Reese Witherspoon is hiring a librarian for her Hello Sunshine Book Club, to curate selections, chat with authors, and engage a global audience of bibliophiles in conversation about stories. Dream job for a book person.

Jennifer Puryear, founder of Bacon on the Bookshelf literary blog, is a book person nonpareil, and Hello Sunshine’s want ad caught her eye. In Jennifer’s words:

At first I thought: OMG YES!! And I was elated and my heart filled with joy!! And then I thought – OMG there is no way I would be chosen. There is no way I am good enough for this. And then I thought: What the hell do I have to lose? It is in fact my dream job.

Inner dialogues of self-doubt are dime-a-dozen among women. And, fortunately, I’m seeing more and more friends break through their self-doubt to pursue their goals. But Jennifer did something extraordinary: She asked for help!

The passage above comes from an email she sent to dozens of friends asking them to help her get her dream job. Specifically, she asked us to be backup dancers in her audition video.

As a person whose dance style could be described as arrhythmia, I hesitated. Then I thought, “What the hell do I have to lose?”

I’m so glad I didn’t let self-doubt trip me up, because the video shoot was pure joy. Dozens of friends — women and men — gathered in Jennifer’s backyard to choreograph a routine that culminated in a bend-and-snap and a sign-off of “Hello Sunshine! Pick Jennifer!”

What we backup dancers lacked in synchronization, we made up for in enthusiasm. Because Jennifer would be a great librarian for Hello Sunshine. For six years at Bacon on the Bookshelf, she has stoked thoughtful conversation about books, while fostering a supportive community of readers and writers.

Who knows if our message — including a few Harpeth Hall uniforms — will break through the pile of pink, perfumed résumés on Elle Woods’s desk. But I am certain that every member of Jennifer’s chorus line went home that day with a little more confidence to ask for help getting her moment in the spotlight — or, in Jennifer’s case, her moment in the Sunshine.