Mel Robbins

Mel Robbins
Born
Melanie Lee Schneeberger

(1968-10-06) October 6, 1968 (age 58)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Other names
  • Mel Robbins
  • Mel Schneeberger
EducationDartmouth College (BA)
Boston College Law School (JD)
Occupations
  • Author
  • Lawyer
  • Speaker
  • Podcast host
Years active1996—present
Spouse
Chris Robbins
​
(m. 1996)​
Children3
Websitemelrobbins.com

Melanie Lee Robbins (née Schneeberger; born October 6, 1968) is an American author, podcast host, and lawyer.

Robbins gained recognition for her TEDx talk, How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over. Her books include Stop Saying You're Fine (2011), The 5 Second Rule (2017), The High 5 Habit (2021), and The Let Them Theory (2024). She has been hosting The Mel Robbins Podcast since 2022.

Early life

Melanie Lee Schneeberger was born on October 6, 1968, in Kansas City, Missouri. She grew up in North Muskegon, Michigan, and graduated from Dartmouth College. She earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 1994.

Career

1990s–2000s

Following law school, Robbins worked as a public defender in New York, including at the Legal Aid Society. In 1999, she began working as a life coach and executive coach in Boston. In 2007, she broke into radio with a local radio show Make It Happen with Mel Robbins which ran for a year.

2010s–2020s

During the early 2010s, Robbins hosted a few local radio shows. In May 2011, she published her debut book Stop Saying You're Fine. The following month she gave a viral TEDx talk titled How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over, where she introduced the "five second rule" technique.

In 2012, when George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, Robbins was hosting a radio show in Orlando, Florida and covered the aftermath. In 2013, she was brought on CNN as a legal analyst during the Zimmerman trial.

For the next few years Robbins worked as a radio show host, CNN legal analyst, and motivational speaker. In 2017, she published her second book, The 5 Second Rule, which became a bestseller.

In 2019, Robbins hosted The Mel Robbins Show produced by Sony Pictures TV, which ran for one season. In 2021, she published her third book, The High 5 Habit followed by a fourth book cowritten by her daughter, The Let Them Theory in 2024. Both books were bestsellers. In 2025, Robbins began her first world tour: "Let Them The Tour".

The Mel Robbins Podcast

In 2022, Robbins launched The Mel Robbins Podcast which by 2025 was one of the most popular podcasts in the United States. The podcast, and Robbins as the host, have received many accolades including an iHeartRadio Podcast Award and a Golden Globes nomination.

The Let Them Theory

The Let Them Theory, published in 2024, is a mantra marketed by Robbins which claims to reduce stress by encouraging an individual to focus only on what they can control by ignoring gossip and external criticism. The mantra received criticism due to its lack of evidence to support its claims, along with arguments that abiding to the mantra absolves the individual from being introspective. Robbins responded to the claim that the book's idea is "so obvious it's laughable" by saying "Yeah, it is a cheap trick – and it works".

Robbins's book was preceded by the online circulation of a poem, "Let Them", by Cassie Phillips in 2022. Phillips's poem contains lines such as "If they are showing you who they are and not what you perceived them to be, LET THEM"; in her book, Robbins writes, "Let Them show you who they are". A representative for Robbins told Atlantic journalist Olga Khazan that "neither Mel, the fact checkers, the researchers nor the publishers saw [Phillips's] poem"; Robbins said the mantra came from her daughter's exhortation to let her son go to a taquería before a school prom dance. In Khazan's assessment, a number of tattoos of the phrase "Let Them" produced in Robbins's book are visually similar to Phillips's tattoo of the phrase, which she had shared with her poem in 2022. Phillips said her poem was inspired partly by a line from a Tyler Perry Madea film.

Awards and recognition

Personal life

Robbins married Christopher Robbins in 1996. The couple has three children and live in Vermont. Robbins has spoken publicly about being diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, and dyslexia.

