Becoming With Precious: The Journey of Personal Growth And Reinvention

What do you do when you realize the irrational terror paralyzing your entire life stems from the unsolved murder of your father, and the only way to heal is to audaciously hunt down the truth the military tried to bury?Allicia Johnson Niles spent the first thirty years of her life suffocating under the weight of a tragedy she could not even remember. When she was just two years old, her father, a narcotics officer in the United States Navy, was murdered point blank by one of his own men who pled insanity and walked free. Growing up in a perpetual state of fight or flight, Allicia battled severe CPTSD, crippling anxiety, and a deep seated belief that she was fundamentally unworthy of connection. Because society dictates that we should move on from things we cannot remember, she suppressed her grief until a simple conversation granted her the radical permission to finally mourn the father she never knew.

That single moment of validation sparked an audacious pivot. Refusing to remain a hostage to her own terror, Allicia bypassed the barriers of the military justice system to track down her father's killer and uncover the raw truth of his death. In this deeply human conversation, she opens up about the brutal realities of trauma recovery, the undeniable impact of EMDR therapy, and the grit required to rewrite a legacy of fear. Her journey of unlikely courage not only broke the chains of her own anxiety but ultimately brought profound healing to the silent veterans who witnessed her father's tragic end.

In this episode of Becoming With Precious, you will discover:

• Trauma does not require a memory to control your life. Suppressing grief because you were too young to remember the event only breeds deep seated anxiety and a false sense of unworthiness.

• Unlikely courage is not the absence of fear, but the audacity to take one terrifying step forward. Healing begins the moment you decide to confront the very thing you have spent your life running from.

• Forgiveness cannot be forced to meet societal expectations. It is an unpolished, non linear process that arrives on its own timeline, and refusing to fake it is a vital boundary for genuine recovery.

• Facing your darkest truth has a ripple effect. By demanding answers for her own survival, Allicia inadvertently unlocked decades of silent trauma for the military veterans connected to her father.

Connect with Allicia Johnson Niles

Website:https://www.angelinarlington.com/

https://unlikelycourage.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/alliciajniles/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@UnlikelyCourage

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/unlikelycourage/

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Want to be a guest on Becoming With Precious? Send a guest pitch to Precious via PodMatch: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176899343478193608b794da1

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Unlikely Courage

01:32 Alicia's Journey of Discovery

05:10 Living in the Shadow of Trauma

07:02 The Turning Point: Seeking Answers

10:29 Defining Unlikely Courage

12:16 Challenges in the Becoming Process

14:01 The Cost of Living in Fear

15:35 Impact on Relationships

17:54 Forgiveness and Healing

19:34 Writing for Healing and Connection

20:05 The Message of 'Angel in Arlington'

When your lead developer walks out on your biggest, most complex project, do you fold, or do you roll up your sleeves, break a few things, and figure out how to build the impossible yourself?

Wes Towers didn't build a 20-year digital agency empire by sitting in a lecture hall. He built OptLift 360 by making messes, facing down disastrous projects, and learning the hard way after his lead developer abandoned a massive build. Instead of quitting, Wes dug in, figured out the complex code himself, and discovered that real growth only happens in the trenches. Today, he champions the raw, pragmatic founders of the construction and trade industries, proving that grit translates perfectly from physical job sites to digital spaces.

In this conversation, we strip away the polished marketing jargon to talk about what survival really looks like when the rules keep changing. Wes opens up about the terror and necessity of pivoting, especially as AI floods the market with superficial noise. He reveals why the ultimate goal of your website shouldn't be to keep people online, but to drive them into genuine human conversations, and how confronting your internal psychology is the only way to truly lead through a business crisis.

In this episode of Becoming With Precious, you will discover:

• Human connection is your ultimate defense against the flood of AI generated noise, making authenticity a non-negotiable business strategy.

• Compartmentalizing your stress works for immediate crises, but long-term leadership requires facing and resolving your internal conflicts.

• True agility belongs to the underdog. Small businesses can pivot and seize opportunities far faster than massive corporations ever could.

• The actual purpose of a high-value website is to get prospects off the screen and into a real conversation where trust is built.

Connect with Wes Towers

Website: https://uplift360.com.au/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/westowers/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@uplift_360/streams

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Uplift360Aus

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/uplift_360/

TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@westowers

X:https://x.com/uplift_360

If this episode resonates with you; like, subscribe and share with someone. You can also leave a review and comment on the show.

