Jenny Catalano did years of talk therapy. She understood everything. She felt none of it. Here’s what finally broke through.

Jenny Catalano spent over two decades in executive leadership; COO, operations, finance, HR. The woman in the room who knew how to get things done. And underneath all of it, she had no idea who she actually was. 

Childhood trauma she had buried for decades began surfacing in the middle of her most successful career chapter. She did years of talk therapy and built a complete intellectual map of her own patterns. She could explain everything about why she behaved the way she did. She could feel almost none of it.

In this episode of Elevate Within’s Architecture of Reinvention: The Art of Unbecoming summer series, Jenny joins Sandy Davis & Claudia Cuevas for an unusually candid conversation about the wall between knowing and feeling, the coping mechanisms she has never named publicly before, and what finally broke through when talk therapy reached its limit, somatic therapy, transformational touch, and practices she once dismissed as woo woo. 

She also shares something quietly devastating: the same emotional lockdown that protected her from pain also kept her from feeling joy. And she talks candidly about launching Impact Events Collective, a purpose-driven business that became possible only once she felt worthy of building something of her own.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

Why understanding your trauma intellectually doesn't mean you've healed it emotionally.

What somatic therapy and transformational touch can reach that talk therapy sometimes cannot.

The coping mechanisms developed in childhood that persist quietly into adulthood, including a personal disclosure shared publicly for the first time.

Why emotional lockdown can numb joy as completely as it numbs pain.

How self-worth, not ambition, is often the real driver behind a woman's decision to build something of her own.

Connect with Jenny Catalano

Website: impacteventscollective.com

LinkedIn: Jenny Catalano

⭐ If this resonated, please leave a rating or review, it helps reach more women who need this conversation. 

🎙️ ABOUT ELEVATE WITHIN Elevate Within is a podcast and community for high-achieving women navigating the messy middle — the space between who you were and who you're becoming.

🎧 SUBSCRIBE & NEVER MISS AN EPISODE 

🎵 Spotify: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis

🍎 Apple Podcasts: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis 

▶️ YouTube: Elevate Within Always 

📻 Amazon Music: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis

📻 iHeart Radio: Elevate Within with Sandy Davis

📖 Substack: https://substack.com/@elevatewithin

⭐ APPLE PODCAST LISTENERS If this resonated with you, a rating or review would mean everything. It helps Elevate Within reach more women who may need this conversation right now.

📖 GO DEEPER ON SUBSTACK Weekly essays and honest conversations about burnout, grief, reinvention, resilience, healing, and the messy middle.

🔓 Free subscribers — full access to all public content 

🔐 Paid subscribers — bonus essays, early access to upcoming series, behind-the-scenes recordings, and direct community engagement

👉 https://substack.com/@elevatewithin

💼 CONNECT WITH SANDY 

📎 LinkedIn: Sandra Davis 

🌐 Fractional COO Services & Discovery Calls: ElevateOpsAdvisory.com