How to Tell Your Family to Back Off, According to April McDaniel and Savannah James

If you have been outside lately, you know the truth—everybody is crazy. Sadly, that goes for family, friends, and the workplace, too. And it’s normal—the problem is when other people’s crazy spills over into your life and compromises your own boundaries. 

Best friends and Everybody’s Crazy cohosts April McDaniel and Savannah James don’t hold back when it comes to dealing with the crazy, whether it’s setting boundaries, getting to the root of the issue, or both. 

Stop lying to your family about your life

One Everybody’s Crazy listener has been pulling off the same elaborate holiday deception for years. Instead of spending Thanksgiving with family, she takes a solo resort getaway—complete with mimosas, swimsuits, and floaties. Meanwhile, her parents, sister, and aunts think she’s away on a business trip.

Why the escape? She’s avoiding those nagging questions: “When are you getting married? When are you going to have kids?” You know, the questions no millennial wants to dive into. 

McDaniel emphasizes the power of speaking your truth to your family. She says, “Pushing 30 doesn’t mean sh**. You just have to be honest. Nobody is lying at 30. Everyone has their own timetable. You have to be honest about it. It’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

Take a break when life gets hectic 

Another Everybody’s Crazy listener called out James and McDaniel for the long gap between seasons of their show. It’s giving: “Twin, where have you been?”

McDaniel got serious about life feeling overwhelming professionally for both her and James since the beginning of 2025. She laughs while explaining their absence, “Life happened to us. It was a lot going on. Even in the midst of life, me and Savannah will take a beat if we feel overwhelmed, and the sh** was overwhelming.” 

Since the holidays, the girls  have been grinding—appearances, new projects, different conversations. Earlier this year they took a brief pause to do a community event in support of the Altadena fire victims, emphasizing an important point: “When life happens sometimes, I feel like people don’t realize you need to take a beat,” McDaniel says.

The illusion of having it all 

A caller struggling with whether to pursue a sports journalism certificate program while already working on two master’s degrees prompts McDaniel to remind her that being busy isn’t the same as being successful. 

“I feel like a lot of young women are very ambitious but forget about their personal life. When it comes to ‘having it all,’ being a mom, a wife, and a career woman, it’s great to be ambitious. But there also needs to be space for the unknown. The space is where love, dating, creativity, and community happens.” 

James shares this same sentiment, saying, “There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, as long as you can do it in a way when you find space. People burn themselves to the ground because they are doing too much and not taking care of themselves.”

Their point: What if you set boundaries around time to rest and recharge? What if, instead of optimizing every moment, you just left some space for spontaneous plans, or boredom, or things that aren’t on your endless to-do list? In the words of McDaniel, when you are gone from this earth, “What will people know you for? Will people say you were tired all the time?”

For more life advice, check out Everybody’s Crazy.