Dara Levan, SHAKEN TO THE CORE

Summary

Podcast Summary: Totally Booked with Zibby – Dara Levan, Shaken to the Core

Host: Zibby Owens
Guest: Dara Levan
Episode Air Date: August 10, 2026
Focus: Dara Levan discusses her new novel, Shaken to the Core, exploring themes of loss, reinvention, and the evolution of family and self.

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Zibby Owens welcomes novelist Dara Levan to discuss Shaken to the Core, a novel that explores sudden loss, the renegotiation of life choices, and the many forms of motherhood and legacy. Levan draws from her own deeply personal experiences with grief and resilience, weaving relatable themes into a story that is as much about identity and hope as it is about heartbreak.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Story Premise and Central Themes

• Summary of the Book ([03:14]):

  • Focuses on Joy, a photographer, and her husband Andre, who have agreed not to have children.
  • Joy’s mother dies suddenly, leading her to find her mother’s camp journal from the 1980s. This discovery prompts Joy to reconsider life choices, especially around legacy and family.
  • Meanwhile, Andre faces devastating news of his own.
  • Central ideas: holding hope and heartbreak simultaneously, the unique pain of sudden loss, and the possibility for reinvention after tragedy.

  “It’s a story really of holding hope and heartbreak at the same time. And also a story about sudden loss, which is a very special kind of loss, as you know.”
  — Dara Levan [03:14]

2. Contracts, Choice, and Changing Our Minds

• On Relationship ‘Contracts’ and Evolutions ([04:05]):

  • Explores the implicit contract Joy and Andre made about not having children, and how grief can spark a reexamination of these agreements.
  • Questions societal assumptions about happiness and fulfillment.

  “We get to choose the life we want to live. We get to continue to re-navigate. And I believe, and I think Joy learns, that sometimes really big detours, even devastating detours, can actually become our destiny.”
  — Dara Levan [05:04]

• On Societal Expectations ([04:54]):

  • The characters have financial security and a seemingly perfect life, but still face profound emotional struggles.
  • The story challenges the assumption that material comfort protects from pain.

3. Personal Backstory Informing the Novel

• Levan’s Experience with Sudden Loss ([06:11]):

  • Shares the sudden death of her mother-in-law six months before her wedding and its profound impact on her and her husband.
  • Grapples with processing grief and supporting loved ones.

  “My husband’s mother, Terry...She died suddenly six months before our wedding. And I was at my best friend’s grandmother’s shiva when I got a call that she was gone and she wasn’t sick...I still can’t believe it happened. And yet because we didn’t get to say goodbye...”
  — Dara Levan [06:11]

• Grief, Empathy, and Carrying Forward ([07:01]):

  • Dara describes taking on the emotional burden for her husband and his family, while also feeling entitled to her own grief.
  • The importance of honoring loved ones through memories and storytelling.

  “How could I have these deep feelings for someone I didn’t even know for two years? Why do I deserve to feel that pain? But as someone who’s really empathetic, how could I not? I mean, his pain is my pain. And that’s somewhat of what Joy experiences too.”
  — Dara Levan [08:48]

4. The Messiness and Unboundedness of Grief

• No Right or Wrong Way to Grieve ([09:41]):

  • Zibby and Dara touch on grief having no boundaries and the impossibility of quantifying or justifying it.
  • They discuss choosing optimism day by day, not as toxic positivity but as an intentional act of resilience.

  "People often say to me, but you’re always so happy. I said, no. I choose Joy every single day, and I choose my husband. And I believe that, to me, is everything."
  — Dara Levan [11:07]

5. Motherhood and Redefining Family

• Does Mothering Transcend Biology? ([11:40]):

  • Joy finds fulfillment in non-biological forms of mothering.
  • Dara invites readers to reflect on what truly constitutes motherhood and legacy.

  “Does motherhood and mothering transcend biology? Do you really have to grow a child in your womb to be a parent? And that’s up to the reader to decide. But I know how I feel.”
  — Dara Levan [12:33]

6. Grief as Catalyst for Change

• Grief Driving Action and Reinvention ([14:10]):

  • Joy’s grief ignites a desire to make life matter, driving her to new pursuits and risks she wouldn’t have otherwise attempted.
  • The narrative champions embracing new dreams at any stage of life.

