The Make You Proud Podcast

I stayed in a yurt.

There were chickens, an outhouse, a long driveway that had me wondering what the fuck I'd gotten myself into, a bottle of wine waiting for me, a photo shoot with the brides, and a random opportunity to finally meet someone I'd only known through social media.

And somehow, that little yurt got me thinking about life.

As adults, we get really fucking good at choosing what we already know.

The same places. The same routines. The same experiences. The same safe choices.

And somewhere along the way, we can lose something we had naturally as kids:

Curiosity.

In this episode, I'm talking about what happens when you let yourself try something simply because you've never done it before. Not because it's productive. Not because it'll make you money. Not because it's going to change your entire life.

Just because you want to experience it.

Because sometimes one tiny yes opens doors you couldn't have possibly planned for.

A person you wouldn't have met.

A place you wouldn't have found.

A memory you wouldn't have made.

A version of yourself you didn't know existed.

You can't see all the doors behind the first door until you open it.

Maybe you'll love the thing.

Maybe you'll hate it.

Maybe you'll never fucking do it again.

But at least you'll have lived it.

Because your life isn't just the big milestones.

It's a collection of experiences.

And I don't want to get to the end of mine and realize I spent the whole thing choosing the option I already knew.

What if the reason you can't seem to break through isn't because you're not trying hard enough?

What if it's who you're surrounded by?

This is a hard conversation because sometimes the people keeping us small aren't enemies. They're people we fucking love.

They're our friends. Our family. People who have been there for us. People we have history with.

But at some point, you have to zoom out and ask yourself: What are my conversations actually about? Who gets most of my time? How do I feel after I leave them? And who do I become when I'm around them?

Because you can want a completely different life while spending every day surrounded by conversations about lack, gossip, drama, fear, excuses, and everything that could go wrong.

And eventually, their normal starts becoming your normal.

In this episode, I'm talking about the uncomfortable side of growth. Outgrowing environments. Creating distance without creating hate. Protecting dreams that are still fragile. Recognizing when familiarity is keeping you stuck. And learning that loving someone doesn't automatically mean they need unlimited access to you.

You don't have to think you're better than anyone.

You don't have to dramatically cut everyone off.

And you don't have to stop loving them.

But if you're serious about becoming someone you've never been before, you may have to stop surrounding yourself with everything that keeps calling you back to who you used to be.

Because proximity is power.

But sometimes?

Distance is power too.

'm leaving Pennsylvania.

I'm selling my house, packing up my daughter, my animals, my business, and the life I've known, and we're starting a new chapter in North Carolina.

And no, this isn't a Pinterest board with palm trees and sunshine. I'm not moving because I think a new zip code will magically give us a perfect life.

I'm moving because I believe we can build a life there that fits us better.

In this episode, I'm talking about the real reasons behind one of the biggest decisions I've ever made. Motherhood, leaving your hometown, wanting more life instead of more things, the fear of being misunderstood, the people you love wanting you to stay, and what it means to make a decision for the long game instead of choosing what's familiar simply because it's easier.

Because I don't just want to tell my daughter to chase her dreams, trust herself, explore, and build a life she loves.

I want to live a life that shows her what's possible.

The last two episodes were about the woman I fought like hell to become.

This one is about what I do with her now.

At some point, healing can't only be about understanding your past. You have to build a life that reflects the woman you fought so hard to become.

I'm scared. I'm excited. I'm emotional. And I wholeheartedly believe this is the best decision for us and the future I'm trying to build around my daughter.

Not everyone is going to understand that.

And maybe that's okay.

They don't have to understand why I'm leaving.

I do.

And this time, that's enough.

Part Two goes where I’ve never gone publicly before.

In Part One, I shared how I ended up in a relationship where I slowly stopped choosing myself. In Part Two, I’m sharing what staying actually cost me.

This is the part of the story where my world got smaller. Where isolation didn’t always look like isolation. Where boundaries became blurred, financial independence disappeared, betrayal made me question what was real, and manipulation slowly taught me to distrust my own voice.

There was a point when I started recording conversations, not to expose anyone, but because I needed proof for myself that what I remembered actually happened.

That’s how far I had gotten from trusting me.

In this episode, I’m talking about the things I normalized, the things I was too ashamed to say out loud, the moment someone outside of my relationship helped me see what I could no longer see for myself, and why I eventually realized I couldn’t keep telling my daughter, my nephew, and other women to believe in themselves while continuing to abandon myself.

And for the first time, I understand how deeply this chapter is connected to the work I do today.

This is one of the roots of Make You Proud.

Because this story isn’t only about why I left.

It’s about how I lost my voice, how I found it again, and why I’m determined to help other women find theirs.

