‘Pie Life’ Author Samantha Ettus Inspired by Palisades ‘Village’ Mentality

By LILA SEIDMAN | Reporter

Samantha Ettus preaches letting go of the fallacious pursuit of “having it all”—despite looking like, well, she has it all.

She’s thin, blonde, peppy and a Harvard MBA; she has three beautiful children, a dedicated husband and a thriving career. But she insists she has plenty of behind-the-scenes mess.

“Just this morning alone I missed [my radio show], which I never do, and I pissed off four people—all before I even woke my kids up!” she told the Palisadian-Post.

Her fifth book, “The Pie Life,” which released Sept. 27, teaches readers how to embrace “messy, real life,” as we might enjoy an ooey-gooey pie. She points out that perfect-looking, store-bought pies don’t taste as good as the ones that you can’t seem to keep off your crisp, white shirt.

Ettus takes the pie-as-life metaphor much further, using it to create what she called “a guilt-free recipe for success” geared towards women—particularly moms—who work.

Her latest self-help book urges women to see themselves as the baker of their own pie and revel in their control of the “slices:” relationship, children, career, friends, health, community and hobbies.

“You already have a fully baked pie—you just haven’t discovered it yet,” Ettus wrote in the introduction of “The Pie Life.” Ettus, a self-proclaimed feminist, said her book helps readers figure out the critical “ingredients” they’ll need and how to best slice up their pie.

Ettus said she believes women can change their lives tonight by applying time management tricks, having a conversation with their partner, going after that position they’ve always wanted or even making a commitment to exercise a few times per week—all of which are addressed in the book.

She said she “backed into [her] 10,000 hours of expertise in this area,” helping career-oriented women. Growing up as a competitive tennis player in New York City, Ettus had to navigate an intense schedule even as a young girl; she was forced to learn time management skills and an optimal work-life balance much earlier than her peers.

While attending Harvard, both for her BA and MBA, Ettus saw many of her female classmates—particularly those that were or became moms—drop out. She began analyzing what working women who were making it work, like Shonda Rhimes, Gayle King and Liz Lange, had in common, and incorporated it into her in-the-works Pie Life philosophy.

Five years ago, Ettus, her husband Mitchell Jacobs and their three young kids (then 5, 3 and 1) moved to Pacific Palisades because of a tweet. (Yes, you read correctly.)

Ettus and Jacobs asked their Twitter followers what they thought the most idyllic city in America is. When someone responded with the Palisades, they decided to look it up on Wikipedia.

“We moved here with zero friends and zero family, and we just kind of created a life for ourselves here,” Ettus said. Neither Ettus nor Jacobs had even heard of the Palisades before the Twitter inquiry.

Many Palisadians make cameos in the book, so “if you’re living in the Palisades, you’ll probably know some people in the book,” Ettus said.

And although Ettus no longer offers private sessions, she said she incidentally helped five “hardcore Palisades moms” get back to work.

Ettus strongly advocates for moms to keep at least a part-time presence in the workforce, a position that has stirred controversy. She recently made her case for discouraging stay-at-home moms on “Good Morning America” and other media outlets.

Palisadian Michelle Villemaire told Ettus her dream to launch a DIY blog—when her daughter started kindergarten. Ettus suggested she start tomorrow. When Villemaire demurred, Ettus told her, “If you don’t start tomorrow, in three years you’ll wish you started three years ago.” Villemaire started the next day, and is now the professional DIY expert behind the blog Home Made Mimi and has appeared on TLC.

Ettus said the Palisades also influenced her chapters on community and “the village,” her term for an adopted, reliable social network.

Unlike Manhattan, which she said lacks a community vibe and “a village,” she believes the Palisades “probably mirrors a lot of small town America and a lot of suburbs in America” in terms of its strong community.

Palisades connections notwithstanding, Ettus underscored that “The Pie Life” is really for all women.

Rich or poor, West or East Coast, married or single, Ettus believes that working women tend to face similar challenges.

“None of us are spared,” she said.

“The Pie Life” is now available on Amazon.