  "In this post traumatic grief moment when you’re like let’s make life matter and there’s no time like the present, Joy makes a decision which of course basically dictates the whole second half of the book of doing something that she doesn’t know anything about. But she’s doing it in part to honor her mom, but in part because it just feels like the right thing."
  — Zibby Owens [14:10]

• The Importance of Chosen Family and Community ([15:01]):

  • Joy’s relationships with friends (like Mel, her best friend the jeweler) provide essential humor, support, and perspective.

7. Teaching Through Fiction and Inclusion

• Inclusion and Representation in Fiction ([16:19]):
  • Dara incorporates her speech therapy background; includes characters with speech, language, and learning differences.
  • Advocates for more representation in fiction and education about inclusion.

8. Metaphors, Seasons, and Identity Loss

• Life’s Changing Seasons & Metaphor ([17:46]):

  • Seasonal metaphors illustrate grief, change, and personal reinvention.
  • Loss is depicted beyond physical death—losing imagined lives and identities is also loss.

  “Loss isn’t just a physical loss. This isn’t just a loss of a person. It [can] even be the loss of the life you imagined.”
  — Dara Levan [18:49]

9. Rawness, Humor, and Authentic Expression

• Permission to Feel and Share the Unfiltered Truth ([17:07]):

  • Joy’s letters to her late mother are outlets for her real emotions, including those she’d never say out loud to others.

  “When her closest confidant is not there to tell, we get to be the beneficiaries. And in a way, it’s almost licensed to express the things that maybe don’t feel so beautiful on the outside, but are natural to feel at some point or another.”
  — Zibby Owens [17:07]

• Unexpected ‘Steamier’ Scenes and Character Autonomy in Writing ([19:19]):

  • Dara laughingly describes how sometimes characters seem to ‘take over’ the writing process, even surprising her with their actions.

  "Those scenes, I stepped away a few days and I came back and I said, I didn’t write that. Like, who wrote that?"
  — Dara Levan [19:27]

10. Who Should Read 'Shaken to the Core'?

• Intended Audience ([20:23]):

  • Anyone grappling with grief, change, or tough decisions.
  • Particularly women in their 30s and 40s, or anyone at a crossroads.

  “Anyone struggling with what life is throwing at them, which is maybe everyone, but really anyone that’s experienced loss in all its forms... I hope this gives people the strength and the inspiration to know that they can do anything, truly...even when we feel we’re totally empty.”
  — Dara Levan [20:29]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Sometimes really big detours, even devastating detours, can actually become our destiny.” — Dara Levan [05:04]
• “You just never know where you could crack a door open. And I feel like when something’s really scary, you’re onto something.” — Dara Levan [16:45]
• “Loss isn’t just a physical loss... It can even be the loss of the life you imagined.” — Dara Levan [18:49]
• “I choose Joy every single day, and I choose my husband. And I believe that, to me, is everything.” — Dara Levan [11:07]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:14] – Dara introduces Shaken to the Core and central themes
• [05:04] – On renegotiating life contracts and the impact of detours
• [06:11] – Dara’s personal loss and connection to the novel’s grief theme
• [11:40] – The meaning of motherhood and non-biological parenting
• [14:10] – Grief as a driver for reinvention and honoring the past
• [15:01] – Chosen family, friends, and support during change
• [16:19] – Inclusion: speech-language differences in fiction
• [17:07–17:46] – Letters, raw emotion, and seasons as metaphors
• [19:19] – Steamy scenes and characters leading the story
• [20:29] – Advice for readers and finding strength during struggle

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Tone & Style

The conversation is warm, earnest, and supportive, punctuated with candid moments of humor (especially about steamy scenes and writerly surprises). Dara is unflinchingly honest about grief but exudes hope and resilience. Zibby’s empathetic, curiosity-driven approach invites deep reflection and personal storytelling.

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Takeaways

Shaken to the Core is a novel not just about loss, but about the courage to imagine new futures when old ones fall apart. Through authentic dialogue, intimate anecdotes, and a focus on inclusion, both Levan and Owens offer listeners permission to grieve wholeheartedly, reinvent bravely, and accept love in all its forms.

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Recommended For:
Anyone seeking a moving exploration of love, grief, reinvention, and the realities of modern family life. Especially resonant for readers at a turning point or those who appreciate authentic, emotionally complex fiction.

Transcript

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[Dara Levan]

gelato was too good.

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So where should we go next year?

[Dara Levan]

I've got ideas.

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[Zibby Owens]

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[Dara Levan]

Yikes.

