Jess Ekstrom speaks on optimism in this part self-help part memoir. This book isn’t a fluffy, how-to-fix-your-life book; it’s a wonderfully touching story of how Jess built a business and kept her optimism. She discusses that optimism isn’t without failure or pain, but it’s pushing through those things. She tells of her family’s issues with money (her uncle is Bernie Madoff), her failures in the early days of her business, Headbands of Hope, and how she got through and thrived. This book will make the reader laugh and cry, and every typical self-help reader and lover of hair accessories should pick this one up. The only small pet-peeve that will likely rile some librarians is Jess’s use of the term “rent” in regards to borrowing library materials; rent implies a monetary transaction whereas libraries provide free services.

Solid reminders of the power of positiviy, hightled quite a bit, nothing ground breaking but a solid read .

This book is definitely a hype book. Ekstrom brings her A game and goes through the different phases of creating a company, all stemming from one main idea: optimism. If you believe it and you have a passion for it, you will move mountains.
Ekstrom is brave and honest in this book. She doesn't sugar coat things, but she also covers readers with encouragement. The only slight critique is that she may lean on confidence and pride a little too heavily, but even that she admits is a trap she can fall into.

This book covers a lot of the same ground that many positive-thinking self-help books do, but the author has some interesting stories to share. In particular, the relative she called "Uncle Bernie" became infamous when he stole away the wealth of many high-profile victims as well as Jess's family: Bernie Madoff. Her family was forced to rebuild their lives, and Jess took a path that involved working at Disney, getting involved with the Make-A-Wish foundation, and eventually starting her own charitable venture, Headbands of Hope.

Lord knows I love a good self help book. I cannot help myself, I have to try and read them all. That being said, I've read a lot of good ones, mediocre ones, and ones I'd just rather not bring up to be polite. This was definitely a good one. It is always good to have reminders about being positive and having a good attitude and what it can really do for your life. Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

In a world full of negativity a book about being positive, optimistic is much needed. Especially for our young readers. I love this message and needed this book when I got it. There are times in people lives that everyone can really benefit from Chasing The Bright Side. Jess Ekstrom writes a really good book that is totally self help but just feeling like so much more. This book will be a book that I will refer back to through out my life!

I think “Chasing the Bright Side” was a great book. I made a lot of highlights of quotes I thought were outstanding and would like to apply to my everyday life. I feel like this was one of the more realistic “self-help” books that I’ve read. It was similar to “Girl, Wash Your Face!” but there was far more that I could relate to. Although there was a lot of great advice, the thing that stood out to me the most was the fact that the Sonicare toothbrush tells you when you’ve brushed enough. This entire time I thought it was just shutting off on me and it was a glitch. So, thank you so much for that piece of insight even though it really has nothing to do with the overall point of the book lol! Overall, I think there’s a lot of useful advice for everyone out there.

From the creator of Headbands of Hope for children with cancer comes this delightful book on optimism. Chasing The Bright Side is more than an ode to bright-sided mantras. Optimism is, in the author’s words, “about understanding that we can’t control all of our experiences, but we can control what they mean to us and the story they write for us.”
Optimism and the stories we write for ourselves are inextricable linked. Optimism is powerful. It can form our beliefs, guide our behaviors and change our stories. And when we change our stories, we create opportunity…opportunity to develop, to grow, to dare, to become. We create the opportunity to reject stagnancy and anxiety.
Written in an engaging, satirical yet informative manner, Chasing The Bright Side is insightful and refreshing. Young adults will especially enjoy this book.