Want to be a guest on Becoming With Precious?

Send a guest pitch to Precious via PodMatch: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176899343478193608b794da1

Chapters

00:00 The Journey Begins: Breaking into Entrepreneurship

03:10 Building Trust in a Noisy World

06:14 Authenticity vs. AI: The Human Connection

09:06 Navigating Change: Mindset Shifts for Success

11:56 Resilience in Leadership: Managing Challenges

15:02 The Future of Business: Consulting Over Technology

What do you do when you wake up in the middle of a successful 17-year science career and realize you have absolutely no idea why you are there?

Paul Burgmayer spent nearly two decades as an industrial chemist before a layoff shattered his professional identity. Forced to pivot with a young family relying on him, he stepped into the classroom as a high school chemistry teacher, a gritty transition that took years to feel right. But the real awakening happened quietly in the background. Guided by a profound internal pull and deeply honest spiritual reflection, Paul made the audacious leap from hard facts and well-water systems to the complex terrain of the human soul.

Now a retired spiritual director and published author, Paul proves that reinvention is rarely clean or easy. It involves wrestling with financial panic, losing the shared language of your old peers, and braving the sheer terror of starting at the bottom. In this conversation, we explore what it actually takes to rebuild your identity from scratch, why you never have to abandon your old passions to embrace new ones, and the raw vulnerability of putting your life's work out into the world.

In this episode of Becoming With Precious, you will discover:

• Identity shifts are brutal. Leaving a career means losing the shared language and culture of your peers, and rebuilding that takes time and immense grit.

• Passions do not have to compete. You can pursue a demanding new path without abandoning the hobbies and joys that have grounded you for decades.

• Psychology and spirituality are permanently linked. You cannot authentically guide the human soul without acknowledging the psychological elements we all experience daily.

• Becoming never stops. Even at 69, launching a book and stepping into a new chapter requires the audacity to face the unknown all over again.

Connect with Paul Burgmayer

Website: http://historyofsd.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-burgmayer-

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.burgmayer

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/burgmayerpaul?igsh

If this episode resonates with you; like, subscribe and share with someone. You can also leave a review and comment on the show.

Want to be a guest on Becoming With Precious?

Send a guest pitch to Precious via PodMatch: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176899343478193608b794da1

Chapters

00:00 The Journey of Becoming

03:03 Mid-Career Awakening and Identity Shift

05:53 Navigating Fear and Doubt

09:00 The Challenges of Transition

11:58 Writing the Book: A Research Journey

13:06 Advice for Reconciling Passions

What happens when you realize the very success you have been chasing is the exact thing tearing your life apart behind closed doors?

Dr. Holly Battrum spent years in the treatment room practicing traditional East Asian medicine, only to discover a harsh truth about the high achievers she admired. They were completely disconnected, running on fumes, and using quick physical fixes to mask deep emotional and systemic burnout. Realizing that simply treating elbow pain or prescribing rest was not enough, she made the bold pivot to holistic behavioral coaching. She stepped out of her comfort zone to help leaders change their actual daily lives, not just their physical symptoms.

In this profound conversation, Dr. Battrum tears down the illusion of work-life balance, comparing it to walking an exhausting tightrope. Instead, she advocates for the messy, rhythmic reality of a well-lived life. We explore the audacity it takes to push through the discomfort of finding emotional regulation, why genuine self-care requires making unbroken promises to yourself rather than taking a bubble bath, and how literal physical movement can reset a hijacked nervous system. This episode is a raw guide to trading chaotic survival mode for grounded clarity.

In this episode of Becoming With Precious, you will discover:

• Work-life balance is an exhausting myth. True sustainability comes from embracing dynamic rhythm, honoring both the hard pushes and the necessary pullbacks.

• Shifting from dysregulation to regulation is deeply uncomfortable. Healing requires the grit to sit with unfamiliar emotions rather than running back to the familiarity of chaos.

• Genuine self-care is built on self-promises. You would not break a meaningful commitment to a good friend, so you must stop breaking them with yourself.

• When you are wired but tired, your sympathetic nervous system is dominating. Small, audacious physical actions like shaking your limbs can help release trapped cortisol and restore clarity.

Connect with Dr. Holly Battrum

Website:https://sjokort.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-battrum/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/holly_battrum/

If this episode resonates with you; like, subscribe and share with someone. You can also leave a review and comment on the show.

