Stephanie Harrison spent so much of her life trying to get it “right,” chasing the right schools, the right job, the right apartment and the right achievements that would give her life a sense of meaning.

But in 2013, she was struggling. “I was unbearably lonely. I had daily panic attacks, developed a stress-induced autoimmune disease, and felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness almost every day,” she writes in “New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That’s Got It Wrong.”

At her lowest moment, she got curious about why happiness seemed to be eluding her — and realized she was following the wrong playbook. She started making changes in her life: moving cities, studying happiness, and cultivating new relationships, including one with the man she fell in love with, Alex. 

When Alex became ill, Harrison took on the role of full-time caregiver. “It was shocking to compare my 2013 self, who had everything going ‘right’ and yet felt lost, miserable, and isolated,” she writes, “to my 2018 self, who had everything going ‘wrong’ and yet felt far more peace, joy, and purpose.”

Harrison attributes this to throwing out what she calls “Old Happy” and embracing “New Happy,” the philosophy she lays out in her book.

CNBC Make It chose “New Happy” as our February book club pick because we know our readers, like Harrison, are searching for happiness as well as success.

Here are some key takeaways ahead of Wednesday’s discussion in our private LinkedIn group (you can join the group here, then drop your questions for Harrison in the comments of this post).

So many of us craft our lives around the idea that happiness comes from things like perfection, material gain, fame and acclaim, and achievement at all costs.

According to Harrison, there are three pillars that Old Happy culture relies on to thrive:

• Individualism: the idea that you don’t need other people and you have to go it alone
• Capitalism: the idea that you must be successful, and your value is based on your work  
• Domination: the idea that you need to compete and win, and that some people are better than others 

Old Happy is “like the mythical three-headed Hydra monster,” Harrison writes, “snapping at you to isolate yourself, work harder and harder, and prove your worth.” 

One of the biggest lies that Old Happy tells us, Harrison explains, is that the pursuit of extrinsic goals and external approval — popularity, conformity, financial success, aesthetic beauty — is the key to happiness. 

But at the end of the day, Harrison writes. “What makes us happy is acting in alignment with our true selves.”

New Happy is all about the cultivation of intrinsic goals that are aligned with your internal value system, such as taking care of yourself, learning to love yourself, and building community with others. 

Three of the most important questions you can ask yourself are: “Who am I?” “What should I do?” and “How am I related to others?”

Harrison recalls people often asking her if running her company, The New Happy, was too much alongside caregiving, but she actually felt the opposite. 

“It was my lifeline, refueling me, giving me meaning, and connecting me to others,” she writes. “The more I gave, the more I personally received in return. I am certain that I would not have survived those difficult years without it. I am so grateful that I didn’t wait until life was better. If I had, I would still be waiting, and I would have missed out on so much joy.”

When someone is in need, there are two chances for joy and happiness: one for the person who needs help, and one for the person who is helping them. 

“Human beings do not possess a finite amount of love, compassion, and support. If you ask someone for love, you are not draining them of their limited supply. People are not oil wells. Care is not a nonrenewable resource,” she explains. “Asking for help gives someone else a chance to be of service and, therefore, to experience happiness.”

Harrison says she used to describe her experience as “I am a young caregiver for a sick partner who had a mysterious degenerative disease that no doctor understood or could help with.” That perspective was a lonely and isolating one.

But one day, she says, “I started describing my pain in a new way: ’I am a person who has been affected by a devastating illness.” That expansion led to greater connection. There were so many people in her sphere who’d supported a friend or loved one through illness. 

“Finally I went even bigger: ’I am a person who has gone through pain,” Harrison recalls. “In opening up to ways in which our pain connects us, we are able to tap into another level of compassion for ourselves and others,” she writes. “Connection makes our pain bearable.”

One of the biggest ways to find happiness, Harrison says, is to figure out what your gifts are and share them widely. If you’re struggling to figure out what your talents are, Harrison recommends asking yourself a few key questions.

• “What did my seven-year-old self love?” Whether it was a subject in school, or a book or film, regardless of how impractical it might seem, write it down. 
• “Who leads a life that excites me?” Borrow their schedule and see how it might feel to be the person who you look at and think “Wow, I can’t believe they get to wake up every morning and do that.
• “What is something I love and feels like it comes easy to me that other people might dislike or struggle with?”

Then reach out to five to 10 people who know you — family, friends, colleagues, or neighbors. Ask them “What do you think my unique talents are?” or “When have you seen me most alive?” 

