By Loren DeLand
A sports enthusiast and former ESPN anchor, Joe has spent the majority of his career entertaining male audiences. When the work day ends, however, he heads home to a wife and four daughters. Needless to say, he has learned a thing or two about how to make women happy, and is now sharing this precious advice in 150 Secrets to a Happy Wife. Both comedic and touching, this book is a must-read for all couples looking to share a laugh and better understand one another.
We had the privilege of interviewing Joe via about his new book last month. Here’s what he had to say:
You’ve become something of an expert on women and relationships. What is it about this particular subject that appeals to you?
I love talking about it because I think marriage is a funny topic, especially when you throw in kids, pets, in-laws, marriage counselors and weird siblings.  There are topics about marriage that are more serious, like divorce, but that’s the whole point of being married – making sure it never gets to that point. As couples, we start off as being the number one priority, but then over the years we become number two, three and four.  This book is perfect for all men, especially young men just starting out. It gives a humorous, upbeat outlook into the minds of women and what makes them really happy in life.
You and your wife have four lovely daughters. Do you think this has shaped the perspective you take when writing about how men interact with women? Would you have written the same book if you’d had four sons?
Yes and no to your first question because the book is actually about women, written for men. Do I think Bubba, down on the construction site, is going to take off lunch early so he can go buy it to show all of his friends? No, and I don’t think men like being told by another man how they should act around their wives. I live with five females and grew up with two sisters, so I think I know a little about what women want. Of course, living with five females, what they want changes on a daily basis. I would say yes to the second part of the question. I would have written the same book for my boys, knowing this is the perfect book for young men getting married.
Many of your secrets don’t advocate for grand, sweeping gestures, but call for men to take part in daily, mundane tasks, such as doing the laundry, replacing the toilet paper roll and carrying in the grocery bags. Can you elaborate on why the small details matter the most?
I could get a speeding ticket, burn the house down because I left a candle burning and curse my mother-in-law and my wife would really not care. But for some reason, if I don’t wipe off the two scraps of food left on the plate from dinner the night before and put it in the dishwasher, my wife acts like it’s Armageddon.  I think most women love the little things and depend and expect them. As far as the larger, sweeping gestures, I think they appreciate them when they eventually happen.
You’re quite an accomplished TV/radio broadcaster in the sports world. Can your fans look forward to a sports-themed book in the near future?
Actually, I have written a sports-themed book called From Humor To Hormones.  It’s a book about birth, and for those who don’t think the process of birth is a sport, you need to read this book.  For example, you have a baseball team (a pregnant wife expecting). That team has practice (three trimesters). That team has coaches (husbands). The game will have umpires (doctors, nurses, midwives). The game will have points (centimeters dilated). During the game, baseball players will grab their crotch in front of thousands of people on live TV (women deliver a baby from the crotch area in front of a lot of people in the delivery room). The team sweats during the game so they drink water to quench their thirst (the mom-to-be definitely sweats more, but instead of drinking water, her water actually breaks). The team has fans cheering them on (the wife has her husband and others cheering her to push).  The team has uniforms (the wife has a hospital gown). The team holds up the championship trophy (the parents hold up their baby).   Actually, there are a lot of sports analogies in the book, but NO, it’s not a sports book and I don’t see myself writing an official one anytime soon.
Is there any advice you can share with women about dating?
There are 10 types of men women marry. I’m going to give you five now and then your female readers can buy the book I’m currently writing to find out the other five. You have the ATHLETE, the NERD, the BUSINESSMAN, the ACTOR and the the WANNABE. In my book, it explains who the perfect man is to marry. He may be in this group or he may not. The point of the book is to literally breakdown everything each type brings to the table, as far as marriage. As far as advice, I would tell women to make a list of what makes them truly happy and start with the number one thing.
150 Secrets is now officially available nationwide. What is the next project you’re excited about tackling?
I wrote a book about how couples not only deal with children with ADD/ADHD, but how they deal with each other’s ADD/ADHD. It’s a fun, humorous look about a man who not only had dyslexia when he was younger, but had a speech impediment as well. He had a seventh grade reading level when he graduated high school, was accused of cheating through college, and was rejected for his first book by 70 literary agents. Despite his dyslexia and ADHD, he went on to graduate college after 9 years, became an award-winning author of three books, has worked for companies like ESPN and Fox Sports, and ended up doing a fun online interview with the greatest website on the planet called CupidsPulse.com.
Cupid thanks Gumm for his time! You can find 150 Secrets to a Happy Wife on Amazon. For more on the author, visit his website at JoeGumm.com or follow him on Twitter: @JoeGumm.
