“Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Star Mayci Neeley wrote and published her very own memoir that was released Oct. 7. She hosted a book tour throughout the release week where she visited numerous locations around the country. I had the pleasure of attending her first stop on Oct. 7 at the 5th Ave Barnes & Noble in New York City.
The event began at noon on Tuesday. When I arrived, the line was out the door. A worker came through and scanned our tickets (which were only $35!). A second worker came through and asked us to sign a release form. This made me wonder if the team was filming season four of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives!” The production assistant said he couldn’t disclose that information when I asked, but one can wonder. My boyfriend, my roommate and I all waited outside for about a half hour before they brought us into the store. The employees guided us right upstairs. When we got off the escalator, we saw a giant tent-like structure to our left: our final destination.
We were in a fast-moving line from then on. We were surprised because the three of us had all made guesses that we would probably be in line until 2 p.m.. It was only around 1 p.m. at this point.
Once we got inside the tent, there was a short line to wait in for the photo-op, but we saw her. She was right in front of us when the curtain opened. Neeley moved from my television screen to a spot right in front of me. She’s a lot taller than you’d expect or, at least, than I’d expect (I’m only 4’11”). We took our photo with her, said thank you for having us and told her how excited we were to start reading, then moved on.
Guess who was standing not so far away from Neeley? Mikayla Matthews, another Mormon Wife. Seeing her was a nice surprise; she was there to support her good friend on her book release day.
Obviously, we took a photo with Matthews too.
It’s hard for me to put into words what meeting “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’” cast means. I recently had an unexpected death in my family. This show was one we used to watch together. Meeting Neeley and Matthews made me feel like I was connected to him despite him being gone.
Neeley experienced the unexpected death of her baby daddy ten years ago. Her new memoir discusses how she dealt with her grief and acquired the career she has today. Not only is she a Tiktok influencer, but she also has started her own brand, Baby Mama.
Baby Mama is a new natal vitamin company which Neeley runs as CEO. She came up with the idea after struggling with her own infertility. She wanted to provide other mothers with low-calorie, organic vitamins that are free of fillers, preservatives, and dyes for before, during and after pregnancy.
Neeley discusses all of these career goals in her new book that I cannot wait to pick up soon.