Caroline Foran is an Irish author, journalist and podcaster. She specialises in writing non-fiction about anxiety, confidence, and mental health. She is best known for her 2017 bestseller, Owning It. She also hosts the Owning It Anxiety Podcast, which has attracted millions of listeners.
Caroline Foran began her career as a journalist and broadcaster. She became a prominent voice in the Irish media. Her debut book, Owning It, was published in May 2017. It documents her personal experience with anxiety.
Owning It introduced her 'Assess and Address Approach' to readers. The book remained at number one for sixteen weeks. It was nominated for Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year in 2017. Foran later won the Gamechanger award at the 2017 U Magazine Awards.
In 2018, she was nominated as a Thought Provoker. This nomination came from the Xpose Benefit Awards. Around this period, she launched the Owning It Anxiety Podcast. The podcast immediately reached number one in the Irish iTunes charts.
Soon after, Foran published her second book, The Confidence Kit. This addressed the fear of failure and confidence gaps. The book was later retitled You Got This for its release in the United States.
Her third book, NAKED: Ten Truths to Change Your Life, followed. This examined vulnerability as a source of personal strength. Despite launching during the pandemic, the book became a bestseller.
Foran's podcast continued to grow in popularity in subsequent years. It surpassed 6.5 million downloads during its run. It once ranked as the top health podcast in the UK. In 2023, Foran launched an expanded version called 'Owning It: Real Time'.
In 2026, he published Everything I Wish I'd Known About Anxiety. Caroline Foran described the book as her most personal work to date. "This is the most confident I've ever felt about something I've written," she said. She designed it as a step-by-step guide for readers. She explained her reasoning behind this structured approach.
"So much of what we read about anxiety can feel like an overwhelming menu of options," she said. She added that she wanted to tell readers exactly where to start. The book begins with the importance of confiding in a trusted person.
Foran drew on both personal experience and research when writing the text. For example, she referenced a study by psychologist Matthew Lieberman on emotional labelling. The book also addresses themes of parenting drawn from her own life.
Photo credit: carolineforan.com