Want to be a guest on Becoming With Precious?

Send a guest pitch to Precious via PodMatch: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176899343478193608b794da1

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Journey of Leadership

01:29 The Disconnection of Achievers

03:10 From Treatment to Transformation

05:45 Redefining Balance: The Rhythm of Life

08:04 Navigating Discomfort for Emotional Regulation

09:24 Self-Care vs. Self-Promise

11:04 Understanding Nervous System Regulation

12:25 Eastern Philosophy and Cycles of Growth

14:31 Small Steps to Clarity

15:40 The Future of Leadership: Emotional Intelligence

What does it take to mend a fractured relationship with an estranged parent, leave the corporate grind behind, and finally publish the book you hid away for a decade?

Terry Bean grew up as the mediator in a 1960s blended family, constantly running from domestic angst to create a quiet sanctuary in her own mind. That early survival mechanism of seeking peace planted the seed for a lifelong pursuit of personal development. After decades in the corporate world navigating high-stakes markets, Terry made the audacious pivot to step away from the nine-to-five grind. She leaned into her grit, became a certified life coach, and did the hard, unpolished work of handing an olive branch to her estranged mother, stepping into the demanding role of a full-time caregiver.

In this raw conversation, Terry opens up about the decade-long delay in publishing her children's book, Abracadabra, and the paralyzing fear of finding the right creative partners. She explores the profound courage required to set fierce boundaries with family members and the necessity of processing brutal grief without getting trapped in the drama. By reconnecting with her inner child, Terry proves that true emotional sovereignty comes from trusting the wizard inside you, rather than constantly chasing external validation.

In this episode of Becoming With Precious, you will discover:

• Escape the validation trap: Constantly seeking external approval destroys self-esteem; true confidence requires trusting your own internal compass and making decisions based on how they actually feel.

• Boundaries are an act of survival: Caretaking for an elderly parent or navigating difficult family dynamics requires fierce, uncompromising boundaries to protect your own mental bandwidth.

• Do not get stuck in the drama: You must allow yourself to feel the raw, brutal pain of grief and tragedy, but you must also refuse to let those moments become your permanent identity.

• Reclaim your inner child: Adulthood often forces us to forget how to play, but reconnecting with your earliest, most joyful self is a mandatory step for deep emotional healing.

Connect with Terry Bean

Website:https://terrybeanauthor.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-bean/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@terrybean1

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/thewisebean

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thewisebeanofficial/

TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@thewisebeanofficial

If this episode resonates with you; like, subscribe and share with someone. You can also leave a review and comment on the show.

Want to be a guest on Becoming With Precious?

Send a guest pitch to Precious via PodMatch: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176899343478193608b794da1

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Terry Bean and Her Journey

05:43 The Birth of Abracadabra: A Journey of Timing

12:25 Trusting Your Inner Wizard: The Importance of Self-Approval

18:01 Redefining Success: Caregiving and Personal Growth

21:16 Connecting with the Inner Child: Unlearning Adulthood

22:09 Nurturing Children's Inner Light: The Role of Parents

What happens to your identity when a brutal cancer diagnosis strips away your ability to perform, forcing you to trade a lifetime of perfectionism for the uncomfortable audacity of simply being present?Laura Sharp-Waites spent her life mastering the art of keeping it together. As a pastoral counselor, she was accustomed to being the strong one, delivering baked goods and comfort to others while maintaining an illusion of flawless productivity. But when a devastating breast cancer diagnosis brought her world to a sudden halt, her perfectly curated life unraveled. Stripped of her energy by brutal chemotherapy, Laura found herself in a raw, vulnerable season of waiting, too exhausted to even stand in her kitchen or microwave a cup of coffee. The dishes piled up, the laundry sat in the dryer, and she was forced to confront a brutal internal battle: let go of her toxic perfectionism or break completely under the weight of her own expectations.

In this episode, Laura reveals the grit required to completely redefine her relationship with success and faith. She shares the messy reality of shifting from a human doing to a human being, explaining how she learned to stop rushing through the pain and instead allow her spirituality to meet her in the wreckage. Now known as The Baking Pastor, Laura advocates for the power of the soul pause, teaching others how to drop the facade, embrace the discomfort of receiving help, and find profound purpose in the most unpolished chapters of life.

In this episode of Becoming With Precious, you will discover:

• Waiting is not wasted time: Seasons of intense delay and exhaustion are often the exact places where the deepest internal healing occurs.

