The Unbreakable Podcast

You’re self-aware. You know your triggers. So why do you keep repeating the same patterns?

This week on the Unbreakable Podcast Network, it’s just you and me. I’m answering five listener questions about personal growth, self-trust, boundaries, and finding room to actually enjoy your life.

We get into:

- Knowing better and taking the next step toward doing something differently
- Exploring intuition, fear, and uncertainty when making a big decision
- Finding purpose and identity as your children become more independent
- Setting workplace boundaries while still having empathy for what someone is going through
- Feeling behind, being overscheduled, and the pressure to constantly improve yourself

I share experiences from my own life and Unbreakable, including a workplace conversation where I held a firm boundary, and the time my daughter chose to step away from something she was good at because her life needed more breathing room.

Listen, growth takes practice. Pick one thing. Give it your attention. Have the conversation you’ve been putting off. And leave some space to be a human while you’re figuring it out.

You are not an unfinished productivity project.

Watch the full episode, subscribe, and tell me in the comments: what’s one thing you understand about yourself that you’re ready to put into practice?

Keep your questions coming. These conversations matter.

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com
Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

Protect your peace, chase your dreams, and stay unbreakable.

#SelfAwareness #PersonalGrowth #UnbreakablePodcast

At the beginning of rodeo season, Tristyn Erickson was bucked off a colt, trampled, concussed and hospitalized for five days.

She was eventually told she could ride again, but her body was telling her something very different.

After pushing through unbearable pain, an MRI revealed a herniated disc at L4–L5. Additional medical opinions uncovered a badly sprained pelvis and a difficult truth: Tristyn needed to get off the horse and give herself time to heal.

Then her family lost Cayla to domestic violence.

Cayla was not simply Tristyn’s cousin. She helped raise her, introduced her to horses and became one of the strongest anchors in her life.

With the thing that gave her peace suddenly taken away, and her family grieving an unimaginable loss, Tristyn faced a season that tested far more than her strength as an athlete.

Before stepping away from competition, she made one final run.

It was not about winning.

It was for Cayla.

This is a conversation about injury, grief, community and what it means to keep moving forward without pretending the loss did not change you.

Because sometimes resilience is not pushing through the pain.

Sometimes it is listening to your body, allowing people to carry you and finding a new way to honour the person you miss.

CONTENT NOTE: This episode includes discussion of serious physical injury, domestic violence, murder, grief and children affected by the loss of a parent. Please take care while listening.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUPPORT

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911.

Alberta Family Violence Info Line
Call or text 310-1818
Available 24/7, toll-free and multilingual
https://www.alberta.ca/family-violence-find-supports

Canada-wide crisis lines and support services
https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/gender-based-violence/get-help-now.html

Find a domestic violence shelter anywhere in Canada
https://sheltersafe.ca

Subscribe for more honest conversations about resilience, grief, recovery, leadership and what it really means to become Unbreakable.

Protect your peace. Chase your dreams. Stay unbreakable.

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com
Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

#RodeoLife #GriefAndLoss #UnbreakablePodcast

Marilee Toth’s weight-loss transformation didn’t begin with bodybuilding, and it didn’t end with bariatric surgery.

At 414 pounds, Marilee was facing serious health concerns and a lifetime of body shame. She chose weight-loss surgery, ultimately lost more than 200 pounds, became a personal trainer and began helping others navigate their own health journeys without judgment.

Now, she is preparing for her first WNBF transformation bodybuilding show as an Unbreakable-sponsored athlete.

But this is not a polished before-and-after story.

Marilee opens up about the childhood bullying that shaped her relationship with her body, being told to diet at twelve, becoming afraid to eat in public and falling into cycles of restriction and eating in private.

She also shares what she believes was missing from her bariatric surgery education: honest conversations about trauma, depression, emotional eating, food shame and the behavioural changes required to build a sustainable life afterward.

We talk about:

- Marilee’s journey from 414 pounds to losing more than 200 pounds

- The stigma and judgment surrounding bariatric surgery

- Why weight-loss surgery does not erase effort

- Childhood bullying, body image and food shame

- Restricting food, eating privately and misunderstood eating patterns

- What bariatric programs may not prepare patients for

- Learning how calories, macros and substitutions actually work

- Becoming a compassionate and supportive personal trainer

- Teaching your body to trust movement again

- Marilee’s personal experience with cardiac symptoms and treatment

- Continuing her competition prep through grief and loss

- The importance of support, autonomy and self-worth

Marilee’s message is simple:

Do not allow other people to dictate what you are worth. Advocate for yourself. Adapt when necessary. Use the resources available to you and do not give up on yourself.

