Book Review: Six Figure Chicks: Phoenix Vol. 2 by Mel Carr
Started: August 19, 2026 Finished: September 29, 2026
On page one of Six Figure Chicks: Phoenix Vol. 2, Mel Carr writes:
“I'm here to tell you the truth; it's messy, it's hard, and sometimes you must become your own hero.”
YES! This is the truth I want to read.
Don't give me a fairy tale. Give me the real tale.
That's how I grow. That's how I learn. I don't want to read about somebody who had everything lined up perfectly, followed the blueprint, and lived happily ever after. I want to know what happened when the blueprint didn't exist. What happened when life fell apart? What happened when you had to figure it out yourself?
Because sometimes you have to become your own hero.
And that's exactly what makes this book so powerful.
And Mel Carr signed my book, I love it when the author signs my book it really makes me feel special!!
I Had Questions From Page One
Staying on page one, Mel talks about being “one of only a handful of white girls in a predominantly Polynesian high school.”
That immediately made me want to know more.
I would love to hear more about Mel's experience in that high school. What were her thoughts? What were her feelings and emotions? Did she feel like she had to shrink herself? Did she constantly feel out of place? Or were people constantly making her feel out of place?
I have so many questions!
And honestly, that is one of the things I love about a good book. When the author gives you enough of the story to make you want to know more.
The first three pages of this book are written by Mel Carr herself, and she shares some things that immediately changed the way I viewed her story. She talks about being homeless, not finishing high school and eventually getting her GED. She talks about drinking and driving and hitting a cement wall.
Let me tell you something.
I have interviewed Mel Carr on my podcast.
And she did not come across to me as someone who had been through all of that.
That's what really struck me.
You would never necessarily look at her today and know everything she had to go through to rebuild her life.
And I think that is one of the biggest morals of this entire book:
Women can rebuild their lives and still not look like what they have been through.
You can meet a woman who looks confident, successful, polished and put together and have absolutely no idea what it took for her to get there.
Seventeen Women. Seventeen Stories.
There are 17 authors in this book, not including Mel Carr, and all of these women were making six figures in their careers.
I really loved the setup of this book.
You read the author's story and then you see a picture of the person who wrote it.
And let me tell you something funny: 10/10 times, the person I pictured in my head while reading the story did NOT look like the actual person when I saw her picture!
Not even close sometimes.
This was only the second book of its kind that I've read—where several authors contribute their individual stories to one book—and I really enjoy this format.
It's like reading 17 books all at once.
Each woman has her own background, her own challenges, her own career path, and her own definition of what it took to get where she is.
And because the stories are different, you get to see success from several different perspectives.
Amy Lou Harvarth: You Are the Blueprint
The first author was Amy Lou Harvarth.
She initially went to school for hair but eventually ended up in finance.
Now, I knew this story was going to be good.
Because I'm thinking, how do you go from hair to finance?
But she did it.
And she made six figures while doing it.
Amy Lou also talks about “courage meets collaboration,” and I remember thinking:
Ooh! The possibilities you can have when you combine courage and collaboration.
Can anything stop you?
Then on page 8, Amy Lou writes:
“You don't need a blueprint. You are the blueprint.”
I loved this sentence.
It gave me a burst of excitement and a feeling that I could do anything.
And even as I'm writing this review, that same feeling is coming back to me.
You don't need a blueprint. You are the blueprint.
Sometimes we spend so much time looking for somebody else's instructions for how to live our lives that we forget we are allowed to create our own.
Beth Scarano Made Me Laugh
Beth Scarano was next.
On page 13, she writes:
“I remember going on a date in high school when the guy opened the door for me. I thought, I can do that myself!”
😂
That made me laugh out loud.
Because it is pretty much the exact opposite of what most women say and think when a man opens the door for them.
Most women are thinking, “Yes, please. Thank you for opening that door.”
Beth was apparently thinking:
“Move. I got it.”
And honestly, I loved that.
Cassie Wells: Let What Isn't for Me Pass Me By
Cassie Wells wrote something at the end of her story on page 24 in her Recommended Affirmation section that really spoke to me:
“In professional and personal relationships, it's either a good fit or it's not. Therefore please allow what is not for me to pass me by.”
I like this affirmation.
Actually, I think I'm going to start using it in my own life.