Old Happy thrives on the lie that just one hero is coming to save us and change the world. New Happy is built on everyone coming together to share their valuable and transformative gifts. 

“Making our world better is not a soloist task. It is an orchestral one,” Harrison writes. “Our orchestra is incomplete without you,” she writes. “We need you to play the part that only you can play.” 

So how can you do that? Harrison recommends looking to the inspiring stories of others, and seeing how they lead by example, fight for what they believe is right, reject the way that things have always been done, build hope and community, embrace their biggest challenges, and work to achieve their dreams through small, incremental actions.

Then join them.

Ready to dive in? Start reading, request to join our LinkedIn group, and come chat with us and Harrison on Wednesday, March 4, at 12 p.m. ET, at our next CNBC Make It Book Club discussion. 

Any questions for the author? Drop them in the comments of this LinkedIn post (you’ll need to join our private group first, which you can do here). Or email them to us in advance at askmakeit@cnbc.com, using the subject line “Question for Stephanie Harrison.”

Have suggestions for future picks? Send them to us at askmakeit@cnbc.com, using the subject line “Make It book club suggestion.”

If you’re thinking it’s tougher to be a kid these days, you’re right. Sky-high rates of depression, anxiety, and chronic school absenteeism tell us that all is not well. While Covid-19 didn’t help, these trends were in motion well before the pandemic.

After working with over 1,000 kids as a clinical child psychologist, I’ve found that these “signals” are best understood as distress responses. Kids communicate distress through their behavior, much like infants do when they’re hungry, tired, uncomfortable, or having trouble digesting food.

As I write in my new book, “The Kids Who Aren’t Okay,” a range of societal changes in the past few decades has made childhood today more difficult. This is not an exhaustive list, but several factors stand out:

• School shootings: There have been more than 400 since Columbine, creating a persistent backdrop of fear and anxiety for students, educators, and parents alike.
• High-stakes testing: For years, educators have warned that forcing every student to clear the same academic bar, while tying teacher evaluations and job security to those outcomes, ignores developmental differences among children. A more effective approach measures progress relative to each student’s starting point and meets kids where they are.
• Social media and smartphones: At best, they’re a distraction in school. At worst, excessive use can harm mental health. Today’s kids are exposed to the world’s darkest content at far younger ages than previous generations.
• A shortage of mental health providers: In many parts of the U.S., children can’t access care. Long waiting lists are common, and kids in crisis may remain stuck in emergency rooms for days, weeks, or even months.
• Political polarization: The most divided political climate since the Civil War doesn’t stop at adults. Kids absorb it, too.

In 1960, psychiatrist Thomas Szasz argued that mental illness is better understood as “problems in living.” While diagnoses can describe how a child is struggling, they often don’t explain why.

Viewing kids’ challenges as problems in living shifts the focus toward identifying what’s causing distress, and fixing it.

Some of the forces affecting kids today are macro issues beyond the control of individual parents and educators. But caregivers can still address the “micro” problems shaping a child’s daily life, including:

• Peer conflicts, bullying or social isolation
• Academic struggles or unresolved learning difficulties
• Family disagreements over screen time, sleep, hygiene, diet or substance use

Helping kids requires a different approach than the one many adults were raised with. Here are a few tips to consider:

1. Make it collaborative, not unilateral

Imposing solutions without input may feel efficient, but it rarely works. Kids are far more invested in solutions they help create. Collaboration also strengthens relationships and communication.

Notably, kids often say adults don’t listen to them, while adults say kids won’t talk to them. All those unilateral solutions take their toll.

2. Be proactive, not reactive

The best time to solve a problem with a kid is not when the problem comes up again. Problems are predictable, so they can be identified and solved proactively.

3. Don’t focus on distress responses (behaviors), but rather the problems that are causing those behaviors

Kids are simply far more likely to talk about problems they’re struggling with than their behaviors.

4. Consequences aren’t good solutions

Rewarding and punishing are motivational strategies, not problem-solving strategies. Consequences aren’t an effective, durable way to treat depression, anxiety, concerning behavior, suicidality, or chronic school absenteeism.

Caregivers are better off recognizing that kids generally want to do well. So what they need isn’t more motivation, but adults who listen, understand and partner with them to solve the problems getting in their way.

If power-and-control parenting worked for you, that’s fine. But your child is not you.

