How Being Fired As A Class Mom Changed Laurie Gelman’s Life

Laurie Gelman got fired from a volunteer gig as a class mom. Then she wrote the best-selling book series "Class Mom" and wrote her personal next chapter as an author.

Chances are you've seen Laurie Gelman from time to time on "Live with Kelly and Ryan." Her husband Michael Gelman is the show's producer.

Gelman worked in TV as well as a news anchor, reporter and TV host. She left TV after the birth of her daughters and threw herself into raising kids and volunteering at their school.

An invitation to be the class mom led to firm advice from Live's host Kelly Ripa, who warned that the volunteer gig was to be avoided at all costs. Laurie ignored Kelly's advice and jumped into the job with enthusiasm and humor.

She infused sarcasm and humor into emails with parents to get their attention about school activities. It was a huge hit with parents until it wasn't. A mother complained about Laurie's approach and Laurie got fired as class mom. Yes, you can get fired from a volunteer school position.

"It was my agent who said, when I was complaining about getting fired as class mom, 'that's your book, you know.' That's and it just poured out of me. I didn't expect to write sequels. I didn't expect anything to come of it, because it took me three years to write it, and literally, nobody on this planet was waiting for a book from Laurie Gelman. It was a happy accident," Gelman said.

"Class Mom" is now a four-book series and tells the story of Jenn Dixon, who navigates parent politics with humor, as Laurie did in real life.

It's irreverent. It's well-written. And, it turned into a total midlife career pivot Laurie Gelman never saw coming.

On this week's Dying to Ask:

• The backstory on what it takes to get fired as a class mom
• How to see the humor in universal experiences like volunteering at your kids school
• What real-life class moms think of Laurie's books
• And what its been like for Laurie and her husband to raise their family behind the scenes on on-air of "Live with Kelly and Ryan"