If you love to read books, chances are you love to talk about them too. But have you ever wondered about whether your favorite celebrities or public figures love to read as well? If you might share a favorite book or preferred genre with them? Well, I sure have! So, I’m on a mission to find book lovers (book nerds, if you will!) in unexpected places. In this interview series, I’ll be talking with people you recognize but don’t necessarily associate with books — musicians, actors and actresses, athletes, and more. We will be discussing all of their current projects you want to hear about, of course, but we will also be digging into their unique reading and writing lives!

In this interview, I chat with Candice King and Kayla Ewell. You know them from the hit show The Vampire Diaries, where Candice played Caroline and Kayla played Vicki. Now they’re hosting the fantastic podcast Directionally Challenged, which is about “realigning your internal compass.” With transparency and humor, Candice and Kayla examine what it means to be a woman in your 30’s and they talk with a broad range of guests on topics from work to family life, aspirations to health, and much more.

(You might hear a little voice in the background of this interview … that’s Kayla’s sweet baby girl. Life happens at the most inconvenient moments, so when Kayla’s childcare fell through at the last minute, Candice and Kayla just rolled with the punches. I love that they wanted to still share this audio with our listeners because, well, this is real life as a working mom! So, without further ado, here is my conversation with Candice and Kayla. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!)