Laura Mayer is Head of Podcasts at Talkhouse. She worked as the Executive Producer of Podcast Programming at ABC News while she wrote this book. She has worked in “Big Podcasting” for as long as anyone can work in “Big Podcasting.” Laura has developed more than one-hundred podcasts throughout her career. She executive produced ABC News’s wildly-popular slate of true crime shows. She co-created and launched The Dream. She also wrote and hosted her own podcast, Shameless Acquisition Target, which inspired this book.

"Funny, brutally honest and compulsively readable... I read Mayer’s memoir almost without stopping, finishing it in a single weekend... Mayer’s willingness to be vulnerable is her great superpower, an engine that propels both the podcast and her memoir with tremendous momentum. And, on top of that, she’s funny." — BookPage (STARRED review)“[A] poignant debut memoir… Frank, funny… this catalog of compulsive perfectionism leaves a mark.” — Publishers Weekly"Podcast guru Mayer offers a unique perspective on the world of work and her personal tumble through it... This book will appeal to those who want an uncommon take on the nine-to-five grind." — Booklist"You’ll be captivated... This is a book for anyone who’s an over-overachiever, who’s jump-climbed several ladders to reach the top or who works with—or loves—someone who’s constantly reaching for do-better. Give Tryhard a try. For you, it’s perfect." — The Bookworm Sez"An insightful, funny, and refreshingly personal journey into workaholism and the pathological Type A mind... As an ambitious and full-throttle control freak myself, I felt seen reading it." — Cat Marnell, New York Times bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life"In Tryhard, Laura Mayer has accomplished the rare feat of writing a memoir that is at once smart, insightful, hilarious, helpful, and fascinating. Tryhard is a gripping exploration of how workaholism allowed Mayer to survive the effects of her mother's alcoholism but eventually ravaged her sanity, peace of mind, and health. This book is for all of us who've leaned hard into the extremities of over-functioning and perfection only to find that the harder work is actually letting go, setting limits, and working (gasp!) less." — Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group and BFF"For any woman who has ever broken out in facial hives due to a work-related incident (couldn't be me) or tried to remedy the chaos in her life by grinding harder, this is an absurdly funny and deeply relatable memoir about compulsive striving. I absolutely tore through this." — Leigh Stein, bestselling author of Self Care"Laura Mayer’s Tryhard is a hilarious and unsparing portrait of millennial striving in the boom-and-bust world of 2010s podcasting. With humor and candor, Mayer traces a childhood shaped by family alcoholism and an adulthood defined by a relentless work ethic, resisting the temptation to smooth either into tidy stories of redemption. In the chatty voice of a friend sharing wisdom over coffee, Tryhard offers hard-won perspective on the limits of ambition, the long echo of addiction, and what it might actually take to make a life feel full." — Heather Radke, author of Butts: A Backstory

Laura Mayer is Head of Podcasts at Talkhouse. She worked as the Executive Producer of Podcast Programming at ABC News while she wrote this book. She has worked in “Big Podcasting” for as long as anyone can work in “Big Podcasting.” Laura has developed more than one-hundred podcasts throughout her career. She executive produced ABC News’s wildly-popular slate of true crime shows. She co-created and launched The Dream. She also wrote and hosted her own podcast, Shameless Acquisition Target, which inspired this book.