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[Totally Booked Host]

Welcome to Totally Booked. I'm Zibby Owens. I've interviewed more than 2,000 authors on this show and learned endless amounts about storytelling, reinvention and life itself. Because when you talk about books, you're really talking about life. So get ready to hear from today's best authors, the best selling and the not yet discovered. Come find your next great read and the story behind it. Enjoy. Dara Levan is the author of Shaken to the Core, a novel. Dara and I have become friends over the years through seeing each other in Florida, of course through books. She contributed to On Being Jewish now and wrote a beautiful essay for On Being Jewish Now. She is an author, founder of Every Soul Has a Story and inspired inspiring podcast in which she interviews guests from around the globe and her award winning novel It Could Be Worse already came out and was she was on my podcast to talk about that. She's a graduate of Indiana University with a bachelor's degree in English. And one of her selling points is that when I really needed a charger at the Miami Book Fair, Dara was so sweet, lent me hers. And then the next time I saw her in New York, she bought me my own portable charger in my favorite color, blue. And anyway, I just adore Dara, and so does basically anybody who meets her. I hope you enjoy our episode together about Shaken to the Core, a Novel.

[Zibby Owens]

Welcome, Dara. Thank you so much for coming on Totally Booked to talk about Shaken to the Core, your latest novel. Congrats.

[Dara Levan]

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[Zibby Owens]

Of course. What a beautiful story. Oh, my gosh, so many themes. Talk about what Shaken to the Core is about.

[Dara Levan]

Oh, it's about a couple. Well, it's really about. I mean, Joy is our main character, and she's a photographer. As we all have in marriages, we kind of have a contract, right? They never wanted kids, or so we think. Then her mom dies suddenly, and she discovers her mother's camp journal from the 1980s, and one entry inspires her to make a decision that changes the trajectory of her life. But at the same time this happens, Andre, her husband, receives devastating news. So it's a story really of holding hope and heartbreak at the same time. And also a story about sudden loss, which is a very special kind of loss, as you know. Also, we all experience loss, and no matter what type of loss it is, it's horrific. But there's something about not being able to say goodbye and especially when it's your mother.

[Zibby Owens]

In the book, as you said, there's a contract that they had both agreed. Not an actual contract, but they had. Both Andre and Joy had agreed that they weren't going to have kids. And after the loss of Joy's mom, she says, you know, she's thinking about legacy and what might come, who is going to inherit and who's going to take care of them and all the stuff. And she says, why doesn't a party of two feel like enough anymore? And she says this in a letter that she writes to her mom as a way to process the loss, which I found really interesting is like a mechanism that you did throughout the book. Thank you. Talk a little bit about that.

[Dara Levan]

About the party of two.

[Zibby Owens]

About the party of two. Start with the party of two and how we can make decisions and then everything gets thrown up in the air and we can change our minds. And are we not allowed to change our minds?

[Dara Levan]

Exactly.

[Zibby Owens]

Talk about that.

[Dara Levan]

And on top of that, I'd add That I intentionally wrote these characters as they didn't want for anything. There is so much in society which I think we both probably have experienced where, oh, they're an amazing marriage. And they were and they are. And they don't want for anything financially. So everything must just be perfect. It's anything but nothing's perfect in life. Nothing. And so she has this yearning in her heart, in her womb, and one of the, you know, she has to try and renegotiate with what they had agreed upon. They lived a very free spirited life. They traveled the world. He's an architect, very much in control. The oldest of five boys. His parents are constantly saying, when are we having bambinos? Why aren't they here yet? And there's a reason that the reader will find out that's pretty shocking. Another reason why they don't. It might not just be what they agreed to, it might be what's actually possible. And that's also what the novel and the story explores is what is possible not just after loss, but we get to choose the life we want to live. We get to continue to re navigate. And I believe, and I think Joy learns that sometimes really big detours, even devastating detours can actually become our destiny.

[Zibby Owens]

Beautiful talk about where this came from in your life.

[Dara Levan]

Very personal. It's probably speaking of processing grief, it's probably the first time I've really, really sat with this. My husband's mother, Terry, and I want to name her because I believe that's how we keep people alive. She died suddenly six months before our wedding. And I was at my best friend's grandmother's shiva when I got a call that she was gone and she wasn't sick.

[Zibby Owens]

There was no what happened.

[Dara Levan]

That's the one thing I really can't share.

[Zibby Owens]

Oh, that's okay.

