What if what keeps you caged isn’t what happened to you—or even the choices you’ve made—but the meaning you’ve attached to them?

In this deeply personal solo episode of Uncaged Woman, Trudy Guyton opens up about something she has carried quietly for years: shame.

She shares how an early betrayal became more than heartbreak. It became an imprint. A story about not being enough, not being chosen, and eventually, something being wrong with her.

Without realizing it, she carried that wound forward, allowing it to shape the relationships she chose, the red flags she ignored, what she tolerated, and even what she believed she deserved.

But this episode isn’t really about relationships.

It’s about the stories we build around the parts of our lives we wish were different.

The marriage that ended. The mistake you made. The secret you hope no one discovers. Your body. Your finances. Your family. An addiction. A failure. A chapter you would rather erase.

Shame doesn’t just say something happened.

Shame says, this means something about who I am.

And when we believe that story long enough, it can quietly become a cage.

Trudy explores what happens when we stop using our past as evidence against ourselves and begin meeting the women we once were with understanding, compassion, forgiveness, and love.

We can take responsibility for our choices, learn from them, and carry that wisdom forward—without letting it define us.

Your past is part of your story. It is not the definition of you.

Becoming uncaged isn’t about hiding the past, rewriting what happened, or pretending we’re proud of every choice we’ve ever made.

It’s about finally realizing: The thing itself was never the cage. The shame was.

And if you built the cage, you hold the key.

A GIFT FOR YOU: Ready to turn the key?

Release Shame & Open to Self-Love. A free guided workbook to help you uncover the story beneath your shame, separate what happened from what you made it mean, and begin rewriting the beliefs that have kept you caged.

Inside, I’ll walk you through the same process I share in this episode—so you can meet your past with compassion, take the wisdom, leave the shame, and choose a new story moving forward. Download it here; it is my FREE GIFT TO HELP YOU UNCAGE

 https://www.trudyguyton.com/shame-is-the-cage

Because your past may be part of your story. But it does not get to define you.

Thanks for listening.

Taking Chances, Trusting God and Creating a Life She Loves

A Conversation With My Daughter, Kaelyn

What happens when you stop waiting until you have it all figured out and trust yourself enough to take the next step?

In this special episode, my daughter Kaelyn joins me for an honest, funny and tender conversation about what it means to live uncaged at 27.

We talk about anxiety, traveling the world, making mistakes, starting over, creating a vision for the life you want and having the courage to go after it, even when you don't know exactly how it's all going to work out.

We also talk about love.

Kaelyn shares how an unhealthy relationship ultimately led her into a deeply personal relationship with God, beginning with conversations with Jesus at the end of her bed. And then, how learning to trust God and question her own patterns opened her heart to a very different kind of love and the man who would become her husband.

This is a conversation about taking chances, trusting God, learning as you go and creating a life you love. Because maybe you don't need to know exactly how it's all going to happen.

You will figure it out.

Learn more about living uncaged at

www.uncagedwoman.com

What happens when the stories you’ve been told about yourself become the stories you believe? In this episode of Uncaged Woman, I sit down with author and transformational coach Marina Theron-Monnery for a powerful conversation about breaking free from fear, self-doubt, shame, and the need for other people’s approval. Marina shares her journey from a childhood that taught her she wasn’t enough, through painful relationships, self-abandonment, cancer, and ultimately the realization that changed everything: she had spent her life loving and protecting others without learning to offer that same love to herself. We talk about discovering who you are beneath the expectations of others, learning to trust and value yourself, setting boundaries, forgiveness, and creating a life that is no longer defined by your past. Marina describes being uncaged as living as though it is “only you and God”—without the masks, without the performance, and without allowing someone else’s story about you to become your truth. This is a conversation about more than surviving what happened to you. It’s about setting yourself free. Marina's Bio - Marina Theron-Monnery is an author, speaker, coach, and passionate advocate for personal transformation. Born and raised in South Africa and now living in Calgary, Canada, marina's life journey has taken her through childhood trauma, financial hardship, divorce, cancer, profound loss, and ultimately a remarkable path of healing and freedom. Learn more about Marina and how to stay connected with, or work with her here: www.marinatheronmonnery.com www.facebook.com/mtmTHERAPY Learn more about Trudy, how to follow and work with her at www.trudyguyton.com or www.uncagedwoman.com

What if the cage you’ve been trying to escape was never actually locked? In this episode of Uncaged Woman: Uncaged Conversations, I’m sitting down with one of my original Uncaged Women and longtime friends, Angie Leitnaker, for a conversation about personal power, remembering who you really are, and what becomes possible when you finally realize you’ve had the key all along. Angie shares how profound loss became the beginning of her own awakening, and the question that changed everything: Why do some people experience something devastating and allow it to become the period at the end of their story, while others make it a comma and go on to write something beautiful? We talk about the difference between living from your conditioned self and your higher self, finding your power within rather than depending on circumstances to cooperate, and remembering the part of you that has never been broken, missing, or incomplete. But this conversation isn’t only about big awakenings. We get practical about how to begin when you’re still standing in the middle of the forest and can’t see the clearing yet. Sometimes it begins with noticing a blade of grass. A dragonfly. Morning glories. A pair of cardinals outside your window. Sometimes it begins with allowing yourself to experience awe again and remembering that everything is a miracle...including you. And sometimes it begins with three simple words: I am willing. I am willing to see things differently. I am willing to choose differently. I am willing to take responsibility for the energy I bring to my life. Because your life doesn’t have to fall apart before you decide to change it. You can draw the line in the sand today. Decision made. This may be the day you stop living by default and begin creating a life you are wildly, radically in love with. This may be your day to begin living Uncaged. Bio - Angie Leitnaker is an educator, entrepreneur, speaker, Certified Master Life Coach, and the founder of CAPE Global and the How to Human movement. After spending 13 years in the classroom, she recognized that while we teach people what to think, we rarely teach them how to understand themselves, regulate their emotions, build resilience, or create lives aligned with their unique gifts. Today, Angie brings together neuroscience, emotional intelligence, nervous system regulation, subconscious reprogramming, somatic practices, positive psychology, and timeless principles of personal growth to help individuals, families, educators, and organizations unlock human potential from the inside out. Her mission is simple: to help people remember who they are, live with intention, and create lives of greater freedom, joy, and meaningful impact. Through coaching, consulting, speaking, curriculum, retreats, and community, Angie is committed to making self-awareness and human potentiality as foundational to education as reading and mathematics. To learn more or work with Angie - https://www.howtohuman.today/angie To learn more or work with Trudy - https://www.trudyguyton.com or https://www.uncagedwoman.com

