The Summer I Turned Pretty’s third and final season is currently rolling out. At the moment of publishing this blog, we have five more episodes to come before we’re in a post-TSITP world. And, if you’ve been tuning in, you might feel the same anxiety I do as we watch our main character, Belly, navigate the predicament she’s only just allowing herself to become aware of on a more conscious level—was anyone else hyperventilating when she helped Conrad with the cut from his surfboard?
For those who haven’t watched this charming Amazon Prime show, The Summer I Turned Pretty follows Belly, a girl who grew up spending summers with two brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. Over the years, she develops deep feelings for both, creating an emotional tangle that’s as engaging to watch as it is heart-wrenching. By the end of the previous seasons, Belly has chosen Jeremiah, leading to an engagement after a traumatic event prompts them to commit to one another—but anyone watching closely knows that her story with Conrad isn’t over.
Here’s the thing: it’s genuinely hard to watch. These characters are sympathetic, fallible, and relatable. No matter what they do, some pain is inevitable. Belly herself will be hurt in the process of deciding what to do next—even if her decision ultimately preserves her own well-being, it will come with emotional wounds.
Navigating Impossible Decisions
This is where the connection to the nonprofit sector becomes clear: Belly’s dilemma, if you’ll walk with me on this one, could be considered a fairly robust metaphor for the tough decisions we face as nonprofit professionals. In our world, trade-offs are constant: allocating limited resources, balancing staff well-being against mission outcomes, or making strategic choices that may disappoint some stakeholders. Krug and Weinberg (in their article “Mission, Money, and Merit: Strategic Decision Making by Nonprofit Managers”) describe a model for nonprofit decision-making that tracks programs along three dimensions—mission, financial health, and quality—and emphasizes that leaders often face context-dependent, value-driven choices with no clear “perfect” solution. Like Belly, we must weigh imperfect options while maintaining integrity and empathy. Watching her navigate impossible choices reminds us that sometimes the best path forward is the one that aligns with our values and organizational priorities, even if it requires difficult trade-offs.
Emotional Exposure Therapy
Beyond the strategic takeaway, there’s also a subtle, almost therapeutic benefit to observing these high-stakes dilemmas unfold. Watching Belly confront emotionally charged situations allows us to practice “emotional exposure therapy”—an opportunity to take a small emotional sip of a scenario we may face ourselves. Nonprofit work is full of high-pressure, emotionally complex moments: conflict among colleagues, advocacy challenges, tough funding decisions. Research suggests that exposure to emotionally charged media can evoke strong feelings while also providing opportunities to practice emotion regulation strategies, building resilience and improving our capacity to tolerate discomfort (Mousoulidou, Taxitari, & Christodoulou, 2024). Seeing a character survive intense circumstances—even melodramatic ones—helps us build tolerance for discomfort, practice staying present, and approach our own real-world challenges with greater patience and empathy.
Ultimately, what we see in Belly is a reflection of resilience. She is a well-meaning, caring person who has found herself in a deeply fraught situation. She will survive, adapt, and eventually find joy again, even if the path leaves her with some scars. As nonprofit professionals, we can take a similar lesson: mistakes happen, tough calls must be made, and pain is sometimes unavoidable—but we are capable of navigating it and coming through stronger.
So, yes, this beachy melodrama might seem worlds away from the nonprofit sector—but in its tension, its stakes, and its ultimate resolution, it offers a surprisingly relevant mirror. Watching Belly reminds us that emotional intelligence, tough decision-making, and resilience are skills we can cultivate—one episode at a time.