[Dara Levan]

Because out of respect for my husband's family. It doesn't matter. It was really literally and unbelievable. I'll tell you offline. And I still can't wrap my head around it. I had to grow up so fast, Siby. I was just 24. I had to go home and tell him my parents came over. It was. I still can't believe it happened. And yet because we didn't get to say goodbye.

[Zibby Owens]

Yeah.

[Dara Levan]

And you know, I think your friend Stacy. Right. I mean, there's something. It's just. And then also as a partner, as I was this like, baby. I was in graduate school for speech therapy. I didn't know from this. I hope nobody knows from this. And I felt so strongly that I Had to be strong. Hence the name of Somewhat, from my first novel, it could be worse. I kept thinking, well, it's gotta be worse for him and his siblings. So I just held it together. I planned the Shiva, even the minute details that we never think about, like cleaning out her car and finding her red lipstick that was always all over her designer bags. She was an interior decorator. Her world was about making things beautiful. And not from a superficial space, but from such a heart centered space. In fact, before our wedding, she insisted on throwing us an engagement party that was so lavish in Coral Gables. And we kept saying, terri, this is ridiculous. We don't need this. Thank God she did. She was gone a few months later. I have pictures with her and I'm the only one that knew her. Although my husband is the youngest. We got married first, we had kids first. And somewhat like Joy, it changed my entire perspective. When we first met, it was all about my career. And I want to travel the world with you, and I don't want to have kids till we're like 35. And we looked at each other and I thought, nothing else matters. And we had our Todd, or my son with a T, lots. And she shows up again and again and again. Every birthday, every Shiva, every. When her own mother passed several decades later, which, as you know, is so out of order. She was only 52 when she died. I'll be 52 next month. So I'm waiting for the. I'm waiting for the rainbow. I know she's coming. And it's. I know she. I believe when we speak about people and we share their stories, not just in writing, but orally, and thank you for asking, we keep people alive. And it's up to us, the living. And it took me. I don't even know if I'll ever process it because my husband, his family, they were so numb. We stood in front of over a thousand people speaking about her. And in some ways, I don't know how to quite articulate this. And I tried, actually. I'm wearing her bracelet today. She wore this constantly. And I really felt like as his partner, I had to just be the strong one. And how could I have these deep feelings for someone I didn't even know for two years? Why do. Why do I deserve to feel that pain? But as someone who's really empathetic, how could I not? I mean, his pain is my pain. And that's somewhat of a joy experiences too.

[Zibby Owens]

There's no limits. There's no right or wrong in terms of pain. You can't say, oh, I shouldn't feel this because I. I'm not really related or I'm not. There's so many ways to justify away love. Love is love. And when you care about somebody and you lose them, it's. It's impossible. And it's just impossible.

[Dara Levan]

Open heart, almost like childlike. Anyone would tell you to know her for a day was to know her for a lifetime. No filter, just gave with her whole soul. Almost impulsive. And thank goodness, it's like she knew her life would be cut short. Much like Joy's mom. I enjoy it and get to say goodbye.

[Zibby Owens]

So was writing the book therapeutic for you? Do you feel like you process more of it with these 26 years later?

[Dara Levan]

Isn't that crazy? And I think too, I was so worried. In fact, I'll never forget under the chuppah, you could see me mouthing. I didn't care what I look like. I kept saying to this hair guy, I don't need makeup. Just I need to be with my fiance husband in five minutes. And you could see me under there saying, are you okay? I was so worried about him. And that's part of what we explore here in this story, too. It's these tragedies and the news that Andres gets and much, much more can rip you apart as a couple. And we're that much closer. We've lost so many people since then. I mean, I'm too young to tell you that I've lost 12 or 13 people as recently as my uncle just passed from Parkinson's a few months ago.

[Zibby Owens]

I'm so sorry.

[Dara Levan]

And, you know, people often say to me, but you're always so happy. I said, no. I choose Joy every single day, and I choose my husband. And I believe that, to me, is everything. And it doesn't mean it's perfect. I think that's like that toxic positivity. And that's not who I am. It's that it's a choice in seconds that could have ripped us apart. I mean, we talk about that recently, just. And we've had sicknesses and all kinds of other things that, you know, people would be shocked. People that know us know everything. But as I'm sure you, you learned too, you know, people make presumptions and that's part of what the story is. I mean, there's a mention he has a Rolex. You know, they don't want for anything, but it doesn't matter how much money you have, or there are people that have not a penny, but they have the most wealth in the world because they're full of love. And so I really hope that readers also take from this. I think it's probably human nature to see life through the lens through which your lived experiences are. And Joy being a photographer, it just wasn't enough for her anymore, taking pictures of children and families. And yet she finds another way to become a mother. So one of the biggest questions this story is asking and exploring is, does motherhood and mothering transcend biology? Do you really have to grow a child in your womb to be a parent? And that's up to the reader to decide. But I know how I feel

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and that pistachio gelato was too good.