Part Two of It’s Time to Tell the Truth.

What Staying Cost Me.

There are parts of my story I’ve shared openly for years... and then there’s this one.

For a long time, I talked about starting over without fully talking about what I was starting over from. I told the story of rebuilding my life while leaving entire chapters out.

Not anymore.

In Part One of this two-part series, I’m taking you back to the beginning. To the girl who was so young, who didn’t know who she was yet, and who wanted more than anything to feel loved and chosen.

I’m talking about the red flags I explained away, the boundaries I slowly stopped trusting, the first time I walked away, why I went back, and how easy it can be to lose pieces of yourself while desperately trying to make something work.

This isn’t about revenge. It’s about finally realizing that this story happened to me too, and maybe telling the truth about mine will help someone else start recognizing the truth about theirs.

Part One ends where I truly believed things were finally going to get better.

I had no idea how much staying was eventually going to cost me.

I love the idea of finding your person, building a life together, having the inside jokes, the adventures, the boring nights at home, all of it.

And yes, sometimes being single is lonely.

But I’ve learned that loneliness is not a good enough reason to choose the wrong person.

In this episode, we’re talking about being single, learning to give yourself the love you’ve spent years looking for from someone else, getting honest about what you actually want in a relationship, and refusing to lower your standards just because someone tells you you’re expecting too much.

Because someone can be a wonderful person and still not be your person.

Nobody has to be the villain for a relationship to be wrong.

And wanting love doesn’t mean you have to accept whatever version of it shows up first.

I don’t want someone to rescue me from a life I hate.

I want them to meet me inside a life I already fucking love.

So until the right love comes along?

I’m not waiting to start my life.

I’m living it. 🤍

Some days you feel unstoppable.

And some days you’re doing all the things, putting in the work, believing in where you’re going… and quietly wondering, when am I actually going to see the results?

I’m recording this episode from inside one of those days.

Not from the other side. Not after everything worked out. Right here, in the messy middle.

In this episode, we’re talking about the part of growth nobody posts about: feeling discouraged, doubting yourself, honoring your emotions without letting them make your decisions, and learning to take just one next step when the whole staircase feels overwhelming.

Because believing in yourself doesn’t mean you never doubt yourself.

Being grateful doesn’t mean you can’t want more.

And having a hard day doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path.

Sometimes making yourself proud isn’t about crushing the day.

Sometimes it’s simply being able to say:

I didn’t give up on myself today.

If you’re working toward something and wondering why you’re not there yet, this conversation is for you.

Have you ever walked into a room full of people you’re supposed to belong with… and somehow felt like the outsider?

The black sheep. The one who thinks differently, lives differently, dreams differently — the one who just never quite seems to fit the mold.

I recently found myself in that exact situation, and it made me question something:

What if being the black sheep was never the problem?

In this episode, we’re talking about what it costs to constantly seek approval, why being misunderstood doesn’t mean you’re doing life wrong, and what happens when you finally stop shrinking yourself to fit into spaces you’ve outgrown.

Maybe you’re not here to follow the patterns you were handed.

Maybe you’re here to break them.

Maybe you were never meant to fit in at all. 🤍

There was a chapter of my life when I was an exotic dancer.

And no, I’m not ashamed of it.

In this episode, I’m taking you into a part of my story that people could easily look at, judge, and think they know the whole story… when they don’t.

We’re talking about what led me into that chapter, what it taught me, the incredible women I met along the way, the parts that empowered me, the parts that affected me, and why I refuse to look back at that version of myself with shame.

But this episode is about so much more than being an exotic dancer.

It’s about the labels we put on people. The assumptions we make without knowing what’s happening behind closed doors. And the chapters of our own lives we’ve been taught to hide because we're afraid of what someone else might think.

You are allowed to outgrow a version of yourself without being ashamed of her.

Every chapter taught you something.

Every version of you got you here.

And maybe it’s time to stop hiding the chapters that helped make you who you are today.

Welcome to The Chapters We’re Told to Be Ashamed Of. 🤍

Fourteen years ago, one violent moment changed my face, my vision, and the way I saw myself.

In this episode, I’m taking you back to the night I was assaulted, life-flighted, and underwent an intensive surgery to reconstruct my eye, and into the part of recovery people don’t always see. The eye patch. The missing teeth. Needing help with basic things. Looking in the mirror and not recognizing the woman staring back at me.

But this isn’t an episode about what someone did to me. It’s about what happened afterward. It’s about grief and gratitude existing together, learning to love a reflection that had changed, and realizing that the worst thing that happened to me didn’t get the final word.

If life has ever changed you in a way you didn’t choose, this conversation is for you.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of assault, facial injury, surgery, and trauma recovery.