Crazy Beautiful Truth

Content warning: Our conversation includes talk of suicide and mental health for military personnel and first responders. Dial 988 for the Suicide and Crisis LifeLine in Canada and the US

A highly sought-after coach and international speaker on leadership, Erica Gifford Mills has built her career helping others root deeply and lead authentically. But her wisdom has been tested and forged in fire.

From breast cancer to the devastating loss of her son Conner, Erica has lived the truth of loving yourself back into life.

If you’ve ever felt burned out, isolated, or like you should be “stronger” than your pain, this episode is your reminder:

✔ You don’t have to do it alone.

✔ Self-love isn’t vanity. It’s oxygen.

✔ Asking for help is not weakness. It’s wisdom.

Together we explore resilience, asking for help, self-love, boundaries, intuition, and how to turn pain into purpose, wounds into wisdom. Erica’s story will stay with you long after the episode ends.

Chapters00:00 Introduction01:14 Empowerment and Self-Discovery03:47 Navigating Change and Self-Worth06:20 Facing Adversity: Cancer Journey08:54 Reconnecting with Identity and Beauty11:28 Vulnerability and Asking for Help14:12 Conner's Legacy and Mental Health Awareness19:26 The Importance of Asking for Help22:51 Navigating Isolation and Connection25:58 Embracing Uncomfortable Conversations28:58 Authenticity in Leadership32:47 Self-Awareness and Emotional Fluency37:03 Setting Boundaries in Communication38:00 The Importance of Boundaries43:21 Empowering Women Through StorytellingKeywordsself-love, boundaries, resilience, mental health, women empowerment, personal growth, community, leadership, emotional awareness, connection

Enneagram innovator Ingrid Stabb reveals why disregarding your weaknesses is the smartest growth move you’ll ever make and why it's your strengths that are the shortcut to purpose and vitality, especially through collaboration.

Ingrid shares the core of her new book The Nine Points of Potential with its purpose points, propulsion points, and protection points, and explains why focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses is the real path to growth. Together we talk about burnout, the pilot light inside us that never goes out, and the connective tissue that brings teams, families, and communities back to life.

Sheila and Ingrid coach each other and share some real time insights you don't want to miss if you have any interest in living, leading, and collaborating with the best of yourself.

Learn more about Ingrid at https://www.ingridstabb.com/

Take the new enneagram test at https://diagnostic.strengthsinnumbers.com/free-strengths-type-test/ And get her book The 9 Points of Potential wherever books are sold.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Collaboration and the Enneagram

03:04 The Essence of Collaboration as Self-Care

05:51 The Importance of Community and Connection

08:20 Understanding Trauma in Organizations

11:10 Exploring the Enneagram Framework

13:41 The Nine Points of the Enneagram

16:40 Personal Insights and the Impact of the Enneagram

19:22 The Role of Individuality in Teams

22:04 Connecting Through Strengths and Purpose

24:48 Loving Ourselves Back to Life

27:43 Indispensable Roles in Work and Community

31:52 Honoring Individual Journeys

32:39 Strengths-Based Team Dynamics

35:32 Affirmation and Team Transformation

38:15 Understanding Personal Strengths

40:08 Navigating Vulnerability in Leadership

46:30 Building Resilience and Self-Trust

53:10 Collaboration as Self-Care

What happens when you let someone down — not just them, but yourself too?In this solo episode of Crazy Beautiful Truth, host Sheila Delaney shares three powerful shifts that have helped both she and her clients move through fear of disappointing others to reclaim our vitality.She share raw stories — including that of a deeply disappointed client— and how to show up anyway, chin held high, heart open.This one is for anyone tired of people-pleasing, afraid of letting others down, but ready to stop shrinking and start living.👉 What’s the hardest part of disappointing someone you love? Drop your thoughts in the comments — I read every one.

When I shared a short clip from my conversation with Shannon Kelly, my daughters called me out. To them, it sounded like we were saying “stop learning” — advice they thought was terrible.

But it’s not what I believe.

In this episode, I unpack the real meaning behind “we don’t need more information,” why it lands differently depending on your age and life stage, and how my own year-long “input fast” shifted everything. We explore the practice of me-search — turning what you read, watch, and hear into lived wisdom — and how to trust your own discernment in a world that’s always telling you to consume more and outsource your discernment to someone who knows more.

Whether you’re twenty-two or sixty-two, this is an invitation to pause the scroll, notice what you already know, and practice it.

Val Lieske knows the power of story. Everyone’s telling one about you, including you. But what's the story you are telling with your life?

Storytelling isn’t just art. It’s survival. Val and Sheila explore how stories shape culture, shape identity, provoke and spark real change. From eulogies to inciting incidents, we talk about living a life worth remembering and how telling the truth on purpose can save your life.

Shannon Kelly from Coaching Raw joins Sheila on Crazy Beautiful Truth. We don’t need more experts and teaching and courses. We need to practice being ourselves. In this rich exploration, Shannon and Sheila talk about what it takes to take back contentment, what it is to have a spiritual awakening, and what it really means to love ourselves back into our lives from hard places.

From hanging laundry to living in an ashram, this one’s all about presence over performance.

