“If you can harness your grief and turn that pain into power, you can be unstoppable.”

In this episode of Business is Human, Rebecca Fleetwood Hession opens the Stand Tall In Your Story series with Kate Sackers, Director of Marketing and Communications at Ryan Fire Protection. Kate shares the deeply personal story of losing her father to cancer, the promise she made to be “in charge of pain,” and how that promise became a catalyst for healing, courage, and transformation. Through grief, weight loss, a career change, and sobriety, Kate shows what it means to turn pain into power.

After Kate’s story, Rebecca unpacks the neuroscience and spiritual wisdom behind post-traumatic growth, identity, co-regulation, and behavior change. She explores how emotionally charged moments can become memory anchors, how grief can become a source of clarity, and why our nervous system often knows what we need before our thinking brain can explain it. This episode invites listeners to reflect on the pain they may be storing, the beliefs driving their patterns, and the powerful version of themselves waiting to be seen.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How grief can become a catalyst for clarity and growth
• Why emotionally intense moments can become anchors for lasting behavior change
• How pain can become power when it’s processed with honesty and love

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:43) How Kate turned pain into power

(15:29) The neuroscience behind the promise

(18:46) How loss can lead to growth

(20:57) The body and mind connection

(22:06) Identity and the need for safety

(24:23) Spiritual sensing and co-regulation

(28:28) Reflection questions for your own story

Connect with Kate:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-sackers-7aaa7452/ 

Explore Ryan Fire Protection: https://www.ryanfp.com/ 

Connect with Rebecca:

https://www.rebeccafleetwoodhession.com/

Watch all of the Season 7 Stand Tall in Your Story talks here: https://www.rebeccafleetwoodhession.com/stand-tall