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This podcast is the beginning of something we’re building together.
A community where women can have real conversations about relationships, growth, identity, and the messy middle of becoming who we are meant to be.
If this conversation resonated with you, we would love for you to join us.
✨ Subscribe to the community and the conversation:
Come sit with us.Bring your questions.Bring your stories.
Because when women start telling the truth together…
everything begins to change.
What truth have you been afraid to say (even to yourself)?
There’s a moment in life that many women experience.A quiet realization. A pause. A whisper inside that says:
“Something isn’t quite right.”
In this episode of That Explains a Lot, Natalie Ledwell and I dive into one of the most powerful, and sometimes uncomfortable, conversations we can have as women:
What is the truth you’ve been afraid to say… even to yourself?
Because the moment when something finally clicks, when you suddenly see something clearly about your life, your relationships, or yourself, that’s the moment when many of us say:
“Oh… that explains a lot.”
And that moment can change everything.
The Truth We Silence
Many women have been taught (directly or indirectly) to suppress their truth.
Not because they are weak.But because historically, it wasn’t always safe to speak it.
For generations, women who spoke too boldly risked losing their homes, their safety, their relationships, or their place in society. Even today, many of us still carry echoes of that conditioning.
So instead of saying what we feel, we adapt.
We stay quiet.We blame others.We numb ourselves.We tell ourselves stories about why we can’t change things.
Natalie shares candidly in this episode about a time in her life when she was deeply unhappy in her marriage, yet she kept telling herself everything was fine.
She blamed her husband for feeling stuck, for feeling held back, for not stepping into the life she wanted.
But eventually she realized something profound:
Blame is a holding pattern.
When we blame someone else for our lives, we give away our power to change them.
The Freedom That Comes From Truth
The irony is that the very thing we fear “the truth” is often the thing that sets us free.
When Natalie’s marriage eventually ended, it was painful and messy. But something unexpected happened.
Her body felt free.
There was a release that came from finally living in alignment with what had been unspoken for years.
And this happens in many areas of life.
Sometimes the truth isn’t about leaving a relationship.Sometimes it’s admitting we need help.Sometimes it’s acknowledging we’re exhausted.Sometimes it’s realizing the story we’ve been telling ourselves simply isn’t true.
I share a personal story in this episode about getting sick during COVID and refusing to admit it…even to myself. Instead of allowing myself to rest or receive support, I kept pushing forward and telling myself other stories.
It wasn’t until a doctor later confirmed the infection that I had to face the truth.
And that moment reminded me of something powerful:
When we deny the truth, we deny ourselves the love and support around us.
The Stories That Shape Our Lives
Another powerful part of this conversation is about the stories we carry.
Many of us are living inside stories that were created when we were children:
“I’m not lovable.”“I’m too old.”“I’m not enough.”“This is just who I am.”
But what if those stories aren’t the truth?
Natalie shares a powerful moment with her coach who told her something that shifted everything:
“You’re telling the story from the perspective of the child who lived it. Tell it from the woman you’ve become.”
That shift can transform how we see our past — and ourselves.
Because ultimately, we are not defined by our stories.
We are defined by how we choose to tell them now.
A Truth That Empowers
One of my dear friends, motivational speaker Sean Stephenson, once shared a piece of wisdom that has stayed with me for years:
“Never believe a story that leaves you disempowered.”
That doesn’t mean we ignore the truth.
It means we look deeper.
The real truth of who we are is not small or broken or unworthy.
The deeper truth is this:
You are a loving being.You are a powerful being.You are allowed to grow, evolve, and rewrite the story.
Why Community Matters
One of the most beautiful realizations Natalie shares in this conversation is how much other women shaped her healing.
After her marriage ended, she began surrounding herself with women who embodied qualities she admired — strength, openness, authenticity.
Little by little, she began to step into those qualities herself.
This is why community matters so deeply.
Women supporting women.Women telling the truth together.Women reminding each other who they really are.
Because life can be messy.
But when we navigate it together, it becomes something else too:
Magical.
A Question for You
As you listen to this episode, we invite you to sit with a few questions:
* What truth have you been avoiding?
* What story about yourself might be ready to change?
* Who do you want to become in the next chapter of your life?
You don’t have to blow up your life to begin telling the truth.
Sometimes the first step is simply asking yourself better questions.
Join the Conversation
This podcast is the beginning of something we’re building together.
A community where women can have real conversations about relationships, growth, identity, and the messy middle of becoming who we are meant to be.
If this conversation resonated with you, we would love for you to join us.
✨ Subscribe to the community and the conversation:
Come sit with us.Bring your questions.Bring your stories.
Because when women start telling the truth together…
everything begins to change.
Get full access to The Joy Jolt at natandsue.substack.com/subscribe