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So where should we go next year?

[Dara Levan]

I've got ideas.

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[Zibby Owens]

Well, Joy also decides to pursue this newish dream that she gets, but she just goes for it. And it's so great because I feel like in this post traumatic grief moment when you're like let's make life matter and there's no time like the present, Joy makes a decision which of course basically Dictates the whole second half of the book of doing something that she doesn't know anything about. But she's doing it in part to honor her mom, but in part because it just feels like the right thing. And I love when she's just like, didn't know what I was doing, but, mom, guess what? I did? You know, you're never gonna believe I figured this out. And look at this. And isn't that great?

[Totally Booked Host]

I mean, I know there are no

[Zibby Owens]

great things about loss at all, but the attitude that she can attempt anything at any point in life is really inspiring.

[Dara Levan]

I thought so, too. I'm glad you felt that. And also, battling a bit with her husband. He's.

[Zibby Owens]

Yeah.

[Dara Levan]

You know, he's a love. He's a kind. He's so supportive, but he's dealing with his own mishegos, his own stuff. And he's like, you think you could do this? And of course, she was terrified. But it also talks about chosen family. And Mel, her best friend is a jeweler. I think she's a riot. I tend to fall in love with the sub characters. I don't know why. I like. For me, I love Mel. I love Dave. There's kind of, you know, there's a character where I hope it's inferred. Sometimes grief makes you feel weird things and. And question yourself and kind of a murky lens through which we are trying to heal. And also, you know, this whole moving forward, I don't believe that you move forward. I think you carry it with you, you know, and not in a sad way, but. Talking about my husband's mother, I mean, I tell people this all the time. She taught me how to live by how she lived. And just like, when we have people in our lives who teach us who we don't want to be, I always tell my children that if they come home and say, oh, so. And so I said, well, great. That's a model for how you don't want to be. And. And that's. That's something there, too. I also brought in my speech therapy background. I think you saw. I don't want to ruin.

[Zibby Owens]

Yep, that's okay.

[Dara Levan]

But I did that last time as well. And there's a child in the spectrum, if, you know, you know, And I don't believe in labels, but I do believe in inclusion, and I think it's really important. And I'm not seeing that as much in fiction as I'd like. So I'm hoping to teach through fiction about different kinds of speech, language learning differences I don't know.

[Zibby Owens]

And the difference one person can make. I mean, she makes. Joy makes such a difference, and she

[Dara Levan]

doesn't even realize it's one little choice, right?

[Zibby Owens]

Yep.

[Dara Levan]

You just never know where you could crack a door open. And I feel like when something's really scary, you're onto something. I don't know if it terrifies me that means I'm supposed to do it. I don't mean jumping out of like an airplane. I don't get carried away. But I mean, cognitively or emotionally, I feel, gosh, I'm supposed to be doing this. I don't know why yet, but that will reveal itself.

[Zibby Owens]

Yeah. Yeah. And I think even back to the letters for a second, because I feel like that is when Joy was at her most sort of raw and expressing, like, oh my gosh, my in laws are staying here for too long. And oh my gosh, Andrey's kind of being an asshole. I mean, all the things that like, maybe people think and don't feel comfortable saying where they only tell a close friend, friend or somebody. But when her closest confidant is not there to tell, we get to be the beneficiaries. And in a way, it's almost licensed to express the things that maybe don't feel so beautiful on the outside, but are natural to feel at some point or another. So I feel like giving her that outlet was so key.

[Dara Levan]

Oh, thank you. And then I. The seasons. I feel we all have seasons. And there's a lot of. I hope it was clear. I don't know. But a lot of metaphor about she was wintering, she was hurting in fall. I always think about fall. As a Floridian, I'm still fascinated with fall. I just think it's the most glorious time. But if you really think about it, it's death. It's like the one time, I think I wrote this in here. The death is beautiful. It's. And yet the leaves are dying. So if we think about as our lives transitioning, whether there's different kinds of deaths to too right. There's a. There's a physical loss. You lose a parent, a friend, a sibling. God forbid, any. Any. But I also believe there's a loss of identity. And that's what's going on with kind of both of them in some ways. And so I think what people should consider or ought to explore in their own souls is loss isn't just a physical loss. This isn't just a loss of a person. It even be the loss of the life you imagined.