Because your support system needs you, but you need you too.

Follow Marilee’s journey as she prepares to compete in the WNBF transformation category in Edmonton on September 26, 2026.

Follow Maralie:

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/trainwithmaralie/

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@whatever_weekday

Explore Unbreakable:

https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com

Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

Content note: This episode includes conversations about weight, bariatric surgery, disordered eating patterns, childhood trauma, grief, cardiac health and past thoughts of giving up.

Protect your peace. Chase your dreams. Stay unbreakable.

#WeightLossTransformation #BariatricSurgery #UnbreakablePodcast

Personal growth asks something of you. Whether it’s learning how to stop people pleasing, setting family boundaries, or deciding where AI belongs in your life, you still have to show up for the hard part.

In this Unbreakable Banter episode, I’m joined by Josie and Meg for a conversation that starts with changing thought patterns and gets deeply personal.

We share what we learned from our first William Tells All practice lab, including our experiences with affirmations, confidence, and consistency. Then we revisit artificial intelligence, human connection, and what happens when a useful tool becomes a way to avoid doing our own work.

And then comes the question: do all relationships deserve repair?

We talk openly about the mother wound, family estrangement, and the pressure to keep everyone happy while losing yourself in the process. We share what it feels like to grieve a parent who is still alive, hold a boundary when guilt shows up, and make room for a life that feels like your own.

These are conversations we’ve had to live our way into. We’re still learning, too.

What’s one thing you’ve stopped doing just to keep other people happy?

Tell us in the comments.

Subscribe to the Unbreakable Podcast for honest conversations about personal growth, resilience, and the strength to lead your own life.

Explore Unbreakable:

https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com

Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

Protect your peace. Chase your dreams. Stay unbreakable.

#UnbreakablePodcast #PersonalGrowth #PeoplePleasing #SettingBoundaries #HumanConnection

When does a useful tool become a replacement for thinking, feeling and connecting?

In this episode of the Unbreakable Podcast, Meg, Josie and I ask a deeply uncomfortable question:

Are we using AI to avoid the work of being human?

Let’s be clear. We use AI. This is not an anti-technology conversation.

But there is a massive difference between asking ChatGPT for book recommendations and asking it to become your therapist, diagnose the people in your life, write your difficult conversations or tell you who you are.

We get into:

- The growing use of ChatGPT as therapy
- Why AI-generated messages can damage trust
- Emotional labour and relationship accountability
- The belief that “if something isn’t wrong, I’m not right”
- Victim mentality, attention and external validation
- Using AI as a tool without surrendering your identity
- Why human connection requires real effort
- Outgrowing relationships, environments and former versions of yourself
- Seeking professional mental health support
- The work of becoming someone you genuinely respect

This is one of our chippier conversations. We are honest, occasionally uncomfortable and completely unwilling to pretend that outsourcing your emotional life is the same as healing it.

And because this is still Unbreakable, we somehow make our way through AI dating, MySpace Top Eights, unsolicited pictures, drinking from a glass containing a human toe and the surprisingly complicated rules around punching Canadian bears.

You can be well when nothing is wrong. You can be valuable without being in crisis. And you can use technology without allowing it to replace your humanity.

If you use AI for personal or emotional support, tell us in the comments: Where do you draw the line between a useful tool and emotional outsourcing?

This episode shares personal experiences and opinions. AI-generated information is not a substitute for professional mental health care, diagnosis or treatment. If you need support, speak with a qualified mental health professional.

We recommend a great company and a great therapist.

Brittney Giacchetta @ https://divethru.com/

Protect your peace. Chase your dreams. Stay unbreakable.

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com
Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

#ArtificialIntelligence #MentalHealth #UnbreakablePodcast

What do your actions say you value?

In this episode of the Unbreakable Podcast, I’m joined by Marty Hofmann. Entrepreneur, real estate investor, author, podcaster, father of six, ultrarunner, and founder of Kill Complacency.

Marty and I share a belief that sounds simple but demands brutal honesty:

Actions express priorities.