Find more about Shannon and live coaching sessions at coachingraw.com. Follow her on LinkedIn @mshannonkelly.

#presence #awakening #joy

What does personal growth mean to you? Really. Let me know in comments.

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We tell ourselves we’ll get to our personal stuff - growth, interests, hobbies, people - after this. After the project. After the crisis. After this next thing is complete.

But that’s the biggest myth of all. Life moves fast and if you're waiting for the perfect gap to invest in you? News - it won't be there til you claim it.

In this Season 2 opener, Sheila Delaney calls time on the lie of “almost there” and invites you to begin now. Not when things settle. Not when it’s easier. Now. You are your own best ally. Sheila is all about how to get there.

She reflects on the three core truths from Season 1:

1. vitality as a compass,
2. radical self-honesty as a path to freedom,
3. and creative practice as a portal to wholeness.

And she sets the tone for a new season of sacred inquiry, growing self-trust, and becoming your own best ally even as you make space for others doing the same, only different.

This isn’t self-help. This is you, coming home to yourself so you can be the best version of you, yet, out in the world. Watch also on YouTube, channel by the same name!

May it be of service.

What if the voice in your head isn’t just narrating your life, but scripting your experience?

In this episode, Sheila Delaney explores how the questions we ask in the privacy of our own minds shape our energy, our choices, and ultimately, our identity. Whether you're stuck in self-doubt, rescuing everyone around you, or just feeling off your game, there’s a way through—and it starts with better questions.

From quiet moments at red lights to big decisions in leadership, Sheila unpacks how habitual inquiry locks us into patterns of martyrdom, burnout, and blame—and how to shift into curiosity, creativity, and self-trust.

Whether you’re over-functioning out loud or silently hustling for your worth, this episode invites you to pause, listen, and start asking better questions that let you discover what is possible. Questions that make space for your brilliance, not your burnout.

What if the path to your vitality isn’t in proving what you think you are already sure of, but in daring to ask something new?

🎧 Ready to change the questions that are shaping your life?
Subscribe, share, and visit www.sheiladelaney.live to keep loving yourself back to life.

Chapters

00:00 The Power of Questions

02:47 Patterns of Inquiry and Self-Criticism

05:16 Reflecting on Past Experiences

07:40 Disrupting Negative Thought Patterns

10:04 Building New Habits of Inquiry

11:39 Embracing Open-Ended Questions

14:56 Connecting to Vitality and Creativity

Keywords

questions, self-reflection, personal growth, mindset, inquiry, emotional intelligence, creativity, self-criticism, positive thinking, empowerment

What if the version of “ready” you’re waiting for is never coming?

In this solo episode, Sheila pulls back the curtain on the myth of readiness—and the deeper truths about self-trust, responsibility, and the courage it takes to begin before you feel certain, qualified, or fully prepared. She addresses common questions she receives on this.

With stories from her own creative process (including how Crazy Beautiful Truth was born as an experiment, not a polished plan), she explores how waiting often disguises fear, and how loving ourselves back to life means learning to move—messily, bravely—anyway.

If you’ve been sitting on a dream, a choice, or a change you know is calling… this one's for you.

💬 Plus: What self-trust really feels like, how to spot when you’re stuck in “skill” vs “will,” and why your next move might just start with a deep exhale.

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew is a writer, teacher, and spiritual guide who has 'come out' in more ways than one—as bisexual, as contemplative, as creative, as fully alive.

She and Sheila explore the deeper meaning of coming out—not just as a sexual identity, but as a human act of truth-telling. Together, they dig into writing as spiritual practice, memoir as sacred text, and how loving ourselves back to life is both personal and revolutionary.

They talk about:💬 Coming out as bisexual, contemplative, and creative🖋 The power of journaling and writing as sacred practice🔥 Why owning our truth changes the communities around us🎁 The gift economy of creativity—and how the smallest acts ripple outward

This episode asks:

What truth are you hiding in plain sight?What closet—spiritual, emotional, creative—are you still living in?

✨ Explore more of Elizabeth’s books, blog, and writing programs at elizabethjarrettandrew.comHighly recommended: Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Memoir of Bisexuality and Spirit

👇Share this with someone you want the world to see—exactly as you see them.

#CrazyBeautifulTruth #ComingOutStories #CreativeLife #SpiritualPractice #GiftEconomy #Memoir #Writing #BisexualVisibility #Author #Healing

Chapters

00:00 Loving Ourselves Back to Life

00:31 The Journey of Self-Discovery

03:16 Recognizing Disconnection and Seeking Harmony

05:56 The Role of Contemplation and Creativity

08:18 Coming Out and Community

11:06 Creativity as a Path to Healing

13:32 Finding Time for Creative Practices

16:08 The Impact of Journaling on Our Lives

23:58 The Power of Inquiry and Listening

26:28 Creating a Safe Container for Writing

29:38 Navigating Emotional Depths in Writing

32:37 Reclaiming Creativity and Self-Identity

33:42 Redefining Creativity Beyond Conventional Metrics

36:10 The Faith in Creative Practice

38:00 Life Experiences as Sacred Texts

40:23 The Release: Creativity After Writing

40:40 Understanding the Gift Economy in Creativity