The kids who struggle the most have often experienced more punishment than many adults will encounter in a lifetime. After four decades of working with children and families, my experience is clear: Power and control approaches usually make things worse. If something isn’t working, don’t do more of the same. Do something different.

Ross W. Greene, PhD, is a clinical child psychologist and the author of ”The Kids Who Aren’t Okay: The Urgent Case for Reimagining Support, Belonging, and Hope in Schools.” He served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 20 years, and is now adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech, and in the Faculty of Science at The University of Technology Sydney in Australia.

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While living in the Czech Republic with her grandfather in 2020, Cassandra Tresl, 33, and her husband, Alex Ninman, 34, learned they were expecting their first child.

After welcoming their baby girl, the couple says they considered returning to the U.S. But when they started looking at how expensive it would be to buy a house and pay for child care, they decided to look to Italy instead, where Tresl had read about towns across the country selling one-euro homes.

“I really thought that if I had a kid, I would go back to the States. … And then it ended up not happening, because I realized how much more expensive it would be if we did go back,” Tresl tells CNBC Make It.

Before moving to the Czech Republic, the couple lived in New York City, where Tresl worked in operations at a tech company and Ninman was a butcher at Whole Foods. Even though it had always been the couple’s dream to live in the Big Apple, Tresl says the city’s hustle and bustle made her realize her career wasn’t the most important thing to her anymore.

“If we were going to stay in New York, I would have to continue growing my career,” Tresl says. But although she enjoyed her job, it “wasn’t what I thought about in my free time. Working at a tech company, I would see the people around me really into networking and I didn’t really care about that either.”

“I started questioning everything that was important to others and why it wasn’t important to me. I figured it just wasn’t the right environment for me,” she adds. That realization led her to ask to work remotely, allowing the couple to move abroad.

Tresl and Ninman aren’t alone in their desire to live outside of the U.S. About 1 in 5 Americans say they want to leave the U.S. permanently, according to a 2025 poll from Gallup. And in Italy specifically, the cost of living is 9.5% lower than in the U.S., according to Numbeo, which tracks global cost-of-living data.

In the late 2010s, towns across Italy gained attention for selling off deteriorating properties for 1 euro (about $1.05 USD at the time), with a goal of attracting foreign investors to buy the houses, rehab them and drive up the dwindling population numbers. Since dozens of towns announced these plans, hundreds of homes have sold, The Guardian reports.

Seeing stories of people buying up these homes inspired Tresl to start looking for a home in Italy herself, she says.

Tresl’s first step was to determine the actual cost of purchasing one of the one-euro homes, since they weren’t looking to spend more than 20,000 euros (about $23,627 USD) on the purchase price. Despite the marketing, buyers generally needed thousands of dollars or euros on hand for renovations, since most of the properties were dilapidated or had been abandoned for years.

In October 2021, the couple went on a house-hunting trip to Italy and viewed about 15 homes across Abruzzo and Tuscany.

“I’m a spreadsheet type of person, so I had all the pros and cons of all these houses and it came down to Abruzzo being a much better value in general,” Tresl says.

Considering their limited budget and the fact that Tresl knew they would need more money on hand for renovations, the couple settled on a two-floor, two-bedroom house just under 1,076 square feet. Tresl says they picked it for the price and the terrace view. 

The couple closed on the house in February 2022 in an all-cash deal for 11,500 euros, or about $13,150 at the time, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. They moved into the house in July 2022 and finished most of the renovations in the fall. They spent about $18,000 on the renovations.

The purchase price allowed the couple to buy the property outright, which “alleviated a lot of stress in multiple areas of my life,” Tresl says. “If my income fluctuates or money gets tight, at least we don’t have a mortgage and our family has a secure roof over our heads. This financial freedom was actually one of the main factors that made this move and decision possible.”

That financial freedom has allowed Tresl to step away from “a career I was never truly passionate about in the first place,” she says. Since moving to Italy permanently, Tresl left her tech job and started creating content for her travel blog and newsletter. She also works for another travel blogger as an operations manager.

“I’ve had the opportunity to be a little ‘reckless’ in a good way and start exploring my own ventures, creating multiple income streams that are fully mine,” she says.

Since moving, Tresl says the couple spends lot less day to day, partially due to the fact that they are in a small town versus a larger city.

“We genuinely want to respect the economic habits of our surroundings,” she says. “We don’t want to come into a place and inflate things with our spending, especially when salaries here are comparatively low, which is why things cost less. It feels important to be mindful of that and maintain some responsibility.”