You can say your health matters, your family matters, your leadership matters, or your goals matter, but eventually, your calendar, habits, screen time, sleep and follow-through tell the real story.

This isn’t a conversation about grinding yourself into the floor. It is about building an identity, environment and system that make consistency possible, even when motivation disappears.

We get into:

- How to build self-discipline without relying on motivation
- Why keeping promises to yourself changes your identity
- “Eating the frog” versus finding the right “who”
- How to stop procrastinating on the work that matters
- Why servant leadership requires getting into the mud
- Authenticity in an age of AI-generated social media
- What we’re learning through William Tells All and the Unbreakable Practice Lab
- Protecting sleep and reducing mindless screen time
- Staying consistent while travelling or working under pressure
- Why the off-season reveals who is truly committed
- Bodybuilding, ultrarunning and accountability
- Parenting by example instead of instruction alone
- Fighting for meaningful family connection in a device-driven world
- Why tracking your habits can change your life

Marty also shares the mission behind Kill Complacency and the lessons he has learned through entrepreneurship, endurance training, fatherhood and service.

And because we apparently cannot remain completely serious for forty-nine minutes, we also get into glitter-filled shoes, Oklahoma horse betting, Christmas in July, microscopic hotel refrigerators and carrying shredded chicken inside a Louis Vuitton purse.

What gets measured gets managed. What gets managed gets improved.

If there is a promise you’ve been negotiating with yourself, tell us in the comments: What are you ready to start following through on?

Learn more about Marty, explore his resources and find the Kill Complacency podcast and book:

https://killcomplacency.com

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com
Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

Subscribe for honest conversations about leadership, discipline, resilience, performance and becoming Unbreakable.

Protect your peace. Chase your dreams. Stay Unbreakable.

#SelfDiscipline #Consistency #KillComplacency

Ten years ago, Josie was in active addiction. Today, she’s wearing Team Alberta colours at a national women’s tackle football tournament.

But this isn’t a clean, shiny before-and-after story.

She nearly quit. She questioned whether she belonged. She got injured. Her team lost, and she still walked away with something no scoreboard can take from her.

In this episode, Josie and I talk about what changes when you stop comparing your journey, stop waiting for permission and finally decide: “I deserve to be here.”

We get into:

- Josie’s road from active addiction to representing Alberta nationally
- The moment she nearly walked away from football
- Trauma-informed coaching and the triggers we often don’t recognize
- Why action kills anxiety
- What we’re learning from the William Tells All app and our Practice Lab participants
- Using your own voice and affirmations to interrupt emotional spirals
- Athlete milestones, injuries, grief and the realities behind transformation
- Food scarcity, emotional eating and why food is so deeply connected to reward
- Comparison in bodybuilding, recovery, sport and everyday life
- Why the journey today, not someday, is the destination

This conversation is honest, heavy in places and completely unfiltered.

Because recovery isn’t one-size-fits-all, progress isn’t always pretty, and somebody else’s Chapter 20 doesn’t make your Chapter 1 any less valuable.

Stop majoring in the minors. Let the noise become wallpaper. Protect your peace, chase your dreams and stay Unbreakable.

Content note: This episode includes conversations about addiction, domestic violence, grief, injury, food and body image.

If you or someone you know is experiencing family or intimate partner violence:

- Alberta’s 24/7 Family Violence Info Line: call or text 310-1818 - Alberta.ca
- Find support and shelters across Canada - ShelterSafe
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.

If something in this episode landed with you, tell us in the comments.

Subscribe for more honest conversations about recovery, leadership, performance and becoming Unbreakable.

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com
Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

#UnbreakablePodcast #AddictionRecovery #AthleteMindset

What if the mental health treatment your family needed already existed, but almost nobody was telling you about it?

In this episode of the Unbreakable Podcast, Kait sits down with Kelley Jensen, host of Refrigerator Moms and founder of Brain Performance Technologies.

Kelley entered the process knowing there were no guaranteed outcomes. What she observed afterward changed far more than she expected.

She shares how Bo’s OCD began to ease, how reduced anxiety created more space for communication, and how his language, relationships, community connection, and independence continued to develop. Today, at twenty-six, he lives in a supported apartment and has built a relationship with his sister that once seemed out of reach.

This is not a miracle-cure story.