[Zibby Owens]

Yep.

[Dara Levan]

They didn't expect this, any of it. And so we can choose to recreate our lives. We can choose to pivot, we can choose to wallow and sit in it. Whatever someone chooses, that's their choice. And she chose, I think, a little bit of everything. And I felt that her, she was real too. She didn't just hold it all back and everything's perfect because it wasn't. And yet they're still incredibly madly in love and super attracted to each other and still living with such full force.

[Zibby Owens]

Yeah. You had some steamier scenes in here. Oh, like, okay, here we go. I was like, I was not expecting that.

[Dara Levan]

I wasn't either. Oh, my God. It's funny you say that because I'm sure you've heard this from the amazing millions of authors will, like over 2,000 interviews. I'm probably like, 2001, everyone. Thank you. It's interesting because I used to hear authors always say, oh, my characters just tell me what to say. And they write themselves. And I hear these voices and I always want to say, I think you need a psychopath. And now I understand because those scenes, I stepped away a few days and I came back and I said, I didn't write that. Like, who wrote that? There's like channeling, like some download I don't even know. And oh, my gosh, my kids. Last time, they're like, mom will read the book. We are not. We picture you and dad. I'm like, that is not me and dad. Dad is not Colombian. He's not 6 3. No matter what you do, right? Do people say that to you? Oh, I know that's you. Or that's so and so. It's not. It just happened.

[Zibby Owens]

I get it. I get it.

[Dara Levan]

Oh, my gosh.

[Zibby Owens]

Oh, my gosh. You just never know. Okay, so who is. Who is like, your the best reader for this book? Who needs to pick this book up today?

[Dara Levan]

That's a great question. I think anyone struggling with what life is throwing at them, which is maybe everyone, but really anyone that's experienced loss in all its forms and also maybe I would say women. There's something about your 30s and 40s, at least it was for me, that are so transformative, that are also tough. I had a lot of curveballs thrown at me as well, like health loss, you name it. Miscarriage, I mean, and I feel, and I hope that this gives people the strength and the inspiration to know that they can do anything, truly. It may take time. It's going to take healing. It's going to take a ton of heart and hard work, but I really believe that we all have the well inside of us from which to draw, even when we feel we're totally empty. I really do. So I hope this really touches people, and I hope it inspires them to live a life that they choose, not just what's expected.

[Zibby Owens]

I am inspired.

[Dara Levan]

I'm inspired.

[Zibby Owens]

Let's go conquer the world. All right.

[Dara Levan]

You already are, Siby.

[Zibby Owens]

Oh, stop. Stop, stop, stop. Congratulations, Sarah. Shaken to the core. Congrats. Thank you.

[Dara Levan]

Thank you. And yay for the green. This was an accident.

[Totally Booked Host]

Thank you for listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly Moms don't have Time to read Books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review, Follow me on Instagram, ibbyowens and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh, and buy the books.

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[Chase Sapphire Card User]

this year's girls trip to Telluride was the best. We1 upped ourselves with my Sapphire Preferred card and with 5 times points on Chase travel plus 3 times points on vacation homes with top brands, we got this incredible cabin.

[Thumbtack Narrator]

It was a mansion.

[Chase Sapphire Card User]

And with three times the points on dining, we ordered a wagyu steak dinner

[Thumbtack Narrator]

and that pistachio gelato was too good.

[Chase Sapphire Card User]

So where should we go next year?

[Dara Levan]

I've got ideas.

[Chase Sapphire Card User]

Chase Sapphire preferred the card that's preferred for a reason. Cards issued by JPMorgan Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.

[Thumbtack Narrator]

Thumbtack Presents Tile trouble Every single time I use my sink, I make eye contact with the uneven gravel on my kitchen backsplash. The crooked corners eye me and I'm haunted by more tiling questions than I thought possible. What kind of pro can fix a backsplash? Can I replace one cracked tile or should I replace them all?

[Zibby Owens]

What?

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What if I just use thumbtack? I can hire top rated pros, read reviews and compare prices with a tap all on the app. Thumbtack knows homes. Download the app.