

818.602--dc23

2015018988

Cover design & illustrations by Nancy Nimoy

Page design & layout by Amy Inouye, Future Studio

Learn more about the Satellite Sisters at www.satellitesisters.com.

ISBN 978-1-9388-4959-6

To our Satellite Sisters (and Misters) around the world.
Youre the best.

To Begin

Satellite Sisters has always been about the sound of friendship. When friends get together, theres laughter and storytelling, disclosure and advice, headlines and hair talk, tears and hugsand then more laughter. For us, the support of our female friends has been a constant source of sustenance, so its a natural topic for us to tackle in print. Youre the Best: A Celebration of Friendship is our thank-you note for those relationships: a chance for gratitude, grace, and, of course, more laughter.

We five Dolan sisters have been writing and talking about this topic for years, but for this book we wanted to invite the Next Generation of Satellite Sistersour nieces, daughters, and daughters-in-lawto share their stories and lessons. So were grateful to Next Gens Ruthie, Meghan, Katherine, Lauren, Vera, and Fiona. Between them and the five of us, youll find voices from fifteen to sixty chiming in with essays, lists, texts, even a Mad Lib. Its been a pleasure to put together. The good news is that no matter how the communication methods have changed, the importance of our friendsthe people who get us up, get us going, and get us throughwill never change.

Thank you, friends. #ytb

Julie Dolan

Liz Dolan

Sheila Dolan

Monica Dolan

Lian Dolan

Julie Dolan, the oldest sister, is the foreign correspondent. She has lived and worked in Moscow and Bangkok, and while she and her husband now live in the foreign land of Dallas, Texas, she continues to travel extensively, bringing her observations back to the Satellite Sisters. (Recent adventures have included girlfriend trips to North Korea and Uzbekistan.) Before moving abroad, Julie worked at and taught in a number of leading U.S. universities and business schools, including UCLA, Stanford, and Tulane. She has a degree in government from Smith College and an MBA from Penn State. She and her husband have two adult sons, two great daughters-in-law, and four grandchildren. Her motto: youre never too old to make new friends. She didnt plan to live in State College, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bangkok, Moscow, or Dallas, but everywhere she landed, someone was waiting with an open heart. Julie is grateful to the friends near and far who invited her for coffee, let her join the team, or thought she might like their book club. Theyre the best.

Liz Dolan, the second-oldest sister, is the chief marketing officer for Fox International Channels in Los Angeles, a job that means she is rarely actually in Los Angeles. Liz has been known to record, edit, and post a weekend edition of the Satellite Sisters podcast from her laptop while sitting on a bed in an Istanbul hotel. Before creating Satellite Sisters, she was the vice-president of global marketing at NIKE, where she worked for a decade, and CMO of the Oprah Winfrey Network. She has twice been named Woman of the Year in the sports business, called a Woman to Watch by Adweek, and named one of the Most Powerful Women in Cable. Her friends might describe her as devoted but rarely available. They frequently enjoy staying in her sunny Santa Monica apartment even when she is not there. Liz has a degree in comparative literature from Brown University. Occasionally, she sneaks away to her bungalow in Bend, Oregon, with her dog, Ferris.

Sheila Dolan, the middle sister, is a teacher in Los Angeles. A Hunter College graduate with two masters degrees in teaching, she has worked both in the classroom and on the administration side in both public and private schools from Manhattan to L.A. Her philosophy of teaching is simple: every child can learn, just not on the same day. Sheila is also a two-time individual Gracie Allen award-winner for comedy as the Satellite Sisters self-styled entertainment reporter, Entertaining Sheila. Her natural ability to laugh at herself and tell funny stories comes in handy when faced with twenty-three nine-year-olds. Sheilas best friends havent changed much since her twelfth birthday, when she locked her four closest partners-in-crime in her bedroom for a preteen angst session. She prefers deep, intimate conversations about lifes injustices (involving her), the dwindling dating pool (from her perspective), and the joys of motherhood, takeout food, Ryan Gosling, and Bobbi Brown stick foundation. Single with an adult daughter, Sheila is a swimmer who once went on a strenuous hike.

Monica Dolan, the second-youngest sister, has spent most of her career as a hospital RN specializing in cardiac care. She has worked for more than two decades in intensive-care units and operating rooms while also working on studies for the approval of new medical devices. Currently she is a clinical research coordinator for acute stroke trials at a university hospital. Monica leads many of the health-and-wellness discussions on Satellite Sisters and also has her own segment entitled Science of the Obvious. She has a BS from Georgetown, is single, and lives in Portland, Oregon. Monica embraces the damp Northwest lifestyle by going to the movies on Saturday afternoons, reading hardcover books from the library, and drinking coffee. She loves meeting her Pac NW friends for walks and dinner and cherishes her weekend getaways with her old college pals.