It is an honest conversation about brain care, informed choice, autism parenting, and what can happen when someone refuses to accept that the most familiar option is the only option available.

We also explore:

-What TMS is and why Kelley believes it remains underused
- The difference between TMS and personalized MeRT protocols
- OCD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and treatment-resistant mental health conditions
- Emotional regulation tools for autistic and neurodivergent people
- Why direct communication is not mean, it creates safety
- Healthy boundaries and the power of consistent structure
- Why progress may arrive in “inch stones” instead of milestones
- The Unbreakable Practice Lab and the science behind hearing your own voice
- Why action can interrupt anxiety

Kelley’s story is ultimately about motherhood, advocacy, and the courage to keep asking, “What else is available?”

And because no Unbreakable conversation stays completely on the rails, we also settle some essential debates involving Morgan Freeman, Golden Girls, diagonal sandwiches, dishwasher silverware, and the Shawshank method of garbage removal.

Learn more about Kelley’s work:

Brain Performance Technologies:
https://brainperformancetechnologies.com

Refrigerator Moms:
https://refrigeratormoms.com

https://www.instagram.com/refrigeratormoms/

https://www.tiktok.com/@refrigeratormoms

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com
Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

This episode shares personal experiences and general educational information. It is not medical advice. Treatment eligibility, risks, regulatory clearances, insurance coverage, and results vary. Speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your individual circumstances.

#TMSTherapy #AutismParenting #UnbreakablePodcast

What happens when being empathetic starts costing you your peace?

This week, I’m joined by Josie, Meg, and Grace for an honest conversation about energy, how we give it, how we absorb it, and why protecting it is not the same thing as becoming cold.

We start with our week-one reflections from the William Tells All practice and what happened when people began hearing positive affirmations in their own voices. From calming an amygdala hijack to challenging self-limiting beliefs, the early feedback is clear: sometimes your brain needs to hear the truth from the person it trusts most...you.

Then we get into the deeper work: healthy emotional boundaries, the pressure women feel to be sunshine and roses for everyone, empathy without carrying somebody else’s trauma home, and self-care that goes far beyond hair, nails, or performative wellness.

Because empathy is not erasure. It is not martyrdom. It is presence.

We talk about reconnecting with your body, protecting your time, choosing where your energy belongs, and understanding that you do not need to explain every boundary you set.

And because this is an Unbreakable banter episode, we somehow make our way from emotional regulation to Mercury drinking Gatorade, wet jeans, swamp ass, and a Would You Rather question that could absolutely start a fight at home.

Let us know in the comments: Where are you over-investing your energy, and what boundary would help you take some of it back?

Subscribe for honest conversations about resilience, leadership, emotional regulation, self-confidence, and what it really looks like to become Unbreakable.

Protect your peace. Chase your dreams. Stay Unbreakable.

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com
Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

#ProtectYourEnergy #HealthyBoundaries #UnbreakablePodcast

Ty’s addiction recovery story proves that rock bottom does not have to be the end of your story.

After substance use began when he was only 12 or 13, Ty reached a point where guilt would no longer let him look away. He walked into the sheriff’s office and confessed to crimes authorities didn’t even know he had committed. Drug court gave him the accountability he needed, and he chose to use it to rebuild.

Today, Ty is a husband, father, recovery counsellor, recent master’s graduate, and aspiring bodybuilder. He went from 315 pounds to 173, found structure and presence inside the gym, and transformed his lived experience into a way of serving others.

Then, just before Christmas, a devastating house fire injured his daughter and displaced his family. In this deeply honest conversation, Ty and Kait talk about leading a family through chaos, accepting support without shame, and continuing to choose peace when life hits again.

This isn’t a perfectly packaged comeback story. It’s a real conversation about addiction, accountability, childhood wounds, belonging, bodybuilding, mental health, community, fatherhood, and the courage it takes to receive help.

Because sometimes being Unbreakable doesn’t mean carrying everything alone. Sometimes it means letting people show up for you.

If Ty’s story speaks to you, share this episode with someone who is rebuilding their own life, and subscribe to the Unbreakable Podcast Network for more honest conversations about resilience, recovery, leadership, and personal transformation.

Explore Unbreakable:
https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com

Book: https://a.co/d/08iTmuZn

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourunbreakablelegacy?lang=en
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/unbreakable-legacy

Connect with Ty:
https://www.instagram.com/risewithty/