• Surrender your perfectionism: True grit sometimes looks like leaving the dishes in the sink and giving yourself the grace to simply survive.

• The audacity to receive: Refusing help robs others of their blessing; true vulnerability requires allowing yourself to be seen and supported in your weakest moments.

• Redefine your success metric: A meaningful life is not measured by checked boxes, but by your alignment with your actual physical and emotional capacity.

Connect with Laura Sharp-WaitesWebsite: https://bakingpastor.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bakingpastorlaura

Facebook:https://facebook.com/thebakingpastorlaura

Instagram:https://instagram.com/bakingpastorlaura

Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/TheBakingPastor/

SoulPause Journal on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/soulpause-journal

If this episode resonates with you; like, subscribe and share with someone. You can also leave a review and comment on the show.

Want to be a guest on Becoming With Precious?

Send a guest pitch to Precious via PodMatch: https://podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/176899343478193608b794da1

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to the Journey of Personal Growth

01:21 The Birth of the Baking Pastel: A Personal Transformation

02:03 Facing Cancer and Emotional Exhaustion 03:26 From Doing to Being: The Catalyst for Change

07:12 Staying Present in the Midst of Burnout

09:03 The Power of Permission and Self-Compassion

11:54 Practical Steps: Surrendering Control and Seeking Help

13:50 Redefining Success: Spiritual and Emotional Fulfillment

15:18 Advice for Seasons of Exhaustion and Waiting

What happens when you are diagnosed with an incurable disease, confined to a wheelchair, and told you will never ride again, but your audacity to heal proves louder than the medical prognosis?Kasia Bukowska was an active, competitive equestrian until a sudden lupus diagnosis confined her to a wheelchair. Bedridden and consumed by the humiliating guilt of feeling like a burden to her family, she hit absolute emotional rock bottom. Instead of continuing to run from the pain through unhealthy coping mechanisms, she finally allowed herself to feel the profound agony of her reality. That surrender cleared the mental space for an audacious pivot. Armed with nothing but a canvas, paint, and a stubborn refusal to accept a life without horses, Kasia searched how to train a horse from a wheelchair and decided she would either succeed or die trying.

Today, Kasia is an internationally recognized equine therapist and artist living entirely off her medications. In this raw conversation, she details the brutal journey of retraining her body and mind, using art to bypass her perfectionism and horses to mirror her hidden emotional blocks. She explains the terrifying grit required to trust radical intuition over logic, including her decision to move to Poland simply because her gut told her a specific horse had wisdom to share. Her story is a fierce reminder that we do not have to live inside the boxes our diagnoses or society build for us.

In this episode of Becooming With Precious, you will discover:

• Hitting emotional rock bottom is a catalyst. Only by sitting in the absolute extreme of your pain can you release it and clear the mental space required for a massive pivot.

• Your external environment mirrors your internal blocks. Horses, like life, respond directly to your nervous system and will force you to confront the exact emotions you are trying to suppress.

• Radical intuition overrides logic. When you have been conditioned to ignore your gut feeling, rebuilding self-trust starts by making small choices based entirely on what brings you peace rather than external approval.

• Growth does not always require a brutal struggle. When you stop forcing the outcome and melt into the present moment, you realize that it is completely acceptable for the healing process to feel easy.

Connect with Kasia BukowskaWebsite: https://www.hearthorseexperience.com/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bukowskaart/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/equestriankasiabukowska/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/equestriankasiabukowska

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@equestriankasia

Chapters

00:00 Journey from Darkness to Healing

07:37 The Power of Observation and Connection

13:14 Horses as Mirrors of Our Subconscious

16:21 Trusting Intuition and Following Your Gut

22:03 Becoming: The Next Evolution of Self

How do you find the audacity to reclaim your voice and identity after a rare, devastating illness and compounded trauma completely strip away the life you once knew?

Timothy endured the unimaginable when Stevens Johnson syndrome and compounded trauma forced him into a brutal battle for his life and identity. Instead of allowing profound shame and severe physical devastation to dictate his future, he made the gritty choice to stop hiding. This was not a simple, clean recovery but an ongoing fight to accept his new reality, rebuild his mental health, and embrace disability pride in a world that often demands perfection.

