What if you stopped measuring your worth by output and started honoring your reality? Today I sit down with Dr. Portia Preston, public health scholar and professor on the front lines of inclusive wellness, and the author of Hustle, Flow, or Let It Go—to explore a humane, shame-free approach to mental health and daily life. After a sudden kidney disease diagnosis and late ADHD/autism diagnoses, Portia rebuilt her framework for thriving. She learned to look at her energy as fluctuating capacity, centering a simple truth: you are worthy because you exist.

What are the costs of tying identity to productivity, especially for those navigating invisible illness and disability? How does race and gender shape mental health experiences for Black women? From masking and misread depression to stigma that delays diagnosis.

Portia breaks down her three-part model: Hustle when survival or your season demands it, Flow to restore joy and resilience, and Let It Go to revise plans, change environments, or release expectations that no longer serve--all why confronting shame. 

Portia shares practical tools: five to ten-minute mini-retreats that fit real schedules, and a weekly blueprint that checks in on mind, body, and spirit while setting clear yes's and protective no's. If wellness has felt like another chore, this conversation offers a gentler way to build support, create margins, and live with intention.

If this resonates, share the episode, subscribe for more, and leave a review to help others find the show. Tell us: which lever do you need today—Hustle, Flow, or Let It Go?

How to reach Dr. Portia Jackson Preston: portiapreston.com  @drportiapreston
Empowered to Exhale: www.empoweredtoexhale.com [email protected]

Purchase Hustle, Flow, or Let it Go : A Guide to Shame-Free Wellness That Honors Your Reality and Gives You Life

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping

Music composed and performed by guitarist, JD Cullum

Edited by Brandon Moran

Sponsored by Soar With Tapping