Why I Wrote a Book About Gut Feel

(Even When Everyone Told Me Not To)

Over a decade ago, in the thick of my PhD program, I proposed a dissertation topic on “gut feel.” I was fascinated by how people make decisions—especially the high-stakes, high-uncertainty kind. You know, the ones where the data is murky, the pressure’s high, and no spreadsheet can really tell you what to do. Like deciding whether to invest in a startup. I wanted to understand: were people truly driven by data… or were they guided by something deeper? Something quieter. More personal. Less obvious.

The reaction from most academics?

“It’s too fuzzy.”
“It’s just a slang term, not something you can study.”
“You’ll never publish that.”
“You’ll never get a job.”

Basically: “Great question, terrible idea.”

They told me to drop it. But I couldn’t. Because even if gut feel was misunderstood and academically unapproved, I knew it was real. I had seen too many people—founders, investors, artists, athletes—make bold decisions with a quiet conviction they couldn’t quite explain. And I wanted to understand that.

So I studied it anyway. I interviewed investors, ran field studies, built theory, tracked patterns, tested assumptions and muttered about gut feel in my sleep (according to my husband). Eventually, I completed my dissertation on “investor gut feel.” And I kept going.

I started talking to people far beyond the world of venture capital—Olympic athletes, Pulitzer winners, world-record holders. Moms reentering the workforce after years away. Formerly incarcerated individuals rebuilding their lives. Chefs. VCs. Artists. Leaders. Misfits.

I asked all of them what made them successful—not just by resume standards, but in how they navigated complex, chaotic choices with confidence.

And over time, something became clear: gut feel isn’t magic. It’s not luck. And it’s not some mysterious sixth sense that shows up one day, fully formed.

It’s a skill. A quiet, learned, often-overlooked skill that sits at the intersection of experience and information. The best decisions, I found, don’t come from certainty. They come from clarity.

This book—You Already Know: The Science of Mastering Your Intuition—is about that clarity.

It’s about what happens when everything you’ve lived, learned, felt, and absorbed quietly comes together and says: go. It’s about learning to tell the difference between intuition (the process) and gut feel (the outcome). It’s about hearing what whispers when the world keeps yelling louder.

I wrote this book for people who are tired of second-guessing. For people who’ve made twelve pro-con lists and still feel stuck. For people who’ve looked back on a decision and thought, I knew it… I just didn’t listen.

It’s not a book about being impulsive. It’s a book about being grounded. About tuning into the wisdom you already carry. And most of all, it’s about helping people make better, faster, more confident decisions—not because the data says so, but because their entire lived experience is speaking up and saying: You already know.

It comes out July 29. And I can’t wait for you to read it.

Laura