In this episode of What Didn’t Break Me, Joy welcomes Dr. Ellen Albertson — psychologist, registered dietitian, board-certified health and wellness coach, mindful self-compassion teacher, and bestselling author of Rock Your Midlife. Known as the Midlife Whisperer, she has spent more than three decades helping women navigate the seasons when everything seems to change at once.

Ellen’s understanding of midlife transformation is both professional and deeply personal. She has walked through caregiving for aging parents, empty nest, divorce, vision loss (multiple retinal detachments), breast cancer, and the unexpected joy of finding new love later in life.

Through it all, self-compassion became her superpower. Instead of treating herself as a problem to fix, she learned to ask, “What do I need?” — a shift that transformed how she moved through crisis and into thriving.

In this conversation Ellen shares:

• Why midlife is better framed as transformation than crisis

• The physical and emotional impact of menopause and life transitions

• Navigating breast cancer diagnosis as a health professional

• How self-compassion (and her work with Kristin Neff) changed everything

• Moving from surviving to thriving through mindset and support

• Releasing workaholism and deepening the relationship with herself

• Practical hope for women in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond

If you’re in the thick of midlife changes — or supporting someone who is — this episode offers both validation and a clear path forward.

Learn more at themidlifewhisperer.com and in her book Rock Your Midlife.

#MidlifeWhisperer #DrEllenAlbertson #SelfCompassion #RockYourMidlife #WhatDidntBreakMe #BreastCancer #Menopause #ThrivingInMidlife

Connect with Ellen Albertson

Website : https://themidlifewhisperer.com/

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

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drellenalbertson/

Twitter: https://x.com/RockYourMidlife

If What Didn’t Break Me sparks something in you, do well to share to someone who you think might need this. Subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes.

If you have a minute leaving a review helps more people discover these everyday unique voices and the insight they carry. Your support means the world.

Want to be a guest on What Didn’t Break Me Send a message to Joy https://www.joinpodmatch.com/whatdidntbreakme

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Welcome

1:30 – Meet the Midlife Whisperer

2:30 – Midlife as transformation, not crisis

4:00 – Personal storms: divorce, vision loss, breast cancer

5:30 – Self-compassion as the turning point

7:00 – Facing cancer diagnosis with a new mindset

8:30 – From surviving to thriving

10:00 – Releasing workaholism & changing relationship with work

12:00+ – Practical steps for women in midlife

In this episode of What Didn’t Break Me, Joy sits down with Roxanne Johnson — author, speaker, and advocate who helps women navigate betrayal trauma with faith, compassion, and truth.

After nearly 24 years of marriage, Roxanne discovered her husband’s long-hidden sexual addiction. The revelation forced her to confront not only the betrayal itself, but the deep grief, anger, confusion, loss of trust, and physical trauma responses that followed. Her body reacted as if under life threat — panic attacks, hypervigilance, and cycling through fight, flight, fawn, and freeze.

Raised in an alcoholic home, Roxanne had unknowingly normalized certain behaviors that kept her from recognizing the signs earlier. Yet through education, safe community, specialized therapy, and a profound spiritual journey, she began rebuilding her identity, purpose, and hope.

She later wrote Forgotten in the Battle with Sexual Addiction: The Journey of a Spouse to give voice to the partners who are often overlooked in the story of addiction.

In this conversation Roxanne shares:

• The moment her life changed in a single conversation

• How betrayal trauma affects the body and brain

• The four pillars of recovery she discovered

• Moving from feeling abandoned by God to experiencing Him as a cheerleader

• Why spouses of addicts need their own support and voice

• Practical hope for anyone navigating the aftermath of betrayal

If you or someone you love has experienced the shattering of trust in an intimate relationship, this episode offers understanding, validation, and a path forward.

#BetrayalTrauma #SexualAddiction #RoxanneJohnson #WhatDidntBreakMe #SpouseOfAddict #HealingFromInfidelity #FaithAndTrauma

Connect with Roxanne Johnson

Website: https://forgottenspouse.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roxanna-johnson-bb5a9418/

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

If What Didn’t Break Me sparks something in you, do well to share to someone who you think might need this. Subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes.

If you have a minute leaving a review helps more people discover these everyday unique voices and the insight they carry. Your support means the world.

Want to be a guest on What Didn’t Break Me Send a message to Joy https://www.joinpodmatch.com/whatdidntbreakme

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Welcome

1:30 – Roxanne’s story begins: 24 years of marriage

3:00 – Discovering the hidden sexual addiction

4:30 – Betrayal trauma & the body’s fight-or-flight response

6:30 – Growing up in an addictive home

8:00 – Seeking safe people & specialized help

9:30 – The four pillars of recovery

11:00 – Spiritual crisis & renewal

13:00+ – Rebuilding identity, purpose & hope

In this episode of What Didn’t Break Me, Joy speaks with Andrew Parr — UK therapist, trainer, and author of The Real You (Penguin Life).