In 2024, Tresl and Ninman acquired a second property in Italy, which they rent on Airbnb for up to 85 euros, or about $101, per night. Ninman left his job as a butcher when the couple moved out of the U.S., and now manages the Airbnb property.

Located in the countryside of their town, the single-story two-bedroom, one-bathroom house sits on its own land and has a private garden. The couple bought it for 17,000 euros, or about $20,083, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Tresl says she estimates they put another 10,000 euros into it during renovations.

In Italy, the couple only spends about $1,246 per month, including utilities and living expenses. Here’s a breakdown of their monthly expenses, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. All figures are rounded.

• Groceries: 480 euros a month (about $567)
• Electricity: 217 euros (about $256) every two months
• Tresl’s gym membership: 115 euros (about $136) every three months
• Water: 91 euros (about $108) every two months
• Daughter’s gymnastics: 50 euros (about $59) per month
• Airbnb supplies: 50 euros (about $59) per month
• Daughter’s preschool: 40 euros (about $47) per month
• Internet: 12 euros (about $14) per month per house

In the winter, they also pay up to 200 euros a month, or about $237, per home for heat. Annually, the couple pays 286 euros, or about $338, per house for garbage pick up and about 61 euros, or around $72, in property taxes for each house.

The couple’s rental property brings in between 8,000 and 10,000 euros, or $9,486 to $12,000, a year, Tresl says.

“We earn the most money from it when someone decides to stay long-term, which happens quite often, where a couple or a small family works remotely and will rent the house for three to six weeks at a time,” she adds.

Since they clean and maintain the rental property themselves, Tresl says their only monthly expenses for the Airbnb are utilities, including electricity, Wi-Fi and heat during the winter. Annually, they also cover property taxes and garbage pick up.

Instead of being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of New York City, Tresl’s life in Italy involves walking her daughter to school and working from home. She goes to the gym in the afternoon. On Fridays, Tresl and her daughter go to an archery class. On weekends, the family likes to do what Tresl calls “urban hiking,” or exploring different towns around Tuscany.

“The mentality here in Italy is so different because work really is not the most important thing,” she says. “The people have shown me that it’s OK to slow down and it’s something I’m still trying to adapt to.”

Conversions from euros to USD were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to $1.18 USD on Feb. 17, 2026. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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Gone are the days of fancy dinners for first dates. These days, singles are opting for something more low-key.

Seventy percent of singles say they’d be open to having their first date at a fast-food restaurant, according to a recent DatingNews.com survey of 1,500 single U.S. adults ages 18 to 61.

Here’s why Wendy Walsh, professor of psychology at the California State University, Channel Islands, thinks singles are choosing burgers and fries in lieu of steak and wine.

What it really comes down to is “the economy, the economy, the economy,” Walsh emphasizes.

Housing costs are too high, she says, and many young people face crippling student debt. Average U.S. rent is nearly $2,000 per month, according to Zillow, and the average federal student loan debt is $39,075 per borrower, according to the Education Data Initiative.

The price of goods has been rising as well. Overall prices rose about 25% between January 2020 and December 2025, according to data from the Consumer Price Index.

“Suddenly a dollar meal has become acceptable,” says Walsh.

Among the various fast-food options in the U.S., Chick-fil-A is the most popular, with 20% of singles saying it’s their No. 1 pick for a first date.

Depending on where you are in the country, a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich can cost just over $5 and an ice cream cone less than $2.

If you’re looking for a cost-efficient way to go on a first date but aren’t keen on fast-food, 21% of women and 18% of men would choose to grab a coffee, DatingNews.com found. Nineteen percent of Gen Zers would opt for an ice cream or dessert shop.

Walsh would also recommend taking a nice hike. Just “bring a coffee and a snack” and enjoy the views, she says. “Or, if it’s in the evening, a glass of wine and a little bit of cheese and crackers!”

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When I was in college, in between my English and creative writing classes, I would race a few blocks downtown to volunteer at an animal shelter on the east side of Manhattan. 

Getting lost in books and spending time with shelter dogs were the twin pillars that held together the chaos of my twenties, and what kept me sane and motivated day after day. The north star of my career has been telling stories about animals in need. 

My first job out of college was working for a dog photographer. I followed him around New York City, and then the country, and then the world, helping to carry camera equipment and making notes of all the dogs we met that day. I didn’t make good money, but I loved it. 

