This week on Pod Friends, Kellyn Bechtold (@thekellynb) shares her journey of resilience, transformation, and connection. You may know Kellyn from Survivor: Ghost Island, but in this heartfelt interview with host Matt Scott (@MattScottGW), you’ll discover so much more about her path to self-discovery and career reinvention.

Hear Kellyn open up about her experiences on Survivor, growing up on a chicken farm in Indiana, and taking courageous leaps—from moving 38 times to launching her Road to Reality podcast. Learn about her philosophy of “doing it scared” and how she’s creating spaces for connection, storytelling, and career transformation through the Career Coven.

Kellyn’s insights on returning to yourself, embracing curiosity, and reimagining success will inspire anyone seeking a more authentic and fulfilling life. And, there’s even a very special guest cameo from Survivor: Ghost Island winner and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition host Wendell Holland in this episode. Don’t miss this empowering conversation!

Here is the short story referenced by Kellyn, from Sight Hound by Pam Houston: https://www.bslshoofly.com/archives/deep-creek-finding-hope-in-the-high-country

Suggest a future guest: bit.ly/podfriendsnom

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Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 8 of Road to Reality features Rob Cesternino, Founder of RHAP and 2X Survivor player. Join Rob (@robcesternino) and Kellyn (@theKellynB) as they discuss the Survivor world through Rob’s eyes all the way back to the beginning in 2000, the insane way he found out he was going to be on All Stars, the deep differences between playing the first time on a high, and the second time with it not going so well, his journey from working at an insurance company all the way through building RHAP up to the podcast network that it is today.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB and stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

Links:

Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 7 of Road to Reality features David Wright (Millennials vs Gen X & Edge of Extinction). Join David (@realdavewright) and Kellyn (@theKellynB) as they really dig into the powerful, life changing effect that Survivor had on David’s self-perception and his relationship with and management of his anxiety. They cover topics ranging from David’s childhood on the East Coast to becoming a writer on hit shows like Family Guy, Malcolm In The Middle and The Gimmicks.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB and stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

Links:

Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 6 of Road to Reality features Jacob Derwin from Ghost Island. Jacob (@JacobDerwin) and Kellyn (@theKellynB) begin their conversation catching up from a special podcast studio in Soho, learn about Jacob’s music career (he wrote the theme song of the podcast), and really get into the nitty gritty of Jacob’s Survivor experience – a perspective for when going on Survivor doesn’t go as expected, and how he picked himself up, dusted himself off and started his post-Survivor life. This is a perspective we can all learn from.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB and stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

Links:

Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 5 of Road to Reality features Andy Herren, the winner of Big Brother 15. Join the effervescent Andy (@andyherren) and Kellyn (@theKellynB) as they discuss Andy’s application process and the paranoia that comes with being a reality tv star hopeful, building his own business, becoming sober, getting recognized daily, and hear about his Survivor fandom.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB and stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

Links:

Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 4 of Road to Reality features J’Tia Hart from Survivor: Cagayan. Join J’Tia (@JTiaPhd) and Kellyn (@theKellynB) as they start the conversation by getting into the unforgettable rice moment on Cagayan, how an Amazing Race application quickly turned into a spot on Survivor, J’Tia’s experience becoming a nuclear engineer, women in STEM, surviving breast cancer and so much more.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

Links:

Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 3 of Road to Reality features Karishma Patel from Survivor 39: Island of the Idols. Join Karishma and Kellyn as they discuss Karishma’s life trajectory from her childhood in Philadelphia, through her Semester-At-Sea to passing three bar exams to now living in Texas. Karishma reflects on her strengths and weaknesses in and out of the game of Survivor and tells us all about the incredible impact the Survivor experience had on her life as a whole.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

Links:

Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 2 features Victoria Baamonde from Survivor 38: Edge of Extinction. Join Victoria and Kellyn as they discuss Victoria’s experience of really being herself on the show, perfectionism, being portrayed as a villain, living with anxiety, playing with returnees and catching us up on her life since being on the beach.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

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Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 1 features Karla Cruz Godoy from Survivor 43. Join Karla and Kellyn as they discuss body image, representation, re-entry after filming, separating yourself from your game and social media and the amazing work Karla is doing today in the education landscape.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!

Road to Reality is a limited edition series hosted by Kellyn Bechtold (@theKellynB) from Survivor Ghost Island. Listen in while she interviews former reality TV contestants about how being on TV has had a major impact on their life trajectories.

Episode 1 features Karla Cruz Godoy from Survivor 43. Join Karla and Kellyn as they discuss body image, representation, re-entry after filming, separating yourself from your game and social media and the amazing work Karla is doing today in the education landscape.

Did you enjoy Road to Reality? Let us know on Twitter by tagging @RobHasAPodcast and @theKellynB stay tuned to the RHAP Survivor feed for more incredible off-season content like this!