I don't want anything that is not for me in my life.
I want peace of heart and peace of mind.
Everything doesn't have to be forced.
Every relationship doesn't have to work.
Every opportunity isn't my opportunity.
Every door isn't my door.
And that's okay.
Let what isn't for me pass me by.
Dr. Diane Ortega: You're Going to Turn 40 Anyway
Next up was Dr. Diane Ortega.
On page 30, she writes:
“I was going to be 40 when I graduated from midwifery school. But guess what I turned 40 anyway.”
YES!
This is so true.
You're going to age anyway, so you might as well do what you want.
And as Aaliyah used to sing, age ain't nothing but a number.
You're going to turn 30 anyway.
Do the thing.
You're going to turn 40 anyway.
Do the thing.
You're going to turn 50 anyway.
Do the thing.
You're going to turn 60 anyway.
Do the thing.
I was just talking to someone about how it is never too late to go to college.
So go to college!
It's never too late to change careers.
It's never too late to start a business.
It's never too late to pursue the dream you put on the shelf.
Because whether you do it or not, time is going to pass.
You might as well have something to show for it.
Hailey Yang: I Had to Read That Again
Then we get to Hailey Yang.
On the first page of her story, page 42, she says:
“At 14 years old, I got married.”
I literally wrote in the book:
“This can't be true.”
But evidently, it was true.
And at 16, she was a mother.
I know that in generations before us, girls sometimes got married extremely young. But I couldn't help but wonder:
Is this still happening in this generation?
I sure hope not!!!
Hailey's story was amazing.
You really have to read it to understand how she went from being married at 14 and becoming a mother at 16 to becoming a six-figure woman.
Her story is another reminder that where you start does not have to determine where you finish.
Kristen Hugins: Work/Life Balance Is Bulls#$%
Now let's talk about Kristen Hugins.
On page 159, she writes:
“The first thing I'll say is that I've learned that work/life balance is bulls#$%.”
And I will say:
I agree with Kristen.
There is no such thing as work-life balance.
So please stop asking women this question!
The idea that we are supposed to perfectly balance our businesses, careers, children, husbands, families, friendships, health, homes, community involvement, personal goals and everything else—while somehow maintaining a peaceful existence—is ridiculous.
Life doesn't work that way.
Sometimes work needs more from you.
Sometimes your family needs more from you.
Sometimes you need more from you.
I could not have said it any better than Kristen did.
You Never Really Know What Someone Has Been Through
As I devoured this book cover to cover, one thought kept coming back to me:
You just never know what people are going through—or what they have already been through.
This book is written proof of that.
These women are the epitome of resilience, patience, gratitude and boldness.
They didn't all start in the same place.
They didn't all follow the same path.
They didn't all have the same opportunities.
They didn't all have the same struggles.
But they each found a way to keep moving.
And that's what I took away from Six Figure Chicks: Phoenix Vol. 2.
Success doesn't always look like a straight line.
Sometimes success looks like rebuilding.
Sometimes it looks like starting over.
Sometimes it looks like getting your GED after not finishing high school.
Sometimes it looks like changing careers completely.
Sometimes it looks like becoming a mother young and still building an incredible life.
Sometimes it looks like going back to school at 40.
Sometimes it looks like deciding that what isn't for you can pass you by.
Sometimes it looks like admitting that the balance you've been chasing doesn't exist.
And sometimes it looks like becoming your own hero.
My Final Thoughts
I enjoyed this book because it didn't try to convince me that successful women have perfect lives.
Instead, it showed me women who had real lives.
Messy lives.
Hard lives.
Unexpected lives.
Lives that required them to make decisions, start over, collaborate, take risks, have courage, and keep going.
And perhaps the biggest lesson for me was this:
Don't judge a woman's story by what she looks like today.
You don't know what she had to survive.
You don't know what she had to rebuild.
You don't know how many times she had to start over.
You don't know how many doors were closed before the one that opened.
You don't know what she had to become to get where she is.
And you certainly don't know what it took to make her look like she has it all together.
Six Figure Chicks: Phoenix Vol. 2 reminded me that women don't need to have a perfect beginning to create a powerful ending.
We don't need a blueprint.
We can be the blueprint.
And that's a message I will carry with me long after finishing this book.
Click the link to purchase this book Six Figure Chicks
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