Triggered

In this episode of Triggered, host Whitney Kell sits down with entrepreneur, author, and strategic operator Novalena Nichele for a deeply personal conversation on self-worth, intuition, and radical responsibility.

Novalena opens up about how curiosity and trust in her own intuition have shaped every major decision in her life — from navigating friendships and relationships without attachment, to building a business alongside her husband, to raising her daughter with an intentional, trauma-informed approach to parenting. She shares the personal development practices that changed her life, including a 30-day thought-awareness exercise inspired by T. Harv Eker, and a daily self-love journaling habit that reshaped how she sees herself.

Whitney and Novalena also dig into:

This is a conversation about self-worth, presence, and learning to see every difficult moment as an opportunity to grow — exactly what Triggered is all about.

Connect with Novalena Nichele: thetotalfemalepackage.com and on Instagram
 Connect with Whitney Kell and Triggered: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and wherever you get your podcasts.

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After 36 years as an ER nurse — stepping into what she now calls a daily war zone — Jenell Kelly thought the chaos was just who she was. It took a spinal cord injury that doctors said would leave her paralyzed for life, a stroke ten years later, and a night crying over a chapter of The Body Keeps the Score before she realized she'd been recreating the fight-or-flight of her childhood her entire career. Whitney sits down with Jenell to unpack how she left nursing leadership with no formal training, found her way into an entirely new identity, and finally did the deep, unglamorous work of healing the little girl inside her who thought chaos was normal. They talk belief before proof, the "roommate in your head," why journaling and five minutes of meditation beat an hour you'll never actually do, and what it really looks like to stop living out somebody else's story.

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Whitney Kell sits down with legendary Tantra teacher Leah Piper (25 years in the field, founder of More Love Works and host of Sex Reimagined) for a raw, wide-ranging conversation on what really happens in our bodies when we get triggered — especially around sex and intimacy. Leah unpacks the difference between enduring sex and truly desiring it, why testosterone can't heal childhood trauma even though it can restore charge and desire, and the startling link she's seen between sexual abuse history and weight gain (including the eye-opening bariatric surgery statistic that changed how she sees the obesity conversation entirely). She also shares her own story of childhood sexual abuse and disordered eating, and walks listeners through the somatic technique she uses to help people re-parent the younger, wounded parts of themselves. Plus: why curiosity — not fixing — is the antidote to shame, and the one question ("What would love do?") that can transform how you show up in every relationship.

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Part two of Whitney Kell's conversation with Tantra teacher Leah Piper flips the script — this time it's Leah's turn to get triggered on the record. She opens up about being her husband Matt's "master button pusher," the childhood roots of her own emotional flooding, and why she still has "regrettable moments" despite 25 years of doing this work. Leah shares the surprisingly simple, deeply personal rituals she and past partners have used to repair after a rupture (including one involving foot rubs and a father with diabetes), why she can only cry with a small circle of family, and why she believes the real question isn't "how do I stop having triggers" but "how fast can I come back to love when I lose it." A vulnerable, funny, and moving conversation about emotional capital, family patterns, and what it actually looks like to be loved through your worst moments — plus two free bonus trainings from Leah on pleasure and kissing. 

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 In part two of this conversation, Whitney and Matt Piper go deeper into what it means to actually be present with someone instead of trying to fix them. Matt shares how learning to coach has reshaped his marriage — including a hot-tub moment where he chose curious questions over advice, and the "nail in the back" metaphor for why people usually want to be seen, not solved. The conversation ranges from mimetic desire and working with a hyperactive 18-year-old client, to the Navy SEAL "three-foot world" story as a way of managing overwhelm from world events, to the meaning behind Matt's palm and neck tattoos. They close on free will, responsibility while triggered, and why doing the best you can with what you have leaves little room for regret. Part one of this conversation is also available if you haven't caught it yet. 

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 In part one of this two-part conversation, Whitney sits down with coach Matt Piper for a wide-ranging talk that moves from current events to the deeper work of self-awareness. Matt opens up about his own patterns — passive-aggressive communication, the "shoulder to shoulder vs. face to face" dynamic he navigates with his wife, and how a childhood spent tiptoeing around his father shaped the way he moves through conflict as an adult. The conversation dives into intuition, adaptive-child patterns, attachment styles, and what it's really like to hold space for others as a coach — including the moments when clients project their own triggers onto him. Funny, candid, and occasionally uncomfortable, this episode is a reminder that the people closest to us are often our greatest teachers. Part 2 coming soon. 