Since 1992 Andrew has completed more than 20,000 one-to-one sessions and trained over 500 practitioners. His work focuses on lasting change by uncovering the invisible conditioning we carry from childhood, family, culture, and life experiences — the deeper patterns that keep people stuck even when they know exactly what they “should” change.

Andrew’s own journey began when conventional hypnotherapy, NLP, books, and positive-thinking approaches failed to create lasting shifts for him. What worked was reaching the root: identifying and releasing the limiting beliefs, emotions, and unresolved experiences held at a deeper level. He calls this process “de-hypnotizing” yourself — undoing the emotional programming life has installed so that natural feelings of worth, safety, and possibility can emerge.

In this conversation Andrew explores:

• Why positive thinking often fails when layered over intense inner conditioning

• How early experiences create lifelong identities and automatic responses

• What it means to de-hypnotize yourself from old patterns

• Working with the emotional (not just intellectual) part of yourself

• Why we keep choosing the wrong relationships, careers, or health patterns

• Practical ways to begin undoing fear-based conditioning (such as the fear of losing what we’ve just gained)

If you’ve ever felt stuck despite insight, therapy, or self-help, this episode offers a clear and hopeful path to real, lasting change.

Learn more at andrewparr.org and in his book The Real You.

#AndrewParr #TheRealYou #DeHypnotize #TraumaHealing #WhatDidntBreakMe #ChildhoodConditioning #LastingChange

Connect with Andrew Parr

Website:https://andrewparr.org/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-parr-54230118/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/andrewparr.realyou/

If What Didn’t Break Me sparks something in you, do well to share to someone who you think might need this. Subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes.

If you have a minute leaving a review helps more people discover these everyday unique voices and the insight they carry. Your support means the world.

Want to be a guest on What Didn’t Break Me Send a message to Joy https://www.joinpodmatch.com/whatdidntbreakme

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Welcome

1:30 – Andrew’s background: 20,000+ sessions & The Real You

2:30 – Why conventional methods didn’t work for him

4:00 – What “de-hypnotizing yourself” actually means

6:00 – How life conditions us with limiting beliefs

8:00 – Fear of loss & other automatic patterns

10:00 – Working with the emotional inner self (not just the intellect)

12:00+ – Practical steps toward lasting change

In this episode of What Didn’t Break Me, Joy sits down with Francesca Lion (Frankie) — clinical hypnotherapist, psychotherapist, and specialist in integrative therapy for anxiety, self-confidence, trauma reprocessing, and deep habit change.

Frankie brings both clinical expertise and lived experience. She has navigated acute anxiety, insomnia, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and a late ADHD diagnosis. She works directly with the conscious mind, the subconscious, and the nervous system — helping clients gently rewire long-held fears and beliefs without retraumatizing, especially when traditional talk therapy has hit a wall.

Her personal breaking point came in early 2020 during Melbourne’s strict pandemic lockdowns. Working in a misaligned corporate finance role, her anxiety became so severe that her executive functioning shut down. She experienced chronic fatigue, insomnia, constant muscle tension, and an inability to function. After years of SSRIs and talk therapy that offered insight but little lasting change, she took time off, began intensive meditation, and in a moment of clarity quit her job on the spot.

In this conversation Frankie shares:

• Living with anxiety, perfectionism and people-pleasing for most of her life

• The pandemic as the tipping point into acute dysfunction

• Why talk therapy alone often isn’t enough

• How meditation and nervous-system work created the first real shift

• Quitting everything to repair her relationship with herself

• Complex trauma, attachment, and why anxiety doesn’t always come from one big event

• Practical ways to work with the subconscious and nervous system

If traditional approaches haven’t fully worked for you, or if you’re ready to move beyond insight into real change, this episode offers both hope and practical understanding.

#Anxiety #ADHD #TraumaHealing #Hypnotherapy #WhatDidntBreakMe #NervousSystem #FrancescaLeon

Connect with Francesca lion

Website:https://www.mindfreetherapy.com.au/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-lion-53742192/

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

If What Didn’t Break Me sparks something in you, do well to share to someone who you think might need this. Subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes.

If you have a minute leaving a review helps more people discover these everyday unique voices and the insight they carry. Your support means the world.