In this conversation, Timothy unpacks the sheer audacity required to transform deep pain into relentless advocacy. We discuss the harsh reality that mental health struggles deeply impact the people around you and how true healing demands the courage to be intensely vulnerable. Timothy reveals how he weaponized storytelling to create a safe space for others, proving that surviving trauma is just the first step in the lifelong, rebellious journey of becoming your authentic self.

Key Takeaways:

• Surviving a catastrophic illness like Stevens Johnson syndrome demands the grit to rebuild your entire identity from the ground up.

• True resilience is not born from ignoring pain, but from having the audacity to face compounded trauma and share your most vulnerable story.

• Mental health struggles do not exist in a vacuum; acknowledging their profound impact on those around you is a brutal but necessary step toward real healing.

• Creating a safe space for others to share their raw reality is one of the most powerful ways to accelerate your own personal growth and self acceptance.

How do you find the audacity to rewrite your entire life's trajectory when you are caught in the exhausting tension between corporate stability and the raw, unfiltered call of your true purpose?

Venchele Saint Dic understands the heavy, often unseen friction that exists between sterile systemic structures and the raw, lived experiences of marginalized communities. Growing up in Haiti before navigating the complexities of the United States, she experienced firsthand what true, gritty community resilience looks like. When she entered the public health sector, she quickly hit a wall, realizing that the systems designed to help people were fundamentally disconnected from the human stories they claimed to serve. This disconnect sparked an audacious pivot, leading Venchele to wield writing not just as a tool for personal survival and identity processing, but as a fierce weapon for advocacy, healing, and systemic change.

In this deep conversation, Venchele pulls back the curtain on the grueling reality of building a purpose-driven business while demanding equity in the public health space. She rejects the polished narrative of the overnight leap, opening up about the crushing burnout of overachieving, the necessity of surrendering outdated identities, and the immense courage it takes to confront systemic failures. Her story is a masterclass in the unpolished process of self-becoming, proving that you do not need absolute certainty to start moving toward alignment, you just need the grit to take the next intentional step.

In this episode of Becoming With Precious, you will discover:

• Clarity comes through messy action, not passive waiting.

• Writing is a profound tool for survival and processing.

• True community resilience cannot be engineered in a boardroom.

• Overachieving is often a trauma response masquerading as ambition.

Connect with Venchele Saint Dic

Website: https://pathwaycoachwriting.com/

LinkedIn: Venchele Saint DicFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/venchele.dic?mibextid=ZbWKwLYouTube: https://youtube.com/@pathwaycoachwriting?si=UMjtoIRegBzuQy2O

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venchelesaintdic?igsh=cWNrbnVsd3RyN2ln

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Venchele Saint Dic03:00 Cultural Background and Community Resilience

06:13 The Power of Writing for Healing

08:54 Navigating Setbacks in Public Health and Writing

15:01 Empowering Families Through Life-Changing Events

17:12 Staying Grounded Amid Systemic Challenges

19:53 Advice for Navigating Career Pivots

21:06 Becoming: Alignment and Trust

What does it take to rebuild your entire existence after surviving an attempted murder and battling a crippling food addiction that masked your deepest pain?

Jonathan Mike Lennon knows what it means to hit absolute rock bottom and claw his way back. After surviving an attempted murder in South Africa, he found himself trapped in a severe food addiction, hiding his trauma behind the comfortable mask of the jolly fat guy. In this raw conversation, the former Navy marine engineer and nanotech researcher strips away the illusion that we can simply out-think our deepest struggles. He reveals the gritty truth that true transformation requires confronting the darkest parts of your identity with radical self-care, proving that even brushing your teeth can be an audacious declaration of self-worth.

We dive deep into the neuroscience of burnout, unpacking how an overloaded nervous system demands a complete lifestyle pivot. Jonathan explains why technical knowledge is useless without genuine human connection, sharing how the fierce compassion of one person ultimately saved his life when his own mind turned against him. This episode is a no-nonsense guide for anyone ready to stop self-loathing, drop the destructive labels, and embrace the grit required to completely rewrite their reality.

Key Takeaways:

• Radical transformation demands the grit to drop comfortable but destructive identities, like the funny guy masking deep pain.

• Burnout is not a badge of honor; it is a severe nervous system overload that requires an immediate, audacious pivot.

• You cannot outsmart trauma with intellect; profound human connection and relentless compassion are the true catalysts for healing.

• Reclaiming your self-worth starts with microscopic acts of self-care that directly contradict your own self-loathing.