The character arc of Glennon Doyle

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 20 March 1976 in Burke, Virginia. Between then and now sit a James Madison degree in 1999, ten years teaching in northern Virginia, the blog Momastery in 2009, Together Rising in 2012, Carry On Warrior in 2013, Love Warrior in 2016, Untamed in 2020 and a podcast from 2021. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Glennon Doyle?

She started a blog and it kept going.

She took her degree at James Madison University in 1999 and taught in northern Virginia for ten years. In 2009 she started a blog called Momastery, writing about her own life with an honesty that the genre it sat in did not usually allow. That is the whole of the beginning: a teacher, a laptop, and a decision to say the true thing.

Carry On Warrior, her first memoir, came in 2013. Love Warrior followed in 2016 and was chosen for Oprah's Book Club 2.0. Untamed, published in 2020, was chosen for Reese's Book Club and sold in very large numbers. She married the footballer Abby Wambach in 2017, having previously been married, and both facts are matters of public record.

In 2012 she founded Together Rising, a nonprofit that funds women, families and children in crisis. By December 2020 it had raised more than twenty five million dollars, most of it in small donations. She launched the podcast We Can Do Hard Things with her sister and her wife in 2021, and a book drawn from it came in 2025. The line is worth reading because of what starts it: not a platform or a publisher, but ten years of teaching and then a decision to write honestly on the internet, at thirty three.

The moments

Glennon Doyle's timeline.

The 1990s

May 1999

James Madison University

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A state university degree, and then a classroom.

Sep 1999

Ten years teaching

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A decade in front of a class, before any of the rest of it.

The 2000s

1 Jan 2009

Keep teaching, or write it down

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: write honestly online, taken, or keep it private. Three memoirs, a podcast and more than twenty five million dollars raised all come after this point on the line.

Jun 2009

Momastery begins

Milestone, and it changed everything. A teacher, a laptop, and a decision to say the true thing in public.

The 2010s

Jun 2012

Together Rising

Milestone, and it changed everything. The readers turned into a fund, three years after the first post.

2 Apr 2013

Carry On, Warrior

Milestone, and it changed everything. The blog, turned into a book, four years after it started.

6 Sep 2016

Love Warrior

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A second memoir, and the book club that changes a career.

May 2017

She married again

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A second marriage, conducted as publicly as the first.

The 2020s

10 Mar 2020

Untamed

Milestone, and it changed everything. The third memoir, and the one that reached furthest.

Dec 2020

Twenty five million raised

Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty five million dollars, most of it in small amounts from readers.

4 May 2021

We Can Do Hard Things

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A podcast made with her sister and her wife, and a book out of it four years later.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is twenty five million dollars raised in small amounts by people who read something honest, which is not a bad return on one decision to stop pretending.

What she wrote

Books by Glennon Doyle

2013
Carry On, Warrior
Her first memoir, drawn from the blog she started in 2009.
2016
Love Warrior
Her second memoir, selected for Oprah's Book Club 2.0.
2020
Untamed
Her third memoir and the one that reached furthest, selected for Reese's Book Club.
2025
We Can Do Hard Things
Answers to twenty questions, drawn from the podcast she makes with her sister and her wife.

Your turn

Every line draws a unique story.

Hers began with a blog started at thirty three, after a decade in a classroom. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

Step through

Draw my own line Explore Character Arc

Glennon Doyle: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Glennon Doyle's character arc?

Ten years teaching in Virginia, then a blog started at thirty three on which she wrote honestly about her own life, which turned into three memoirs, a podcast and a nonprofit that has raised more than twenty five million dollars.

What is Untamed by Glennon Doyle?

Her third memoir, published in 2020 and chosen for Reese's Book Club. It is the book of hers that reached furthest, following Carry On Warrior in 2013 and Love Warrior in 2016.

What is Glennon Doyle's Together Rising?

The nonprofit she founded in 2012, which funds women, families and children in crisis. By December 2020 it had raised more than twenty five million dollars, most of it in small donations from readers.

What was Glennon Doyle's blog?

Momastery, which she started in 2009 after ten years as a schoolteacher in northern Virginia. She wrote about her own life with an honesty the genre it sat in did not usually allow, and everything else followed.

Is Glennon Doyle married to Abby Wambach?

Yes, since 2017. She had previously been married, and both facts are matters of public record. The two of them make the podcast We Can Do Hard Things together with her sister.

What is We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle?

The podcast she launched in 2021 with her sister and her wife, and the book drawn from it in 2025, which is built around answers to twenty questions about how to live.

Was Glennon Doyle a teacher?

Yes, for ten years in northern Virginia, from 1999 to 2009, after taking her degree at James Madison University. The blog that became her writing career was started in the year the teaching ended.

Where does this timeline of Glennon Doyle's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Glennon Doyle isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

More character arcs

Lives that rhyme with her.

Every Character, A to Z

Sources

Glennon Doyle, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Together Rising, funds raised as of December 2020.
Publisher records for Carry On Warrior, Love Warrior and Untamed.