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Ed Butowski of Chapwood Investments returns for part two of his conversation with Whitney Kell. This time, they go beyond the markets and into something more personal: health, vulnerability, and the emotional triggers we all carry.

Ed opens up about his own journey with type 2 diabetes, past surgeries, and the deeply personal goal driving his transformation — being strong enough to be lifted in the chair at his son's Jewish wedding this November, and healthy enough to be an active grandfather when his daughter gives birth in July.

Whitney draws a powerful parallel between the fear that drives bad investment decisions and the emotional reactions that sabotage our health goals — asking Ed to reflect on what it really means to sit with discomfort, whether it's market volatility or hunger, without letting fear call the shots.

Ed shares the mindset that's carried him through 45 years in finance: knowledge over reaction, patterns over panic, and the discipline to hold steady when everyone else wants to sell. It's a candid, moving conversation about what it looks like to invest — in your money and in yourself.

🎧 Missed part one? Go back and listen first — Ed breaks down the markets, geopolitical risk, and what's really driving the economy.

📚 Ed's books: Wealth Mismanagement and Never Go Broke
🔗 chapwoodinvestments.com | edbutowski.com

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In this episode of Triggered with Whitney Kell, Whitney sits down with Ed Butowski — managing partner of Chapwood Investments, author of Wealth Mismanagement and Never Go Broke, and self-described "investologist" — for a raw, real conversation between advisor and client.

Ed breaks down why fear and greed (not individual investors) actually move the markets, how institutions get judged on performance just like the rest of us, and why panic-selling during moments of crisis — like war headlines — almost always costs you more than it saves. He and Whitney dig into the emotional psychology behind money decisions, drawing surprising parallels between financial triggers and the same fear-based patterns that derail health goals and diets.

Along the way, they explore why greed gets a bad rap it doesn't deserve, how competition and capitalism drive innovation, what it really takes to build a successful business, and why trust and education — not just returns — are the real foundation of a good advisor relationship.

Part one of a two-part conversation. Part two goes even deeper into personal triggers and the surprising connection between food and investing.

Find Ed: chapwoodinvestments.com | edbutowski.com

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In this deeply personal episode of Triggered, host Whitney Kell turns the lens inward — sharing a sleepless, 4 a.m. night that became an unexpected masterclass in self-awareness. Whitney unpacks what it really means to "re-mother" or "re-father" yourself when no one else is around to soothe the nervous system, and why sitting with discomfort (instead of numbing it) is often the fastest path through it.

From there, the conversation widens into hormones and health choices, the friendships she's intentionally built after growing up without a stable family, and the moment she crashed her father's funeral — only to realize a lifelong source of pain was never actually about her. Along the way, Whitney revisits The Four Agreements and makes the case that learning not to take things personally may be one of the most powerful (and hardest) tools for healing childhood triggers.

Equal parts vulnerable and practical, this episode offers real questions you can ask yourself the next time you're triggered: What do I need right now? Where do I feel this in my body? When did I first feel this way?

This episode touches on personal health choices and hormone therapy — this is not medical advice; please consult your own physician before making health decisions.

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This week on Triggered, host Whitney Kell sits down with podcast veteran Brian Howie — affectionately dubbed "the Pod Father" for his decade-plus producing shows, including programs that put kids as young as eight behind the mic. But beneath the industry war stories, this conversation goes somewhere much deeper.

Brian opens up about growing up with an emotionally distant father, the slow fade of his family ties from "come home for Christmas" to total silence, and why he's never once regretted choosing not to have children. Whitney and Brian trade honest reflections on inherited patterns, the shame of estrangement, congenital differences as "unusuality" rather than defect, and what it really means to reparent the version of yourself that didn't get what it needed growing up.

Along the way: vasectomy small talk, the economics of dating, body image and confidence, spiritual beliefs about karma and "big dick energy," and a surprisingly tender detour into childhood loneliness and self-acceptance.

It's a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation about family wounds, the stories we tell ourselves about why we are who we are, and turning old triggers into something closer to truth.

Heart hugs, everyone.

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