Want to be a guest on What Didn’t Break Me Send a message to Joy https://www.joinpodmatch.com/whatdidntbreakme

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Welcome

1:30 – Frankie’s background as hypnotherapist & psychotherapist

2:30 – Lifelong anxiety, perfectionism & people-pleasing

4:00 – Breaking point: Melbourne lockdowns & acute anxiety

6:00 – Unable to function: insomnia, fatigue & fight-or-flight

7:30 – History of depression, SSRIs & limited results from talk therapy

9:00 – Intensive meditation & first real relief

10:30 – The moment she quit her job on the spot

12:00 – Repairing the relationship with self, mind & body

14:00+ – Complex trauma, attachment & integrative

In this episode of What Didn’t Break Me, Joy welcomes Hilary Momberger Powers — former child actress (voice of Sally Brown in the Peanuts cartoons), transformational mentor, trauma coach, motivational speaker, and advocate with more than 40 years in recovery.

Hilary began performing at age five after her mother, a narcissistic alcoholic, pushed her into the spotlight to fulfill her own unfulfilled dreams of fame. Behind the success was a little girl whose formative years were disrupted, leading to deep people-pleasing patterns, a sense of never being enough, and eventually addiction by her early teens.

For a time her life unraveled. But recovery since 1983 transformed her pain into purpose. Today she helps others move from surviving to thriving by healing the wounds beneath the surface — addressing trauma responses like people-pleasing, controlling, and withdrawing, and teaching that true safety and worth begin on the inside.

In this conversation Hilary shares:

• Growing up as a child actress and the cost of early fame

• How a narcissistic, alcoholic parent shaped her identity and trauma responses

• The path into addiction and the long road of recovery

• Why healing requires caring for the inside before fixing the outside

• Moving from “Do you love me now?” to authentic self-worth

If you’ve ever felt defined by childhood wounds, external validation, or addiction, this episode offers hope, practical insight, and the reminder that your scars can become the foundation for a new beginning.

Learn more at hilarymombergerpowers.com.

#HilaryMombergerPowers #Recovery #ChildStar #TraumaHealing #WhatDidntBreakMe #AddictionRecovery #SelfWorth

Connect with Hillary Mombergers

Website: https://www.hilarymombergerpowers.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilary-momberger-powers-078a604/

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

YouTube:

In this powerful episode of What Didn’t Break Me, Joy sits down with Alice miles — survivor, speaker, domestic violence advocate, educator, and recipient of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence “Recognizing Your Resiliency” Media Award.

Alice grew up in a home ruled by domestic violence. Removed from her mother’s custody at age 8 due to physical and sexual abuse, she later chose homelessness for six months because it felt safer than the instability waiting at home.

As a young adult she was groomed by someone she trusted like a brother. At 19, while on medication that made her difficult to wake, he drugged her food and sexually assaulted her. What followed was intense stalking — constant messages, appearances at her home, work, and school (including a campus lockdown) — until he was finally arrested.

The legal process labeled her a domestic violence survivor, even though the relationship didn’t fit the traditional stereotype. That realization sparked her mission: to educate communities, train organizations, and ensure every survivor — regardless of gender, identity, or background — knows they are seen and supported.

Trigger warning: This episode contains detailed discussion of childhood abuse, sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence.

Alice’s story is one of profound trauma transformed into purpose, advocacy, and hope for others walking similar paths.

#DomesticViolence #AliceSmiles #WhatDidntBreakMe #SurvivorAdvocate #StalkingAwareness #Resiliency

Connect with Alice Miles

Website: https://coffeetalkllc.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-miles-206866166/

If What Didn’t Break Me sparks something in you, do well to share to someone who you think might need this. Subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes.

If you have a minute leaving a review helps more people discover these everyday unique voices and the insight they carry. Your support means the world.

Want to be a guest on What Didn’t Break Me Send a message to Joy https://www.joinpodmatch.com/whatdidntbreakme

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Welcome

1:30 – Childhood: Growing up in domestic violence

3:00 – Removed from custody at age 8 & choosing homelessness

4:30 – Creating a chosen family with friends

6:00 – Grooming by a trusted “brother” figure

7:30 – The night of the assault (trigger warning)

9:00 – Escape, then intense stalking begins

11:00 – Campus lockdown & the arrest

12:30 – Legal process & realizing it was domestic violence

15:00+ – Turning pain into advocacy for all survivors

In this episode of What Didn’t Break Me, Joy welcomes Jacob Modak — holistic health practitioner, CHEK Institute-trained coach, and founder of the Trauma Healed online coaching program.

Jacob grew up in a home marked by alcoholism, hoarding, constant conflict, and emotional turmoil. As a child he carried deep anxiety, depression, self-hatred, and the painful belief that he was somehow responsible for the chaos around him.

After nearly two decades of personal healing work, he transformed that pain into purpose. Today he helps others break free from unresolved trauma and rediscover hope through an integrated physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual approach.