After seven years, I was unexpectedly let go.

It was the eve of my 30th birthday, and I was suddenly without a job. I had two options: I could find another position, or I could try to make it on my own. The choice, for me, was simple. I had to at least try to make a name for myself, doing what I loved most, which was helping dogs.

This upheaval all coincided with me moving into a new apartment with my now-fiancé, Jacob, and our special needs rescue dog, Simon. 

This apartment was special because after living in seven New York City apartments, I had a backyard for the first time. I had fostered some dogs over the years, but with a big yard and a rare dog-loving landlord, I decided it was a great time to really lean into it again.

We welcomed our first foster, a Heeler mix named Ken, a few months after moving into the new apartment. On our way to pick him up, I handed Jacob my phone and asked him to take a video of me. I had an Instagram audience of about 50,000 followers, where I posted videos about my dog. 

But I decided that I wanted to highlight the process of fostering, every step of the way. I wanted to show people exactly how it was done, so it wouldn’t be so intimidating for people who might want to try it themselves.

I spoke to the camera and explained what we were doing in the sweltering subway tunnels, my excitement and nervousness bubbling off me. We recorded the entire thing: Ken coming off the transport van, bringing him back to our apartment, and introducing him to Simon. 

Afterwards, I edited the clips together and posted it to Instagram and TikTok. Miraculously, for whatever reason, people loved it. The video blew up. On TikTok it got 257,000 views, 27,000 likes, and over 500 comments. 

I was in shock by how people responded to it, and the immediate emotional connection these strangers on the internet felt with Ken. So I continued: a video of us giving Ken a bath, a video of Ken playing with Simon, a video of Ken chasing bubbles I blew for him in the backyard. And, finally, a video of Ken getting adopted by his new mom.

Over the week that we had Ken, my audience grew. People wanted to see his journey, and the process of fostering a dog in New York City. But, more than anything, I think people wanted to see a happy, feel-good story play out in front of their eyes, to feel a piece of magic that happens when a dog is loved for the very first time.

After that first foster, I decided to focus on fostering primarily medical and behavioral cases. Simon has struggled with idiopathic epilepsy his entire life, and my experience caring for him completely shifted the way I interacted with the world and the level of patience I have.

Plus, most rescues and shelters cover all costs associated with fostering: supplies, food, and any medical procedures a dog might need, so the only thing I needed to sacrifice was my time and heart.

I wanted to tell the stories of the dogs who would otherwise be forgotten and show the world how incredible they are. 

Since Ken, I have fostered nearly 30 difficult medical cases and found them all loving homes. I’ve raised over half a million dollars for animal welfare organizations. I’ve worked with brands like Toyota, Chewy, The Farmer’s Dog, and Williams Sonoma. I’ve grown my audience to over two million followers across platforms. 

And, my greatest dream came true. I wrote a memoir called “Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About,” and it will be published in the spring.

I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have made a career doing exactly what I’ve always dreamed of: helping dogs and telling stories. I have more freedom, I make more money, and I’m making a bigger impact. 

My biggest advice for people who hope to make their passion their full-time job is to start small. Before I went out on my own, I did freelance content creation for a year and a half. I reached out to every dog brand I could think of and asked if they needed help creating content or managing their social media.

My biggest client was Adopt a Pet and Kinship, where I got to travel to shelters and highlight adoptable dogs. It wasn’t until it became unsustainable to work full time and do content creation that I actually stopped those jobs. But the connections I made absolutely helped forge my way as an independent creator.

Every day looks different for me: Some days I’m picking up a dog from the shelter and scrubbing feces off of them, some days I’m doing a photoshoot with my previous foster dogs for Oscar de la Renta, and some days I’m sitting in a coffee shop, hoping to meet my writing deadline on time.

What has become most apparent to me, through every foster dog and every journey I document, is that dogs are one of the greatest human connectors that we have. 

They represent life, love, loss, joy, sadness, and living each day in the moment. They ground us, motivate us, and when you tell their stories, people can’t help but listen. Never in a million years did I think that telling my stories could turn into a career. But as I sit in my Brooklyn apartment with my rescue dog snoring at my feet, I am eternally grateful that it did.

Isabel Klee is a dog owner, writer and content creator. She shares her experiences rehabilitating foster dogs on social media @SimonSits. She lives Brooklyn with her fiancé, Jacob and her rescue dog, Simon. She is the author of the upcoming memoir ”Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About.”

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