What if creating the life you really want isn’t about doing more, trying harder, or figuring out the perfect strategy? What if it begins with who you are being? In my very first solo episode of Uncaged Woman: Uncaged Conversations, we’re talking about what it means to stop chasing the things you desire and begin becoming the woman who can create—and hold—them. I’m asking you two questions that have the power to change the way you look at your life: What do you really want? And perhaps even more importantly… Who do you need to BE to create it? We’ll explore the difference between doing and being, why becoming may actually be more about remembering who you are, and what happens when you begin stripping away the conditioning, expectations, roles, stories, and need for approval that have kept you from fully being yourself. We’ll talk about authenticity, clarity, and alignment—and how these ideas show up in the areas that matter most: love, health, money, business, relationships, and the dreams you may have been quietly carrying for years. And then we’re going somewhere I care deeply about: women for women. What becomes possible when we stop comparing and competing and instead become women who open doors, make introductions, celebrate one another, share each other’s work, collaborate, and genuinely want to see other women shine? Because shining isn’t about being the loudest woman in the room. Shining is what happens when you’re no longer using all of your energy to hide who you are. This episode is an invitation to come home to yourself. To get clear about what you want. To choose yourself. To stop waiting until you’re thinner, richer, more successful, more confident, or finally chosen. Become her now. Show up. Let yourself be seen. And shine. To learn more visit www.trudyguyton.com or www.uncagedwoman.com

Stop Abandoning Yourself for Love: Becoming Sovereign in Relationship

What if becoming uncaged in love isn’t about needing less, trying harder, or finally figuring out how to make a relationship work?

What if it’s about learning how to remain fully yourself while loving someone else?

In this episode of Uncaged Woman, I sit down with Michaela Bosquet Lambert, founder of Savvy Sovereign Love, for an honest and insightful conversation about the ways women can unknowingly abandon themselves in relationships, overriding their intuition, explaining away what doesn’t feel right, carrying the emotional weight of the relationship, and believing that somehow they just need to try a little harder.

Michaela shares how her own experiences in love led her to recognize a deeply rooted belief that she had to earn love through effort, and how breaking that pattern changed not only the way she dated, but the kind of relationship she was ultimately able to create.

We also explore why chemistry isn’t always the best indicator of compatibility, the difference between a true red flag and something that simply deserves a pause, and what can happen when we stop managing our relationships and begin observing what they are actually showing us.

Michaela introduces her SAVVY approach to love, a process rooted in returning to yourself, seeing clearly, separating reality from the stories we create, taking action based on what is actually happening, and ultimately saying yes only when love is mutual and reciprocal.

At the heart of this conversation is a powerful shift: Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” What if we began asking, “Is this relationship right for me?” Because becoming sovereign in love doesn’t mean you don’t need or want another person. It means you no longer have to lose yourself in order to love them.

BIO - Michaela Bosquet Lambert is a Relational Sovereignty Specialist and creator of the Romantic Deconditioning™ approach, helping self-aware women over 40 who have done the inner work but still find themselves losing themselves in love, to stop overriding their own instincts and choose relationships that are genuinely mutual. For the woman who is tired of her emotional intelligence keeping her stuck.

To learn more and for a very special offer from Michaela, follow the links below:

www.michaela-lambert.com/starterkit

Social media links:

https://savvylove.substack.com/

https://substack.com/@savvylovechronicles

or visit www.TrudyGuyton.com

www.uncagedwoman.com 

In this episode of the Uncaged Woman Podcast, Trudy Guyton sits down with photographer and transformational retreat leader Stephanie Shanks for an honest conversation about what happens when a woman stops waiting to feel ready, and starts choosing herself. Together, they explore self-love, unhealthy relationships, sobriety, shame, self-worth, fear of being alone, and the small choices that can ultimately change the direction of a life. Stephanie shares her deeply personal journey of learning to trust herself again, along with a vulnerable moment she has rarely shared, one that beautifully captures the difference between waiting to be chosen and knowing you are already worthy of love. A powerful conversation about finding yourself again, taking the next step before you know where it will lead, and discovering that sometimes self-love isn't where the journey begins. Sometimes, the love comes later.

Learn more about the podcast now! It's never too late to live your life by design, not by default. This is a series of interviews with women from around the world, and a few ideas of my own. I'm Trudy Guyton, your host, and the founder of Uncaged Woman - a movement - and now, a podcast. There is something powerful about the name: Uncaged Woman. I've heard this over and over again, women are drawn to it. Now, I ask them, what does Uncaged mean to you? How did you move from caged to uncaged? Tell me your story... and they did. And now, we come to share them with you. If you want to learn more, work together, or, if you have a story to tell, visit my website www.trudyguyton.com