In this conversation Jacob shares:

• What life was like for the little boy who felt responsible for his family’s pain

• How self-awareness and intuition emerged around age 14

• The long journey of questioning his own sanity and eventually trusting his inner knowing

• How his family dynamics have since healed — offering real hope that change is possible

• Why energetic empathy and holistic healing matter in recovery work

If you’ve ever felt broken by childhood experiences or wondered if healing is truly possible, this episode will leave you with clarity, compassion, and hope.

Learn more about Jacob’s work at Trauma Healed and the CHEK approach to holistic health.

#TraumaHealing #JacobModak #WhatDidntBreakMe #CHEK #HolisticHealth #ChildhoodTrauma #HealingJourney

Connect with Jacob Modak

Website: https://www.jacobmodak.com/

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jacobmodakcoaching

If What Didn’t Break Me sparks something in you, do well to share to someone who you think might need this. Subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes.

If you have a minute leaving a review helps more people discover these everyday unique voices and the insight they carry. Your support means the world.

Want to be a guest on What Didn’t Break Me Send a message to Joy https://www.joinpodmatch.com/whatdidntbreakme

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Welcome

1:30 – Jacob’s childhood: alcoholism, conflict & feeling responsible

4:00 – Hope: the family has healed

5:00 – Age 14 self-awareness & realizing something was wrong

7:00 – Why the chaos? Questioning dynamics & sanity

9:00 – Intuition, energetic empathy & early insights

11:00 – Turning personal pain into a healing mission

15:00+ – Holistic recovery, Trauma Healed program & helping others

this episode of What Didn’t Break Me, host Joy sits down with Ted Kopecko — licensed commercial architect, real estate broker, entrepreneur, and #1 international bestselling author of Finding JOY: Journey Of You.

After more than 30 years of outward success in business, architecture, and commercial real estate, Ted realized that achievement without purpose leaves many people feeling stuck, burned out, and disconnected. That insight led him to write a 400-page roadmap that redefines joy not as a fleeting feeling, but as the intentional Journey Of You (J.O.Y.).

They explore:

• Why most of us are programmed into a fixed (job-led) mindset from childhood

• The one-letter difference between J.O.B. (“Just Over Broke”) and J.O.Y.

• How to shift from living life by default to designing a joy-led life of purpose, value, and freedom

• Practical mindset tools drawn from Carol Dweck’s research and Ted’s own experience

• Finding joy even when it feels impossible after trauma or long-term survival mode

If you’ve ever felt successful on the outside but empty on the inside, this conversation is your invitation to get unstuck and become the author of your own life.

Grab Finding JOY: Journey Of You and start living with intention.

#FindingJOY #TedKopecko #WhatDidntBreakMe #Purpose #Mindset #PersonalGrowth

Connect with Ted Kopecko

Website: https://findingjoy.us/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-kopecko-author-finding-joy-journey-of-you-36592441/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ultimate.life/

If What Didn’t Break Me sparks something in you, do well to share to someone who you think might need this. Subscribe so you don’t miss new episodes.

If you have a minute leaving a review helps more people discover these everyday unique voices and the insight they carry. Your support means the world.

Want to be a guest on What Didn’t Break Me Send a message to Joy https://www.joinpodmatch.com/whatdidntbreakme

Chapters

0:00 – Introduction & Welcome

1:00 – Ted’s background & the birth of Finding JOY

3:00 – Job-led life vs Joy-led life (J.O.B. vs J.O.Y.)

5:00 – Redefining joy as “Journey Of You”

7:00 – Mindset: How we were calibrated as children

9:00 – Fixed mindset vs growth mindset (Carol Dweck)

12:00 – School, conformity & the industrial-era programming

15:00+ – Purpose, value, freedom & getting unstuck

What Didn’t Break MeWhere Every Scar Tells a Story.There is a Japanese art form called Kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold. Rather than hiding the cracks, they are celebrated as part of the object’s history—proof that it was broken, repaired, and made beautiful again.What Didn’t Break Me is built on that same philosophy.Each episode features honest conversations with people who have faced life’s deepest challenges—grief, trauma, abuse, illness, addiction, failure, loss, heartbreak, and everything in between—and discovered the strength to keep moving forward.This isn’t a podcast about pain.It’s a podcast about what comes after.The healing.The resilience.The lessons.The courage to begin again.Because our scars are not reminders of where we failed—they’re reminders of what we survived.Whether you’re searching for hope, perspective, or simply a reminder that you’re not alone, these stories are here to remind you that even life’s deepest cracks can become something meaningful.Welcome to What Didn’t Break Me.Where Every Scar Tells a Story.