Back to What Matters
In my work, I explore how mattering unlocks purpose, connection, and joy at home, work, and in the wider world.
✶ Announcing My Next Book ✶
Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose
From award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jennifer Wallace comes Mattering—a landmark book that introduces a transformative new framework to confront the loneliness, burnout, and lack of purpose so many of us face today.
In this groundbreaking work, Wallace makes an urgent case: mattering—the feeling that we are valued and have an opportunity to add value—is a core human need, as essential to our well-being as food and water. And yet, in today’s world, that fundamental need is going unmet, with perilous consequences. As mental and social health crises surge, we often blame social media, the pace of modern life, and polarizing politics. But beneath these issues lies a deeper crisis, what Wallace calls “an erosion of mattering.”
With her signature warmth and insight, Wallace weaves together research and deeply moving stories of mattering lost and regained. From burned-out employees to overwhelmed caregivers to people grappling with grief or struggling through a destabilizing transition, Mattering explores how our lives are transformed when we are reminded, in small and intentional ways, that we are valued and that we have value to offer. Wallace provides the essential elements to building what she calls our “mattering core”: recognizing your impact, being relied on (but not too much), feeling prioritized, and being truly known and invested in. Strengthening this core helps us reconnect to our sense of purpose, deepen our relationships, and navigate life’s uncertainties and challenges with greater resilience.
For readers of Brené Brown, David Brooks, and Adam Grant, Mattering is a rare, culture-shifting book that offers both a diagnosis and a remedy. With a clear road map and actionable takeaways, Wallace reveals how to unlock this powerful force within ourselves and how to build cultures of mattering in our homes, workplaces, and communities.
Mattering is both a call to action and a blueprint for living a meaningful life and creating a world we so urgently need.
(Portfolio; 2026)
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Amazon Best Book of the Year | A Next Big Idea Club selection
“A pathbreaking introduction to one of the most powerful ways to protect our children’s mental health: mattering.” —Psychologist Lisa Damour, bestselling author of Untangled
In Never Enough, award-winning reporter Jennifer Wallace investigates the deep roots of toxic achievement culture, and finds out what we must do to fight back. Drawing on interviews with families, educators, and an original survey of over 6,000 parents, she exposes how the pressure to perform is not a matter of parental choice but baked into our larger society and spurred by increasing income inequality and dwindling opportunities.
About Jennifer
Jennifer Breheny Wallace is an award-winning journalist and author of the instant New York Times bestselling book Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It. Her second book Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose will be published in 2026.
After graduating Harvard College, Wallace worked as a producer at CBS “60 Minutes," where she was part of the team that won The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and frequently appears on national television programs to discuss her work.
“Your life becomes meaningful when you know the value you can bring to others. And the more you are able to add value to others, the more meaningful your life becomes.”
–Jennifer Wallace, Never Enough