"Funny, brutally honest and compulsively readable... I read Mayer’s memoir almost without stopping, finishing it in a single weekend... Mayer’s willingness to be vulnerable is her great superpower, an engine that propels both the podcast and her memoir with tremendous momentum. And, on top of that, she’s funny." — BookPage (STARRED review)“[A] poignant debut memoir… Frank, funny… this catalog of compulsive perfectionism leaves a mark.” — Publishers Weekly"Podcast guru Mayer offers a unique perspective on the world of work and her personal tumble through it... This book will appeal to those who want an uncommon take on the nine-to-five grind." — Booklist"You’ll be captivated... This is a book for anyone who’s an over-overachiever, who’s jump-climbed several ladders to reach the top or who works with—or loves—someone who’s constantly reaching for do-better. Give Tryhard a try. For you, it’s perfect." — The Bookworm Sez"An insightful, funny, and refreshingly personal journey into workaholism and the pathological Type A mind... As an ambitious and full-throttle control freak myself, I felt seen reading it." — Cat Marnell, New York Times bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life"In Tryhard, Laura Mayer has accomplished the rare feat of writing a memoir that is at once smart, insightful, hilarious, helpful, and fascinating. Tryhard is a gripping exploration of how workaholism allowed Mayer to survive the effects of her mother's alcoholism but eventually ravaged her sanity, peace of mind, and health. This book is for all of us who've leaned hard into the extremities of over-functioning and perfection only to find that the harder work is actually letting go, setting limits, and working (gasp!) less." — Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group and BFF"For any woman who has ever broken out in facial hives due to a work-related incident (couldn't be me) or tried to remedy the chaos in her life by grinding harder, this is an absurdly funny and deeply relatable memoir about compulsive striving. I absolutely tore through this." — Leigh Stein, bestselling author of Self Care"Laura Mayer’s Tryhard is a hilarious and unsparing portrait of millennial striving in the boom-and-bust world of 2010s podcasting. With humor and candor, Mayer traces a childhood shaped by family alcoholism and an adulthood defined by a relentless work ethic, resisting the temptation to smooth either into tidy stories of redemption. In the chatty voice of a friend sharing wisdom over coffee, Tryhard offers hard-won perspective on the limits of ambition, the long echo of addiction, and what it might actually take to make a life feel full." — Heather Radke, author of Butts: A Backstory

Laura Mayer is Head of Podcasts at Talkhouse. She worked as the Executive Producer of Podcast Programming at ABC News while she wrote this book. She has worked in “Big Podcasting” for as long as anyone can work in “Big Podcasting.” Laura has developed more than one-hundred podcasts throughout her career. She executive produced ABC News’s wildly-popular slate of true crime shows. She co-created and launched The Dream. She also wrote and hosted her own podcast, Shameless Acquisition Target, which inspired this book.

"Funny, brutally honest and compulsively readable... I read Mayer’s memoir almost without stopping, finishing it in a single weekend... Mayer’s willingness to be vulnerable is her great superpower, an engine that propels both the podcast and her memoir with tremendous momentum. And, on top of that, she’s funny." — BookPage (STARRED review)“[A] poignant debut memoir… Frank, funny… this catalog of compulsive perfectionism leaves a mark.” — Publishers Weekly"Podcast guru Mayer offers a unique perspective on the world of work and her personal tumble through it... This book will appeal to those who want an uncommon take on the nine-to-five grind." — Booklist"You’ll be captivated... This is a book for anyone who’s an over-overachiever, who’s jump-climbed several ladders to reach the top or who works with—or loves—someone who’s constantly reaching for do-better. Give Tryhard a try. For you, it’s perfect." — The Bookworm Sez"An insightful, funny, and refreshingly personal journey into workaholism and the pathological Type A mind... As an ambitious and full-throttle control freak myself, I felt seen reading it." — Cat Marnell, New York Times bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life"In Tryhard, Laura Mayer has accomplished the rare feat of writing a memoir that is at once smart, insightful, hilarious, helpful, and fascinating. Tryhard is a gripping exploration of how workaholism allowed Mayer to survive the effects of her mother's alcoholism but eventually ravaged her sanity, peace of mind, and health. This book is for all of us who've leaned hard into the extremities of over-functioning and perfection only to find that the harder work is actually letting go, setting limits, and working (gasp!) less." — Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group and BFF"For any woman who has ever broken out in facial hives due to a work-related incident (couldn't be me) or tried to remedy the chaos in her life by grinding harder, this is an absurdly funny and deeply relatable memoir about compulsive striving. I absolutely tore through this." — Leigh Stein, bestselling author of Self Care"Laura Mayer’s Tryhard is a hilarious and unsparing portrait of millennial striving in the boom-and-bust world of 2010s podcasting. With humor and candor, Mayer traces a childhood shaped by family alcoholism and an adulthood defined by a relentless work ethic, resisting the temptation to smooth either into tidy stories of redemption. In the chatty voice of a friend sharing wisdom over coffee, Tryhard offers hard-won perspective on the limits of ambition, the long echo of addiction, and what it might actually take to make a life feel full." — Heather Radke, author of Butts: A Backstory