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over.
  2. ↑ "Mel Robbins Signs Multiyear Deal With SiriusXM". The Hollywood Reporter. October 23, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Brady, Lois Smith (March 12, 2006). "State of the Unions: Mel Schneeberger and Christopher Robbins". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ "Mel Robbins - Golden Globes". Golden Globes. Archived from the original on January 16, 2026. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Belinda Luscombe / Boston. "Mel Robbins Will Make You Do It". TIME. Archived from the original on July 23, 2025. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  6. ↑ Al-Heeti, Abrar (October 3, 2025). "How Mel Robbins became the internet's life coach". Vox.
  7. ↑ Brady, Lois Smith (September 1, 1996). "Vows: Mel Schneeberger and Chris Robbins". The New York Times. p. 51 (§1). Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  8. ↑ Baker, Rachel (October 30, 2007). "Mel Robbins Is Not the Bashful Type". Boston Magazine. Archived from the original on February 24, 2026. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ "5 Seconds To Launch". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Boston College Law School Magazine | The Mel Robbins Effect". lawmagazine.bc.edu. Archived from the original on January 15, 2026. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  11. ↑ Robbins, Mel (May 10, 2011). Stop Saying You're Fine: Discover a More Powerful You (1st ed.). United States: Crown Archetype. ISBN 978-0-307-71672-9.
  12. ↑ Robbins, Mel (February 22, 2017). The 5 Second Rule: Transform Your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage (1st ed.). United States of America: Savio Republic. ISBN 978-1-68261-239-2.
  13. ↑ Morgan, Blake. "15 Of The World's Most Inspiring Female Leaders". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 14, 2026. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  14. ↑ "'Mel Robbins Show' Ending After One Season". The Hollywood Reporter. January 29, 2020.
  15. ↑ Robbins, Mel (September 28, 2021). The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life with One Simple Habit (1st ed.). United States of America: Hay House. ISBN 978-1-4019-6212-8.
  16. ↑ Robbins, Mel; Robbins, Sawyer (December 24, 2024). The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About (1st ed.). United States of America: Hay House. ISBN 978-1-4019-7136-6.
  17. ↑ "'The Let Them Theory' started as self-help. Now it's a whole lifestyle". The Washington Post. August 30, 2025. Archived from the original on January 12, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Mel Robbins announces Let Them The Tour: 'Do not miss this experience'". ABC News. Archived from the original on June 13, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Mel Robbins Signs Multiyear Deal With SiriusXM". The Hollywood Reporter. October 23, 2024.
  20. ↑ Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Isabella Simonetti. "The Self-Help Guru Rivaling Joe Rogan's Podcast Reign". WSJ. Archived from the original on July 19, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Las Culturistas Wins Podcast of the Year". The Hollywood Reporter. March 11, 2025.
  22. ↑ Murphy, Chris (January 12, 2026). "Amy Poehler Wins the Inaugural Best-Podcast Award at the 2026 Golden Globes". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on March 12, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Khazan, Olga (April 20, 2026). "Where Did 'Let Them' Come From?". The Atlantic.
  24. ↑ Bond, Kimberley (March 27, 2025). "Can the Viral 'Let Them' Theory Really Change Your Life?". Harper's Bazaar.
  25. ↑ "What is the Mel Robbins Let Them Theory?". The Midst.
  26. ↑ "The Let Them Theory Is the Secret to Stressing Less". Wondermind. January 21, 2025.
  27. ↑ Lanigan, Róisín (October 24, 2025). "The Let Them Theory may be 'non-fiction' but it has no facts". The Observer.
  28. ↑ Pearson, Catherine (December 24, 2024). "Mel Robbins and 'The Let Them Theory'". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  29. ↑ Aggeler, Madeleine (January 29, 2025). "'Let them': can this viral self-help mantra change your life?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  30. ↑ Rosen, Christine. "Don't 'Let Them' Get Away With It". Commentary.
  31. ↑ Cunningham, Kyndall (March 10, 2025). "Is the viral "let them" theory really that simple?". Vox.
  32. ↑ "2014 Gracie Awards Winners".
  33. ↑ "NEW Webby Gallery + Index". NEW Webby Gallery + Index. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  34. ↑ "Mel Robbins / CEO, 143 Studios". Forbes.
  35. ↑ Aniftos, Rania (March 13, 2025). "Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang's 'Las Culturistas' Wins Podcast of the Year at the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards: Full List". Billboard. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  36. ↑ Luscombe, Belinda (July 9, 2025). "Time100 Creators 2025: Mel Robbins". Time. Archived from the original on February 26, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  37. ↑ White, Peter (January 12, 2026). "Amy Poehler Jokingly Trashes NPR As She Wins Golden Globe's First Podcast Award". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 12, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  38. ↑ Khan, Melina. "Who is Mel Robbins? Author of 'The Let Them Theory' says being in VT is 'heaven on earth'". Burlington Free Press. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  39. ↑ Zitser, Joshua (July 9, 2025). "Mel Robbins Wants to Be the Most Trusted Go-To Friend in Your Ears". TIME.