In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Tiffany Wilkson, a wife, mother, grandmother, and advocate whose story has moved through domestic violence, shelter, serious illness, loss, healing, and eventually service to others.

Years ago, Tiffany escaped an abusive relationship and entered a domestic violence shelter while working, attending college full time, and trying to regain custody of her children. During that already overwhelming season, she was diagnosed with metastatic thyroid cancer. Faced with circumstances few of us can imagine, Tiffany made extraordinarily difficult decisions about her family and her future.

Years later, she returned to the same shelter, this time as an advocate. When the emotional weight of that work became too much, she found another way to serve through board leadership. Today, Tiffany works with children and families experiencing homelessness through Family Promise of Great Falls and continues advocating around poverty and food insecurity.

Our conversation explores survival, healing, empowerment, the complicated relationship between lived experience and advocacy, and something I think we need to talk about more often: caring deeply about others without losing ourselves in the process.

This conversation reflects so much of what we explore through @redeem_thyself. Our hardest chapters can inform what comes next, but we still get to decide how much of ourselves we give and what redemption looks like for us.

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In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Izzi Simonsen, Programs Manager at the Women’s Resource Center in Dillon, Montana, for a conversation about survivor centered advocacy, empowerment, and the unique challenges of supporting survivors in rural communities.

Izzi’s connection to this work began long before it became her profession. She grew up seeing the impact of the Women’s Resource Center through her mother’s work there, later became a volunteer, and eventually found her own calling in education, prevention, and advocacy. Her commitment is also informed by her own lived experience as a survivor.

We talk about why there is no single right way to respond to abuse or trauma, what it really means to trust survivors to make decisions about their own lives, and the barriers that can make seeking help especially difficult in rural communities. We also explore education and prevention, the importance of being believed, and why empowerment means restoring choice rather than making choices for someone else.

This conversation speaks directly to the heart of @redeem_thyself. What happened to us may shape our stories, but it does not have to define who we become. Reclaiming our voice, our choices, and our sense of self can become part of writing what comes next.

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I cannot return to the person I was before trauma. But I can return to my harp.

After nearly thirty years away, I am rediscovering music through new eyes and a new heart. This episode explores beginning again, embracing patience, and meeting the musician I am today.

Learn more at JulieMLane.com and 7Pedals.com.

#RedeemingHope #7Pedals #Harpist #MusicHealing #CreativeJourney

For much of my life, I searched for answers about the past. Today, I am learning to ask a different question; what do I notice about myself right now?

Join me as I reflect on creativity, nature, curiosity, and the quiet observations that are helping me discover who I am today.

Learn more at JulieMLane.com.

#RedeemingHope #SelfDiscovery #PresentMoment #HealingJourney #RedeemThyself

There is a unique grief that comes with early childhood trauma; grieving the person you might have been.

In this episode, I share why I do not believe I need to make my abuse meaningful in order to build a meaningful life. Instead, I am learning to become curious about the woman I am today.

Learn more at JulieMLane.com.

#RedeemingHope #ChildhoodTrauma #HealingJourney #SelfDiscovery #RedeemThyself

For years, survival gave me a clear purpose; keep going, work hard, solve problems, and take care of everyone else. But what happens when survival finally makes room for discovery?

In this first episode of Redeeming Hope: Discovering Who I Am, I reflect on why I am not trying to "find myself again," but instead discovering who I am, perhaps for the first time.

Learn more at JulieMLane.com.

#RedeemingHope #DiscoveringWhoIAm #HealingJourney #TraumaSurvivor #RedeemThyself

Healing is often quieter than we expect.

Not dramatic; not immediate; but gradual; subtle; and ongoing. Like rivers that continue carving stone over time; or trees that root deeper season after season; healing often happens slowly.

This reflection explores returning to ourselves; to stillness; to nature; and to what feels aligned.

More at JulieMLane.com and through the Redeemed Collective.

#HealingJourney #TraumaRecovery #NatureAndHealing #RedeemThyself #RedeemedCollective #JulieMLane #WomenHealing #HealingIsPossible

Sometimes what once deeply hurt us no longer stings in the same way. But does that mean we healed; or simply learned to minimize?

Experts note that many trauma survivors downplay their experiences in order to continue functioning. Over time; reflection becomes essential in understanding the difference between healing; adaptation; and avoidance.

This reflection explores that quiet and often complicated space.

More at JulieMLane.com and through the Redeemed Collective.

#TraumaReflection #HealingJourney #RedeemThyself #RedeemedCollective #WomenHealing #JulieMLane #TraumaAwareness

In this episode of The Redeeming Stories Podcast, I sit down with Michelle Dean, financial services professional, author, speaker, and founder of WHOW (Women Helping Other Women).

Michelle's story begins in a place many survivors know well. After experiencing years of childhood sexual abuse, life became about surviving. Like so many women, she learned how to endure, but somewhere along the way she lost the ability to dream.

Today, Michelle helps women prepare financially for retirement while also encouraging them to invest in something just as important: themselves. Through her nonprofit organization, her speaking, and her book My Journey from Surviving to Thriving, Michelle reminds women that healing is not only about recovering from the past. It is about rediscovering the dreams, strengths, and purpose that trauma tried to steal.

In our conversation, we explore fear, resilience, faith, and what it means to move beyond survival into a life that is truly flourishing.

This episode reflects the heart of @redeem_thyself. Healing is not simply about surviving what happened. It is about remembering that you were created for more.

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Sometimes moving quickly is not productivity; it is protection.

Experts note that trauma can shape how we process uncertainty; risk; and decision-making. Staying busy; pushing forward; and remaining in motion can become ways of avoiding what feels uncomfortable underneath.

This reflection explores slowing down; allowing clarity to form; and learning that not every decision needs urgency.

More at JulieMLane.com and through the Redeemed Collective.

#DecisionMaking #TraumaAwareness #HealingJourney #RedeemedCollective #RedeemThyself #JulieMLane #WomenHealing